Shahbagh শাহবাগ থানা | |
|---|---|
 Shahbagh Thana (police station) main entrance | |
 | |
| Coordinates:23°44.3′N90°23.75′E / 23.7383°N 90.39583°E /23.7383; 90.39583 | |
| Municipality | Dhaka |
| Established | 2004 |
| Area | |
• Total | 6.7 sq mi (17.4 km2) |
| Population | |
• Total | 63,761 |
| • Density | 9,490/sq mi (3,660/km2) |
| Postal code | 1000 |
| Area code | 02[2] |
| Website | www |
Shahbagh (alsoShahbaugh orShahbag,Bengali:শাহবাগ,romanized: Shāhbāg,IPA:[ˈɕaɦ.baɡ]) is a major neighbourhood and a police precinct orthana inDhaka, the capital and largest city ofBangladesh. It is also a major public transport hub.[3] It is a junction between two contrasting sections of the city—Old Dhaka and the New Dhaka—which lie, respectively, to its south and north. Developed in the 17th century duringMughal rule inBengal, when Old Dhaka was the provincial capital and a centre of the flourishingmuslin industry, it came to neglect and decay in early 19th century. In the mid-19th century, the Shahbagh area was developed as New Dhaka became a provincial centre of theBritish Raj, ending a century of decline brought on by the passing of Mughal rule.
Shahbagh is the location of the nation's leading educational and public institutions, including theUniversity of Dhaka, the oldest and largest public university in Bangladesh,Dhaka Medical College, the largest medical college in the country,Bangladesh Medical University (BMU), and theBangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, the largest public university for technological studies in the country. Shahbagh hosts manystreet markets andbazaars. Since Bangladesh achievedindependence in 1971, the Shahbagh area has become a venue for celebrating majorfestivals, such as theBengali New Year andBasanta Utsab.
Shahbagh's numerous ponds, palaces and gardens have inspired the work of writers, singers, and poets. With Dhaka University at its centre, thethana has been the origin of major political movements in the nation's 20th century history, including theAll India Muslim Education Conference in 1905, which led to theAll India Muslim League. In 1947, to both thepartition of India and the creation of Pakistan; theBengali language movement in 1952, which led to the recognition of Bengali as an official language of Pakistan; and theSix point movement in 1966, which led to the nation's independence. It was here, on 7 March 1971, thatSheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered a historic speech calling for the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan, and here too, later that year, that thePakistani Army surrendered in theLiberation War of Bangladesh. The area has since become a staging ground for protests by students and other groups. It was the site of public protests by around 30,000 civilians on 8 February 2013, against a lenient ruling against war criminals.[4][5][6] Shahbagh again became a center for gathering and protests during theQuota Reform Movement and theJuly Revolution in 2024 that overthrew theAwami league government ofSheikh Hasina.[7][8]
The neighborhood was originally namedBagh-e-Badshahi (Persian forGarden of Kings), but later came to be called by the shortened nameShah (Persian:شاه, king)Bagh (Persian: باغ, garden).[9]
Although urban settlements in the Dhaka area date back to the seventh centuryCE,[10] the earliest evidence ofurban construction in theShahbagh area is to be found at monuments constructed after 1610, when the Mughals turned Dhaka into a provincial capital and established the gardens of Shahbag. Among these monuments are: theDhaka Gate, located near theBangla Academy in Shahbag, and erected byMir Jumla, the Mughalsubadar of Bengal from 1660 to 1663;[11] theMariam Saleha Mosque, a three-domedMughal-style mosque inNilkhet-Babupara, constructed in 1706;[12] the Musa Khan Mosque on the western side of Dhaka University, likely constructed in the late 17th century;[13] and the Khwaja Shahbaz's Mosque-Tomb,[14] located behind theDhaka High Court and built in 1679 by Khwaja Shahbaz, a merchant-prince of Dhaka during the vice-royalty of PrinceMuhammad Azam, the son of Mughal EmperorAurangzeb.[15] According to legends asadhu named Gopal Giri, fromBadri Narayan, established aKali temple in Shahbagh in the 13th century. Calledkaathgarh at the time, it eventually became theRamna Kali Mandir.[16] It is also said thatKedar Rai ofBikrampur, one of theBaro-Bhuyans, apparently built a Kali temple on the site in the late 16th century, and the main temple was built by Haricharan Giri in the early 17th century.[16]
However, with the decline of Mughal power in Bengal, the Shahbagh gardens—the Gardens of the Kings—fell into neglect. In 1704, when the provincial capital was moved toMurshidabad, they became the property of the Naib Nazims – the Deputy-Governors of the sub-province of East Bengal – and the representatives of the Nawabs of Murshidabad.[citation needed] Although British power was established in Dacca in 1757, the upkeep of Shahbag gardens was resumed only in the early 19th century under the patronage of anEast India Company judge, Griffith Cook,[17][failed verification] and P. Aratun.[18] In 1830, the Ramna area, which included Shahbag, was incorporated into Dhaka city consequent to the deliberations of the Dacca Committee (for the development of Dacca town) founded bydistrict collector Henry Walters.[19] A decade later, NawabKhwaja Alimullah, founder of theDhaka Nawab Family and father ofNawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Abdul Ghani, purchased the Shahbaghzamindari (estate) from the East India Company. Upon his death, in 1868, the estate passed to his grandsonNawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah. In the early 20th century, Ahsanullah's son,Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Salimullah, was able to reclaim some of the lost splendour of the gardens by dividing them into two smaller gardens—the present-dayShahbagh andParibagh (or, "garden of fairies")—the latter named after Paribanu, one of Ahsanullah's daughters.
With thepartition of Bengal in 1905, and withDacca becoming the capital of the new province ofEast Bengal, European-style houses were rapidly built in the area, especially along the newly constructed Fuller Road (named after Sir Bampfylde Fuller, the firstLieutenant Governor of East Bengal). Around this time, the first zoo in the Dhaka area was also established in Shahbag.[20]Rani Bilasmani ofBhawal established a new idol in the Kali temple and excavated a large pond in front of it during this period.[16] In 1924,Anandamayi Ma moved into Shahbag and established Anandamayi Asharam inside the 2.22 acres of temple ground.[16]
After the creation of the new nation of Pakistan in 1947, when Dhaka became the capital ofEast Pakistan, many new buildings were built in the Shahbag area, including, in 1960, the office ofBangladesh Betar,[21] (thenPakistan Radio), the national radio station, the (now-defunct) Dacca race-course, as well as the second electric power-plant in East Bengal. On 7 March 1971,Sheikh Mujibur Rahman chose the RamnaRacecourse near Shahbagh to deliver his speech calling for an independent Bangladesh. On 27 March 1971, Pakistani Army destroyed the Kali temple and its 120 feet tower.[16] During the ensuingBangladesh Liberation War, many foreign journalists, including theAssociated Press bureau chief in Pakistan, Arnold Zeitlin, andWashington Post reporter,H.D.S. Greenway stayed atHotel InterContinental (nowHotel Sheraton) at the Shahbagh Intersection. The hotel, which had been declared aneutral zone,[22][23][24] nonetheless came under fire from both combatants in the war—theMukti Bahini and Pakistani army.[25][26] At the conclusion of the war, the Hotel Intercontinental was at first chosen as the venue for the surrender ceremony of the WestPakistan Army;[25] however, the final surrender ceremony later took place in the nearbyRamna Park (now Suhrawardy Uddan).
Shahbagh is part of the 181stelectoral district of Bangladesh: Dhaka 8.[27] In2008 Bangladeshi general electionRashed Khan Menon ofWorkers Party of Bangladesh was elected as the member ofJatiyo Sangsad (member of parliament or MP) from the area. In the Dhaka City Corporation ward commissioner election of 2002 Md. Chowdhury Alam (ward 56) and Khaja Habibullah Habib (ward 57) were elected from the Shahbagh area.[28]
ThroughoutBangladesh's history, the Shahbagh intersection has frequently served as a prominent site for public demonstrations and socio-political protests. Notable events held at this location include the2013 Shahbag protests, the2013 Bangladesh quota reform movement, and the2025 Shahbag protest.[29]
| Landmarks |
|---|
| BSMMU |BIRDEM |
| Hotel Sheraton |Faculty of Fine Arts |
| Bangladesh National Museum |
| Central Public Library |
| University Mosque and Cemetery |IBA, DU |
| Dhaka Club |Shishu Park |
| Tennis Federation |Police Control Room |
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With an area of 4.2 square kilometres (1.6 sq mi) and an estimated 2006 population of 112,000[30] Shabag lies within the monsoon climate zone at an elevation of 1.5 to 13 metres (5 to 43 ft) above mean sea level.[31] Like rest of Dhaka city it has an annual average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) and monthly means varying between 18 °C (64 °F) in January and 29 °C (84 °F) in August. Nearly 80% of the annual average rainfall of 1,854 mm (73 in) occurs between May and September.[32]
The Shahbagh neighbourhood covers a large approximately rectangular area, extending on the east fromRamna Park to theSupreme Court of Bangladesh; on the west as far as Sonargaon Road; on the south as far as Fuller Road and from theUniversity of Dhaka[33] to theSuhrawardy Udyan (formerly, Ramna Racecourse); and on the north as far as Minto Road, Hotel Sheraton and the Diabetic Hospital.
Shahbagh is home to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Control Room as well as a Dhaka Electric Supply Authority substation. TheMausoleum of three leaders Bengali statesmanA.K. Fazlul Huq (1873–1962), former Prime Minister of Pakistan,Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (1892–1963), and former Prime Minister and Governor-General of Pakistan,Khwaja Nazimuddin (1894–1964)—are all located in Shahbag. The major academic bodies around Shahbag Intersection and in ShahbaghThana area include: University of Dhaka,Dhaka Medical College,BUET, Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy,Bangladesh Medical University (BMU),[34] the only public medical university in the country,Institute of Cost & Management Accountants,IBA,Institute of Modern Languages, Udayan School, University Laboratory School, and the Engineering University School. Other public and educational institutions in the area include theBangladesh National Museum, theCentral Public Library, and theShishu Academy, the National Academy for Children.
The Shahbagh Intersection, the nerve centre of the neighbourhood, is the location of many Dhaka landmarks. Well-known ones include Hotel Sheraton[35] (formerly Hotel Intercontinental, the second five-star hotel in Dhaka); theDhaka Club, the oldest and largest club in Dhaka, established in 1911; the National Tennis Complex;Shishu Park, the oldest children's entertainment park in Dhaka, notable for admitting underprivileged childrengratis on weekends;Sakura, the first bar in Dhaka; andPeacock, the first Dhaka bar with outdoor seating. The Shahbagh Intersection is one of the majorpublic transportation hubs in Dhaka, along with Farmgate,Gulistan,Mohakhali, andMaghbazar.
The thana also contains a hospitals complex, which is a major destination for Bangladeshis seeking medical treatment. The Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (DAB[36]) is located at the Shahbag Intersection, as areBIRDEM (Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders) and the BIRDEM Hospital. Flanking BIRDEM hospital is the Ibrahim Memorial Cardiac Hospital, named after Dr Muhammad Ibrahim, the founder of DAB and BIRDEM. Other facilities in the area are BSMMU Hospital (at the Intersection) and the Dhaka Medical College Hospital at the southern end of Shahbagh.
Located at the juncture of two major bus routes – Gulistan toMirpur andMotijheel toUttara – Shahbagh Intersection serves as a public transport hubs in Dhaka, where the population commutes exclusively by the city bus services.[37][38] The Shahbagh intersection hosts theShahbagh metro station ofMRT Line 6, which offers a safe, reliable and fast method of transportation to other parts of the city, compared to other vehicles. Themetro station of Shahbagh sits in the route ofUttara (north) toMotijheel andKamalapur and is located betweenKawran Bazar andUniversity of Dhaka metro rail stations. The Intersection also has one of the few taxi stands in Dhaka. Thethoroughfares of Shahbag has been made free of cycle-rickshaws, the traditional transport of Dhaka.[39]
Shahbagh Square, also known asShahbagh Circle, is a major road intersection and public transport hub located in Shahbagh thana. The intersection connects some of the important areas of Dhaka such asGulshan, andFarmgate. It is also surrounded by some significant landmarks including Bangladesh National Museum, Suhrawardy Udyan, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.[40] Throughout its history, Shahbag square has been a place of protests and demonstrations, most notably the2013 Shahbagh protests.[41]
Also located in Shahbagh are several mansions built byDhaka Nawab Family in the 19th century. These mansions not only figured prominently in the history of Dhaka, but also gained mention in the histories of bothBengal andBritish India.
A well-known Nawab family mansion is the Ishrat Manzil. Originally, a dance-hall for the performances ofBaijees, or dancing women, (including, among the famous ones, Piyari Bai, Heera Bai, Wamu Bai and Abedi Bai), the mansion became the venue for theAll-India Muslim Education Society Conference in 1906, which was attended by 4,000 participants. In 1912, Society convened here again under the leadership of Nawab Salimullah, and met withLord Hardinge, theViceroy of India. The Ishrat Manzil was subsequently rebuilt as Hotel Shahbagh (designed by British architects Edward Hicks and Ronald McConnel), the first major international hotel in Dhaka. In 1965, the building was acquired by the Institute of Post-graduate Medicine and Research (IPGMR), and later, in 1998, by the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).[42]
Another Nawab mansion is the Jalsaghar. Built as a skating rink and a ballroom for the Nawabs, it was later converted into an eatery and meeting place for students and faculty of Dhaka University and renamedMadhur Canteen. In the late 1960s, Madhur Canteen became a focal point for planning student protests against the West Pakistan regime. Flanked on one side by the Dhaka University'sFaculty of Fine Arts and on the other by theInstitute of Business Administration (IBA), the Madhur Canteen remains a powerful political symbol.[42][43]
Nishat Manjil was built as the princely stable and clubhouse for the Nawabs, and served as a venue of receptions for the statesmen of the day, includingLord Dufferin (Viceroy of India),Lord Carmichael (Governor of Bengal), Sir Steuart Bayley (Lt. Governor of Bengal), SirCharles Alfred Elliott (Lt. Governor of Bengal), and John Woodburn (Lt. Governor of Bengal).
The Nawab's Paribagh House was built by Khwaja Salimullah in the memory of his sister, Pari Banu. Later, with the downturn in the family's fortunes, his son, Nawab Khwaja Habibullah, lived here for many years. Thehammam (bath) and thehawakhana (green house) were regarded as marvels of design in the early 20th century.[44]
Sujatpur Palace, the oldest Nawab mansion in the area, later became the residence for the Governor of East Bengal during the Pakistani Regime, and was subsequently turned into theBangla Academy, the Supreme Bengali Language Authority in Bangladesh. Some of the palace grounds was handed over to the TSC (Teacher Student Center[45]) of Dhaka University, and became a major cultural and political meeting place in the 1970s.
Shahbagh is populated by mostly teachers and students, and its civic life is dominated by the activities of its academic institutions. Its commercial life too reflects its occupants' intellectual and cultural pursuits. Among its best known markets is the country's largest second-hand, rare, and antiquarian book-market,[46] consisting ofNilkhet-Babupura Hawkers Market, astreet market, andAziz Supermarket, an indoorbazaar.[47] Shahbag is also home to the largest flower market (a street side open airbazaar) in the country, which is located at Shahbag Intersection,[48][49] as well as the largest pet market in the country, theKatabon Market.[50] In addition, Elephant Road features a large shoe market and,Nilkhet-Babupura, a large market for bedding accessories.
Shahbagh's numerous ponds, palaces and gardens have inspired the work of artists, including poetBuddhadeva Bose, singerProtiva Bose, writer-chroniclerHakim Habibur Rahman, and twoUrdu poets of 19th-century Dhaka, Obaidullah Suhrawardy and Abdul Gafoor Nassakh.[51]Shahbag was at the centre of the cultural and political activities associated with theLanguage movement of 1952, which resulted in the founding here of theBangla Academy, a national academy for promoting theBengali language. The first formal art school in Dhaka – theDhaka Art College[citation needed] (now Faculty of Fine Arts) – was founded in Shahbag byZainul Abedin in 1948.[citation needed] The art college building, constructed in 1953–1954, was designed byMazharul Islam, the pioneer of modern architecture in Bangladesh.[52] In the 1970s, Aftabuddin Ahmed and M. M. Yacoob openedJiraz Art Gallery in the Shahbag area.[53][54] Other cultural landmarks in the area includes theBangladesh National Museum,[55] the National Public Library, and the Dhaka University Mosque and Cemetery, containing the graves ofKazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet, of painters Zainul Abedin andQuamrul Hassan, and of the teachers killed by Pakistani forces during theBangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
The Shahbagh area has a rich religious history. In the late 1920s,Sri Anandamoyi Ma, the notedHindu ascetic, also known as theMother of Shahbagh, built herashram nearRamna Kali Mandir, or the Temple ofKali, at Ramna. Her presence in Dhaka owed directly to Shahbagh, for her husband, Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti, had accepted the position of caretaker of Shahbagh gardens a few years earlier. In 1971 the Temple of Kali was destroyed by the Pakistani Army in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.[56] A well-known localMuslim saint of the early 20th century was Syed Abdur Rahim, supervisor of the dairy farm established by Khwaja Salimullah, the Nawab of Dhaka, at Paribag. Known as theShah Shahib of Paribag, Abdur Rahim had hiskhanqah (Persian: خانگاه, spiritual retreat) here; his tomb lies at the same location today.[57]Katabon Mosque, an important centre for Muslim missionaries in Bangladesh, is located in Shahbag as well. In addition, the onlySikhGurdwara in Dhaka stands next to the Institute of Modern Languages in Shahbagh.[58]
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Since 1875, the Shahbagh gardens have hosted a famousfair celebrating theGregorian New Year and containing exhibits of agricultural and industrial items, as well as those of animals and birds. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the gardens were the private property of the Nawab of Dhaka, and, although a portion of the gardens had been donated to Dhaka University in 1918, ordinary citizens could enter the main gardens only during the fair. In 1921, at the request of the Nawab's daughter, Paribanu, the organisers of the fair set aside one day during which only women were admitted to the fair, a tradition that has continued down to the present. Today, the fair features dance recitals by girls,Jatra (a native form of folk theater),putul naach (puppet shows), magic shows andBioscope shows. Historically, Shahbagh was also the main venue in Dhaka for other recreational sports likeBoli Khela (wrestling) andhorse racing.[42]
TheBasanta Utsab (Festival of Spring) takes place every 14 February—the first day of spring, according to the reformedBangladeshi calendar.Basanta Utsab has become a major festival in Dhaka since it was first celebrated in Shahbagh in the 1960s.[59][60][61] Face painting, wearing yellow clothes (signifying Spring), music, and local fairs are typical of the many activities associated with the festival, which often also includes themes associated withValentine's Day.
Shahbagh is also a focal point of thePohela Boishakh (the Bengali New Year) festival, celebrated every 14 April following therevised Bengali Calendar, and now the biggest carnival in Dhaka.[62][63] From 1965 to 1971 the citizens of Dhaka observed the festival as a day of protest against the Pakistani regime.[64] Other local traditions associated with the festival include theBoishakhi Rally and theBoishakhi Mela begun by the Institute of Fine Arts (now Faculty of Fine Arts) and the Bangla Academy respectively. In addition, Chayanaut Music School began the tradition of singing at dawn under the Ramna Batamul (RamnaBanyan tree). In 2001, a suicide bomber killed 10 people and injured 50 others during the Pohela Baishakh festivals. TheHarkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, an Islamic militant group, was alleged to be behind the incident.[65]
Books and movies figure prominently in the cultural life of Shahbagh. The biggest book fair in Bangladesh is held every February on the premises of the Bangla Academy in Shahbagh. The only internationally recognised film festival[66] in Bangladesh—the Short and Independent Film Festival, Bangladesh—takes place every year at the National Public Library premises. The organisers of the film festival, theBangladesh Short Film Forum, have their offices in Aziz Market.Aparajeyo Bangla, a sculpture in memory of Bangladesh Liberation War, is also in Shahbagh.
According to2011 Census of Bangladesh, Shahbagh Thana has a population of 68,140 with average household size of 7.8 members, and an average literacy rate of 84.7% vs national average of 51.8% literacy.[67]
Upon [Judge John Francis Griffith Cooke's] retirement, in 1844 or 1845, he sold this [large plot of land with a small bungalow] to Khwaja Abdul Ghani. The Khwajas by this time had become one of the leading zamindar families of East Bengal and were eager to demonstrate their status. Within a few years Khwaja Abdul Ghani had built a magnificent country house ... laid out in a beautiful garden. This garden, in the Mughal style, was named Shahbagh, and soon the whole area came to be called by this name.
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