History of Sylhet

Sylhet came under British administration in 1765. Sylhet was strategically important for the British in their pursuit of conquering Northeast India and Upper Burma. The first commercial tea plantation in British India was opened in the Mulnicherra Estate in Sylhet in 1857. Sylhet was constituted as a municipality in 1867. Despite protests to the Governor of Bengal from its Bengali-majority population, the town was made part of the Chief Commissioner's Province of Assam in 1874 in order to facilitate Assam's educational and commercial development. The Assam Bengal Railway was established in the late 19th century to connect Assam and Sylhet with the port city of Chittagong.
In 1905, Sylhet became a divisional headquarter of Eastern Bengal and Assam. In 1912, it was again separated from Bengal and made part of Assam Province. The Muslims of Sylhet generally favored reunion with Bengal. The Bengali Muslim elite in Dacca also vouched for Sylhet's reunion with Bengal. By the 1920s, organizations such as the Sylhet Peoples Association and Sylhet-Bengal Reunion League mobilized public opinion demanding the division's incorporation into Bengal. Nevertheless, the Bengalis of Sylhet were influentially placed in the administration, educational institutions and commercial activities of Assam.
Due to the size of Sylhet's Bengali Muslim majority, the All India Muslim League formed the first elected government in British Assam.
The numbers of lascars grew between the two world wars, with some ending up in the docks of London and Liverpool. Sylhet's lascars married English women. During World War II, many fought on the Allied front before settling down in the United Kingdom, where they opened Indian curry cafes and restaurants.
In 1947, following a referendum, almost all of erstwhile district of Sylhet became a part of East Bengal in the Dominion of Pakistan, barring its Karimganj sub-division which was incorporated into the Dominion of India. The referendum was held on 6 July 1947. 239,619 people voted to join Pakistan and 184,041 voted to be part of India. The referendum was acknowledged by Article 3 of the Indian Independence Act 1947.