পুরান ঢাকাইয়া | |
|---|---|
 A Dhakaiya Muslim lady in a muslin sari reclining with ahookah. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Old Dhaka (Bangladesh) | |
| Languages | |
| Bengali (Dhakaiya Kutti dialect),Urdu (Dhakaiya Urdu dialect) | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Urdu-speaking people |
TheOld Dhakaites (Bengali:পুরান ঢাকাইয়া,romanized: Puran Dhakaiya) are anIndo-Aryan cultural group viewed as theoriginal inhabitants ofDhaka's.[1][2] They are referred to as simplyDhakaites orDhakaiya. Their history dates back to theMughal period with the migration ofBengali cultivators andNorth Indian merchants to the city. The Bengali cultivators came to be known as Kutti and they speakDhakaiya Kutti, a dialect ofBengali and the North Indian merchants came to be known as Khoshbas and they speakDhakaiya Urdu, a dialect ofUrdu. There are sizeable populations in other parts ofBangladesh. They have been described as a wealthy but very closed-off community; evidently being a minority in their own hometown.[3][4] It is said that some people living inGreater Dhaka are even unaware of the existence of anUrdu-speaking non-Bihari minority community although their presence dates back centuries.[2]
ڈھاکہ عجیب شہر، نام جہانگیر نگر
Dhaka ajeeb shahar, naam Jahangir Nagar
Dhaka is a strange city, its name isJahangirnagar
دو چار شریف ہے، باقی کٹّی تمام
Do-char Sharif hai, baaqi Kutti tamam
There are a fewsharif (nobles), the rest are all Kutti
During theMughal era, theBengal Subah was famous for rice cultivation and the city ofJahangirnagar (nowOld Dhaka) was the province's capital. Rice was a very important export product in the mid-eighteenth century, centred in Dhaka. The merchants who exported the rice were predominantlyMarwaris andCentral Indians ofnoble descent. These northern and central Indian merchants would go to different areas inEastern Bengal and collect the rice. The rice was first needed to be cleaned up usingdhekis before packaging, and this process is calledkuta (কুটা) in Bengali. Many local Bengali rice cultivators from villages across Bengal were employed to do this. They would travel to the city to complete this job, and as it was lengthy journey, many of them started to permanently start residing in Dhaka. This migration took place circa 1760. However, not all were involved in the rice trade. The presence of the Mughals in Dhaka meant that there was generally a lot more employment opportunities there and so they took other occupations such askhansamahs, footsoldiers, guards, chefs and chauffeurs for theNawabs of Dhaka and other aristocratic families.[6][7] These groups of people lived together and engaged in conversations andaddas with theirHindustani counterparts and their main occupation led them to be known askuttis (other less-common names includedkutiyal andhatkutti). The interactions of Kutti-Bengalis with different migrated north Indian Urdu-speaking people in Old Dhaka led to the birth of an Urdu-influenced dialect of Bengali known as Dhakaiya Kutti, and with that - a new identity.[8]
The merchants fromNorth India also eventually settled in Dhaka and came to be known askhoshbas meaning happily-settled. Other names for them includedsukhbas andsubbasi. Originally anUrdu-speaking community, their time in Bengal led to the emergence of a Bengali-influenced dialect known asDhakaiya Urdu as they were a minority in comparison to the Kutti-Bengalis.[1]
Many of the Kutti-Bengalis became a lot wealthier over the years due to their occupation and many became landowners. With thousands of Kutti being involved in the rice supplying industry by 1787, they also formed a merchant class by monopolising rice retail in the city.[1] Notable landowners inNew Paltan included Gulenur Khatun and Ayub Ali Sardar. Khatun owned a large portion of the northern part of New Paltan where she also owned a thatched hut residence as well as a tea stall. Named as Lalur Maar Dokan (লালুর মার দোকান, Lalu's mother's shop), it was located just beside the 3rd gate of the erstwhileEast Pakistan Rifles. Sardar, who lived on the other side of Khatun's tea stall, was a horse operator and had a number of horses. These horses would engage inhorse races in the famousRamna Race Course, from which not only he made a fortune from, but also won medals from theBritish Raj. They can also be found in other localities such asNarinda.[9]
Presently, the Kutti-Bengalis are minority inOld Dhaka following the mass migration of non-DhakaiyaBengalis from districts all overBengal during thefirst andsecond partitions during the British colonial period. With the expansion of the city, new residential areas were created to supply housing to the more recent migrants. The traditional trade hub atSadarghat was shifted toNilkhet andGulistan, decreasing Old Dhakaiya influence. The new educated migrant community (now also commonly known as Dhakaiyas with the former now being referred to as "Old Dhakaiyas") spoke inStandard Bengali, the standardised register of Bengali. Some of the Old Dhakaiya community began to see the new migrant community as their opponents due to these dialectal and cultural differences. This division was the source of modern troubles in the identities of the Old Dhakaiyas (who view themselves as original inhabitants) and the post-partition migrant community (who currently form the majority in the city).[1]
A common tradition of the Kutti-Bengalis was that they would wear white shirts and whitelungis.[10] The Khoshbas would dress very formally, sporting blacksherwanis. Covering ones head in both communities is seen as more respectful, and notable headwear include thetupi,karakul,rumi topi andtaqi. Women are famed for theDhakaijamdani-sari, a clothing originating in Dhaka using a fine muslin textile. Dating back centuries, it is popular amongstBengalis in general. The traditional art of weaving jamdani was patronised by the Mughals but under British colonial rule, the jamdani and muslin industries rapidly declined due to colonial import policies favouring industrially manufactured textiles. In more recent years, the production of jamdani has witnessed a revival in Bangladesh and in 2013,UNESCO classed it as anIntangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.[11][12][13] In 2016, Bangladesh receivedgeographical indication (GI) status for the Jamdani Sari.[14]
Old Dhakaiya food is one of the most notable regionalBangladeshi cuisines. The rich culinary customs are influenced byMughlai,Central Asian,Armenian,Hindustani andBengali cuisines. However, it also has dishes unique to Dhaka.[15]Haji biryani is a dish, invented by a restaurateur in 1939, made with highly seasoned rice,goat's meat and number of spices and nuts. The restaurant has become an integral part of Dhakaiya culture.[16] Old Dhaka boasts a variation of the famouspilaf - the Morog Polao - in which the rice is cooked after and the chicken pieces are cut. Otherpolaos includeilish polao andrui polao. Dhakaiyas are noted for introducingpaneer and boiled eggs tokhichuri.[15]Dhakai bakarkhani is a thick, biscuit-likeflat-bread which is a traditional street-food snack, famed for its quality and taste. It is mainly dished up with tea.[17][18] Old Dhakaiyas proudly hold a heritage of creating the bestkhili paan using various herbs and spices. They also offer a khili paan for diabetic patients called the "paan afsana".[19] Common Dhakaiya beverages includeborhani,Rooh Afza,shorbot, traditional fruit juices as well asbasil seed-based drinks.Falooda,shahi jilapi andshemai are popular sweet foods and desserts.
اٹھ تے ہیں پچھلے پھر رات کو کھا کر سحری
Uth te hain pichle pahar raat ko kha kar sehri
شوق سے رکھیو تو کل روزہ، میں تیرے واری
Shauq se rakhiyo tu kal roza, main tere vaari
In the holyIslamic month ofRamadan, it was a custom for every household to send a food offering to their localmosque. Adostorkhan would be laid in the mosque for the fasting people to eat on.[21]Chowk Bazaar was one of the most famous business and social meeting centres of Old Dhaka in the Mughal period and even today, during Ramadan, it is famous for the availability of hundreds ofIftar items.[22][23][24] At the end of the month, Chowk Bazaar would host a two-daymela for the celebration ofEid al-Fitr. Popular toys and gifts, known aseidi, emerged in the Dhakaiya culture such as thebhotbhoti; a motor using kerosene that would spin around in water, as well as the drum-carriage.[21]Hakim Habibur Rahman mentions in his book,Dhaka Panchas Baras Pahle (Dhaka, fifty years ago) that duringsehri time (pre-dawn), groups of people would singqasidas to wake up the neighbourhood.[25] This tradition was patronised by thenawabs andsardars of Dhaka and onEid day, the Chief Sardar would present awards andbaksheesh to the best qasida singers. Qasidas were generally sung in Urdu but in the 1980s, Bengali qasidas also came into fashion. This tradition is experiencing a revival with the efforts from the likes of Shamsher Rahman of Posta.[20]Qawwalis as well asUrdu poetry recital was very common amongst the Khoshbas in particular.[21]
TheShakrain festival is an age-long Dhakaiya kiting tradition celebrating the arrival of winter in theBengali calendar.[26]Kite fighters would assemble in their rooftops, lighting up the skyline.[27] Dhakaiya weddings are also typically seen as very "extravagant".[28] Other sports that were popular amongst Old Dhakaiyas were hockey, horse riding andNouka Baich (boat racing). The latter was originally practised in rural areas, but its popularity in urban areas increased in the 18th century as the Nawabs would organise many races.[29]
Two dialects of Bengali and Urdu emerged in Old Dhaka during the Mughal period due to the interactions between the Urdu and Bengali speakers. The Khoshbas and theNawabs of Dhaka spoke a Bengali-influenced dialect ofUrdu known asDhakaiya Urdu (which is distinct to theHindustani creole spoken by theBihari community).[2] The Kutti-Bengalis spokeDhakaiya Kutti, aBengali dialect with an Urdu influence.[30] Humour is an important part of Kutti culture and in the past, their jokes - told in the Dhakaiya Kutti dialect - used to generally consist of short stories in which Dhakaiyas mess around with thebhadralok gentry.[31] The Kuttis refer to outsiders or non-Dhakaiya Bengalis by the name "Gaiya" (গাঁইয়া), meaningfrom the village,[32] andKolkatans in particular asDemchi (ডেমচি).[33]
Dhaka was also an esteemed centre for the study ofPersian,[34] as it was an official language up until thecolonial period and due to the high population of merchants and businessman fromCentral Asia andPersia that settled in Dhaka.[35] TheNaib Nazim of Dhaka Nusrat Jang was known to have written a history book titledTarikh-i-Nusrat Jangi around the late 18th century.Agha Ahmad Ali is considered to be the greatest among Persian scholars of Bengal,[36] famed for his Persian lexicology works likeMuayyid-i-Burhan andShamsher-i-Teztar, rivalling contemporaries likeGhalib, and are still read today acrossSouth Asia.[34] The Department of Persian at theUniversity of Dhaka was opened in 1921.[34]
In 2008,Ekushey Television launched aserial called "Tuntuni Villa" centred on an Old Dhakaite family.[37]Shakib Khan played an Old Dhakaiya character in the 2015Dhallywood film "Love Marriage".[38][39]
 | This article's list of peoplemay not follow Wikipedia'sverifiability policy. Pleaseimprove this article by removing names that do not have independentreliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are members of this list, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriatecitations.(September 2021) |
| Indo-Aryans | |
|---|---|
| Austro-Asiatic | |
| Dravidian | |
| Tibeto-Burman | |
| Others | |
| Immigrants and expatriates | |
