Sylhet

Name of town and district in the Northeast of Bangladesh. A person originating from Sylhet is called a Sylheti. Sylhetis have their own dialect also called Sylheti. Sylhet is the burial place of Hazrat Shah Jalal, a sufi saint who travelled there via river, fought with the local hindu king and established Islam in the region. It is also well known for its tea gardens and beautiful natural scenery. Sylhet has two major rivers, the Surma and the Kushiara and lots of natural resources like gas and oil and a lot of people too. Sylhetis are generally wealthier than people in other parts of Bangladesh and a lot of them feel miffed about having to support the rest of the country whom they regard as leechers and look down upon with contempt. They derogatorily refer to non-sylheti Bangladeshis as Noakhali or Dhakaiya no matter where these people actually from. Sylhetis are generally more kindly disposed than other people in the country. If you had an accident and have no money for treatment or to get home, almost every Sylheti will get some money to treat you and pay your fare home. Because of their hatred of non Sylhetis, there is less inter-marriage between Sylhetis and non-sylhetis than in other parts of the country. In fact marriages between Sylhetis and non Sylhetis have known to be boycotted by the relatives of the Sylheti person.