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Dhaka,Bangladesh

Joined 2 January 2013

History edit

Main article: History of Dhaka

Buddhist and Hindu kingdom edit

The existence of a settlement in the area that is now Dhaka dates from the 7th century. The small area was ruled by the Buddhist kingdom of Kamarupa and the Pala Empire before passing to the control of the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 9th century.[1] The name of the city may have derived after the establishment of the Goddess Dhakeshwari's temple by Ballal Sena in the 12th century.[2] The town itself consisted of a few market centres like Lakshmi Bazar, Shankhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli, Bania Nagar and Goal Nagar. After the fall of the Sena Empire, Dhaka was successively ruled by the Sultanate of Bengal as well as interruption of governors from the Delhi Sultanate.

Mughal rule edit

 
The Lalbagh Fort

In 1576 Bengal came under the control of Delhi as the Mughals conquered it. At that time Dhaka became a Mughal military base, prior to this move dhaka was never considered an important area as Chittagong was the leading city of the Bengal.[3] The development of townships and housing had resulted into a significant growth in population, as the town was proclaimed the capital (Rajmahal) of Bengal under Mughal rule in 1608, during this time many mosques Forts and universites had been built and Muslims were excused from paying taxes, this allowed many Muslims from surrounding areas to swell up the town transforming it into a city, it was at this time Dhaka was known as a city rather than a town or Fort.[4][5][6] Mughal documents record subahdar Islam Khan as the first administrator of the city.[7] Islam Khan named the city "Jahangir Nagar" (شهر از جهانگیر; City of Jahangir) in honour of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, although this name was dropped soon after Jahangir's death. A major expansion of the city took place under the direction of a general Shaista Khan on orders from the Sultan Aurangzeb in the 17th century.[5][6] The city then measured 19 by 13 kilometres (12 by 8 mi), with a population of nearly one million people and over a 100 universities and hundreds of mosques.[8] Mughal rule was severely weakend after the death of Aurangzeb and control of the Bengal switched hands once more, however it is noted that Mughal expansion and influences can still be seen in the region, as it was under Mughal rule that Islam came to be dominant.

British rule edit

 
Bastion of the Lalbagh, Dacca – 1816

The British East India Company in 1765 gained the right to collect revenue (Diwani right) and later took over governing in 1793 when the Nawabs of Bengal were forced to abdicate all their authority over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and the city passed on to total British control. The city's population shrank dramatically during this period as the prominence of Calcutta rose,[9] but substantive development and modernisation eventually followed. A modern civic water supply system was introduced in 1874 and electricity supply launched in 1878.[10][11] The Dhaka Cantonment was established near the city, serving as a base for British and Bengali soldiers.[6]

20th century edit

 
Ahsan Manzil,was once the palace of the Dhaka Nawab Family; it is now a museum.

During the abortive Partition of Bengal in 1905, Dhaka was declared to be the capital of the newly established state of East Bengal and Assam, but Bengal was reunited in 1911.[4][5][6] Following the Partition of India in 1947, Dhaka became the capital of East Pakistan. The city witnessed major communal violence following the partition of India.[6] A large proportion of the city's Hindu population departed for India, while the city received a large influx of Muslims. As the centre of regional politics, however, Dhaka saw an increasing number of political strikes and incidents of violence.[6] The adoption of Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan led to protest marches involving large crowds. Known as the Bengali Language Movement, the protests resulted in Pakistani police firing which killed a number of peaceful student demonstrators.[12] Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Dhaka remained a hotbed of political activity, and the demands for autonomy for the Bengali population. And this population gradually gained momentum.[13]

The 1970 Bhola cyclone devastated much of the region, killed an estimated 500,000 people.[14] More than half the city was flooded and millions of people were marooned.[15] With public anger growing against ethnic discrimination and poor cyclone relief efforts from the central government, Bengali politician Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman held a nationalist gathering on 7 March 1971 at Ramna Racecourse.[6][12] An estimated one million people attended the gathering, leading to the 26 March declaration of Bangladesh's independence.[12] In response, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight, which led to the arrests, torture and killing of thousands of people.[16] After nine months of bloody battle with Indian Army and Mitra Bahini, the Pakistani Army surrendered to the Joint Forces on 16 December marking the end of the independence war of Bangladesh.[17] As the nation's capital, Dhaka saw a rapid and huge growth of the city population in the post-independence period, as migrant workers from rural areas across Bangladesh moved to the city.[18] The growth of commerce and industry along with the city's population has created further challenges to the services and infrastructure.[19] A real estate boom has followed the expansion of city limits and the development of new settlements such as Uttara, Mohammadpur, Baridhara, Mirpur and Motijheel.[20]

  1. ^ Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud (2001). South Asia: Eastern Himalayan Culture, Ecology and People. Dhaka: Academic Press and Publishers. ISBN 984-08-0165-1.
  2. ^ Nagendra K. Singh (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh (Hardcover). Anmol Publications. p. 19. ISBN 81-261-1390-1.
  3. ^ Taru Bahl & M.H. Syed (2003). Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World. Anmol Publications PVT. p. 55. ISBN 81-261-1419-3.
  4. ^ a b "Dhaka". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference banglapedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Roy, Pinaki (28 July 2008). "Golden past of olden Dhaka". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  7. ^ Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt (1906). The Romance of an Eastern Capital. Smith, Elder, & Co. p. 264. ISBN 1-150-52170-8.
  8. ^ M. Atiqullah and F. Karim Khan (1965). Growth of Dacca City: Population and Area (1608–1981). Social Science Research Project, University of Dacca Press. p. 6.
  9. ^ M. Atiqullah and F. Karim Khan (1965). Growth of Dacca City: Population and Area (1608–1981). Social Science Research Project, University of Dacca Press. p. 7. With the growth of Calcutta (founded by Job Charnock in 1690), the business centres started moving to Calcutta followed by flight of capital and labour force from Dacca. By 1800, Calcutta became a city of 500 thousands, (Ghosh, 1950 pp 53–54) and Dacca declined to 200 thousands, the population of 160 years before.
  10. ^ H Furumai, F Kurisu & H Katayama (2008). Southeast Asian Water Environment 2: Selected Papers from the Second International Symposium on Southeast Asian Water Environment. IWA Publishing. p. 205. ISBN 1-84339-124-4.
  11. ^ Mohammad Atiqullah & Fazle Karim Khan (1965). Growth of Dacca City: Population and Area, 1608–1981. University of Dacca. p. 10.
  12. ^ a b c Richards, John (2002). "Calcutta and Dhaka: A tale of two cities". Inroads. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
  13. ^ The Feminist Review Collective (28 March 1991). Feminist Review (Issue 37). Routledge. p. 40. ISBN 0-415-06536-4.
  14. ^ "Timeline: Major tropical cyclones". BBC News. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  15. ^ Srivastava, H. N. (2006). Management of natural disasters in developing countries. Centre for Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries. p. 14. ISBN 81-7035-425-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Archer Blood. "Transcript of Selective Genocide Telex" (PDF). Department of State, United States. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  17. ^ Sheren, Syeda Momtaz. "War of Liberation, The". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  18. ^ "BANGLADESH: Jobless rural poor rush to the cities" (PHP). Integrated Regional Information Networks: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  19. ^ United Nations Human Settlements Program, United Nations Human Settlements Program (2007). Enhancing Urban Safety and Security: Global Report on Human Settlements 2007. Earthscan. p. 184. ISBN 1-84407-479-X.
  20. ^ "Improved System for Disaster Mitigation and Environmental Management in Bangladesh" (PDF). Regional United Nations Centre for Regional Development, Dhaka. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
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