History of Dhaka City:
Dhaka
City formerly spelled Dacca, named Jahangirnagar during Mughal era is
the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division.
Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located
on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan
area, had a population of over 16 million in 2011, making it the largest
city in Bangladesh. It is the 9th largest city in the world and also
28th among the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhaka is
known as the City of Mosques and with 400,000 cycle rickshaws running on
its streets every day, the city is also described as the Rickshaw
Capital of the World.
Under
Mughal rule in the 17th century, the city was known as Jahangir Nagar.
It was a provincial capital and a centre of the worldwide muslin trade.
The modern city, however, was developed chiefly under British rule in
the 19th century, and became the second-largest city in Bengal after
Calcutta (presently Kolkata). After the Partition of Bengal in 1905,
Dhaka became the capital of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam
but lost its status as a provincial capital again after the partition
was annulled in 1911. After the partition of India in 1947, Dhaka became
the administrative capital of East Pakistan, and later, in 1971, the
capital of an independent Bangladesh. During the intervening period, the
city witnessed widespread turmoil; this included many impositions of
martial law, the declaration of Bangladesh’s independence, military
suppression, devastation during war, and natural calamities. Modern
Dhaka is the centre of political, cultural and economic life in
Bangladesh. Although its urban infrastructure is the most developed in
the country, Dhaka suffers from urban problems such as pollution and
overpopulation. In recent decades, Dhaka has seen modernisation of
transport, communications and public works. The city is attracting large
foreign investments and greater volumes of commerce and trade. It is
also experiencing an increasing influx of people from across the nation,
this has reportedly made Dhaka the fastest growing city in the world.
Lalbabh Fort constructed in the mid 17th century by Prince Mohammed Azam
Shah, son of the Emperor Aurangzeb, and the Fort contains the tomb of
Bibi Pari, daughter of Shaista Khan. The existence of a settlement in
the area that is now Dhaka dates from the 7th century. The city 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. The
name of the city may have derived after the establishment of the
Goddess Dhakeshwari’s temple by Ballal Sena in the 12th century. The
town itself consisted of a few market centres like Lakshmi Bazar,
Shankhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli, Bania Nagar and Goal
Nagar.
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