Pictures of Old day's Dhaha
Photograph of the Ramna Gate to the Race Course, in Dhaka, now capital of Bangladesh taken in the 1870s by an unknown photographer. The view shows a number of elephants being ridden through the gate. The Race Course is now the Subrawardy Udyan, a park in the city and a popular place for recreation.
The gate is well known as “Dhaka gate” which is still there.
----British Library Online Gallery
Photograph of a bridge at Tungi in Dacca (Dhaka) taken in the 1880s, from an album ‘Architectural Views of Dacca’, containing 13 prints by Johnston and Hoffman. Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh, became prominent in the 17th century as a provincial capital of the Mughal empire, and was a major centre of trade, particularly in fine muslins. Its history, though largely obscured, is ancient, and it was brought under Islamic rule by the 13th century, first by the Delhi Sultanate then by the independent sultans of Bengal, after which it was taken by the Mughals in 1608. In the 18th century Dhaka was eclipsed by Murshidabad under the Nawabs of Bengal and its population diminished. As the fortunes of the Nawabs declined, the power of the East India Company became a new factor. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation in 1858 brought all the territories held by the Company (including Dhaka) under British rule. The photograph offers a view of an iron-girder bridge, spanning the River Buriganga and built shortly before this image was taken.
----British Library Online Gallery
Photograph of Dacca (Dhaka) taken in the 1880s, from an album ‘Architectural Views of Dacca’, containing 13 prints by Johnston and Hoffman. The view is at Tungi, of the piers of a ruined native bridge in the foreground with a recently-built iron girder bridge beyond, spanning the Buriganga River. Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh, became prominent in the 17th century as a provincial capital of the Mughal empire, and was a major centre of trade, particularly in fine muslins. Its history, though largely obscured, is ancient, and it was brought under Islamic rule by the 13th century, first by the Delhi Sultanate then by the independent sultans of Bengal, after which it was taken by the Mughals in 1608. In the 18th century Dhaka was eclipsed by Murshidabad under the Nawabs of Bengal and its population diminished. As the fortunes of the Nawabs declined, the power of the East India Company became a new factor. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation in 1858 brought all the territories held by the Company (including Dhaka) under British rule.
----British Library Online Gallery
This etching is derived from plate 9 of Charles D’Oyly’s ‘Antiquities of Dacca’.
A quarter of a mile to the east of the Bara Katra in Dhaka is the Chota Katra: essentiallty a smaller version, similar in layout, which was built in 1663 by the Mughal governor of Bengal and uncle of Aurangzeb, Shaista Khan.
Historian James Atkinson wrote that D’Oyly’s view of the caravanserai “is taken from within the area of the square which its walls enclose … a small Mosque … on the left … Its minarets rise somewhat like the shafts of elegant octangular columns, and are terminated by capitals of oriental foliage and fruit … and while the dome of this mosque is beautifully fluted, its uniformities of colour and form are varigated in a picturesque manner by the blue and orange mosses, and other luxurious vegetation of this part of Asia”.
----British Library Online Gallery
Photograph of Dacca (Dhaka) taken in the 1880s, from an album ‘Architectural Views of Dacca’, containing 13 prints by Johnston and Hoffman. This view looks along the Buriganga river bank towards the listing octagonal brick-built tower at the water’s edge, with a local boat moored in the foreground. Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh, became prominent in the 17th century as a provincial capital of the Mughal empire, and was a major centre of trade, particularly in fine muslins. Its history, though largely obscured, is ancient, and it was brought under Islamic rule by the 13th century, first by the Delhi Sultanate then by the independent sultans of Bengal, after which it was taken by the Mughals in 1608. In the 18th century Dhaka was eclipsed by Murshidabad under the Nawabs of Bengal and its population diminished. As the fortunes of the Nawabs declined, the power of the East India Company became a new factor. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation in 1858 brought all the territories held by the Company (including Dhaka) under British rule.
----British Library Online Gallery
Photograph of a bridge overgrown by vegetation in the Dhaka area, in Bangladesh taken in the 1870s by an unknown photographer . The location of this view is unidentified and the bridge could either be in Dhaka City or alternatively over the Mayurpanklin Canal at Sonargaon, which was the capital of East Bengal until the capital of the whole province was transferred to Dhaka in 1608 by the Governor Islam Khan.
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Photograph of Panam Road in Sonargaon near Dhaka, now in Bangladesh taken in the 1870s by an unknown photographer. Sonargaon was once the capital of Eastern Bengal but in about 1608 Islam Khan, the Governor transferred the capital of the whole province to Dhaka.
----British Library Online Gallery
Photograph of the ruined bridge at Paglarpul taken in the 1870s by an unknown photographer. This famous bridge was built in the 17th century when Dhaka was a seat of Mughal Government. The area has a hot, damp tropical climate and is flooded periodically by waters from the Bay of Bengal as well as from the yearly moonsoon. By the 19th century many of the once-elegant buildings in the city were ruined by the action of both the climate and the resultant wildly luxuriant overgrowth of trees and vegetation which lent them a picturesque look and made them popular subjects for artists and photographers.
----British Library Online Gallery
Photograph taken by Fritz Kapp in 1904 of the mausoleum in Lalbagh Fort in Dacca (now Dhaka), part of an album of 30 prints from the Curzon Collection. Lord Curzon was Viceroy of India from 1899-1905. In February 1904, he toured Eastern Bengal and visited Dhaka on the 18th and 19th where he stayed at the Ahsan Manzil Palace. This album of gelatine-silver prints commemorates his Dhaka visit, though it is not a record of it and only presents us with general views. Kapp worked as a commercial photographer from the 1880s onwards and had studios in Chowringhee Road and Humayun Place in Calcutta. From the early 1900s he had a studio in Wise Ghat Road in Dhaka. Dhaka is now the capital of Bangladesh, in the 17th century it became prominent as a provincial capital of the Mughal empire, and was a major centre of trade, particularly in fine muslins. Its history, though largely obscured, is ancient, and it was brought under Islamic rule by the 13th century, first by the Delhi Sultanate then by the independent sultans of Bengal, after which it was taken by the Mughals in 1608. In the 18th century Dhaka was eclipsed by Murshidabad under the Nawabs of Bengal and its population diminished. As the fortunes of the Nawabs declined, the power of the East India Company became a new factor. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation in 1858 brought all the territories held by the Company (including Dhaka) under British rule. Tradition states that the ruined Lal Bagh Fort in Dhaka was founded in 1678 by Prince Azam Khan, the son of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, when he was governor here. It was added to by Shayista Khan, Mughal governor between 1679-1688. The complex contains many structures including a huge mosque and the building called Pari Bibi’s Tomb, which is believed to be that of Shayista Khan’s favourite daughter, the death of whom is said to have caused construction to be halted, resulting in the Lalbagh remaining incomplete. Its interior follows closely the plan of Mughal mausoleums. Black, grey and white marble was used in its construction.
—-British Library Online Gallery
Now the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka was the seat of the Mughal Viceroy of Bengal from 1608. A large city on the banks of the Buriganga (Old River), a branch of the Ganges, Dhaka is in the centre of the of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra river deltas. These flood during the annual monsoon season, making the surrounding region extremely fertile.
Army surgeon James Atkinson wrote: “Dacca is one of the most delightful stations in India, its climate being healthy and agreeable, its bazaars abundantly supplied … and each commodity the most excellent of its kind.” This vignette, from a drawing by George Chinnery, makes a feature of the contrast between the elegance of an ancient ruined mosque and native rustic architecture. It is adapted from plate 1 of Charles D’Oyly’s “Antiquities of Dacca”.
—-British Library Online Gallery
City Album 