Historical Places of Bangladesh Essay Example

of celebrated Arakanese male monarch Raja Malhana. Mangat was obliged to take shelter in Dhaka holding been driven away from Arakan. There is another history on the initiation of the temple. In the beginning of the twentieth century Bradley Birt wrote that the temple is more than 200 old ages old and a Hindu agent of the East India Company built it. Thus it appears that the beginning of the Dhakeshwari temple is shrouded in enigma.

The temple composite has undergone legion fixs. redevelopment and rebuilding in its long old ages of being and its present status does non clearly show any of its original architectural features. It may be mentioned that nearby there was an Imambara or Husaini Dalan and in a map of 1864 it was marked as the old Huseni Dalan. The original 800-year old statue was destroyed during the War of 1971. It is said that earlier the female divinity was made of pure gold. The temple was further damaged during the public violences of 1989/90.

Ahsan Manzil. situated at Kumartoli of Dhaka on the bank of the Buriganga. was the official residential castle and place of the Nawab household of Dhaka. The castle became the Bangladesh National Museum on 20 September 1992. It is constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture.

It was said to be the Rang Mahal of Sheikh Enayetullah. a zamindar of Jamalpur pargana ( Barisal ) during the clip of the Mughals. Having purchased it from his boy Matiullah. the Gallic made it their trading Centre. Khwaja Alimullah bought it from the Gallic in 1830 and converted it into his abode. set uping necessary Reconstruction and redevelopments. Nawab Khwaja Abdul

Ghani hired Martin & A ; Company. a European building and technology house. to do a maestro program for their abode.

The building of the castle was begun in 1859 and completed in 1872. Abdul Ghani named it Ahsan Manzil after his boy Khwaja Ahsanullah. At that clip the freshly built castle was known as Rang Mahal and the earlier one was called Andar Mahal. On April 7. 1888. a awful twister caused terrible harm to Ahsan Manzil. peculiarly the Andar Mahal that was wholly devastated. Nawab Ahsanullah rebuilt the Andar Mahal and besides repaired the Rang Mahal. utilizing good quality bricks from Raniganj. The keen dome of the present Rang Mahal was interposed. Ahsan Manzil was severely damaged once more by the temblor of 12 June 1897. However. Nawab Ahsanullah had it repaired once more.

Ahsan Manzil. an architectural hoarded wealth. is a informant to many historical events of Bangladesh. From the last portion of the nineteenth century to the initial old ages of Pakistan. the Muslim leading of East Bengal emerged from this castle. Almost all the Viceroys. Governors and Lieutenant Governors of British India who visited Dhaka spent some clip at the Ahsan Manzil. In 1874. Lord Northbrook. Governor General of India attended an eventide map in the castle when he came to put the foundation of a H2O works installed by Nawab Abdul Ghani. In 1888. Lord Dufferin besides accepted the cordial reception offered at Ahsan Manzil. In 1904 Lord Curzon. on a visit to East Bengal. stayed in this castle on 18 and 19 February to win public support for the proposed Partition of Bengal. Almost all political activities of Nawab Khwaja

Salimullah centred unit of ammunition this castle.

Ahsan Manzil was the cradle of the All India Muslim League. With the diminution of the Nawabs of Dhaka. Ahsan Manzil besides started to worsen. When in 1952 the Dhaka Nawab State was acquired under the East Bengal Estate Acquisition Act. it became impossible for the replacements of the Nawabs to keep the castle due to fiscal restraints. Nawab Khwaja Habibullah started populating at Paribag Green House shortly after the acquisition of the zamindari. The castle was shortly on the brink of prostration as replacements rented out suites without sing its self-respect. Over the old ages illegal residents turned the topographic point into a foul slum.

Acknowledging the historical and architectural importance of the Ahsan Manzil. the authorities of Bangladesh took the enterprise to restitute it. In 1985 Ahsan Manzil and its milieus were acquired. After the completion of the redevelopment work in 1992 under the supervising of the Directorate of Public Works and Architecture. it was brought under the control of Bangladesh National Museum ( 20 September 1992 ) .

Lalbagh Fort or Fort Aurangabad. an uncomplete Mughal castle fortress at Dhaka. is situated on the river Buriganga in the southwesterly portion of the old metropolis. The river has now gone farther South and flows at rather a distance from the garrison. The garrison was long considered to be a combination of three edifices: the mosque. the grave of Bibi Pari and the Diwan-i-Aam. consisting two gateways and a part of the partially damaged munition wall. Recent diggings carried out by the Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh. nevertheless. have revealed the being of other constructions. and it is now possible

to hold a more or less complete image of the garrison.

In the present fort country of 18 estates ( 73. 000 m? ) . diggings have revealed the remains of either 26 or 27 constructions. with luxuriant agreements for H2O supply. sewage. roof gardens. and fountains. Renovation work by the Archaeology Department has now put Lalbagh Fort in a much-improved form. and it has now become an interesting topographic point for tourers and visitants. Construction started in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam during his 15-month long vice-royalty of Bengal. but before the work could finish. he was recalled by Aurangzeb. His replacement. Shaista Khan. did non finish the work. though he stayed in Dhaka up to 1688. His girl Iran Dukht dent named Pari Bibi died here in 1684 and this led him to see the garrison to be baleful.

Lalbagh Fort is a informant of the rebellion of the native soldiers against the British during the Great Mutiny of 1857. As in the Red Fort in India. they were defeated by the East India Company. They and the soldiers who fled from Meerat were hanged to decease at the Victoria Park. In 1858 the declaration of Queen Victoria of taking over the administrative control of India from the Company was read out at the Victoria Park. which was later renamed Bahadur Shah Park after the name of the last Mughal Emperor who led that greatest rebellion against so British Empire.

Paharpur Vihara. antecedently known as Somapura Mahavihara is located in Paharpur. Naogaon. It is among the best known Buddhist Viharas in the Indian Subcontinent and is one of the most of import archaeological sites of Bangladesh.

It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The digging at Paharpur. and the determination of seals bearing the lettering Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya. has identified the Somapura Mahavihara as built by the 2nd Pala male monarch Dharmapala ( 781-821 ) of Pala Dynasty. Some clay seals from the ruins bear the lettering Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya. Tibetan beginnings. including Tibetan interlingual renditions of Dharmakayavidhi and Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa. Taranatha’s history and Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang. reference that Dharmapala’s replacement Devapala ( 810—850 ) built it after his conquering of Varendra.

The Paharpur pillar lettering bears the reference of 5th regnal twelvemonth of Devapala’s replacement Mahendrapala ( circa 850—854 ) along with the name of Bhiksu Ajayagarbha. Taranatha’s Pag Sam Jon Zang records that the monastery was repaired and renovated during the reign of Mahipala ( 995—1043 AD ) . The Nalanda lettering of Vipulashrimitra records that the monastery was destroyed by fire. which besides killed Vipulashrimitra’s ascendant Karunashrimitra. during a conquering by the Vanga ground forces in the eleventh century. assumed to be an ground forces of the Varman swayers. About a century subsequently Vipulashrimitra renovated the vihara and added a temple of Tara. The Restoration work was alluded to as jagatang netraika vishrama bhuh ( a singular banquet to the eyes of the universe ) . Atisha Dipankar Srijnan stayed here for many old ages and translated the Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa into Tibetan.

Over clip Atish’s religious don. Ratnakara Shanti served as a Sthavira ( tantamount to principal ) of the Vihara. Mahapanditacharya Bodhibhadra served as a occupant monastic. and several other bookmans spent some portion of their lives at this monastery including Kalamahapada. Viryendra and Karunashrimitra. Many Tibetan monastics visited the Somapura between

9th and 12th centuries. During the regulation of the Sena dynasty. known as Karnatadeshatagata Brahmaksatriya. in the 2nd half of the twelfth century the Vihara started to worsen for the last clip. It was eventually abandoned during the thirteenth century. when the country came under Muslim business. One bookman writes. “The ruins of the temple and monasteries at Paharpur do non bear any apparent Markss of large-scale devastation. The ruin of the constitution. by abandonment or devastation. must hold been sometime in the thick of the widespread agitation and supplanting of population consequent on the Muslim invasion. ”

Mahasthangarh is the earliest urban archeological site so far discovered in Bangladesh. The small town Mahasthan in Shibganj thana of Bogra District contains the remains of an ancient metropolis which was called Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura in the district of Pundravardhana. A limestone slab bearing six lines in Prakrit in Brahmi book. discovered in 1931. day of the months Mahasthangarh to at least the third century BC. The bastioned country was in usage till the eighteenth century AD. Mahasthan means a topographic point that has first-class holiness and garh agencies garrison. Mahasthan was foremost mentioned in a Sanskrit text of the thirteenth century entitled Vallalcharita. It is besides mentioned in an anon. text Karatoya mahatmya. circumstantially placed in 12th-13th century. The same text besides mentions two more names to intend the same topographic point – Pundrakshetra. land of the Pundras. and Pundranagara. metropolis of the Pundras. In 1685. an administrative edict mentioned the topographic point as Mastangarh. a mixture of Sanskrit and Persian significance fortified topographic point of an auspicious personage.

Subsequent finds have confirmed that the earlier name was

Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura. and that the present name of Mahasthangarh is of subsequently beginning. Harmonizing to a local fable. Shah Sultan Balkhi Mahisawar arrived at Pundravardhana in the attire of a Fakir or Saint siting a fish ( ‘Mahisawar’ is a Sanskrit-Persian word intending a individual who rides a fish ) . He came from Balkh. Afghanistan with a cortege. The period of his reaching is variably put at fifth century AD. eleventh century AD and seventeenth century AD. At that clip a male monarch named Parasuram ruled in Mahasthangarh. Mahisawar requested Parasuram for a piece of land to distribute his supplication mat on which he could pray. The petition was granted but the supplication mat started spread outing every bit shortly as it was laid on the land.

When the supplication mat reached the country around his castle. a baffled Parasuram declared war. In the get downing the conflict seemed to be prefering Parasuram. A scavenger Harapala informed Mahisawar that it was hard to get the better of the royal military personnels because of the pool called Jiat Kunda. A dead soldier bathed in the Waterss of Jiat Kunda came back to life. On cognizing this Mahisawar asked a kite to drop a piece of beef in Jiat Kunda. When this was done. the pool lost its powers. The royal military personnels were on the brink of licking. The commanding officer of the royal military personnels. Chilhan. with a big figure of his followings. went over to Mahisawar. Thereafter Parasuram and many members of the royal household committed suicide. There are many fluctuations of this anecdote. some of which are sold in Bengali brochures in

and around Mahasthangarh/Pundravardhana.

Mainamati. an stray ridge of low hills in the eastern borders of deltaic Bangladesh. about 8 kilometers to the West of Comilla town is a really familiar name in our cultural heritage. where archeological diggings have revealed really important stuffs. The duplicate names – Lalmai- Mainamati – of the topographic point have important nexus with the yesteryear: Lalmai or the southern portion is indistinguishable with Lalambi-vana of the Chandra epigraphs. while the northern portion recalls the name of the legendary Chandra queen ‘Maynamati’ . mentioned in local laies and folk-songs. The archeological discoveries have now established beyond any uncertainty that the cultural and political Centre of ancient Vanga-Samatata ( southeast Bengal ) was located here. While reconstructing the old axial route through the hills in 1875. workers by chance uncovered the ruins of what at that clip was thought to be ‘a little brick fort’ . It was really a Buddhist monastery. Some 72 old ages before ( 1803 ) . from the same country. was discovered the first Mainamati relic. the copperplate of Ranavankamalla Harikaladeva. dated 1220 AD. which records a description of the capital metropolis of Pattikera as ‘adorned with garrisons and monasteries’ .

The name now survives in the modern Patikara pargana of the vicinity. The Mainamati ruins were rediscovered during the Second World War. While puting up an progress cantonment. the military came across antediluvian remains at a figure of points in the ridge. In the hurried study that followed. 18 sites were recognised and protected by the authorities. In more regular and systematic studies undertaken between 1955 and 1957. when the full ridge was undisturbed by human business. more

than 50 sites were located. Most of those sites lie in the northern half of the ridge. now within the Cantonment. Archaeological diggings started in January 1955. In several stages of digging of the 50 uneven sites nine have so far been exposed. Though the diggings have non yet been completed and have been limited in many respects. the consequences so far obtained and the information gained supply a sound archeological footing for the Reconstruction of the history and civilization of the early period of this hitherto vague part.

Most of import among the excavated sites is the Shalvan Vihara. a big Paharpur type Buddhist monastery which was functional in 7th-12th centuries AD. The expansive monastery together with its cardinal shrine was built by Shri Bhavadeva. the 4th swayer of the early Deva dynasty of Devaparvata. sometime towards the terminal of the 7th or early eighth century AD. Then there is the Ananda Vihara. from where the most attractive memorials of Mainamati have been unearthed. It is besides the largest 1.

The excavated grounds suggests seventh century AD as the day of the month of the beginning of these memorials. The site continued to be occupied till the thirteenth century AD as indicated by an Abbasid gold coin recovered from an upper degree of the site. Charpatra Mura is another interesting little site. where was uncovered the remains of a little Hindu temple dated in the Chandra period ( 10th-11th century AD ) . It is one of the earliest known illustrations of Hindu temple architecture in Bangladesh.