Dhaka Since The 7th Century. A City With An Unforgettable Story.

The history of the city dates back from the 7th century with the existence of urbanized settlements in the area that is now Dhaka. The city area was ruled by the Buddhist kingdom of Kamarupa and the Pala Empire before passing into the control of the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 9th century. The Sena dynasty's founder, Hemanta Sen, was part of the Pala dynasty until their empire began to weaken. He usurped power and styled himself king in 1095 AD. The largely Hindu community populated the lower Dhaka region at the time. 

The name of the city may have been given  after the establishment of the Goddess Dhakeshwari’s temple by Ballal Sena in the 12th century at Bakshi Bazar. The town itself consisted of a few market centers like Lakshmi Bazar, Shankhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli, Bania Nagar and Goal Nagar.

Dhaka was successively ruled by the Turkish and Afghan governors before the arrival of the Mughals in 1608. Dhaka the capital of Bangladesh, was known as Jahangir Nagar during the 17th century. It was a provincial capital and the center of the worldwide muslin trade. The Lalbagh Fort was constructed in the mid 17th century by Prince Mohammed Azam Shah, son Emperor Aurangzeb. The Fort contains the tomb of Bibi Pari, daughter of Shaista Khan.  

After the Mughals, the British ruled the region for 200 years until the independence of India. In 1947, Dhaka became the capital of the East Bengal province under the Dominion of Pakistan. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became the capital of the new state.

Settlements of Hindu craftsmen and professionals of that era still exist in  the localities like Laksmibazar, Banglabazar, Sutrapur, Jaluanagar, Banianagar, Goalnagar, Tantibazar, Shankhari Bazaar, Sutarnagar, Kamarnagar, Patuatuli and Kumartuli. According to a popular legend, the Dhakeshwari Temple was built by Ballal Sena, the second Sena ruler. The region acquired the name of "Baunno Bazaar O Teppun Gulli" as there were fifty-two bazaars and fifty-three streets in the area. 

      

Sultanate Period

Dhaka as the Capital of Bengal during Mughal rule and rise

After the Battle of Tukaroi, Dhaka was ruled by the Mughals during the reign of Emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605).  It  was a Thana (a military outpost). Dhaka was situated in the Bhati region which hosted several rebel forces led by Bara-Bhuiyans from mid to late 16th century. After the leader Musa Khan of the Bara-Bhuiyans was subdued by Mughal General Islam Khan Chisti in 1608, Dhaka again went directly under the control of the Mughals. The newly appointed subahdar of Bengal Subah, Islam Khan transferred the capital from Rajmahal to Dhaka in 1610. He also renamed the city as Jahangirnagar (City of Jahangir) after the Emperor Jahangir. The  location of Jahangirnagar was right beside a few main river routes making Jahangirnagar an important center for business. The finest muslin fabric was produced here and traded in this area. As the next subahdar, Prince Shuja built Bara Katra between 1644 and 1646 in Jahangirnagar to serve as his official residence. He also patronized the building of Hussaini Dalan, a Shia shrine though he himself was a Sunni. In the late 1640s, he moved the capital back to Rajmahal, making Jahangirnagar a subordinate station.

Mughal Bridges of Dhaka

Mir Jumla was sent by Emperor Aurangzeb sent  to deal with the political turmoil with Prince Shuja. He pursued Shuja up to Jahangirnagar and reached the city on 9 May 1660. But Shuja had already fled to Arakan region. Jumla became the next subahdar of Bengal.  Jahangirnagar was again made the capital of the region. He played an important role in the development of Jahangirnagar and its suburbs – during his time two roads, two bridges and a network of forts were constructed. A fort at Tangi-Jamalpur guarded one of the roads connecting Jahangirnagar with the northern districts which is now known as Mymensingh Road. He built Mir Jumla Gate at the northern border to defend the city from the attacks of Magh pirates. Italian traveler Niccolao Manucci came to Jahangirnagar in 1662–63. According to him, Jahangirnagar (now Dhaka) had a large number of inhabitants compared to the size of the city. Most of the houses were built of straw. There were only two kuthis – one for the English and the other for the Dutch. Ships were loaded with fine white cotton and silk fabrics. A large number of Christians and white and black Portuguese also resided in the city.

A British merchant sailor Thomas Bowrey, visited Dhaka in the 1670s. He mentioned  in his book, A Geographical Account of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, that

"Construction of Lalbagh Fort was commenced in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam during his 15-month-long governorship of Bengal, but before the work could complete, he was recalled by Emperor Aurangzeb."

Mughal subahdar Shaista Khan (1664–1688) made the  largest expansion of the city known to date at that time. The city then stretched for 12 miles in length and 8 miles in breadth and is believed to have had a population of nearly a million people. 

During this period The Chawk Mosque, Babubazar Mosque, Sat Gumbad Mosque and the Choto Katra were built . He also built tombs of Bibi Pari, Bibi Champa and Dara Begum. 

Dutch V.O.C. factory in Hooghly (Hugli-Chuchura, Bengal)Painting by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665

Prince Azim-ush-Shan became the next subahdar of Bengal in 1697. Due to conflict with Diwan Murshid Quli Khan, he transferred the capital from Jahangirnagar to Rajmahal and then to Patna. Jahangirnagar had an estimated 80,000 skilled textile weavers. They exported silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpeter, and agricultural and industrial produce.

The Portuguese Settlements

In 1586 an English traveler named Ralph Fitch, recorded that Portuguese traders were involved in shipping rice, cotton and silk goods. The Portuguese made the principal trading center in Hooghly. Besides, they made small settlements in Jahangirnagar (now Dhaka) in about 1580- 1588.  Tavernier mentioned about churches that were built in Jahangirnagar by Portuguese Augustinian missionaries. In 1840, James Taylor, the civil surgeon of Dhaka, wrote that the oldest existing Portuguese structure today, Church of Our Lady of Rosary in Tejgaon, was built in 1599 by the missionaries, but according to Ahmad Hasan Daniès narration, the church was said to be built in 1677.

Joaquim Joseph A. Campos, an editor of Asiatic Society of Bengal, mentioned other Portuguese churches in Dhaka –the  Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, the Church of the Holy Ghost and the  Church of our Lady Piety. The Portuguese officially established a mission in Jahangirnagar in 1616.  The city of Jahangirnagar extended along the Buriganga river for over four and a half miles from Maneswar to Narinda and Fulbaria. Christian communities lived around these suburbs in the east, west, and north.

Nawab Era: British East India Company rule (1793—1857)

When Tavernier visited, the English had formally established their factories in Jahangirnagar in 1668 and English traders were already in the city as early as in 1666 . William Hedges, the first governor of East India Company in Bengal, arrived in Dhaka on 25 October 1682 and met Shaista Khan. After the Battle of Buxar in 1765, as per the Treaty of Allahabad, East India Company was appointed the imperial tax collector of the province Bengal-Bihar-Orissa by the Mughal emperor. The company was still a subject of the Mughal empire. But the British took complete control in 1793 when Nizamat (Mughal appointed governorship) was abolished. The city then became known by its Anglicized name, Dacca. 

Due to the Battle of Buxar, the city's population shrank dramatically in a short period of time. It was an important city in the Bengal province but remained smaller than Kolkata, which was the capital of British India for a long period of time. Many modern educational institutions, public works and townships were developed under British rule, A modern water supply system was introduced in 1874 and electricity supply in 1878. The Dhaka Cantonment was established near the city, serving as a base for the soldiers of the British Indian Army. Dacca served as a strategic link to the frontier of the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam.

Photograph taken from Fondren Library, Rice University

From 1808 to 1811, Charles Oyly was the District Collector of Dhaka . His collection of painting folios of Dhaka can be found in his book called Antiquities of Dacca. These paintings portray the ruins of Dhaka from the Mughal era. A short historical account of all the paintings was appended to each painting. The accounts of these buildings were given by James Atkinson, and the engravings were done by Landseer.

Bastion of the Lal Bagh, Dacca, by Sir Charles D’Oyly. Source: Antiquities of Dacca, 1823. Courtesy: Mohammad Shahidullah

Dhaka College was established in 1835, as an English school by the then Civil Surgeon Dr. James Taylor. It received the college status in 1841. The first graduates of Dhaka College came from different ethnic backgrounds like the local Muslim and Hindu students, as well as Armenians and Portuguese immigrants who lived in Dhaka in those days. 

In 1856 horse-driven carriages were introduced as a form of public transport. The number of carriages increased rapidly. In 1867 there were only 60 carriages and by 1889 the number of carriages rose to 600.

A 'Thika Gari' in the foreground in Chawkbazar, 1904

Rise of Dhaka Nawab Estate

In 1793, under the Permanent Settlement of Bengal enactment by Charles Cornwallis, the Company government and the Bengali zamindars agreed to fix revenues to be raised from the land. As a result, the Dhaka Nawab Estate grew to become the largest zamindari in Eastern Bengal. It was founded by Kashmiri merchant Khwaja Hafizullah Kashmiri and his nephew Khwaja Alimullah. A French trading center was converted into the residence of the Dhaka Nawabs in 1830. It was later constructed into a palace and named Ahsan Manzil. The estate paid the Company government Rs.320,964. In 1952 the Estate was abolished according to the East Bengal Estate Acquisition and Tenancy Act. 

Following the Partition of India in August 1947, Dhaka became the capital of East Bengal under the Dominion of Pakistan. There was serious communal violence that left thousands of people dead. Many of the city's Hindu residents departed for India, while hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants from the Indian states of West Bengal came to Dhaka. Dhaka saw an increasing number of political strikes and incidents of violence. The proposal to adopt Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan led to protest marches and strikes involving hundreds of thousands of people in the Bengali Language Movement, which soon degenerated into widespread violence after police were ordered to fire on the marching students in Dhaka University. They killed students who were demonstrating peacefully. Martial law was imposed throughout the city for a long period of time. The arrest of the Bengali politician Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1968 sparked political protests and violence against the military regime of Ayub Khan. The language movement during this period is now recognized internationally. On 17 November 1999 UNSECO first announced the observance of International Mother Language Day on February 21 of each year which was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002. 

Several prominent architectural developments took place in Dhaka during this period. Holy Family Hospital was built in March 1953. New Market was established in Azimpur in 1954. Dhaka College was moved to Dhanmondi in July 1956. Kamlapur railway station was established in 1969.

Language movement was not the last of major violence in the region. In 1970, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was elected as the next president of Pakistan. However, the West Pakistan's military rulers and the largest opposition party's (PPP) leader Zulfiker Ali Bhutto refused to hand over the presidency to an East Pakistani leadership. Sheikh Mujib held a massive nationalist gathering on 7 March 1971 at the Race Course Ground in Dhaka, that attracted nearly one million people. He aroused public support against ethnic and regional discrimination and spoke of the poor cyclone relief efforts from the central government. The East Pakistan population roused up by his speech were demanding for movement for independence. On 25 March 1971, in the middle of the night, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight, which led to the arrests, torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of people. This resulted in further mass genocide of killing millions of people. 

Citizens and intellectuals from Dhaka were victims of this mass genocide. The fall of the city to the Allied Forces on 16 December 1971 marked the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh. Dhaka, as we know it today, became the capital of Bangladesh.

In 1982, the English spelling of the city was officially changed from Dacca to Dhaka. In 1983, City Corporation was created to govern Dhaka and its population of 3,440,147 and it covered an area of 400 square kilometers. The city was divided into 75 wards.

The post-independence period saw a massive growth of the population, attracting migrant workers from rural areas across Bangladesh. A real estate boom followed the development of new settlements such as Gulshan, Banani and Motijheel. Dhaka has hosted the inaugural summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (1985), the D8 group summit (1999) and three South Asian Games events (1985, 1993 and 2010).

In 2011, Dhaka City Corporation was split into two separate corporations – DCC North and DCC South and in 2015 election Anisul Huq and Sayeed Khokon were elected as the mayors of the respective corporations. As of 2019, Dhaka has an estimated population of more than 18 million people, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and the 13th largest city in the world.