Map - Sherpur District (Sherpur)

Sherpur district (শেরপুর জেলা, Sherpur Jela also Sherpur Zila) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of Mymensingh Division. Sherpur district was a sub-division of Jamalpur District before 1984. It was upgraded to a district on February 22, 1984. Sherpur City is located about 197-199 km north of Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh.

The name "Sherpur" can't be found in ancient history. During the rules of emperor Akbar, this area was called "Dash Kahonia Baju". The previous name of Brahmaputra river in this area was "Louhitto Sagar" which was situated in a vast area from the south border of Sherpur municipality to Jamalpur Ghat. The people of this area had to pay 10 kahon coins to the leaseholders as an annual tax for travelling in the river. "Dash" means ten and "Kahon" is a unit of measure for counting which means 128 pieces. From this event, this area was called as "Dash Kahonia".

During the Nawabi period in Bangla, the last landlord of Gazi clan, Sher Ali Gazi occupied and reigned this area independently. From then, the name of this area was changed from "Dash Kahonia" to Sherpur according to the name of the ruler, Sher Ali Gazi.