Buddhist and Hindu kingdom
The existence of a settlement in the area that is now Dhaka dates from the 7th century. The small 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.
[12] The name of the city may have derived after the establishment of the Goddess
Dhakeshwari's temple by
Ballal Sena in the 12th century.
[13]
The town itself consisted of a few market centres like Lakshmi Bazar,
Shankhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli, Bania Nagar and Goal
Nagar. After the fall of the
Sena Empire, Dhaka was successively ruled by the
Sultanate of Bengal as well as interruption of governors from the
Delhi Sultanate.
Mughal rule
In 1576 Bengal came under the control of Delhi as the Mughals
conquered it. At that time Dhaka became a Mughal military base, prior to
this move dhaka was never considered an important area as
Chittagong was the leading city of the Bengal.
[14]
The development of townships and housing had resulted into a
significant growth in population, as the town was proclaimed the capital
(Rajmahal) of Bengal under Mughal rule in 1608, during this time many
mosques Forts and universites had been built and Muslims were excused
from paying taxes, this allowed many Muslims from surrounding areas to
swell up the town transforming it into a city, it was at this time Dhaka
was known as a city rather than a town or Fort.
[15][16][17] Mughal documents record
subahdar Islam Khan as the first administrator of the city.
[18] Islam Khan named the city "Jahangir Nagar" (شهر از جهانگیر;
City of Jahangir) in honour of the Mughal emperor
Jahangir,
although this name was dropped soon after Jahangir's death. A major
expansion of the city took place under the direction of a general
Shaista Khan on orders from the Sultan
Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
[16][17]
The city then measured 19 by 13 kilometres (12 by 8 mi), with a
population of nearly one million people and over a 100 universities and
hundreds of mosques.
[19]
Mughal rule was severely weakend after the death of Aurangzeb and
control of the Bengal switched hands once more, however it is noted that
Mughal expansion and influences can still be seen in the region, as it
was under Mughal rule that Islam came to be dominant.
British rule
Bastion of the Lalbagh, Dacca - 1816
British East India Company in 1765 gained right to collect revenue (
Diwani right) and later took over governing in 1793 when
Nawabs of Bengal were forced to abdicate all their authority over Bengal,
Bihar &
Orissa
& the city passed on to total British control. The city's
population shrank dramatically during this period as the prominence of
Calcutta rose,
[20]
but substantive development and modernisation eventually followed. A
modern civic water supply system was introduced in 1874 and electricity
supply launched in 1878.
[21][22] The
Dhaka Cantonment was established near the city, serving as a base for British and Bengali soldiers.
[17]
20th century
During the abortive
Partition of Bengal in 1905, Dhaka was declared to be the capital of the newly established state of
East Bengal and Assam, but Bengal was reunited in 1911.
[15][16][17] Following the
Partition of India in 1947, Dhaka became the capital of
East Pakistan. The city witnessed major communal violence following the partition of India.
[17] A large proportion of the city's
Hindu population departed for India, while the city received a large influx of
Muslims. As the centre of regional politics, however, Dhaka saw an increasing number of political strikes and incidents of violence.
[17] The adoption of
Urdu as the sole
official language of Pakistan led to protest marches involving large crowds. Known as the
Bengali Language Movement, the protests resulted in Pakistani police firing which killed a number of peaceful student demonstrators.
[23]
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Dhaka remained a hotbed of political
activity, and the demands for autonomy for the Bengali population. And
this population gradually gained momentum.
[24]
The
1970 Bhola cyclone devastated much of the region, killed an estimated 500,000 people.
[25] More than half the city was flooded and millions of people were marooned.
[26]
With public anger growing against ethnic discrimination and poor
cyclone relief efforts from the central government, Bengali politician
Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman held a nationalist gathering on March 7, 1971 at
Ramna Racecourse.
[17][23] An estimated one million people attended the gathering, leading to the March 26 declaration of Bangladesh's independence.
[23] In response, the
Pakistan Army launched
Operation Searchlight, which led to the arrests, torture and killing of thousands of people.
[27] After nine months of bloody battle with
Indian Army and
Mitra Bahini, the Pakistani Army surrendered to the
Indian Army on December 16 marking the end of the independence war of Bangladesh.
[28]
As the nation's capital, Dhaka saw a rapid and huge growth of the city
population in the post-independence period, as migrant workers from
rural areas across Bangladesh moved to the city.
[29]
The growth of commerce and industry along with the city's population
has created further challenges to the services and infrastructure.
[30] A real estate boom has followed the expansion of city limits and the development of new settlements such as
Uttara,
Mohammadpur,
Baridhara,
Mirpur and
Motijheel.
[31]
Geography
Dhaka is located in central Bangladesh at
23°42′0″N 90°22′30″E, on the eastern banks of the
Buriganga River. The city lies on the lower reaches of the
Ganges Delta and covers a total area of 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi).
[32] It consists of 24
thanas –
Lalbagh,
Kotwali,
Hazaribagh,
Sutrapur,
Ramna,
Motijheel,
Paltan,
Dhanmondi,
Mohammadpur,
Tejgaon,
Gulshan,
Mirpur,
Pallabi, Shah Ali, Turaag,
Sabujbagh,
Dhaka Cantonment,
Demra,
Shyampur,
Badda,
Kafrul,
Kamrangir char,
Khilgaon and
Uttara. In total the city has 130 wards and 725
mohallas.
[33] Dhaka district has an area of 1463.60 square kilometres (565 sq mi); and is bounded by the districts of
Gazipur,
Tangail,
Munshiganj,
Rajbari,
Narayanganj,
Manikganj.
[33] Tropical
vegetation and moist soils characterize the land, which is flat and
close to sea level. This leaves Dhaka susceptible to flooding during the
monsoon seasons owing to heavy rainfall and
cyclones.
[34]
Climate
Dhaka experiences a hot, wet and humid tropical climate. Under the
Köppen climate classification, Dhaka has a
tropical savanna climate. The city has a distinct
monsoonal season,
with an annual average temperature of 25 °C (71 °F) and monthly means
varying between 18 °C (64.4 °F) in January and 32 °C (90 °F) in May.
[35] Approximately 87% of the annual average rainfall of 2,123 millimeters (83.5 in) occurs between May and October.
[35]
Increasing air and water pollution emanating from traffic congestion
and industrial waste are serious problems affecting public health and
the quality of life in the city.
[36] Water bodies and
wetlands
around Dhaka are facing destruction as these are being filled up to
construct multi-storied buildings and other real estate developments.
Coupled with pollution, such erosion of natural habitats threatens to
destroy much of the regional biodiversity.
[36]
