Map - Comilla District (Cumilla)

Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to the south, Tripura of India to the east and Munshiganj and Chandpur districts to the west. Comilla district is located in the southeastern part of Bangladesh.

The name Cumilla is derived from the Bengali word Komolangko (কমলাঙ্ক), the previous ancient name of the region, which means 'lotus pond'. The present Comilla is a district under the Chittagong Division. It was once under ancient Samatata and later became part of the state of Tripura. As far as is known from the ancient archeology found in the region, Gupta emperors ruled Tripura since the fifth century AD. According to historians, the Buddhist Deva dynasty ruled the region from the seventh to the middle of the eighth century. In the ninth century, Comilla came under the control of the kings of Harikela and then ruled by the Chandra dynasty during the tenth and mid-eleventh century AD. Later on, it was ruled by the Mughals and then it came under the rule of East India Company in 1765.

In order to facilitate revenue collection, the company hired a district collector in the province in 1769. Comilla then belonged to the province of Dhaka. Comilla was made under the office of the district collector in 1776. The Tripura Collector's journey began with the formation of Tippera or Tipperah district of Bengal by the British in 1790. According to the Third Regulation in 1793, a civil judge was appointed for the Tripura district and in that year he was given magisterial powers. In 1837, the posts of magistrates and collectors were separated. In 1859, these two posts were merged again. After the partition in 1947, the district was renamed Comilla in 1960 and the post of district magistrate and collector was named deputy commissioner. Chandpur and Brahmanbaria sub-divisions of this district became districts in 1984.