North 24 Parganas district

North 24 Parganas district () is a district in southern West Bengal, India. North 24 Parganas extends in the from latitude 22º11´6´´ north to 23º15´2´´ north and from longitude 88º20´ east to 89º5´ east. It is bordered to Nadia by north, to Bangladesh (Khulna Division) by north and east, to South 24 Parganas and Kolkata by south and to Kolkata, Howrah and Hoogly by west. Barasat is the district headquarters of North 24 Parganas.

North 24 Parganas is West Bengal’s most populous district. It is also the tenth largest district in the State by area and second most densely populated district in the country, after Thane district of Maharashtra.

History

Ancient History

According to Ptolemy’s Treatise on geography, written in the 2nd Century A.D., the ancient land of Gangaridi was stretched between the rivers Bhagirathi-Hoogly (lower Ganges) and Padma-Meghna. The modern-day 24 Parganas was the southern and the south-eastern territory of that legendary kingdom.

Archeological excavation at Berachampa village in Deganga PS proves that though the area was not directly attached to the rule of the Guptas, yet it could not shun their cultural influence. Xuanzang (c. 629-685) visited 30 Buddhist Biharas and 100 Hindu Temples in India and some of these were in the Greater 24 Parganas region.

The district was not a part of Shashanka’s unified Bengali empire known as Gauda, but it is assumed that the district which was the south-west frontier territory of ancient Bengal,...
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