Of the much publicized secret passages of the Lalbagh Fort no definite evidence is available. Exploration by the Department of Archaeology inside the huge bastion adjacent to the south-eastern Gate revealed, apart from different building periods, a descending passage with a stairway subsequently sealed off by a hastily improvised wall, that led into the thickness of the rampart. The passage, however, could not be cleared as the huge stone lintel supporting the superstructure of the bastion wall was found dangerously cracked in the middle. The other subterranean possible secret passage may found in a bastion of the southern defense wall. A regular staircase descends below to the level of the surrounding ground from where it bifurcates and spirals down deep below to unknown destination, dark and damp. Apprehending the existence of poisonous gas inside the dark passage, the quest was abandoned and subsequently closed. As briefly noticed earlier, only 20 years after Bawab Shaista Khan’s departure from Dhaka and the transfer of capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad the importance of the city steadily shrank to insignificance. From the diary of William Hedges, the Director of the East India Company who visited Dhaka in 1689, we learn that the Lalbagh Palace-fort was used as a barrack of the Company’s soldiers and a prison. In 1757 it witnessed the climax of a grim political drama enacted earlier on the battlefield of plassey. The milling crowd on either banks of the old Ganges watched, in stifled silence, the drowning of Amina Begum and Gasheti Bagum, the mother and aunt of the hapless defeated Nawab Sirajuddaullah, with their royal barge that carried them from the Zinjira palace acriss the river under the vengeful order of the pitiless Miron, son of Mirjafar Ali, the arch traitor of Bengal. The desperate cry of the royal ladies reverberated eerily on the river banks for help in vain, who ironically only a year back, dictated the destinies of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from behind the harem. Lalbagh Fort stood immobile as a helpless sentinel of the city to witness this tragic episode. In 1765 the east India company secured the ‘dewani’ of Bengal, Bihar and orissa and forced the ‘Naib-Nazim’ of Dhaka, Nawab Jesaret Khan to leave the fort. Although Nawab Shaista Khan bequeathed Lalbagh Fort to his descendants by a ‘wakf’ deed, the pauperised successors hardly could defray necessary expenses for the maintenance of the Fort. As a result it rapidly fell into desolation and ruin. Bishop Heber in 1824 found it in ruins and enveloped in jungle. In the uneventful declining days, however, the Fort once again, galvanized into tragic events in 1857. The great uprising in India against the British Raj, commonly known as the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ also had its stormy convulsions in Bengal. From a detailed account of the memorable events recorded in the Diary of Mr. Brennand, the then principal of Dhaka College, we get a graphic picture of the happenings at Dhaka. According to his account a detachment of ‘native’ Indian soldiers of the 73rd Infantry was stationed inside Lalbagh Fort. On the 22nd of November, it was decided by the British to disarm the Treasury Guards and the Sepoys at Lalbagh at 5 p.m. being apprehensive of trouble. Treasury Guards were disarmed peacefully but as soon as the British marine force reached Lalbagh they found the sepoys drawn up and prepared for resistince. When the sailors tried to force a passage through the broken portion of the wall near the south-eastern gateway a sharp but short encounter followed. The Sepoys, placing guns in front of the tomb of Bibi Pari, opened fire on the invading sailors with grape. However, eventually the sepoys were driven back to their barracks where they were bayonetted and spiked. There was a fierce fight at the end of the rampart in which the sepoys suffered heavily, leaving 40 of their brethren killed and many wounded and the rest escaped in the jungle. A large number of fugitive sepoys were captured and hung summarily from a banyan tree which stood near the present Bahadur Shah park. Other corpses of the mutineers, hung up from trees for several days at the present ‘Antaghar Maidan’, were deliberately kept up as a grim warning to other. Many superstitious and horror stories are narrated by the people of the surrounding localities who looked upon the scene of this tragic incident as haunted. Subsequent history of the Fort is still painful. In 1844, the local English administrators ontained a permanent lease of the Fort at an annual rent of only Rs.60 fro, the poor successors of Shaista Khan and converted it into the police Headquarters of Dhaka. They used various buildings within the Fort for different purposes and constructed shabby temporary barracks indiscriminately within the premise, while the open space served as a parade ground. Many additions, alterations and large scale changes were made in it to suit their purpose. However, it was eventually protected by the Government in 1910 and only since 1962 onwards, under a planned scheme, all accretion feature of the fort restored. In 1979-80, a typical Mughal Garden was laid out inside the fort from the development fund with systematically planned blocks of grassy lawns and flower beds, pathways, canals, fountains and clusters of beautifully arranged ornamental plants. It offers for the first time, within the crowded lid city a desperately needed breathing space of recreation for dwellers with the preserved monuments, set in an attractive environment originally dreamt by the Mughal prince , who began its constriction three centuries ago. The splendour of this magnificent Palace-Fortress has disappeared with the ruthless passage of time but its picturesque remains, visible from long distance, stand out in immutable majesty and still attract crowds of visitors.
MUGHAL DHAKA AND THE LALBAGH FORT:PART - III
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Posted on 10:37 AM
Towards the eastern sector of the fort, halfway between the two gateways, is a 235 feet square ancient tank originally provided with masonry retaining walls on all four sides and stairways at the corners. On its western bank, distant about 130 feet, stands a graceful double-storeyed building with a projected domical annex to its west. This is reputed to be the Residence, audience Hall and the ‘Hammam’ of Nawab Shaista Khan. The ground floor of this elegant building consists of a central hall, measuring 26ˊ-7ˊˊ × 18ˊ-3ˊ, flanked on either side by a square apartment. The spacious hall with 3arched entrances on east was provided with an ornamental rectangular tank in the middle with fountains in it. Across the fountain on western thick wall an arched entrance, opening under a half-dome, gives access to the main ‘Hammam’ chamber on west, originally provided with a raised platform in the centre tastefully decorated with glazed tiles of variegated colors. Adjacent to it on north there is a copper pipes for the regulations of water supply. Surrounding the central ‘Hammam’ chamber there are other apartments on north, west and east for various purposes, such as, changing, toilet and waterheating closets. A complicated scheme of earthenware pipes, embedded into the thickness of walls of these chambers, were contrived to supply hot and cold water to the ‘Hammam’. The floors of all these apartments were similarly covered drains which carried the combined spoil-water into an claborate vaulted-drain on west of the whole complex. All the chambers of the ‘Hammam’ are roofed over with squat domes with an aperture at the centre, which might originally have been fitted with glass for the entry of light. The upper floor of the building, reduced by 20 feet due ro absence of corresponding covered space above the two square chambers on either ends. The attractive architectural feature of the central hall is its east and west walls which are pierced by 3 multi-cusped arched wide openings each. These arched opening which originally might have been provided with elegant stone jalis, are supported on four ornamental stone columns on each wall. The hall is spanned by a graceful curvilinear roof, simulating a typical thatched “dochala” hut of rural Bengal. It is a blending of indigenous elements with the Imperial Mughal building style which reversely travelled as far afield as Delhi and Lahore during the same period. At present the building has been faithfully restored to its original present condition as far as possible, and converted into a Fort Museum of the same period.
Bibi Pari’s Tomb: Bibi Pari (real name Iran-Dukht), as tradition attributes, was betrothed to Prince Mohammad Azam. She died young in 1684 and her father took great pain to import building materials from North India such as black basalt from Rajmahal and white marble from Jaipur in order order to erect a magnificent tomb over her mortal remains. The mausoleum occupies the centre of the fort. Judged by its architectural merit it certainly ranks as an unique monument in Bangladesh in more then one respect. It is the only ,monument in this region where white marble, black basalt and glazed titles have been used to embellish its interior and its curious roof, spanned with overlapping courses of huge stone blocks. It stands in the middle of a raised square platform, flagged with black bassalt, and measures externally 60 feet each side. It has 4 octagonal corner turrets and the facade slightly projected in a rectangular fronton and bordered by slender fluted minarets. Of the 3 openings on each side, the central one is an arched entrance under half-dome while the flanking ones are simple flat-arched entrance under half-dome, closed by marble jalis. The entire outer wall and the corner towers are relieved with plaster panel designs. The roof of the tomb chamber is covered by a false bulbuous copper dome resting on a squat octagonal drum. The copper dome, which originally was regularly polished for brilliance, is crowned with beautiful lotus finials, once gilt. Internally the tomb is symmetrically divided into 9 compartments consisting of a 19-2 square central tomb chamber, 4 corner rooms measuring 10-3 each side and 4 rectangular covered passages, each measuring 24-8 by 10-8. Among the four entrance doorways of the tomb-chamber, three are closed with arched white marble jails and the fourth on the south, provided with sandalwood door leaves, carved with beautiful chinese cross motif.
The walls of the tomb-chamber is encased in white marble with panels in black border and the same scheme of ornamentation is repeated on the floor with floor with floral pattern. The white marble cenotaph, set in the centre, is formed of three steps, each relieved with simple but chaste floral designs, cut in low relief. But the most curious device to span the roofs of all the nine chambers of the mausoleum is the pre-Islamic cerbelling system.
Huge black basalt slabs overlap one another from sides to meet at the apex and thereby from a pyramidal roof. This is a crude way of spanning a gap, practiced in pre-muslims days when true arch was unknown. It is more an ornamental device than functional. Why this crude device was adopted here at the peak of Mughal architectural achievement is a matter of keen contention. The passage rooms are also covered with the some type of corbelled stone roof. The walls upto the dado level are faced with white marble panels within black borders. The walls of the 4 corner rooms were originally embellished yith glazed tiles of dark-blue, orange, green and purple on a yellow ground even at the time of General Alexander Cunningham’s visit. Now these have completely disappeared and replaced by lime plaster. Shamshad Begum, some relation of Bibi Pari, is said to be buried in the south-east corner room, while the open platform on south is occupied by the grave of Sar Buland Khan, grandson of Khuda Bande Khan alias Mirza Bangali, son of Shaista Khan. The mausoleum has been planned on the pattern of the Tajmahal and the grand tomb of emperor Humayun.
Mosque: About 170`west of the tomb, there is a small graceful mosque which, according to tradition, was built by Prince Azam in 1678. Architectural style of the construction confirms this tradition. This oblong three-dome mosque, measuring 65`×33` stands at the back of an elevated platform. It has 4 octagonal corner minarets, covered with plastered kiosks and the eastern wall pierced with 3 arched openings of which the rectangular fronton and flanked by slender minarets. All the 3 openings are set below multi-cusped arches with the soffit of its half-dome relieved in plastered net-work. The entire outer surface of the walls are profusely decorated with plaste panels and the cornice decorated with battlemented crestings. Of the 3 inverted cup-shaped elegant domes the central one is larger and springs from octagonal durm. The flanking dimes are slightly bulbuous and beautifully fluted with basal leaf design.
A high ground along the inner defence wall on south runs from the south-western corner tower virtually throughout its lengh and terminates about 100 feet short of the huge bastion near the south-eastern gateway. A trial excavation trench across the 50feet wide ramp revealed a superincumbent debris of a single period, deliberately laid over the ruins of regular building remains, the nature of which yet remains uncertain. At the middle of this long ramp and opposite to the tomb of Bibi pari an interesting small rectangular building stands in a dilapidated condition. Facing north it has an ornamental half-dome with plastered trillies deigns on the soffits now puckered with numerous bullet marks and two forced openings, just big enough to admit a crouchant explorer. It was obviously a masonry tank supported on a number of blind cells and provided originally on the north face with a slanting ornamental stone-slab over which the water of the tank, released through an earthen pipe embed into the wall above, cascaded down in ripples.
MUGHAL DHAKA AND THE LALBAGH FORT:PART - II
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Posted on 10:37 AM
During the hundred years of Mughal rule in the province, several illustrious Governors like Mir Jumla, Shaista Khan and Ibrahim Khan successively occupied the ‘suvadarship’ of Bengal who embellishe and expanded the city with numerous palaces, mosques, ‘katras’fortresses, roads and highways. Many of these noble monuments are associated with Shaista Khan. Soon after the transfer of capital to Murshidadad desolation and ruins overtook the proud city named after Jahangir. The pitiless forces of nature and vandal hands of man hastened the process. During the period of its unprecedented prosperity it also monopolized the overland and sea-borne trade of the East. Dhaka become the chief emporium of the indigenous products of Bengal, where foreigners in large number flocked to exchange their commercial wares. Manrique writing in 1640 noticed, “So extensive is the trade that over one hundred vessels are yearly loaded up in the ports of Bengala with only rice, sugar, fars,oils, wax and other similar articles. Most of the cloth of made of cotton and manufactured with a delicacy and propriety not met with elsewhere. The finest and richest muslins are produced in this country, from fifty to sixty yards long and seven to eight hand-breadths wide, with borders of gold and silver or colored silk. So fine, indeed, are these muslins that merchants place in hollow bambus, about two spans long, and thus secured, carry them throughout Corazane (Khorasan), Persia, Turkey and many other Countries”.
Of the ambitious architectural vestiges little have survived today. Bishop Heber visiting the city in 1824 pensively observed “Two-thirds of the vast area of Dhaka are filled with ruins, some quite desolate and overgrown with jungle, others yet occupied by Mussalman chieftains, the descendants of the followers of Shah Jahangir and all the ‘Lions of war, prudent and Valiant Lords, pillars of the Council, Swords of Battle’ and whatever other named of Khan,Amir, or umra the Court of Delhi dispensed in the time of its greatness. Of the 300000 inhabitants who roost like bats in these old building, of rear their huts amid their desolate gardens three-fourths are still Mussalman.
Dhaka predominently was a city of the Mughals. In hundred years of their vigorous rule successive Governors and princely viceroys who ruled successive Governors and princely viceroys who ruled the province, adorned it with many noble monuments in the shape of magnificent palaces, mosques,tombs, fortifications and ‘katras’, often surrounded with beautifully laid out gardens and pavilions. Among these, few have survived the ravages of time, aggressive tropical climate of the land and vandal hands of man, the imposing Bara and Chhota Katras, Lalbagh Fort, tomb of Bibi pari, Sat Gumbad Masjid, the mosques of Haji Khwaja Shahbaz (1679), Khan Muhammad Mridha and Kartalab Khan (1704), the Husaini Dalan and a series of river forts at Idrakpur in Munshiganj, Hajiganj and Sonakanda at Narayanganj, erected as bulwork against the recurring raids of the Mugh and Poutuguese pirates in Dhaka, are some of the important monumental legacies of the Mughals. The imposing Katra buildings, erected in the middle of the 17th century on the traditional Cental Asian plan of caravansarais with a grand river front and a monumental gateway, were originally planned as residential palaces of the governors.
But the finest specimen of the period the Aurangabad Fort, commonly known as Lalbagh Fort which, indeed represents the unfulfilled dream of a Mughal prince. It occupies the south western part of the old city, overlooking the Buriganga on whose notthern bank it stands as a silent sentinel of the old city. Rectangular in plan, it encloses an area of 1082` by 800`feet and in addition to its two graceful lofty Gateways on south-east and north-east corners and a subsidiary small 3damed mosque, the mausoleum of Bibi pari the reputed daughter of Nawab Shaista Khan and the Hammam and Audience Hall of the Governor. The main purpose of this fort, it seems, was to provide a defensive enclosure of the palacial edifices of the interior and as such was a type of palace-fortress rather than a siege fort.
The construction work of the fortress was begun in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam, the third son of emperor Aurangzeb, during his viceroyalty of Bengal (July 1678-October1679), but could not be completed on the grand scale of the original design as he was suddenly recalled by his father to join the war against the Marhattas in the Dhaka. So his dream of adorning the city with a magnificent palace-fortress, remained unrealized. His successor, the high-born ‘Amir-ul-umara’ Nawab Shaista Khan, the nephew of the illustrious empress Nur Jahan and brother of the ‘Lady of the Taj’ (Mumtaz Mahal), was undoubtedly the greatest of Eastern viceroys who rules the province with an iron for about a quarter of a century (1664-1678 and 1679-1688).Although he continued the construction work of the Fort for some time, it is said, he eventually abandoned the work due to sudden death of his favourite daughter Iran-Dukht, better known as Bibi pari (Lady Fairy) who was betrothed to Prince Azam, considering this unhappy incident as an inauspicious omen.
The surviving monuments inside the Fort partly confirm this tradition that the construction work was abruptly abandon and left unfinished. However from the account of Sir William Hedges it is clear that Nawab Shaista khan was residing in the palace-fortress during the time of his visit of Dhaka.
At present the defense wall on south and part of west, measuring over 2000 feet long, survives to a height of about 20 feet from the surrounding ground. On the southern side five octagonal bastions project beyond the alignment of the outer wall. The semi-octagonal bastion next to the south-eastern Gateway is of exceptional size with a 13 feet wide gun-platform. It seems that the supply of water inside the fort was ensured by embedding twin earthen pipes inside the entire length of the wall below outside all the bastions and the defence wall are relieved with ornamental blind merlons at the rampart level. Close to the south-western octagonal corner tower of the Fort outside, the remains of an incomplete city-gate is still visible.
But, by far, the most elegant architectural remains of the Lalbagh Fort are its two lofty monumental gateways on the north-east and south-east facing each other at a distance of 800 feet from one another. Though somewhat similar in appearance, the southern gate in more elaborate and imposing. It rises in three storeys in stages and flanked on either side with a vestibule and stair-room, built from inside. Top storeys are incomplete , but the fronton below open into a graceful archway, framed in stone work. On either side of the expensive arched opening ,a plastered semi-octagonal alcove below and an oriel window in two stages above, crowned by a cupola each, relieve the facade further. The top of the gateway was originally crowned by 4 pillared kiosks majestically breaking the skyline, two of which yet survive. The central passage is spanned over with domed ceiling variegated with fretted design.
MUGHAL DHAKA AND THE LALBAGH FORT:PART - I
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Posted on 10:36 AM
Occupying nearly the centre of an immense flat land, drained by some of the mightiest rivers of the world, chiefty the Ganges and the Brahmaputra with their numerous tributaries, nature has bestowed on the city her bounties in a generous mood, scarcely met with elsewhere. The fertile surrounding low-lying areas of the city is a vast sea of lush green crop-fields, stretching for miles around as far as the eyes can see. It is not surprising, therefore, that the ancient chroniclers while lavishing praises for its natural charm have called it,” a land of emerald and silver “,”a gardin fit for kings,” while the mughal official documents styled it as, “Jannat-ul-bilad”or the paradise of Countries.
Time and again, however, the site of the capital city in various phases of its history, has changed with the change of perpetuate their its history, has changed with the change of masters. “At the whim of kings and conquerors, eager to perpetuate their fame, new cities have arisen with startling rapidity, often but to be deserted in their turn well nigh before the last stones have crowned the minarets and pinnacles of their mosques and palaces. Yet, cariable as its site has been the great rivers where Megna, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Ishmutti meet at the head of the delta, a hundred miles from the sea”.
From the obscure position of a military outpost on the easternmost and most turbulant province of the far-flung Mughal empire how Dacca (correctly Dhaka) rapidly rose to eminence as the .”queen of cities” in the East in early 17th century, is a fascinating story. To an ordinary tourist, not jaded for adventure and spirit of exploration, till that century, it was beyond the beaten track, dimly known to the western world for its famed Musin, unhealthy swamps and forests, myriads of surging water-courses, magnificent elephants and magic, a veritable back-water of civilization.
The origin of the curious name of the city is as controversial as its early history is shrouded in fanciful tradition and myth. One thing, however, is certain that its history goes back to the early centuries of the Christian era. It flourished during the Hindu rule and also under the Independent Sultans of Bengal. But Dacca, doubtless a pre-mughal name, came into prominence for the first time under the Mughal, who established here their provincial capital in 1608 A.D. it was a time when the whole province was in flames. The newly ousted turbulant Afghan Chiefs, defeated again and again by the ruling, Mughals, tenaciously hovered across the province and carried on desperate raids on the settlid populace on a bed to regain their lost territory. The province lay exhausted and torn by the prolonged struggle between the Afghans and the Mughals. Afghan chiefs, repeatedly driven back in Eastern Bengal still held important and strategic outposts
around Dacca and found a safe retreat in the jungles of Bhawal. Even the ancient kingdom of Sonargaon across the Sitalakhya, distant about 15 miles east of Dacca, was virtually under their control. To the state of political confusion and anarchy, many rebellious local chiefs, known popular as “Bara-Bhuiyans” eagerly joined hand with the recalcitrant Afghan adventurers in a bid for territorial gain. But there was yet another cause of anxiety for the Mughal administration. The maughs, a wild and ruthless people, originally migrating from the neighbouring state of Arakan infested the lower water of the delta. Taking advantage of the general lawlessness and confusion in the country they frequently sallied forth from their homes in Chittagong, than a veritable pirate’s nest, and swarmed up the rivers like locusts to plunder and burn villages and town they past by ,leaving only desolation and ruin in their blazing trail. Like the scourge of God, these heartless hordes of buccaneers by their frequent marauding raids, threatened to lay waste the fertile plains of lower Bengal and drive its peaceful inhabitants in terror from their lands. They often came up to Dhaka in their light gallies for plunder. The unhappy land also at that time became a happy hunting ground of another menace, the portuguese free-booters. Adventurous seamen and skilful navigators, many of them had settled in Chittagong and Arakan and a small company of these reckless sea-rovers sailing up the Meghna, entrenched themselves at Sripur, about 20miles south of Sonargaon. Francois Bernier the famous French traveller of the 17th century graphically describes them as “very detestable and altogether unworthy of Christians, in so much that they impunely butchered and poisoned one another ,and assassinated their own priests, who sometime was not better then themselves”........”Their ordinary trade was robbery and piracy “. They often surprised and carried away whole towns, markets and other prosperous habitations situated on the river bank, making women slaves and burning all that they could not carry away. These human pests also joined hands with the Mugh pirates of Chittagong and carried on their depredations unchecked in lower Bengal.
In such a critical period of Bengal history emperor Jahangir appointed Islam Khan Chisti, the grandson of famous saint Shaikh Salim Chisti, as the Governor of Bengal with instruction to crush all refractory elements in the province and restore peace. The iron-willed new Governor grew up with the emperor since his childhood and was honoured with the title ‘son’. Personally brave and temperate in habits, imperious on manners, his great resolution and resourcefulness in moments of crisis were remarkable. In his 5 years of eventful office, he succeeded in accomplishing his task and therefore befittingly earned the pseudo-name of “ The pacifier of Bengal”. His first task was to transfer the capital of the province from Rajmahal to Dhaka in1608 in the very heart of the rebel’s den and to rename it as Jahangirnagar after his patron’s name. He brought the entire province under effective control of the Mughal administration, but his energy towards more peaceful pursuits like the adornment of his capital. Although we hear from contemporary accounts of his building several forts, mansions and mosques in and around Dhaka nothing has survived the ravages of time.
From 1608 to 1717 Dhaka remained the capital of the province except for a short break of about 20 years, from 1639 to 1659, when Prince Shuja, The Governor of Bengal, shifted his capital to Rajmahal. Dhaka, under the Mughal Governors, for about hundred years, attained its greater extent of prosperity and expansion. It lasted till 1706, the date on which Prince Azimush-shan left Dhaka and officially the capital was removed to Murshidabad in 17171 A.D.
