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

The Lalbagh Fort

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

Ahsan Manzil,was once the palace of the Dhaka Nawab Family; it is now a museum.

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

Astronaut View of Dhaka

See also: Geography of Bangladesh

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

Main article: Climate of Dhaka

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]