The forces which led to the renewal of the city were the same which had earlier led to its rise - a very resourceful hinterland virtually the whole of South and East Bengal , a suitable geographical location, administrative growth and the appearance of new types of education, trade, business, manufactures and industries. At the same time the cultural renaissance following the establishment of Bengal's connection with Europe aided the growth of Dhaka steadily but surely as an important urban centre through various educational, political and social regeneration activities.
Administrative Growth already a centre of District administration, Dhaka became the headquarters of a large division, namely the Dhaka Division, in Thereafter its administrative importance grew fast as the East India Company and later the British India Government expanded their governmental responsibilities to include education, health, communication and construction, local government and other welfare activities - some of whose offices had wider jurisdictions to include large areas of East Bengal.
The final effect of the proliferation of governmental offices during the colonial period was to make the city of Dhaka by the largest 'civil station' after Kolkata, in the province of Bengal. The administrative importance of Dhaka further grew dramatically during the years when it was made the capital of the new province of East Bengal and Assam.
The superstructure of a provincial administration was introduced with different departments and various high and middle-ranking officials.
Though short-lived, the event had its impact upon the growth of the city and its population. The state of Pakistan, however, did not survive for long. On 16 December , East Pakistan became an independent state and came to be known as Bangladesh. As the capital of a free sovereign state, Dhaka assumed the status of being its most important centre of political power, administrative functions and economic, social, educational and cultural activities.
In the absence of any serious policy of devolution, the city is now the absolute centre of all administrative power. It is the place where virtually all decisions are made, being the headquarters of all government departments. The city is also the military headquarters of the country. Political Importance as it grew administratively, the political significance of Dhaka also increased simultaneously.
Indeed the city's role in the political life not only of Bangladesh but also of the entire subcontinent during the last two centuries has been very checkered. In the 19th century it was one of the important centres of the first War of Independence against British colonial rule, the sepoy revolt of The Sepoys of the Bengal army stationed at Lalbagh Fort resisted the effort of the British administrators to disarm them, signaling the revolt of the native army in other parts of the country.
The event proved a turning point in the history of the city, the British administrators taking cruel measures and the local population maintaining a deep sense of resentment against the colonial rulers ever since. The place where the Sepoys were hanged became a symbol of national resistance. But the event also revealed the great loyalty and support for the British by the wealthy local landlords and businessmen, both Hindus and Muslims, and particularly the nawab family of Dhaka.
With the foundation of the indian national congress in , the city became the centre of Congress activities aimed at mobilising support from the whole of eastern Bengal. But the political role of the city during the early twentieth century was crucial in bringing about the partition of the province in , symbolising a victory for the cause of the Muslims of East Bengal.
The part played by the Nawab of Dhaka, Sir salimullah , in this connection was very significant. From Dhaka also became a champion for the cause of the Muslims of the subcontinent. It was Sir Salimullah who again took the initiative in founding in Dhaka, in , the first political party of the Muslims of the subcontinent - the muslim league - which, as opposed to the Indian National Congress, aimed primarily to serve the Muslim interest. The partition of bengal also led to the Nationalist or swadeshi movement and extremist activities by Hindus opposed to the partition.
Dhaka became the centre of all these activities and the stronghold of one of the extremist groups, anushilan samiti. In the following years Dhaka played an important role in the independence movement against the British. The creation of Pakistan however did not fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people of East Pakistan, especially of its educated middle class.
The declaration of the rulers of Pakistan that only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan provoked a sharp reaction from the East Pakistanis, who took great pride in their language and cultural heritage. Dhaka became the chief centre of the language movement , which also gave rise to a nationalistic feeling among East Pakistanis. The Language Movement became the precursor of the freedom movement of Bangladesh, in which Dhaka played the most vital role.
It was also in this city that the surrender ceremony of the Pakistan Army took place at the Ramna Race Course on 16 December Educational Development however, the emergence of Bangladesh had its genesis in the educational development of the region and particularly of the city of Dhaka.
Indeed, the significance of Dhaka as a centre of education has actually grown in modern times. As the focal point of a large hinterland the city became the main source of new English education and western culture for thousands of young people of East Bengal when in the Dhaka Government Collegiate School was founded.
The event led not only to the widespread dissemination of western education but also to a cultural renaissance and social revolution in Eastern Bengal; the newly educated young men, enriched by knowledge of the western arts and sciences, began to question many of the harmful social and religious customs and traditions of their motherland.
The growth of education in the city continued steadily. In the Dhaka Government College was established. In , the Dhaka Madrasa was founded, enabling the Muslim youths of East Bengal to learn Arabic and Persian, which their religion demanded, as well as English which the need of the age made pertinent for them. In , the Jagannath College was established as a private enterprise, and it eventually became one of the best centres of higher education during the British period.
In addition to general education, specialised educational institutions were also founded, beginning with the Law Department of the dhaka college in , Dhaka Medical School attached to the mitford hospital in , and the Dhaka Survey School in These institutions proved to be the nucleus of the full-fledged technical and specialised educational systems that later on developed for medicine, law, engineering etc.
In , a different type of educational institution was established, namely the Eden Girls' School exclusively for girls whose educational training had so far been a social taboo, thus ushering in a social revolution in the country. However, the climax of the educational developments in Dhaka in this phase was reached in with the foundation of the university of dhaka. Against much opposition it was established as a gateway to the educational and cultural development of a much-neglected territory and the advancement of a relatively backward Muslim community.
The University in addition to imparting education soon turned into a centre of cultural and social regeneration for the whole of East Bengal. Eventually it developed into a powerful seat of the movement for freedom for the subcontinent from British colonial rule. It was this university which also led to the growth of an educated middle class in the region, especially among the Muslims.
From the growth of education in the city progressed steadily, but after it leaped forward dramatically and at present Dhaka houses several public and private universities and technical institutions imparting education in varieties of arts, sciences, engineering, medicine, fine arts, music, painting and other subjects. Educational progress has reached such a scale that Dhaka has not only a large student population but also much of the city's political, economic, social and cultural life moves around educational institutions and students.
At present most of the country's leading intelligentsia , top civil servants, diplomats, other technocrats, doctors, lawyers, politicians and literati are' products of Dhaka's educational institutions. The city's importance and prosperity to a great extent are due to these educational developments. Trade and Commerce during the past two centuries Dhaka had slowly but steadily emerged as a significant centre of trade, commerce and industries in South Asia.
In Mughal days its fortune greatly depended upon the production and export of muslin, the fine textiles which had clientele even among European Royalty. However, its chief patrons were the emperors, kings and rich nobles of India. In general it also had a large home market in Bengal. But the commercial prosperity of the city disappeared with the decline of indigenous power and the rise of the English. Even in the s Dhaka's annual muslin production manufactured both in the city and the neighborhood was valued at Rs.
As late as in , the value of muslin manufactured annually in Dhaka amounted to Rs. Thereafter, the production of muslin declined chiefly owing to the loss of Indian patrons and the import of cheap factory-made English textiles. The decline in the manufacture and trade in muslin had a catastrophic effect upon the city. However, the commerce in indigo in the s and s for a while and later the trade in jute in the s came to the rescue of the city's commercial fortune.
By the s the city became an important centre of jute trade and jute manufactures. Later on, though the phenomenal increase of jute export was handled directly from Narayanganj, which was virtually a port of Dhaka, the entire trade in jute in East Bengal in the 19th and 20th centuries was controlled from Dhaka.
In short, it was the unprecedented growth in the production and trade in jute in East Bengal that not only made the region prosperous but also changed the fortune of the city of Dhaka from the late 19th century. However, during the colonial period, competition from England was tremendous and the goods imported from Britain dominated the local market so that Dhaka remained a modest manufacturing centre of jute-goods, textiles, glass, chemicals and of various local arts and crafts, among which the conch-shell ornaments had an all-Bengal market.
The picture changed considerably during the post-colonial period, with government patronage for increased trade and industrialisation and the pouring in of capital from various sources. The import and export policies of the government also produced positive results. The government also set up industrial zones within the boundaries of the city, the Tejgaon area being the prime site.
Dhaka quickly grew into an important centre of manufacture of textiles and silk goods; soap; jute-goods; leather-goods; glass; safety-matches; iron and steel-implements; engineering and automobile accessories; foundry products; bricks and tiles; ceramics and potteries; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; plastic goods; beverages, and canned fruits; paper; film etc.
The pace of industrialisation and growth of trade and commerce in the city increased dramatically in the post-liberation period. Although the war destroyed almost all the industrial plants and factories and also caused the withdrawal of capital by the West Pakistanis, the rehabilitation work started quickly. The investment in industries and manufactures also increased steadily, with government and private financial institutions playing a vital role.
One must also mention the increased linkage between Bangladesh and the world market after independence. Today Dhaka and its environs are one of the largest industrial regions of the country, producing varieties of goods and manufactures, from traditional products like textiles, silver and gold ornaments to modern electronic goods - many of these under the joint venture system.
There are also industrial zones devoted exclusively to the manufacture of goods for export. These export promotion zones manufacture high-tech goods in particular.
The most important industrial activity for which Dhaka has created an important place for itself on the world market in recent years is the garment industry , producing textile and woolen goods on an order basis from foreign buyers. Dhaka is also now a major producer of leather goods. Dhaka has also become one of the most important commercial centres in the country.
There is brisk trade both in local and foreign products, ranging from high tech goods to cosmetics. The city is now dotted with several multi-storied modern shopping centres where varieties of goods are sold. The modern shops are gradually replacing the old-fashioned shops and markets. Financial Institutions the city at present is also the headquarters of all financial institutions of the country. The bangladesh bank , the country's central bank, is situated in the Motijheel Commercial Area and it controls all the banking and financial transactions of the country.
Dhaka's modern banking institutions date back to the 19th century. Prior to this banking was carried out in the indigenous manner and the House of jagat sheth , the Banker of the nawabs of Bengal had its branch in Dhaka and handled almost all the monetary transactions of the city. Today Dhaka also houses the national and metropolitan chambers of commerce and other institutions of the business people and industrialists.
Just as the Bangladesh Bank looks after the public aspect of finance so do the various Chambers of Commerce protect the private business interest. The Stock Market, a recent growth, has added to the commercial life of the city. Population the most important development that has taken place in the city's recent history is the overwhelming growth of its population, chiefly through migration. In , at the time of the first census, Dhaka had a population of 69,; in , 79,; in , 1,25,; and in , 2,39, After the Partition of the increase in population showed a steady rise with the arrival of migrants from India and in the population jumped to 3,36, According to the census of , the city had a population of ,, a growth of some This growth rose dramatically after By , the population increased to 1,,; in it reached 3,,; and in , 6,, The unprecedented growth of the city and the lure of jobs and opportunities, real or imaginary, led enormous numbers of rural migrants from all over the country to come to Dhaka.
The legal and administrative boundaries of the city nowadays have however been extended to a great extent to include, for example, Narayanganj and Savar, so that the city's present population is more than twelve million.
Within this boundary there are, however, many patches of rural areas as well as wastelands. This enormous growth in population has had its impact upon the city's housing and various service sectors as well as upon its social and economic life, especially upon its environment.
Large parts of the city have developed as slums where poor migrants live in shanties in inhuman conditions. Transport, Housing and Civic services The enormous growth of the city and the unprecedented increase of population, have made the old-time transports, housing and civic services totally inadequate and unsuitable.
In the nineteenth century most of the people traveled on foot from home to the workplace; the use of horses and of boats, at least through the Dulai Khal, was also in vogue. Such nineteenth-century transports like palki, ponies, elephants and hackney carriages however disappeared by the middle of the twentieth century with the rapid extension of the city, and have been replaced by a variety of vehicles including the ubiquitous rickshaws, buses and cars.
Towards the end of the s, privately owned luxurious buses and taxis have also been introduced, but no proper transport system that befits a big capital city has yet been introduced by the city authorities, resulting in a very unsatisfactory state.
Though the total number of dwellings at present in the city falls short of the demand, resulting in overcrowding, the housing scenario of Dhaka has changed very impressively over the last two centuries. The nineteenth century houses, mostly thatched huts erected in a line upon the edges of narrow streets and lanes have given place to brick-built houses upon spacious roads and planned areas. Apart from some magnificent houses built privately by the wealthy citizens on privately owned land, the idea of having planned residential areas with two to four-storied buildings and housing colonies of similar height for people of limited income began to take root only from the late nineteenth century and has continued to dominate the housing scene ever since.
From the s the shortage of suitable land has led to the construction of high-rise houses with multiple stories both for offices and residences throughout the city. A group of very talented local engineers, architects and builders as well as foreign companies have appeared on the scene and are constructing such buildings and thus changing the city-scape of Dhaka. In recent times Dhanmondi, Banani, Gulshan, Baridhara, Uttara, Shiddeshwari, Mirpur, Pallabi areas have been developed into beautiful residential areas with expensive and luxurious houses and apartment blocks.
However, the house-building process is far from complete and though the city is full of high-rise buildings and luxurious residences as well as humble one-storied houses, nearly one-third of the population live in slums, in shanties and in the most inhuman conditions. The civic services in the modern sense started in Dhaka in the nineteenth century with the establishment of the Dhaka Municipality in From then on restrictions on building houses were introduced; spacious roads were constructed; sweeping and cleaning of roads and privies were started; piped water-supply began; markets were controlled; a traffic system was introduced and an electricity supply system installed both with government funds and private charities.
The civic services and urban facilities have increased tremendously in the last thirty years or so. A network of roads connecting the various parts of the city as well as establishing links countrywide has been constructed. The city has been supplied with gas from the s - a major aid that has helped the capital to develop into a modern place as well as freeing it from much pollution from the use of coal and wood.
Water supply, mostly from underground extraction through a deep tube-well system, has been vastly increased but the method is dangerously associated with sub-soil erosion. Recently Syedabad Water Purification and supply plant has been commissioned.
It draws water from the Sitalakhya. Likewise, the supply of electricity, though greatly increased in the recent past has proved to be inadequate for a city with about twelve million inhabitants and large industrial activities. The ever-increasing demand for domestic purposes, industries, business houses, hospitals and clinics, educational institutions and sporting venues has made the supply so inadequate that the city experiences quite frequently deliberate cuts in power supply.
Telephones, telex, fax, mobile phones, e-mail and very recently the Internet have revolutionised the city's communication system and its link with the rest of the world. Socio-cultural Activities Dhaka is a major South Asian capital city playing a significant role in the political, economic, social, cultural and sporting activities of the region. It has developed into one of the most important cultural centres of Asia, holding national and international art, music, cinema, theatre, dance and literary conferences and festivals.
Western-influenced theatrical performances started in Dhaka from the middle of the nineteenth century and later the appearance of female performers on stage created a sensation among the conservative sections of Dhaka society. Today theatre is one of the most popular entertainments in the city though the organisers, performers and audiences are mostly from the educated middle class.
The hub of these activities is the Segun-Bagicha, Ramna and Shahbag area - an enclave which has been indeed very recently designed as the Dhaka Sangskrtik Balay or the Dhaka Cultural Enclave. Very recently Dhaka's name has appeared on the international sporting scene, hosting international cricket, soccer, hockey, volleyball and other events.
Particularly the rise of Dhaka as a venue of international cricket competitions has put the name of Bangladesh as the talking point among the millions of the world. The Bangabandhu National Stadium has been especially selected for this purpose.
The Book Fairs are other major international events. The month-long Book Fair held each year in February at the Bangla Academy premises is more than a fair, the entire gamut of Bangladesh's culture and love for the mother tongue Bangla comes to the forefront on this occasion. Publishing and trade in books are nowadays a thriving industry in Dhaka, Banglabazaar area being the heart of the industry. The publication of Bangla books has recently received a great fillip with the declaration of 21 February as the 'International Mother Language Day' to commemorate the martyrs who laid down their lives in Dhaka for the sake of their mother language.
It was on 21 February that students and citizens of Dhaka, while demonstrating for the recognition of Bangla as the state language of East Pakistan were brutally assaulted by the police and some of them were gunned down.
On the spot near the Medical College where the students were shot dead rose the monument commemorating the event and the Language Movement, the shaheed minar , which became a symbol of resistance for the Bangalis and which would now become the Worlds' symbol of the International Mother Language Day.
Dhaka today is one of the most important centres of entertainment in the country, with numerous cinemas, theatres and musical halls. The city is dotted with museums, libraries, art galleries, clubs and restaurants.
Architecture Dhaka used to be known as the city of mosques because of the preponderance of beautiful mosques built in the Indo-Islamic style since the Mughal days. The nineteenth century saw the construction of some magnificent buildings built in the Indo-British style.
The ahsan manjil , the Mitford Hospital, the ruplal house , the Rose Garden and, of course, the Curzon Hall dominated the architectural scene of the city. In the Pakistan days building activities took a new turn when western, especially American influence, became marked. However, the influence became epitomised in the planning and development of the Second Capital in Sher-e-Banglanagar and the building of the jatiya sangsad bhaban or the Parliament Building designed by the American architect Louis Kahn.
The design received an international award for architectural excellence and now the building is the prime architectural specimen of modern Dhaka. A number of very beautifully designed private houses and apartment blocks amalgamating modern and Indo-Bangla styles have also come up in various parts of the city, especially in Dhanmondi, Eskaton, Karwan Bazar, Baridhara, Gulshan and Uttara.
Food and culinary fame Dhaka's fame for exotic food and culinary expertise has remained intact for the last few centuries. The traditional Mughal cuisine, the Pulao Rice, Biriani, Bakhar Khani and varieties of sweets have retained their fame and are much loved by the locals and foreigners. Recently, Dhaka's growing links with the rest of the world have led to the establishment of Chinese, Thai, Iranian, European restaurants and of course American style Fast Food shops.
These are very popular. The city also has a substantial number of western-style hotels which have given Dhaka a flavour of internationalism, the most important being the Pan Pacific Hotel Sonargaon, the Sheraton Hotel,' the Radisson and the Westin. Today Dhaka is a prosperous and growing city where tremendous commercial, industrial, financial, sporting and cultural activities take place.
It is also politically very powerful, being the capital city and the administrative headquarters of the country. It has grown all around, covering an area of some square km and having a population of over twelve million A substantial number of the inhabitants are very rich. It is also the home of the rising 'Bangladeshi' middle class.
However, Dhaka has been caught up in a sudden spree of development and growth, without proper planning and no real control over the haphazard growth. The never ending migration of people from the countryside and district towns often without any jobs is creating tremendous pressure upon the city with its meager housing and other facilities. Thus the city is passing through a period of uncertainties. If things are not taken proper care of, unforeseen developments might overwhelm the place, especially because of the lack of water supply, health hazards and political and social unrest.
It commands connection by navigable waterways with the Padma, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna river-system that affords the convenience of water carriage to and from any principal place of Bangladesh. Dhaka is also well placed for land communications being on the southern edge of an old alluvial terrace considerably above the highest level of the surrounding rivers in ordinary seasons of inundation.
The northern part of the city is on a laterite terrace that broadens out northwards towards Mymensingh. The Buriganga, branching off from the Dhaleswari little below Savar, comes through the western and southern side of the city and curving rightward it again meets the Dhaleswari beyond Fatullah, thus forming the southern and western boundary of the city.
A number of other water channels mainly Dulai channel, Pandu river and Baloo river criss-crossed through and around the city. Thus an important topographical constraint was created for the growth of the city. Dhaka stretches from the Buriganga bank in the south towards the north practically to the Tongi river and the stretch of high land is flanked on either side by low-lying marshes and old river beds.
The low-lying swamps have crept right into the hearts of the high areas, as in the case of the Mirpur to Cantonment depression from the west to the east as also the Baridhara-Khilkhet-Uttara depression from the east to the west.
As a result the physical expansion of the city has not been easy and without difficulty. Topographical considerations dictated the growth of the city in its different phases of existence. Pre-Mughal phase Dhaka's pre-Muslim past is obscure. The nearby capital city of Vikramapura was in the limelight from the 10th to 13th century AD.
Some finds indicate human habitation of the area in the above period. After Muslim occupation of south-eastern Bengal late 13th and early 14th century the nearby city of Sonargaon rose into prominence. Dhaka's existence as a small town of some importance in the pre-Mughal period 14thth centuries is proved by two mosque inscriptions, remains and literary evidence, mainly from the pages of baharistan-i-ghaibi.
The area lying to the east, north-east and south-east of Babur Bazar on the left northern bank of the Buriganga formed the pre-Mughal town map The conglomeration of Hindu names of localities in this part of old Dhaka viz Laksmibazar, Banglabazar, Sutrapur, Jaluanagar, Banianagar, Goalnagar, Tantibazar, Shankharibazar, Sutarnagar, Kamarnagar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli etc indicate the predominance of the Hindu craftsmen and professionals of pre-Mughal Dhaka, which grew in the vicinity of Sonargaon, the capital, having some commercial importance.
Accessibility by riverways from the side of Sonargaon determined the location of pre-Mughal Dhaka; the Buriganga and the Dulai formed its southern and eastern boundary. However, it is difficult to determine its western limit. If the Naswallagali Mosque inscription AD is taken to bear testimony to the existence of a mosque in the area of its find western side of the present Central Jail and if it is thought that the Dhakeswari temple existed before Mughal occupation, which is quite' likely, then it would be fair to assume that the western limit extended beyond Baburbazar to a line in the Dhakeswari - Urdu Road axis.
The existence of the dargah of Shah Ali Baghdadi at Mirpur, who died in AD, proves the existence of a pre-Mughal locality in the area. It is quite likely that following the course of the Buriganga settlements grew on the southern, western and north-western parts of the city.
Rayerbazar on the western part, on the river, might have grown as potters' locality, though the date of settlement cannot be ascertained. These, of course, were sporadic growths with the river bank determining the basis of settlements. However, the concentration of the population was definitely in the area to the east of Baburbazar. Mughal phase the pre-Mughal Dhaka was turned into a thana military outpost during the military operations of Akbar.
But it rose to prominence only after the transfer of the capital of the Subah by Islam Khan Chisti in AD, when it was named Jahangirnagar. The fort on the site of present central jail and Chandnighat, on the river bank straight to the south of the fort which are the two areas referred to in the Baharaistan to have grown in his time. The bazar occupying the area between the fort and Chadnighat present Chawk Bazar , originally known as Badshahi Bazar, as also Urdu Bazar market place of the camp to the west of the fort are likely to have grown at the same time.
This canal practically demarcated the 'old Dhaka' with the 'new Dhaka' of Islam Khan map The area lying parallel to the riverbank from Babur bazar to Patuatuli was named Islampur.
The 'new Dhaka', inaugurated by Islam Khan had its continuous growth under the subsequent subahdars till , when the provincial capital was officially shifted to Murshidabad. Dhaka enjoyed the status of a provincial capital for slightly more than a century; administrative needs coupled with flourishing commercial activities led to Dhaka's transformation from a suburban town to a metropolis.
Mughal Dhaka encompassed 'old Dhaka' within itself and extended to the east up to Narinda, to the west up to Maneswar and Hazaribagh and to the north up to Fulbaria area the area lying to the south of central telephone exchange where was once situated the Dhaka Railway station on the fringe of the Ramna area. The Peelkhana the stables of the elephants was established at the western end.
The residential quarters of the officials, government functionaries, merchants etc grew in the area between the Fort and the Peelkhana to the west; and between the Fort and Fulbaria to the north. The city now called Old Dhaka with winding roads, not set to a plan, clearly bore the flavour of a Mughal city. The Fort served as the nerve centre of the city and the other areas mahallas grew out of residential and commercial needs.
The area to the south and south-west of the Fort up to the river grew as commercial areas and the areas to the north, north-east and north-west grew as residential areas. The northern limit of the city extended up to the gateway built by Mir Jumla , which at present lie near the modern mausoleum of three leaders and to the west of the Dhaka University Science Library. Mir Jumla built two roads connecting Dhaka with a network of forts built for the defense of the capital.
One of the roads was towards the north up to Tongi-Jamalpur and the other towards the east to Fatullah, whereabout two forts were constructed. These two roads had definite influence on the growth of the city in these two directions.
Shaista Khan's period ; saw Dhaka's expansion and large-scale building activities by the viceroy. Tavernier, who came to Dhaka in AD, speaks of Dhaka as a great town, which extended only in length, because every one desired to have a house by the side of the river. Thomas Bowrey wrote in about found the city no less than forty English miles in circuit.
In the available early records of the East India Company and the boundary of the city is mentioned as: Buriganga in the south, Tongi in the north, Jafarabad-Mirpur in the west and Postagola in the east. But it should be made clear that the area lying to the north of Mir Jumla's gate was very sparsely populated. The European trading companies had their factories in the Tejgaon area.
The area between Fulbaria and Mir Jumla's gate, known as Bagh-i-Badxahi, had formed the outer ring of the main Mughal city. The extension of the Mughal city was mainly to the west of the Fort and following the river' bank Mughal settlements had gone up to the Jafarabad-Mirpur area in the north west of the city. The present day Satmasjid Road running up to Shaista Khan's Satgambuj Mosque possibly formed the axis of Mughal settlements in the north-west.
The road constructed by Mir Jumla connecting Bagh-i-Badshahi with Tongi outpost in later years it formed a part of the Dhaka-Mymensingh road link formed the axis for the future development of the city in that direction.
It should be noted that Dhaka was not a continuous high land. There was high land strip in the south parallel to the Buriganga from Postagola in the east to Hazaribagh in the west and the northern limit of this belt extended up to the Bagh-i-Badshahi of the Mughals.
The area to the north of this belt right up to Tongi was interspersed with waterways, marshes and swamps created by incursions of river water both from the west and the east. On the western side were depressions and incursions in the Dhanmandi, Shyamali-Kalyanpur and Mirpur-Cantonment zones; and on the eastern side through the Begunbari canal there was an incursion right into the heart of the high land zone, south of Karwan Bazar.
This depression extended northwards up to the Gulshan-Banani strip of high land, which extended to Uttara and Tongi. Marshes and swamps surround this strip on either side, inundated by the waters of the Turag from the west and the Baloo from the east. The expansion of the city in the Mughal period naturally followed this dictation of nature.
Dhanmandi area, till the other day, was an expansive rice field right up to the Dhaka College-New Market area in the south. Due to its commercial importance Dhaka attracted the European traders - the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English and the French, as also the Armenians. All came and established their trading houses in Dhaka in the 17th century. They established their factories in the Tejgaon area, which continued to enjoy commercial importance during the next century or so.
The road built by Mir Jumla formed the axis of the European settlements on its either side, north of the Karwan Bazar which was also an important trading centre in the Mughal period and Khwaja Ambar's bridge, now extinct. Dhaka's period of glory came to an end with the shifting of the provincial capital to Murshidabad in Dhaka became the seat of Naib Nazim Deputy Governor and continued to remain the headquarters of the Mughal army and navy in eastern Bengal.
However, the increase in the commercial activities of the European traders kept the city alive, though without any further expansion. After the acquisition of the Diwani in by the East India Company the decline of the city set in. By the city was reduced to a mere district headquarters, though retaining its position as a provincial Court of Circuit and Appeal.
The decline of the cotton textile trade in the late 18th and early 19th century hastened the process of decline, and by this decline reached its nadir. Most of the former Mughal city had either been deserted or had fallen victim to the encroaching jungles.
Dhaka suffered physical shrinkage; once populated areas became desolate. The jungle-beset city was shown in a topographical map prepared in covering an area only a little over three miles and a quarter by one and a quarter map Early colonial phase the establishment of the Municipal Committee in and of the Dhaka College in marked a new dawn for Dhaka.
Backed by several positive forces, the city slowly reemerged turned into a modern place under the European influence. The second half of the 19th century marked the beginning of the physical renewal; the city limit did not expand, but the Mughal city was transformed into a modern city with metalled roads, open spaces, street lights and piped water-supply.
English Magistrate Charles Dawes started the process in , when the Ramna area was cleared and the racecourse now the open green area of Suhrawardy Udyan was laid. Russell Skinner appointed Magistrate in further added to the expansion process. Within a short period of time in the second half of the 19th century the Nawabs of Dhaka developed the area on the western side of the racecourse and built large building complex and gardens.
The area came to be called Shah Bagh. Besides Shah Bagh, the nawabs family of Khwaja Alimullah developed Dilkusha and Motijheel area in the north eastern outskirt of the city, where they build garden-houses as pleasure resorts. Dawes cleared the area north-east of Nawabpur and transformed it into a cantonment, which later came to be known as Purana Paltan. The cantonment had to be removed back to Lalbagh fort in due to mosquito menace and finally after the Sepoy wars of it was shifted to the Mill Barracks at the eastern end of the city on the river bank.
The Purana Paltan area continued to be the practice ground of the sepoys; part of it was turned into Company's Bagicha or garden and playground. The development of Dhaka till the last quarter of the 19th century followed the banks of the river Buriganga where the wealthy citizens built their magnificent houses like the Ahsan Manjil and the Ruplal House. The embankment of the northern bank and the construction of a promenade on it by the energetic Divisional Commissioner C.
E Buckland made the riverfront a picturesque site and the Buckland Bund a rendezvous of the city's nature lovers completed in three phases in the s. Thomas Church Complex are some of the landmarks of the nineteenth century Dhaka.
It was only after the coming of the railways that the river bank gradually lost its importance and receded to be reckoned as the back of the town. In the late 19th century the old areas of Narinda and Gandaria in the eastern and south-eastern part of the city were developed to form new residential areas. At the same time the Hazaribagh - Nawabganj areas in the western part of the city were also developed; the former as a business centre for hides and skin and the latter as a centre for jute pressing and bailing.
The Courts of the District and subordinate judges and the offices of the Magistrates and Collectors were built in in the area opposite St. Thomas Church. Even today they exist on the same site.
In Frederick Wyer, the Collector of Dhaka, developed the Wari area as a fully planned residential area for the upper-middle class with broad roads and proper drains. The Narayanganj-Dhaka-Mymensingh State railway was opened in ; the rail line was laid almost parallel to the Mughal road from Tongi through Tejgaon, Kawranbazar to the Shah Bagh area, then in order to save the garden area it formed a loop around Ramna and turned towards the east cutting through the Nimtali-Fulbaria area it turned south towards Fatullah and Narayanganj.
The placement of the railway line gives us an idea about the existence of the main city in the areas south and west of the loop formed by the railway line. The Fulbaria area was developed into a complex of the Railway including the Dhaka railway station.
The Ramna area from the Curzon Hall in the south to the Minto Road in the north and from the Government House, built opposite to the Curzon Hall a little to the east Old High Court building , in the east to the Nilkhet area in the west was developed during the period map There was about it a degree of seduction that brought out the poignant in you, drew out of your soul streams of melody that have constantly replenished us with energy over the years.
The nights, tiptoeing into our courtyards in the warmth of spring, spoke to us of the endless joy of childhood. We were children. Dacca was heaven. Those were the s. And then came the s. Dacca was still a pretty place. It was a pretty place where wild men come from the mountains a thousand miles away and dispensed terror in the year we went to war for freedom. The blood that flowed was incessant, the screams that were heard were chilling.
But then came liberty and with that a renewed zest for life. On the stretch of road leading from the old airport in Tejgaon to Bangla Motors, it was largely timber shops that you could see. The sense was almost one of being a part of surroundings that were a hallmark of the pastoral. And along that road, in the early s, travelled Bangabandhu in the company of dignitaries come visiting from lands far away.
Back then, Dacca had an innocence about it. Queen Elizabeth II came calling in It was the year when the wrestlers Bholu and Gama and Aslam enthralled the Bengali crowd with demonstrations of their physical prowess.
It was the season, in , when the Tagore centenary celebrations marked the beginning of the rise of Bengali nationalism in this land. As children, of course we had little idea of politics at the time. In that era of glorious black and white, Dhanmondi was a quiet place, almost a suburb. In and around what is today Road 27 was a vastness of green, of an elemental nature. With few homes around, and none more than two stories high, the skies were an epic story of expansiveness that brought home to you an entirety of the cosmic system as we have known it.
At Kamalapur, before the railway station came up, state buses manned by polite drivers operated till the late hours. The child in you wondered how those drivers manned such huge vehicles. And you then wished that you were a bus driver yourself. There was the Race Course. And Ramna Park was where your parents took you on the weekends. As they reclined on the grass and conversed among themselves, you and your siblings munched peanuts and savoured ice cream and frolicked all over the place.
It was a day for families, and all around you were mothers and fathers and children. The water shimmered in the lake. In Dacca, people were privy to good movies in the many cinema houses across town. The ubiquity of the man peddling journals before housewives was an image you did not miss.
Your mother and mine were voracious readers of Begum. In s and s Dacca, the rains poured, through the branches and twigs and leaves of the trees.
They came in torrents, making music on the tin-roofed homes we lived in. You smelled the warmth of the earth. Once the showers ceased, the flowers that lined the frontiers of our homes, the vegetable patches that took up space at one end of the courtyard, gleamed in the light of a returning sun. Back then, life was a long experience in sheer delight.
Dacca was a town where dreams took shape and songs wafted through the air. Until the town became a city. Until Dacca became Dhaka. Home Opinion Op-Ed.
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