Story of Noti Khal in Karimganj Explains Samujjal Das

Karimganj has been renowned as a very important riverine port and a bustling market since ancient times, serving as a vital hub for trade in the entire region. Its strategic location, situated between two navigable rivers Kushiyara and Longai, facilitated the movement of goods and people from far-flung areas of the country, contributing to its prosperity and growth.

However, I believe, the most important geographical asset of the town was the canal “Noti Khal”. It connected the two rivers mentioned above, and also the hinterland of Sylhet region to the rest of India.

In the following map that I have drawn roughly, one can see Karimganj town, situated between two rivers Kushiyara and Longai, with Noti Khal running through the middle of the town. Also, note the location of the old market (marked in red circle) and Sontor Bazar or Centre Market (in blue circle).

Given the fact that Noti Khal once used to be the lifeline of the town, one may expect its main market would be situated somewhere near the middle of the canal. It was precisely so. There are references in historical records that indicate that till the early 19th century the old market of Karimganj was situated near present-day Banamali Road, right on the bank of Noti Khal.

But there was a problem. During the winter, the canal used to dry up significantly creating issues of navigability for larger vessels, resulting in massive traffic jams of boats in the canal. To avoid this problem, the British administration hence decided to shift the market to a new place: at the junction of Noti Khal and Kushiyara river. They called it Centre Market. And thus we got our Sontor Bazar.

The origin of Noti Khal itself is highly interesting. ‘Khal’ is a Bengali/Sylheti word for ‘canal’, indicating it is man-made. But very recently, I learned that Noti Khal is a natural water body and not a man-made one. Even famous historian Achut Charan Choudhury also recorded it briefly in his book “Srihatter Itibritto”. This came as a surprise to me.

But whatever little knowledge of engineering, geography and history I have, I tend to believe the fact lies somewhere in the middle. The old natural ‘channel’ of Noti Khal might have existed before, but it’s the new British government who dug up, dredged, and widened it further to make it navigable. Hence the word canal or Khal became popular henceforth. I’m working on this to find direct evidence.

Another unique feature of Noti Khal was that it was one of those rare flowing water bodies which changed its direction of flow on different days. For example, when water in the Kushiyara was higher the water in the canal used to flow from the present-day Gopalji Market area via Bonomali up to Longai. This direction used to reverse suddenly when Longai had more water, adding confusion to commuters. There are funny stories about this. Many believe this phenomenon of the canal earned it the name ‘Noti’, a polemical term whose actual meaning in Bengali/Sylheti is a female court dancer. But in colloquial use, the term is used for a prostitute.

I, however, don’t believe in this argument, mainly because it is unlikely that educated intelligentsia of that time would allow such a name to persist in colloquial usage. There is no such precedence or example. On the contrary, I have two ‘theories’ of my own behind the name Noti:

1. There is a canal in England, called the Nottingham Canal, which connects the River Trent with its downstream. The canal was built in the 1790s, around the same time Noti Khal was probably reconstructed. It appears that its functional and engineering aspects are very similar with the one at Karimganj. So, it is likely that the Nottingham Canal served as a model for the British administrator and engineers when they reclaimed the canal at Karimganj. So from Nottingham came the word Noti.

2. There was a British administrator named J. R. Notty, who served as a Collector of the Sylhet region for a brief period in 1793. He was known to be a kind-hearted man, who empathized with Indian people. During his short tenure he is said to have commissioned many works, sometimes using his own savings. It is not clear whether he himself commissioned Noti Khal or not, but it is not unlikely given the timeline. And if this is the case then the canal would of course be named after J.R. Notty.

The above two still remain ‘theories’ until I find direct evidence. I’ll need access to archives, and documents from that time.

The canal today is completely dead. It is believed that Noti Khal was blocked at the mouth of its junction with Kushiyara as a measure to save the town from flooding. There could have been a better way to mitigate the flood than closing a natural water body for good. What used to be a busy trading waterway is now blocked, earth-filled, and encroached in many places. The rest of the canal has been reduced to a dump yard and wasteland and emanates foul stench throughout the year. One wonders if in-future it can be revived again!