COMILLA

also spelled Kumilla town, eastern Bangladesh. It is situated just south of the Gumti River, which is a tributary of the Meghna. Connected by road and rail with Dhaka and Chittagong, Comilla is a centre for the collection of hides and skins and has a thermal power station, a match factory, and jute mills. The main cottage industries are cane and bamboo basketry, woodworking, and cotton weaving. The town is distinguished by the size and number (more than 400) of the tanks (water reservoirs) in its environs; the Dharma Sagar tank, measuring 1 mile (1.6 km) in circumference, was constructed by a Tippera raja in the 15th century. Constituted a municipality in 1864, the town contains a library, a teacher-training college, and a number of government colleges, including the village development academy of Comilla Government Victoria College, affiliated with the University of Chittagong. The surrounding area consists chiefly of a level alluvial plain intersected by rivers and inundated during the rainy season. Rice, jute, oilseeds, betel nuts, chilies, and vegetables are the chief crops; some tea and cotton are grown on the hill slopes. The area formed part of the Hill Tippera princely state until 1733, when it was annexed by the Mughals. In 1765 its administration passed to the British East India Company. Pop. (1981) city, 184,132.