City of Dhaka

Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh. It is situated on the northern bank of river Buriganga and conveniently located centrally within the country. Today, it is emerging as a modern mega-city and very eager to catch up with cities like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The history of the city goes back to 1610, when it was first established as the provincial capital of Bengal (Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) by the Moghul Subahdar (viceroy), Islam Khan Chisti. It was a major centre for economic activties during the 17th century, attracting traders from around the world, including Europe and Central Asia. Hotel like rest houses, such as Choto Katra and bara Katra, were built for their conveniences, some of whom stayed for several months to complete their business transactions.

Many European nations obtained permission from the Bengal ruler to set up factories to carry out their trading activities,primarily to purchase Bengal products. Although a variety of products were available, the most famous item was the Dhaka Muslin, a highly sought after fabric around the world. Among those who set up factories included the Portuguese, English,French and Dutch.

The city's fate first began to change in 1717 when the capital of the moghul province was shifted to Murshidabad, situated in present day West Bengal in India. Subsequently, after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the British conquest of Bengal, the city began to experience a dramatic decline. The scale of this can be gazed from the population table below.

The recovery of Dhaka city began during the 1840s and the catalyst for major developments were the setting up of the elected Dhaka Municipality in 1885, Bengal partition in 1905, establishment of Dhaka University in 1921, creation of Pakistan in 1947 and independence of Bangladesh in 1971. My exhibition traced the history of Dhaka City since 1610 and then focused on many aspects of present day dynamism of the capital.

Year Population

1608 30,000

1700 900,000

1800 200,000

1838 68,000

1867 51,636

1891 83,000

1911 126,000

1941 240,000

1951 336,000

1961 550,000

1974 1,680,000

1981 3,440,000

1989 5,000,000

2001 10,712,000