Known for
- 1
Gaur on this side of the border.
The old capital of the Bengal sultans straddles the frontier at Shibganj, and the Bangladeshi half keeps its finest pieces within a few kilometres: Choto Sona Mosque, called the gem of sultanate architecture, the huge ruined Darasbari mosque and its madrasa, the lonely Khaniadighi mosque, and Shah Shuja's Tahkhana beside the shrine of Shah Niamatullah.
- 2
The mango capital.
Chapai Nawabganj is the heart of Bangladesh's mango country, with orchards along every road. From May to July the Kansat market fills with fruit and traders from across the country.
Best season
GoodFairNov–Feb
November to February for the monuments: cool, dry and clear. May to July is mango season, hot and humid but the reason many people come; June is the peak at Kansat.
Getting there
Bus
Dhaka
7 h
To Chapai Nawabganj town; some coaches go on to Sonamasjid
Train
Dhaka
Banalata Express, nonstop to Chapai Nawabganj
Bus
Rajshahi
1.5 h
Frequent local buses to the town
Getting around
Chapai Nawabganj town
1 h to Sonamasjid
Bus or CNG via Kansat; vans between the Gaur sites
Buses run from Dhaka to Chapai Nawabganj town in about 7 hours, and the Banalata Express runs nonstop from Dhaka. From Rajshahi it is about an hour and a half by bus. The Gaur monuments are around Sonamasjid in Shibganj, about 35 km from the town: take a bus or CNG to Sonamasjid and walk or take a van between the sites.
Local food
Khirsapat and other mangoesMust try
May to July, straight from Kansat
Kalai rutiMust try
With chilli-onion bharta or duck curry
Mangoes above all: Khirsapat, Langra, Fazli, Amrapali and many more, each with its own few weeks. The everyday local dish is kalai ruti, a flatbread of black gram and rice flour, eaten hot with mashed chilli, onion and mustard oil, or with beef or duck.
Places to see
Mosque and shrineNahid Hossain · CC BY-SA 4.0Choto Sona Mosque
The "Small Golden Mosque" of Gaur, built under Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah between 1493 and 1519: fifteen domes, stone walls carved like lace, and the name "gem of sultanate architecture".
Archaeological siteAshik2850 · CC BY-SA 4.0Darasbari Mosque and Madrasa
The roofless shell of a great brick mosque of 1479 and, nearby, the excavated courtyard of one of the oldest known madrasas in Bengal: the scale of sultanate Gaur in two ruins.
Kansat Mango Market
The country's biggest mango market, at Kansat in Shibganj: from May to July the roads fill with vans of fruit and traders from all over Bangladesh.
Mosque and shrineNahid.rajbd · CC BY-SA 4.0Khaniadighi Mosque
A single-domed brick mosque of about 1480 beside the Khania Dighi tank near Sonamasjid, also called the Rajbibi mosque: small, overgrown and atmospheric.
Mosque and shrineRangan Datta Wiki · CC BY-SA 4.0Shah Niamatullah Wali Mazar
The shrine of the 17th-century saint Shah Niamatullah, spiritual guide of Shah Shuja, in the Tahkhana complex at Sonamasjid: the district's best-known place of pilgrimage.
Market and bazaarওয়াহিদুল হক · CC BY-SA 4.0Sonamasjid Land Port
One of the country's busiest land ports, on the border with Malda at Shibganj, a short way from the Gaur monuments: a look at the frontier as you finish the old capital.
Fort and palaceNajelumif · CC BY-SA 4.0Tahkhana of Shah Shuja
A Mughal 'cool house' on the bank of a large tank near Choto Sona Mosque, built by Prince Shah Shuja for his spiritual guide Shah Niamatullah, with a three-domed mosque and the saint's tomb beside it.
Sources 2
Times, fares and opening hours change. Check before you go.
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