Mughal Dhaka - BPH 101 Assignment PDF

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Assignment – 1 Assignment Topic : Mughal Dhaka Course Title : Bangladesh Political History Course Code: BPH 101 Submitted to :Sayed Abu Touab Shakir Submitted by: Saddam Hossain ID : 1510116

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Mughal Rule and Rise of The Capital of Bengal

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Portuguese settlements

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British East India Company Rule (1772-1857)

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Rise of Dhaka Nawab Estate

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British Raj Rule (1858-1947)

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East Bengal’s Capital (1947-1971)

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Post Independence of Bangladesh (1971- Present)

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Mughal Rule and Rise of The Capital of Bengal Dhaka came into the domain of Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar after the Battle of Tukaroi which was fought in 1575 near the village of Tukaroi now in Balasore District, Odisha between the Mughals and the Karrani Sultanate of Bengal and Bihar. However, during this reign of Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605), Dhaka was referred as a Thana (a military outpost). Dhaka was situated in Bhati region which hosted several rebel forces led by Bara-Bhuiyans from mid to late 16th century. After the leader of Bara-Bhuiyans, Musa Khan, was subdued by Mughal General Islam Khan Chisti in 1608, Dhaka again went directly under control of Mughals. The newly appointed Governor of Bengal, Islam Khan transferred the Bengal capital from Rajmahal to Dhaka to crush further rebel uprisings. This initiated a new era of the history of Dhaka as the capital city of Mughol province of Bengal. He also renamed Dhaka as Jahangirnagar (City of Jahangir) after the Emperor Jahangir. Due to its location right beside some main river routes, Dhaka was an important centre for business. The Muslin fabric was produced and traded in this area. He successfully crushed the regional revolts in Jessore, Bakla (present days Barisal) and Bhulua (present days Noakhali) and brought almost the entire province under the Mughal domain. As the next governor, Prince Shuja built Bara Katra between 1644 and 1646 in Dhaka to serve as his official residence. He also patronised building of Hussaini Dalan, a Shia shrine in old Dhaka though he himself was a Sunni. In the late 1640s, for personal and political reasons, he made the temporary move to shift the capital back to Rajmahal. Dhaka became a subordinate station. Due to political turmoil, Emperor Aurangzeb sent Mir Jumla to deal with Prince Shuja. He pursued Shuja up to Dhaka and reached the city on 9 May 1660. But Shuja fled to Arakan region. As Jumla was ordered to become the next Governor of Bengal, Dhaka was again made the capital of the region. He was engaged in construction activities in Dhaka and its suburbs – two roads, two bridges and a network of forts. A fort at Tangi-Jamalpur guarded one of the roads connecting

Dhaka 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 traveller Niccolao Manucci came to Dhaka in 1662– 63. According to him, Dhaka had large number of inhabitants compare to the size of the city. Most of the houses were built of straw. There were only two kuthis – one of the English and the other of the Dutch. Ships were loaded with fine white cotton and silk fabrics. A large number of Christians and white and black Portuguese resided in Dhaka. Thomas Bowrey, a British merchant sailor, visited Dhaka in the 1670s. In his book, A Geographical Account of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, he mentioned: The City of Dhaka is a very large, spacious one, but stands on low, marshy, swampy ground, and the water of that ground is very brackish, which is the only inconvenience. It has, however, some very fine conveniences that compensate, having a very fine and large river that runs close by the city walls, navigable by ships of 500 or 600 tonnes burden. The water of the river, being an arm of the Ganges, is extraordinarily good, but is some distance for fetching and carrying for some residents of the city, the city being not less than 40 English miles in circumference. It is an admirable city for its greatness, for its magnificent buildings, and the multitude of its inhabitants. A very great and potent, permanent, and paid army is based here, in a constant state of readiness. Also, many large, strong, and stately elephants, trained for battle, which are kept close to the palace.

Shaista Khan, governor of Bengal (1664–1688) 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. The largest expansion of the city took place under the next Mughal governor Shaista Khan (1664–1688). 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. The Chawk Mosque, Babubazar Mosque, Sat Gumbad Mosque, Choto Katra were originally built during this period. He also built tombs of Bibi Pari, Bibi Champa and Dara Begum. A French traveller, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, arrived Dhaka on 13 January 1666 and met Shaista Khan. He referred Shaista Khan as "the uncle of King Aurangzeb and the cleverest man in all his kingdom". Prince Azim-ush-Shan became the Governor of Bengal in 1697. Due to conflict with Diwan Murshid Quli Khan, he shifted his office from Dhaka to Patna in 1703. Murshid Khan also shifted his office to Mauksusabad (later renamed it to Murshidabad).

Portuguese settlements In Bengal region, the Portuguese made the principal trading centre in Hooghly. They also made small settlements in Dhaka in about 1580. Ralph Fitch, an English traveller, recorded in 1586 that Portuguese traders were involved in shipping rice, cotton and silk goods. Tavernier mentioned about churches built in

Dhaka by Portuguese Augustinian missionaries. J.J. Campos, an editor of Asiatic Society of Bengal, named several Portuguese churches in Dhaka – Church of Our Lady of Rosary, Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Church of the Holy Ghost and Church of our Lady Piety. During the viceroyalty of Shaista Khan, another section of the Portuguese came from Sandwip and Arakan and settled in Dhaka at a place called Feringhi Bazar. Sebastien Manrique, a Portuguese missionary and traveller, visited Dhaka in September 1640 and spent about 27 days around the area. ]According to him, the city 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 west, east, and north. He further mentioned, "a small but beautiful church with a convent" in Dhaka. In his words, This is the chief city in Bengala and the seat of the principal Nababo or viceroy, appointed by the emperor, who bestowed this viceroyalty, on several occasions, on one of his sons. It stands in a wide and beautiful plain on the banks of the famous and here fructifying Ganges river, beside which the City stretches for over a league and a half.

British East India Company Rule (1772-1857) The English formally established their factories in Dhaka in 1668. The English traders were already in the city as early as in 1666 when Tavernier visited. William Hedges was appointed the first head of British East India Company. He arrived Dhaka on 25 October 1681. The city passed under partial control of the British East India Company in 1772 after the Battle of Buxar. Per the Treaty of Allahabad, East India Company was appointed imperial tax collector of the province BengalBihar-Orissa by the Mughal emperor. East India company was still a subject of the Mughal empire. East India company took complete control in 1793 when Nizamat (Mughal appointed governorship) was abolished. The city then became known by its anglicised name, Dacca. Owing to the war, the city's population shrank dramatically in a short period of time. Although an important city in the Bengal province, Dhaka remained smaller than Kolkata, which served as the capital of British India fora long period of time. Under British rule, many modern educational institutions, public works and townships were developed. 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. Dhaka served as a strategic link to the frontier of the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam. Charles D'Oyly was the Collector of Dhaka from 1808 to 1811. He made a good collection of painting folios of Dhaka in Antiquities of Dacca. These paintings exhibited much of the ruins of Dhaka from the Mughal era. A short historical account of the paintings was also appended to each book. James Atkinson wrote these accounts, accompanied by engravings done by Landseer. In 1835 Dhaka College was established as an English School by the then Civil Surgeon Dr. James Taylor. It got the college status in 1841. Local Muslim and Hindu students as well as Armenians and Portuguese were among the first graduates.

Rise of Dhaka Nawab Estate Under the Permanent Settlement of Bengal enactment by Charles Cornwallis in 1793, the Company government and the Bengali zamindars agreed to fix revenues to be raised from land. As a result, Dhaka Nawab Estate grew to become the largest zamindari in Eastern Bengal. It was founded by Kashmir origin Khwaja Hafizullah and his nephew Khwaja Alimullah. A French trading centre is converted as the residence of the Dhaka Nawabs in 1830. It was later constructed into a palace and named Ahsan Manzil. The estate paid Rs 320,964 as per agreement to the Company government in 1904. In 1952 the Estate was abolished according to the East Bengal Estate Acquisition and Tenancy Act.

British Raj Rule (1858-1947) Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, British East India Company's ruling ended and the British Crown took direct control of the region in 1858. Dacca Municipality (later Dhaka City Corporation) was established on 1 August 1864 At that time the area of Dhaka was 20.72 square kilometres with a population of around 52,000. In 1885 railway line between Dhaka and Narayanganj was built. Mymensingh was connected to Dhaka in 1889.

Lord Curzon arrived Dhaka in 1904 and established Curzon Hall. In July 1905 he decided to take effect the Partition of Bengal. Dhaka became the capital of the new province, Eastern Bengal and Assam, on 16 October 1905. Joseph Bampfylde Fuller entered on his office in Dhaka as the first lieutenant-governor of the region in January 1906. But the partition was revoked in 1911 and Dhaka became a district town on 1 April 1912. Eden College was founded in 1880. Narendra Narayan Roy Choudhury, landlord of the Baldah Estate, built Baldha Garden in 1909. University of Dhaka was established in 1921. Philip Hartog became the first vice-chancellor of the university. Ahsanullah School of Engineering (now Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) was established in 1912 under the substantial grants and patronage from Dhaka Nawab Family.

East Bengal’s Capital (1947-1971) Following the Partition of India in August 1947, Dhaka became the capital of East Bengal under the Dominion of Pakistan. The city witnessed serious communal violence that left thousands of people dead. A large proportion of the city's Hindu population departed for India, while the city received hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants from the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam and Bihar. Population increased from 335,925 in 1951 to 556,712 in 1961 registering an increase of 65.7 percent. As the centre of regional politics, 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 Bengali Language Movement. The protests soon degenerated into widespread violence after police firing 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 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1968 would also spark intensive political protests and violence against the military regime of Ayub Khan. The 1970 Bhola cyclone devastated much of the region, killing numerous people. More than half the city of Dhaka was flooded and waterlogged, with millions of people marooned. The same year, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won a landslide victory in general election. He was elected as the next president of Pakistan. However, the West Pakistan's military rulers and even the largest opposition party's (PPP) leader Zulfiker Ali Bhutto refused to hand over the

presidency to East Pakistan leadership. The following year saw Sheikh Mujib hold a massive nationalist gathering on 7 March 1971 at the Race Course Ground that attracted an estimated one million people. Galvanising public anger against ethnic and regional discrimination and poor cyclone relief efforts from the central government, the gathering preceded near total consensus among East Pakistan population for independent movement. In response, 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 – just in that night alone. As a result, on behalf of East Pakistan leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a Bengali army Major named Ziaur Rahman (later General and President) declared Bangladesh's independence on 26 March 1971. This resulted in further mass genocide of approximately 3 million people. Citizens and intellectuals from Dhaka was the largest victim of this mass genocide. The fall of the city to the Indian Army on 16 December 1971 marked the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh. Dhaka became the capital of Bangladesh.

Post Independence of Bangladesh (1971- Present) Despite independence, political turmoil continued to plague the people of Dhaka. The Pakistan Army's operations had killed or displaced millions of people, and the new state struggled to cope with the humanitarian challenges. The year 1975 saw the killing of Sheikh Mujib and three military coups. The city would see the restoration of order under military rule, but political disorder would heighten in the mid-1980s with the pro-democracy movement led by the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Political and student strikes and protests routinely disrupted the lives of Dhaka's people. However, the post-independence period has also seen a massive growth of the population, attracting migrant workers from rural areas across Bangladesh. A real estate boom has followed the development of new settlements such as Gulshan, Banani and Motijheel. In 1985, Dhaka hosted the inaugural summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It has also hosted the summits of the D8 group and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. In 1983 City Corporation was created to govern Dhaka and its population reached 3,440,147 and it covered an area of 400 square kilometres. The city was divided into 75 wards. Under new act in 1993 the first election was held in 1994 and Mohammad Hanif became the first elected Mayor of Dhaka. In 2011, Dhaka City Corporation was split into two separate corporations – DCC North and DCC South and in 2015 election Annisul Huq and Sayeed Khokon were elected as the mayors of the respective corporations....