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{{Short description|Pre-Independence district of India}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| native_name =
| conventional_long_name = Sylhet (1765–1947)
| common_name = Sylhet
| status_text = Part of [[Bengal Presidency]] (1765–1874) Part of [[North-East Frontier]] (1874–1905) Part of [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]] (1905–1912) Part of [[Assam Province]] (1912–1947)
| nation = [[British India]]
| subdivision = District
| era =
| life_span = 1765–1947
| capital = [[Sylhet]]
| year_start = 1765
| date_start =
| event_start = Part of [[Bengal Presidency]]
| year_end = 15 August 1947
| date_end =
| event_end = [[Partition of India]]
| event1 = Transfer to [[North-East Frontier]]
| date_event1 = 1874
| event2 = Transfer to [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]]
| date_event2 = 1905
| event3 = Bifurcation of [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]]
| date_event3 = 1912
| p1 = Bengal Subah
| s1 = Sylhet Division{{!}}Sylhet
| s2 = Karimganj district{{!}}Karimganj
| flag_p1 =
| flag_s1 = Flag of Pakistan.svg
| flag_s2 = Flag of India.svg
| stat_area1 =
| stat_year1 =
| stat_area2 =
| stat_year2 =
| stat_pop1 =
| footnotes =
| demonym =
| today = [[Bangladesh]] [[India]]
}}
The '''Undivided Sylhet district''' is a former administrative district of [[Assam Province]] (now [[Assam]]) of [[British India]]. It was formerly governed as part of [[Bengal Presidency]] until 1874, before its transfer to Assam. During the [[Partition of Bengal (1947)|Partition of India]] in 1947, the ertswhile district was partitioned into [[Sylhet Division]] of then [[East Bengal]] (then in [[Pakistan]]), now part of [[Bangladesh]] and [[Karimganj district]] which remained as a part of [[Barak Valley]] region in [[Assam]].<ref>{{ cite web |title=History of Cachar District |url=https://cachar.assam.gov.in/about-us/history |website=cachar.assam.gov.in }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web |title=History |url=https://sribhumi.assam.gov.in/about-us/history |website=sribhumi.assam.gov.in }}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Sylhet}}
[[File:AssamProvince1936_Map.png|thumb|250px|Sylhet district as part of Assam Province in 1936]]

===Transfer to Assam Province===
During the [[British Raj]], [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet]] was governed as a part of [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] until 1874. In September 1874, Sylhet was separated from the Bengal Presidency and added to the new [[Assam province]].<ref>"To make (the Province) financially viable, and to accede to demands from professional groups, (the colonial administration) decided in September 1874 to annex the Bengali-speaking and populous district of Sylhet."{{harvcol|Hossain|2013|p=260}}</ref> The people of Sylhet protested the decision of the region's transfer to Assam by submitting a memorandum to the Viceroy.<ref>" A memorandum of protest against the transfer of Sylhet was submitted to the viceroy on 10 August 1874 by leaders of both the Hindu and Muslim communities." {{harvcol|Hossain|2013|p=261}}</ref> Later the protests subsided when the Viceroy, [[Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook|Lord Northbrook]], visited Sylhet and announced that the education and justice would be administered from Bengal,<ref>"It was also decided that education and justice would be administered from Calcutta University and the Calcutta High Court respectively." {{harvcol|Hossain|2013|p=262}}</ref> and the opportunities of employment for tea estates and their produce in Assam in order to facilitate the province's commercial development..<ref>{{cite book |author=Tanweer Fazal |year=2013 |title=Minority Nationalisms in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bGMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 |publisher=Routledge |pages=53–54 |isbn=978-1-317-96647-0}}</ref><ref>"They could also see that the benefits conferred by the tea industry on the province would also prove profitable for them. For example, those who were literate were able to obtain numerous clerical and medical appointments in tea estates, and the demand for rice to feed the tea labourers noticeably augmented its price in Sylhet and Assam enabling the Zaminders (mostly Hindu) to dispose of their produce at a better price than would have been possible had they been obliged to export it to Bengal." {{harvcol|Hossain|2013|p=262}}</ref>

Sylhet temporarily reverted to Bengal during the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|Partition of Bengal]] in 1905, when it became part of the province of [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]]. The partition was annulled in 1911, and the boundaries of [[Assam Province]] was restored in 1912.

===Partition of Sylhet in 1947===
{{Main|1947 Sylhet referendum}}

During the partition of India in 1947, a [[1947 Sylhet referendum|referendum]] was held to determine whether the Sylhet region would remain in India or join Pakistan. The four subdivisions ([[North Sylhet]], [[South Sylhet]], [[Habiganj District|Habiganj]] and [[Sunamganj District|Sunamganj]]) joined the [[Dominion of Pakistan]]; subsequently forming [[East Bengal]]'s [[Sylhet Division]].

Meanwhile, [[Abdul Matlib Mazumdar]] led a delegation advocating for the region to remain with India, due to which the district's [[Karimganj district|Karimganj subdivision]] remained in India, as part of the state of [[Assam]].

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{Cite journal| last = Hossain| first=Ashfaque| title = The Making and Unmaking of Assam-Bengal Borders and the Sylhet Referendum| journal= Modern Asian Studies| volume=47 |number=1 | year=2013| pages= 250–287| jstor=23359785| doi=10.1017/S0026749X1200056X| s2cid=145546471}}

{{coord missing|Assam}}

[[Category:Sylhet Division]]
[[Category:Karimganj district]]
[[Category:Former districts of Assam]]
[[Category:Colonial India]]

Undivided Sylhet district - Revision history

Ab2030: started the place w/ refs