Dhaka (Dacca) is a modernmegacity with origins dating from 500 BC to 200 BC.[2] Thehistory of Dhaka region begins with the existence of urbanised settlements that were ruled by theGupta Empire,Gauda Kingdom,Pala Empire, andChandra dynasty before passing to the control of theSena dynasty in the 10th century CE.[3] After the reign of the Sena dynasty, the region was ruled by theHinduDeva dynasty ofBikrampur.[4]
Dhaka was successively ruled by theTurkic and Afghan governors descending from theDelhi Sultanate, followed by theBengal Sultanate, before the arrival of theMughals in 1608.[citation needed] The city becameproto-industrialised and was declared the capital ofMughal Bengal and commercial (financial) capital ofMughal India.[citation needed] The Dhaka natural riverine port has a recorded existence since the 16th century CE.[citation needed] Dhaka's strategic riverine location in Bengal made it a hub for Eurasian traders, including Armenians, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and British.[citation needed] The bustling old city was known as theVenice of the East.[citation needed] After the Mughals, the British ruled the region for 200 years until the independence of India in 1947. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became the capital of the new state.
The earliest written mention of Dhaka occurs in a map in the bookDécadas da Ásia (Decades of Asia) byPortuguese historianJoão de Barros. Dated 1550 CE, during theSultanate period, it reads"Daca" in the present day region of Dhaka.[5] There is no definitive origin story of the name, but there are various theories:
The Greater Dhaka region was under the kingdom ofVanga andGangaridai in the early ancient period.[8]Archaeological excavations in 2017–2018 inside the formerOld Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road inOld Dhaka revealed some glazed and rolled potteries that are similar to what were found in ancientMahasthangarh and,Wari-Bateshwar ruins in Bangladesh, and other ruins in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia.[9] This suggests Dhaka was inhabited at least from 500 BC to 200 BC.[2]
The Kamarupa kingdom, also known asPragjyotisa, existed between 350 and 1140 CE.[10] According to the chronicle ofYogini Tantra, the southern boundary of the kingdom stretched up to the junction of theBrahmaputra River andShitalakshya River which covered the Dhaka region.[11]
The Pāla Empire (r. 750–1161 CE)[12][13] was an imperial power during thepost-classical period in theIndian subcontinent,[14] which originated in theVarendra subregion ofBengal. After the fall ofShashanka'sGauda kingdom, theBengal region was in a state of anarchy. There was no central authority, and there was constant struggle between petty chieftains. The contemporary writings describe this situation asmatsya nyaya ("fish justice" i.e., a situation where the big fish eat the small fish). Gopala ascended the throne as the first Pala king during these times. The Khalimpur copper plate suggests that theprakriti (people) of the region made him the king.[13] It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffixPāla ("protector" inPrakrit). The empire was founded with the election ofGopāla as the emperor ofGauda in the late eighth century CE.[12] ThePala Empire ruled the whole Bengal region after the fall of KingShashanka'sGauda Kingdom. During the reign of Pala rulers, from the 8th century until the late 11th century,Bikrampur, a region located in greater Dhaka district, was one of their capitals. The Pala rulers were mostlyShaivite[15] and Buddhists. But the majority of subjects of Buddhist rulers wereHindu.[16]
A stone statue ofNateshwar, a depiction of dancingShiva on the back of his bull-carrierNandi, was found at Sarangadhar Jeu Akhada, a monastery in theChowkbazar Thana area of Dhaka, in 2011.[17] The Nateshwar was a prominent symbol in art from the period of theChandra dynasty in the 10th and 11th centuries.[17] The dynasty ruled from its capital inMainamati and later inBikrampur, near Dhaka.[18]
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The Sena dynasty's founder,Hemanta Sen, was part of the Pala dynasty until their empire began to weaken.[19] He usurped power and styled himself king in 1095 CE. Then a largelyHindu community populated the lower Dhaka region. According to historianAhmad Hasan Dani, the weavers (tantis) and the shell cutters (sankharis) are the oldest inhabitants of the city.[20]Shankhari Bazaar (shell cutters' market), Tanti Bazaar (weavers' market), Laksmi Bazaar, and Bangla Bazaar were the market centers. The row houses of those two areas had a narrow frontage of 6 to 10 feet, a depth of 30 to 40 feet, and a height of up to 4 stories.[21][22] Other localities of craftsmen and businessmen includeKumartoli (potters' locality),Patuatuli (jute-silk painters' area),Sutrapur (carpenters' area),Bania Nagar (traders' area),Jalua Nagar (fishermen's area),Bania Nagar, andGoal Nagar.[5] According to a popular belief,Dhakeshwari Temple was built byBallal Sena, the second Sena ruler.[23] Another tradition says there were fifty-two bazaars and fifty-three streets, and the region acquired the name of"Baunno Bazaar O Teppun Gulli".[24]: 94
Raja Danauja Rai was one of the last Hindu rulers who had reigned over the eastern Bengal region (including Dhaka) from Sonargaon.[25] In 1302, he was defeated byTurkic rulerShamsuddin Firuz Shah who had started to expand his kingdom fromLakhnauti in western Bengal.[26]
Upon arrival ofIslam in this region, Turkic and Afghan rulers reigned the area until the late 16th century.
At the defeat of the independent Turkic ruler of BengalGhiyasuddin Bahadur Shah in 1324 by the Delhi SultanGhiyath al-Din Tughluq's army, Dhaka went under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate for the first time.[27] But it largely stayed within independentBengal Sultanate from 1338 until 1576 under rulers of different dynasties includingFakhruddin Mubarak Shah,Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah,Alauddin Hussain Shah,Sher Shah Suri, andMuhammad Khan Sur.[28]
In 1412, Shah Ali Baghdadi, a saint arrived in Delhi and then came to Dhaka where he became a disciple of Shah Bahar of theChishti Order.[29] His shrine still exists in present-dayMirpur Thana area.
Binat Bibi Mosque was built in 1454 at Narinda area of Dhaka during the reign of the Sultan of Bengal,Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah (r. 1435–1459).[30] It is the oldest brick structure that still exists in the city.[7]
An Afghan fort (also known as Old Fort of Dhaka; now-defunctOld Dhaka Central Jail) was built during this period.[31] 17th-century historianMirza Nathan described the fort in his bookBaharistan-i-Ghaibi as "surrounded by mud walls and the largest and strongest in pre-Mughal era".[31] According to the inscription found near the fort, the gate ofNaswallagali Mosque was renovated in 1459.[5][32]
An inscription found in a mosque atSaptagram, West Bengal (around 220 km from Dhaka) says "the son of a revenue officer of Dhaka, established the mosque in 1467".[33]
Daud Khan Karrani ofKarrani dynasty was the last independent ruler of Bengal Sultanate who had control over Dhaka until 1576.[34]
The Bengal Sultanate came into the domain of theMughal Empire during the reign of EmperorAkbar after theBattle of Tukaroi (1575) and theBattle of Rajmahal (1576), defeating the Karrani dynasty.[28] But Dhaka was situated in theBhati region of Bengal, which hosted several rebel forces led byIsa Khan (1529–1599) ofBara-Bhuiyans from mid to late 16th century.Raja Man Singh, the general of Akbar, stayed in Dhaka during 1602–1604 to fight against the Bara-Bhuiyan rebels.[35][7] Singh built the four Siva temples at the site of the ruined original Dhakeshwari Temple.[7] After the next leader of Bara-Bhuiyans,Musa Khan, was subdued by Mughal GeneralIslam Khan Chisti in 1608, Dhaka went directly under the control of the Mughals. It was referred to as athana (a military outpost).[36]
The newly appointedsubahdar ofBengal Subah, Islam Khan, transferred the capital fromRajmahal to Dhaka in 1610.[5] He also renamed Dhaka asJahangirnagar (City of Jahangir) after the EmperorJahangir. Due to its location right beside some main river routes, Dhaka was an important centre for business. Themuslin fabric was produced and traded in this area. He successfully crushed the regional revolts inJessore,Bakla (present-day Barisal), andBhulua (present-day Noakhali) and brought almost the entire province under the Mughal domain.[37]
SubahdarIbrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang (r. 1617–1624) began the construction of a fort (at the premise of Old Dhaka Central Jail).[38] Rebel princeShah Jahan defeated and killed him in 1624, and when he entered Dhaka, "all the elephants, horses, and 4,000,000 rupees in specie belonging to the Government were delivered to him". After a short stay, he then moved toPatna.[39]: 6
Appointed in 1639 as the next Bengal subahdar,Prince Shuja builtBara Katra between 1644 and 1646 in Dhaka to serve as his official residence.[40] In 1642,Hussaini Dalan, aShia shrine, was built by Mir Murad.[41] TheIdgah was constructed by Mir Abul Qasim,Diwan of Shuja, in 1640, and Churihatta Mosque by Muhammad Beg in 1650.[42][43] In the late 1640s, for personal and political reasons, he moved the capital back to Rajmahal. Dhaka became a subordinate station.[40]
Due to political turmoil, EmperorAurangzeb sentMir Jumla to deal with Prince Shuja.[44] He pursued Shuja up to Dhaka and reached the city on 9 May 1660. But Shuja had already fled to theArakan region. As Jumla was ordered to become the next subahdar of Bengal Subah, Dhaka was again made the capital of the region.[44] 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 asMymensingh Road.[44] He builtMir Jumla Gate at the northern border to defend the city from the attacks ofMagh pirates. Italian travellerNiccolao Manucci came to Dhaka in 1662–63.[45] According to him, Dhaka had many inhabitants compared 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. Many Christians and white and black Portuguese resided in Dhaka.[45]
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:[46]
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.
Construction ofLalbagh Fort was commenced in 1678 byPrince Muhammad Azam during his 15-month-long governorship of Bengal, but before the work could be completed, he was recalled by Emperor Aurangzeb.
The largest expansion of the city took place under the next Mughal subahdar,Shaista Khan (1664–1688). The city then stretched for 12 miles in length and 8 miles in breadth and had a population of nearly a million people.[47] The Babubazar Mosque,Choto Katra (1664),Chawk Mosque (1676), andSat Gambuj Mosque (circa 1680) were built during this period. Khan built tombs for Bibi Pari, Bibi Champa, and Dara Begum.[5] A French physician and traveller,François Bernier, visited Dhaka in 1664 and recorded his memories in his bookVoyages dans les États du Grand Mogol.[48][49] Another French traveller,Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, arrived in Dhaka on 13 January 1666 and met Khan.[24]: 144 He referred to Khan as "the uncle of King Aurangzeb and the cleverest man in all his kingdom".[24]: 144 In 1682,William Hedges, the firstagent and governor for the affairs of the East India Company in the Bay of Bengal, visited Dhaka on 25 October and met Khan to acquireperwannas. He left Dhaka on 15 December after a total stay of 51 days.[50][24]: 156 Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt, an English writer, wrote in his 1906 bookThe Romance of an Eastern Capital – "It is truly the city of Shaista Khan".[24]: 172
PrinceAzim-ush-Shan became the subahdar of Bengal Subah in 1697. Due to conflict with DiwanMurshid Quli Khan,[51] he transferred the capital from Dhaka to Rajmahal and then toPatna in 1703.[52] Murshid Khan also shifted his office to Mauksusabad (later renamed it toMurshidabad).[53] During his administration, theKartalab Khan Mosque in the present-day Begum Bazar area was built during 1701–1704.[54]Mirdha Mosque was built in 1704–1705 in the Atish Khana Mahalla area.[55]
Under the Mughal Empire, Bengal was an affluent region with aBengali Hindu majority andBengali Muslim minority. According to economic historian Indrajit Ray, it was globally prominent in industries such astextile manufacturing andshipbuilding.[56]
In Bengal region, the Portuguese made the principal trading centre inHooghly.[57] Besides, they made small settlements in Dhaka in about 1580.[58]: 88 Ralph Fitch, an English traveller, recorded in 1586 that Portuguese traders were involved in shipping rice, cotton, and silk goods.[58] Tavernier mentioned churches built in Dhaka by Portuguese Augustinian missionaries. In 1840, James Taylor, the civil surgeon of Dhaka, wrote that the oldest existing Portuguese structure today, theChurch of Our Lady of Rosary inTejgaon, was built in 1599 by the missionaries.[59][60] But according to historianAhmad Hasan Dani, it was built in 1677.[59]Joaquim Joseph A. Campos, an editor of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, mentioned other Portuguese churches in Dhaka – the Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, the Church of the Holy Ghost, and the Church of our Lady Piety.[58]: 247–250 The Portuguese officially established a mission in Dhaka in 1616.[59]
Sebastien Manrique, a Portuguese missionary and traveler, visited Dhaka in September 1640 and spent about 27 days around the area.[57] 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.[57]
In his conquest ofChittagong from theArakanese (1665–1666), Shaista Khan received 40 ships from the Portuguese for his naval fleet.[59] A section of the Portuguese came fromSandwip and Arakan and settled on the bank of theIchamati River (about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Dhaka) at the present-day Muktarpur–Mirkadim area inMunshiganj, which bears its historical name ofFeringhi Bazar.[58]: 89 They were mainly involved in the salt trade.[59]
In 1713, priest Anthony Barbier spent Christmas at a church in Narinda, a neighborhood in Dhaka.[59] In the 1780 map of English geographerJames Rennell, the Portuguese settlers in Dhaka were in proximity to that church (present-day Narinda-Laxmibazar area).[59]
Around 1716–1717,Murshid Quli Khan became theNazim (Governor) of Bengal and Orissa, ruling the region from Murshidabad. The position ofNaib Nazim (deputy governor) was created to administer the region of eastern Bengal from Dhaka, known as Dhaka Niabat.[53] They were directly appointed by the governor. The firstNaib Nazim of Dhaka was Khan Muhammad Ali Khan.[61] The period 1716–1757, from the reign of Murshid Quli Khan toSirajuddaula, is referred to as theNawabi Era.[62] The last governor, Sirajuddaula, lost control to the British in theBattle of Plassey in 1757. Since then the office of Naib Nazim of Dhaka was held by one favored by theFort William Council.[62] It was shorn of revenue and administrative powers from 1765 to 1822, holding only the title and a small allowance from 1822 to 1843.[53] The last Naib Naim Ghaziuddin Haider, known asPagla Nawab, died without leaving any heir in 1843, and the title of Naib Nazim became extinct.[63]: 34
The Naib Nazims initially resided inIslam Khan's fort (now located in the premises of the Old Dhaka Central Jail). After the British took control of the fort, the Naib Nazims moved to theBara Katra (GreatCaravenserai Palace).[64] In 1766, theNimtali Kuthi became the official residence of the Naib Nazims.[65] Besides the Nimtali Kuthi, two other notable constructions during the period wereChowk Bazaar, built by Naib Nazim Mirza Lutfullah in 1728, and the Armanitola Mosque in 1735.[53]
TheArmenians settled in Dhaka in the early 18th century.[66] They established trade ties in jute and leather with Mughals and Nawabs.[67] TheArmenian Church (Church of Holy Resurrection) built in 1781 inArmanitola area bears the evidence of their presence. Since the British started ruling Bengal in 1757, Armenians slowly moved out of this area. ThePogose School, the first private school in Dhaka, was founded in the 1830s byNicholas Pogose, an Armenian merchant.[68] English educational and social reformerMary Carpenter visited Dhaka in December 1875, hosted by the Pogose family.[69] The last surviving Armenian, Michael Joseph Martin (Mikel Housep Martirossian), also the last resident warden of the Armenian Church, left Dhaka by 2018.[70][68][71][72]
During this period a vast property in Armanitola and Becharam Dewry had been bought by Khan Bahadur Mohammad Nazem Chowdhury and his younger brother Mohammad Kazem Chowdhury from Armenians. Khan Bahadur Nazem Chowdhury became Sadr e Ala (Chief judge of greater Dhaka and Mymensing) in 1846 by the British Raj with Gazette from released from Calcutta. Both brothers are holding vast Zamindari across Easter Bengal in Dhaka, Brahminbaria, Comilla, Chandpur, Tripura, Noakhali areas. Abul Muzaffar Abdullah was elder son of Khan Bahadur Nazem was also Legal Pleader and Zaminder and most prominent elites of Dhaka. He was a scholar as well and reviewed Quran Translation of Girish Chandra Sen. Abdullahpur in Keraniganj is after his name. Their relatives are among Sonargaon Zaminders, Srifaltali Zaminders, Dhaka Nawabs and other prominent elite Muslim zaminders in subcontinent. Abdullah Jame Masjid was built by him in Becharam Dewry.Asudegan-e-Dhaka by Hekim Habibur Rahman mentioned about this family and in other books on History of Dhaka.
The English formally established their factories in Dhaka in 1668.[24]: 144 Their factory stood in the present-dayDhaka College campus while the French factory in the present-dayAhsan Manzil premise and the Dutch factory in today'sMitford Hospital area.[24]: 159–160 The English traders were already in the city as early as in 1666 when Tavernier visited.[24]: 144
In 1763, the English factory was threatened by the troops of the NawabMir Qasim, along with roaming bands ofFakirs andSanyasis.[73] Provincial Council at Fort William in Calcutta dispatched Captain Archibald Swinton (1731–1804) to Dhaka and he secured the factory with help from Captain Grant from Chittagong andsepoys. He left Dhaka on 4 August 1763 after 2 months to settle issues.[73] After theBattle of Buxar in 1765, per theTreaty of Allahabad, East India Company was appointed the imperial tax collector of the province Bengal-Bihar-Orissa by the Mughal emperor. Swinton was dispatched again to take over the local administration in Dhaka.[73] Before he left the position in October 1775, he started to plan and build the Nimtali Kuthi, a palace-complex for the Naib Nazim. It was completed in 1766.[73]
The 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.[74] Although an important city in the Bengal province, Dhaka remained smaller than Kolkata, which served as the capital ofBritish India for a 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.[75] TheDhaka Cantonment was established near the city, serving as a base for the soldiers of theBritish Indian Army. Dhaka served as a strategic link to the frontier of the northeastern states ofTripura andAssam.
Charles D'Oyly was theDistrict Collector of Dhaka from 1808 to 1811. He made a good collection of painting folios of Dhaka in the book,Antiquities of Dacca.[76] These paintings exhibited much of the ruins of Dhaka from the Mughal era. Short historical accounts of all the paintings was appended.James Atkinson wrote these accounts, accompanied by engravings done byLandseer.
In 1824, an English bishopReginald Heber visited Dhaka and met Shamsuddaula (r. 1822–1831), the-then Naib-Nazim of Dhaka, at Nimtali Kuthi.[77][78] He also met Shamsuddaula's courtier Mir Ashraf Ali.[79] On 10 July, Heber inauguratedSt Thomas Church (built in 1821).[80] His personal chaplain, Martin Stowe, fell ill and died during this visit.[81]
In 1835,Dhaka College was established as an English school by the then Civil Surgeon Dr. James Taylor.[82] It received the college status in 1841. Local Muslim and Hindu students as well as Armenians and Portuguese were among the first graduates.[82]
Horse-driven carriages were introduced in Dhaka as public transport in 1856.[83] The number of carriages increased from 60 in 1867 to 600 in 1889.[83]
Under thePermanent Settlement of Bengal enactment byCharles Cornwallis in 1793, the Company government and the Bengalizamindars agreed to fix revenues to be raised from land.[84] As a result, Dhaka Islampur Nawab Estate grew to become one of the largest zamindari in Eastern Bengal by buying other zamindari estates in Barisal and in greater Dhaka. It was founded byKashmir origin merchant Khwaja Hafizullah Kashmiri and his nephewKhwaja Alimullah.[85] This Family was settled in Sylhet and later Begum Bazar in Dhaka. The family was proprietary of the Dhaka Nawab estate, seated at Ahsan Manzil palace. "Nawab of Dhaka" was the title of the head of family and estate from 1843. Although the Nawabs of Dhaka were not sovereigns, they played an essential role in the politics of South Asia—and the relations with external entities. A French trading centre is converted as the residence of the Dhaka Nawabs in 1830.[86] It was later constructed into a palace and namedAhsan Manzil. The estate paid Rs 320,964 as per agreement to the Company government in 1904.[85] In 1952 the Estate was abolished according to theEast Bengal Estate Acquisition and Tenancy Act.[85]
During theIndian Rebellion of 1857 (also known asSepoy Mutiny), around 260sepoys were stationed at the Lalbagh Fort.[87]: 160 On 22 November 1857, fearing disarmament orders by the British officers, a skirmish broke out.[88] Around 40 sepoys were killed, some arrested and some fled to the jungles towards Mymensingh.[87]: 161 By 30 November, 11 sepoys were hanged publicly as a punishment by a hurriedly constituted Court Martial trial. The spot is converted to Victoria Park later and it was renamed toBahadur Shah Park in 1958.[87]: 162 Following the unsuccessful rebellion, British East India Company's ruling ended and theBritish Crown took direct control of the region in 1858.[88]
Dacca Municipality was established on 1 August 1864.[89] At that time the area of Dhaka was 20.72 square kilometres with a population of around 52,000.[90]Buckland Bund was constructed under a scheme by the then City Commissioner Charles Thomas Buckland in 1864 to protect Dhaka from flooding and river erosion.[91]
In 1846, the first European-style modern bank,The Dacca Bank, was established in Dhaka.[92] John Dunbar, the Commissioner of Dhaka, T A Wise, the Civil Surgeon of Dhaka andKhwaja Abdul Ghani, Nawab of Dhaka, were the trustees of the bank.[92] In February 1862,Bank of Bengal bought out the Dacca Bank and made it one of its branches. The Dhaka branch then served as the government treasurer for the whole of East Bengal, receiving revenues from the district treasuries, supplying them with money and transferring government revenues to Calcutta.[92]
In 1860, the first printing pressBangala Jantra was set up in Dhaka and also Dhaka's first periodicalKabita Kusumabali was founded in the same year.[93] Dhaka's first theatre group,Purbabanga Rangabhumi, was established in the 1870s.[93]Dhaka Prakash, the first Bengali language newspaper in Dhaka, was published on 7 March 1861.[94]
On 9 September 1866,George Cotton, theBishop of Calcutta, visited Dhaka.[87]: 131
Two earthquakes on 10 April and 11 May in 1872 caused damages to several houses and public buildings in Dhaka and nearbyTejgaon.[95]
In 1885, the railway line between Dhaka andNarayanganj was built.[83]Mymensingh was connected to Dhaka in 1889.[32] Private cars were owned from the 1910s and the taxis and rickshaws were introduced in the 1930s.[83]
The earliest records of Dhaka being hit bytornados were on 7 April 1888 and 12 April 1902 which killed 118 and 88 respectively.[96] The property damage of the city was estimated at 70,000 pound sterling.[95]
On 16 March 1892, a professional balloonist, Jeanette Rummary (who performed parachute jumps from smoke balloons withPark Van Tassel using the stage name Jeannette Van Tassel) was invited byNawab Ahsanullah. A newspaper had reported that thousands of locals gathered around the palace on the occasion. After a successful balloon launch she jumped to descend by parachute but landed instead in a large tree at Ramna Garden in Shahbagh. Her rescue from the tree went awry and she fell from the tree and sustained severe injuries which she died from two days later. As the first aviator in Dhaka, she was buried inNarinda Christian graveyard.[97][98]
3-day Bengal Provincial Conference was held inDhaka during 30 May – 1 June in 1898.[99] ChairpersonKali Charan Banerjee and writerRabindranath Tagore made speeches during the event.[100][101]
The thenViceroy of IndiaLord Curzon visited Dhaka on 18–19 February 1904, hosted by the Nawab family. He laid the foundation stone ofCurzon Hall.[102] In July 1905, he decided to take effect thePartition of Bengal and Dhaka became the capital of the new province,Eastern Bengal and Assam, on 16 October.[20]Joseph Bampfylde Fuller entered on his office in Dhaka as the first Lieutenant-Governor of the region.[103] The partition was revoked in 1911 and Dhaka became a district town on 1 April 1912.[20]
The 20th session ofAll India Muhammadan Educational Conference was held atIshrat Manzil, in present-day Shahbag area in Dhaka during 27—30 December 1906. On the final day, theAll-India Muslim League political party was formed, with the aim of the establishment of a separate Muslim-majority nation-state.[104]
Eden College was founded in 1880. Narendra Narayan Roy Choudhury, landlord of the Baldah Estate, builtBaldha Garden in 1909.University of Dhaka was established in 1921.[32]Philip Hartog became the first vice-chancellor of the university. Ahsanullah School of Engineering (nowBangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) was established in 1912 under a substantial grant and patronage fromDhaka Nawab Family.[105]
DuringWorld War II,United States Air Force had the 198th Station Hospital of 450 bed which served two air bases - in Tejgaon and Kurmitola. The hospitals were active during 1944–1946.[106][107]
Following thePartition 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.[citation needed] 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 ofWest Bengal, Assam andBihar. Population increased from 335,925 in 1951 to 556,712 in 1961 registering an increase of 65.7 percent.[108][109] As the centre of regional politics, Dhaka saw an increasing number of political strikes and incidents of violence. The proposal to adoptUrdu as the sole official language of Pakistan led to protest marches and strikes involving hundreds of thousands of people inBengali 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.
During the1964 East Pakistan riots, at least 1000 persons were killed in communal riots againstBengali Hindus in Dhaka.[110][111] The incident was instigated byan alleged theft of what was believed to beMuhammad's hair from theHazratbal shrine inJammu and Kashmir in India.[112][113]
The arrest of the Bengali politicianSheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1968 would also spark intensive political protests and violence against the military regime ofAyub Khan. The1970 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, Rahman won a landslide victory in general election. He was elected as the next president of Pakistan. However, both the West Pakistan's military rulers and the largest opposition party,Pakistan Peoples Party leaderZulfikar Ali Bhutto refused to hand over the presidency to East Pakistan leadership. On 7 March 1971, Rahman held a massive nationalist gathering at theRace 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, thePakistan Army launchedOperation 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 Rahman, a Bengali army Major namedZiaur 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 were the largest victim of this mass genocide. The fall of the city to theIndian Army on 16 December 1971 marked the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh. Dhaka became the capital of Bangladesh.
Several notable architectural development took place in Dhaka during this period. Holy Family Hospital was built in March 1953.[20]New Market was established inAzimpur in 1954.[20] Dhaka College was moved toDhanmondi in July 1956.[20]Kamalapur railway station was established in 1969.[114] "East Pakistan Polytechnic Institute, Dacca" (nowDhaka Government Polytechnic Institute) was established in May 1955 byOklahoma State University-Stillwater with funding from theFord Foundation.[115] East Regional Laboratories (laterBangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; colloquially known as Science Laboratory) set up different laboratories and buildings in Dhanmondi campus near New Market in 1960.[116][117]
The Second Asian Highway Motor Rally began inTehran, Iran on the 7 November 1970, and ended in Dhaka on 15 November, passing through Afghanistan, West Pakistan, India, and Nepal. It was sponsored byUnited Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) to promote trade and tourism by publicizing improved road networks across continent.[118][119]
Pope Paul VI visited Dhaka on 26 November 1970; alsoPope John Paul II in November 1986 andPope Francis in November 2017.[120]
| Year | Pop. |
|---|---|
| 1801 | 200,000 |
| 1840 | 51,636 |
| 1872 | 69,212 |
| 1881 | 79,076 |
| 1911 | 125,000 |
| 1941 | 239,000 |
| 1951 | 336,000 |
| 1961 | 556,000 |
| 1974 | 1,680,000 |
| 1981 | 3,440,000 |
| 1991 | 6,150,000 |
| 2013 | 14,399,000 |
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 theAwami League and theBangladesh 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 asGulshan,Banani andMotijheel. Dhaka hosted the inaugural summit of theSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (1985), theD8 group summit (1999) and threeSouth Asian Games events (1985, 1993 and 2010).[121]
In 1982, the English spelling of the city was officially changed fromDacca toDhaka.[122]
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.[90] The city was divided into 75 wards. Under a new act in 1993, the first election was held in 1994 andMohammad Hanif became the first elected Mayor of Dhaka.[123] In 2011,Dhaka City Corporation was split into two separate corporations –DCC North andDCC South[124] and in 2015 electionAnnisul Huq andSayeed Khokon were elected as the mayors of the respective corporations.[125] In July 2017, 36 new wards were added to the two city corporations.[126]
Dhaka Metro Rail started operations in December 2022.[127]
