MUGHAL DHAKA AND THE LALBAGH FORT:PART - III

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.