Sandwip

Sandwip (Bengali: সন্দ্বীপ) is an island along the south eastern coast of Bangladesh in the Chittagong District. Also spelled Sandvip, the transliteration of the name would in fact be Shondip. It is part of the sub-district of Sandwip Upazila.

Description

It is at the estuary of the Meghna River on the Bay of Bengal and separated from the Chittagong coast by Sandwip Channel. It has a population of nearly 350,000. There are fifteen wards, 62 mahallas and 34 villages on Sandwip Island. The island is 50 kilometers long and 5-15 kilometers wide. It is at the north-east side of the Bay of Bengal, near the main port city of Chittagong. It is bounded by Companiganj on the north, Bay of Bengal on the south, Sitakunda and Mirsharai, and Sandwip Channel on the east, Noakhali Sadar, Hatiya and Meghna estuary on the west.

Etymology

There are several theories to the origin of the name Sandwip (pronounced Shondip) among the locals. Some say that 12 awlia from Baghdad travelling to Chittagong discovered this island in the middle of the ocean and found no people, so they defined it as "Shunno Dip" and which eventually became "Shondip". And another group argues that "Sandwip" is named after Bakhorganj historian Mr. Beverage’s "Shom Dip". Some scholars have suggested that Portuguese people called it "Sandheep" (Hasan, 1999). Je the Baras marked it as "Sundina" in his map (1550). Candel Broke mentioned it as ‘Sundiva’ in his map (1660). Major Ranel mentioned it as ‘Sundeep’ in his map.