Gardens, Parks and Open Spaces in Capital Dhaka: Mughal Period

Prof. Dr. Farida Nilufar

Department of Architecture, BUET
Email: faridanilufar@yahoo.com/ farida@arch.buet.ac.bd

1. Introduction:
The Mughal (or Mogul) Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. They ruled
Bengal and established the capital of this region in Dhaka. Dhaka had transformed from a small Hindu
trading town into a provincial capital. During the Mughal period Dhaka’s boundary was extended from
Buriganga to Tongi, almost 12 miles. But the built up city was rather limited within two and half miles from
Buriganga. Beyond this limit, the Mughal city had vast gardens like areas. The then Dhaka developed as a
medieval town. Open spaces were rear in European medieval cities because of their dense layout, within
which only city squares were the recognizable open spaces. The Mughal city, Dhaka, had in way a unique
character with large ‘gardens’, within and outside the city, and ‘chawks’. Within the city there were open
spaces, some were planned and others were spontaneously created. However, the mughal influence on
the development of Dhaka was limited compared to their involvement in other parts of Indian sub-
continent, especially in northern India. Indeed, Mughal’s inspiration to build great cities was not supported
by the landscape and weather of this region. They were mostly busy to solve local problems other than
building the city. In spite of the practical limitations, Mughals had left the trace of Lalbagh Fort, Chawk
Bazaar, Bagh-i-Badshahi, which reflects their ideology to build monumental cities. Besides, there were
gardens surrounding the palaces and inside the Old fort of Dhaka. The medieval Dhaka also had local
nodes within its dense fabric. There were open squares (courtyards) with public buildings - Katras and
mosques. Mughals established an Idgah in the northern fringe of the city. After the 400 years of
establishment, mughal relics in these areas remind us the imperial greatness that the city gained during
the Mughal Empire in Bengal. This paper mainly focuses on the gardens and open spaces of Dhaka
during the Mughal reign. Due to unavailability of a cartographic map of Dhaka of Mughal period, many
information are taken form the written documents. However, the whole setting of Mughal Dhaka, as
modeled here, depicts a prosperous urban environment with its open spaces. The Mughal flavor is
interwoven in the layers of Dhaka’s morphology, basically in the old part of the city. So, other then
identifying individual significant element, like a fort-garden, a place-garden or a tomb-garden, it is
important to assess the whole city fabric to understand the Mughal’s contribution to Dhaka.

1.1. Physical extent of Mughal Dhaka (1608-1764)

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Dhaka rose to prominence only after it became the capital of Bengal during the Mughal rule in 1610 AD.
(Bhattacharya, 1935) The then ‘New Dhaka’ was inaugurated by Islam Khan with the establishment of
Lalbagh Fort in 1679, Chandnighat and the Chawk (the market place beside the old fort at present Central
Jail); and it continued to grow under the subsequent Mughal Subaders until 1717 (Dani, 1956). With the
growth in population, public works and township began to expand. Subedar Islam Khan became the first
viceroy administrator and the city was named "Jahangir Nagar" (City of Jahangir) after the Mughal
emperor Jahangir. The greatest expansion of the city took place under Mughal general Shaista Khan
(1662-1677 and 1679-1689). According to Manrique, a visitor to the city, in 1640 the city stretched for 4.5
miles along the Buriganga river with a population of about 200 thousand (excluding the Europeans and
the visitors) (Taifoor, 1956) which raised to 9,00,000 in 1700. During this period, the needs of
administration and defence coupled with flourishing commercial activities led to Dhaka’s growth, and from
a suburban town Dhaka became a metropolis (Khan & Atiquallah, 1965). In time, Dhaka grew beyond the
limit of the Dholai Canal; and the 'Mughal Dhaka' had encompassed the pre-Mughal core (Fig.1).

According to Manrique’s description, in 1640 Mughal Dhaka extended up to Maneswar and Hazaribagh in
the west and up to Phulbaria (on the fringe of the Ramna area) in the north; besides its eastern limit was

Fig.1: Demarcation between pre-Mughal and Mughal Dhaka (Dani 1956)

up to Narandiu (Narinda) (Chowdhury and Faruqui, 1991). Bradley-Birt described as "away beyond for
fourteen miles, the city stretched as far as Tongi, a vast labyrinth of streets and villages, the camps of
armies and all that followed in their terrain" (Bradley-Birt, 1975). Abdul Karim described that the farthest
limit of Mughal Dhaka was Buriganga in the south, Tongi in the north, Jafrabad–Mirpur in the west and
Postogola in the east (Karim, 1964). However, the Mughal ruins identified the extension of the Mughal city
mainly to the west of the Fort and following the river bank. The expansion occurred with the 'Old Fort' in
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the centre. The contraction of Dhaka during the reign of East India Company (1764-1857) helps to

1 With the fa ll o f the Mug ha l Emp ire in 1707, Dha ka e xp e rie nc e d a sixty ye a r p e rio d o f d iso rd er, unre st a nd
po litic a l insta b ility. The c a p ita l o f Be ng a l wa s mo ved to Ca lc utta in 1757. Be sid e this po litic a l c ha ng e , the
inve ntio n o f the sp inning ma c hine in Eng la nd re duc e d Dha ka 's c o mme rc ia l a c tivitie s to a minimum. During

2
comprehend the prosperous situation of Dhaka during Mughal era. According to Rennell the city was four
miles long and two and half miles wide in 1793 which reduced to three miles in length and one and half
mile in width in 1814 (Mamun, 1990). In 1859, Rennell prepared a map of Dhaka city as extending from
Narayanganj to Iron Bridge and from the Buriganga river to Nimtali Kothi (present Asiatic Society). In this
map the jungles indicate a decline in population and a subsequent contraction of urban area during the
reign of East India Company. In fact the decline in economy, population and administrative importance
brought about shrinkage in the area of Dhaka city (Fig.2).

Fig.2: Boundary of Mughal Dhaka (excluding the jungles on 1859’s Map)

2. Open spaces in Mughal Dhaka

During Mughal period the physical character of Dhaka resembled the medieval cities. The city was
compactly built with a winding and intricate street network. However, vast extent of the city was vacant
outside the boundary of the built-up areas, which were mainly jungles as indicated in the map of 1859
(Fig.2). Mughals, who ruled India from 1526 to 1857, were keen gardeners and made several types of
gardens in the region. Among those the Mughals were famous for their Encampment gardens, Palace
gardens, Tomb gardens and mosques courts. A high civilisation developed under Mughal rule in North
India, including architecture and gardens. The Mughal gardens in Dhaka were not that famous, but
followed their style in general. However, in Dhaka we find an encampment garden inside the old Fort and
Lalbagh fort (which was also a tomb garden and a palace garden); and a number of courts with mosques
and Katras. Beside these, an extended garden, Bagh-i- Badshahi, was found on the periphery of the city

this p e rio d , the Ea st Ind ia Co mpa ny, a n Eng lish tra ding c o mp a ny, a tta ine d po litic a l d o mina tio n a nd to o k
o ve r the c o ntro l o f Dha ka c ity in 1764.

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which was rather unplanned. Moreover, some garden houses were established by foreign traders
(European) outside the city.

Beside the green open spaces inside and outside the city, there were open squares in the nodes of the
streets which were known as ‘Chawks’ in Mughal Dhaka. These were social gathering points within the
dense morphology of the traditional town. However, in the context of Dhaka, the most important square
was known as ‘Chawk Bazar – which was an open market. Besides the large civic squares, local nodes in
the mohallah (neighbourhood) level were also famous for local social gathering. For congregational prayer
an Eidgagh was established during Mughal time in the northern periphery of Dhaka (in today’s Dhanmondi
area).

3. Mughal Gardens
According to historians, some of the influences on Mughal Gardens may derive from the Hindu and
Buddhist civilizations of India. However, the origins of the Mughal garden may be traced back to forms
evolved for the careful husbanding of water resources and the productive use of land, embodied in the
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cultural landscape of ancient Persia. The Mughal (Mongol ) conquest of Persia led to their adoption of
Persian culture, including its religion, art, architecture, script and language. Indeed, the gardens of the
Islamic world drew upon Persian and Christian sources, which themselves drew from the ancient
civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The situation is further complicated by the fact that hardly
anything survives of the old garden culture in the vast region of West Asia and Indian sub-continent
(Wescoat , 1999).

According to other sources, gardens of the Mughal period in India belong to a historical tradition of formal
gardens extending over three continents, and at least five centuries; - from West Asia and Persia to North
Africa and Southern Europe, i.e. Moorish Spain, and in the East to Central Asia and the Indian
subcontinent. There are thematic connections that link the spatial and aesthetic qualities of these
arrangements of land, water, and vegetation in the Mughal gardens. However, individual examples of
these gardens were widely separated in time and space (Shaheer, 2000). The following part describes
different gardens in Dhaka established in Mughal period.

3.1. Bagh
‘Bagh’ is a Persian word which usually translates to "garden". Usually it refers to an enclosed area with
permanent cultures (many types of trees and shrubs) as well as flowers. It is common to near-middle and
south-eastern countries. It usually has Irano-Islamic architectural elements. Enclosed baghs or orchards

2 According to some sources, ‘Mughal’, an equivalent word to ‘Mongol’, is used in India to describe the
people who ruled the country from 1526 to 1857. (Source: www. Mughal Gardens GardenVisit_com, the
garden landscape guide.htm) It is alos known that ‘the Mughals were of nomad origin, from Mongolia, but
had previously conquered much of Central Asia, adopting, adapting and spreading the arts and cultures of
the territories they administered. A high civilisation developed under Mughal rule in North India, including
architecture and gardens’.
(source:http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/garden_landscape_design_articles/west_asia/mughal_
garden_moghul_mogul)
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and other horticultural plots were irrigated by narrow runnels flowing from one to the other, with water
brought with great difficulty and extraordinary engineering skill, from the mountains to the dry plain, by
underground and surface canals (Shaheer, 2000). In Dhaka, Mughals had enclosed gardens inside
Lalbagh Fort and Old Fort. We find the word ‘Bagh’ is being used for enclosed gardens as well as in
assocaition with the name of many localities in the context of Dhaka. During Mughal period, a number
locality was named as Lalbagh, Shahbagh, Paribagh, in Dhaka. These names indicate that garden like
atmosphere as an identifiable element in some of the localities at that period. Over and above, from
historical record it is supported that extended garden like areas were also found on the periphery of the
built-up city.

A famous Mughal garden ‘Bagh-e-Padshahi’ or ‘Bagh-i- Badshahi’ (Imperial Garden) at Jahangirnagar

(the then Dhaka) was generally located in the area where the modern High Court building and
arboriculture garden (previous Race-course and the present day Sohrawardi Uddan) are situated (Taifur,
1956). The present Shahbagh lies on its western boarded and preserves the old name (Dani, 1956). Unlike
other enclosed Mughal gardens, this was not a planned garden. However, there was a massive gateway
near about this place. Taifur suggests that the structure was perhaps the gateway of the Bagh-e-
Padshahi. The south-western part of this area was known as ‘Chistia’, where the members of Chistia
family (who were relation of Islam Khan Chisti - founder of Jahangirnagar) resided and were buried. Later
on, this place was turned into a public burial ground of the city. According to Baharistan Islam Khan was
buried in the Bagh-e-Padshahi and his mausoleum was established in front of present day High Court.
Later his son might have been taken the dead body of Islam Kahn to Fatehpur (Taifur, 1956).

3.2. Mughal Gardens with Fort - Encampment gardens

In establishing their encampment gardens, Mughals considered that the court needed the protection of an
army when traveling from place to place and it was pleasant to have good camp sites on the route,
gardens serving this purpose well. Usually, the pavilion inside the garden was a place for the emperor.
Canals provided water and planting provided succulent fruits and refreshing scents. They made planned,
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geometric spaces with running water inside the gardens. ‘Charbagh’ was a common concept of Mughal
gardens. In the flat plain of India, like that of Dhaka, rushing water from high lands was not possible.
Therefore, the Mughals used channels with shallow falls. They were formed on raised walkways with the
space on either side used for fruit and vegetables watered by flood irrigation. Raised walks protected
visitors from snakes and vermin. They could be spread with carpets and protected from the sun by
canopies (Turner, 1996).

3 Cha rb ag h is a c o nc e pt o f Pe rsia n g a rd e n la yo ut. The q ua d rila te ra l g a rd e n is d ivid e d b y wa lkwa ys o r

flo wing wa te r into fo ur sma ller pa rts. In Pe rsia n, "Chār" me a ns 'fo ur' a nd "bāgh" me a ns 'g a rd e n'. In the
Cha rb a g h a t the Ta j Ma ha l, e a c h o f the fo ur pa rts c o nta ins sixte e n flo we r b e ds.

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Two forts existed inside the Dhaka city during Mughal period. The earlier one was an Afghan fort,
established by Afghan rulers4, which was converted into a Jail during the early years of nineteenth
century. At present the Central Jail of Dhaka is located on the same site. During Mughal period this fort
was known as Badshahi Fort (old Fort) near Chawk bazaar. This fort served as the residence of
Subadhar and other imperial officers and soldiers during Mughal period. Near Badshahi Fort (old Fort)
there was a marsh, where people used to snare (aquatic) birds. Inside the fort there was no palace for the
public audience except the Rang Mahal and the Hall of Forty Pillars built by Shaista Khan. Azam Shah
had this marsh filled up in a short time and erected on the site a lofty Hall of Public Audience, and a band-
room (Dani, 956). In the context of Dhaka, encampment garden of Badshahi Fort (old Fort) was not a
planned one like those established by the Mughal in northern India, possibly because it was an earlier
Afghan establishment and Mughals had continued using as a fort. A considerable part of this fort still
existed when Nawab Jasaret Khan, the first Nayeb-Nazem of Dhaka stayed there (Taifur, 1956).

The plan of the encampment garden of this fort, while observed in

the early British maps (1859 and 1912), shows an irregular layout of
circulation ways with a few ponds inside this fort enclosure. Vast
area remained open with a few structures. Compared to the
surrounding built-up city, the area inside the fort was much more
open and undisturbed. Even today this area remains rather open
and full of green inside the compact historic city of Dhaka (Fig.3).

The capital city Dhaka predominantly was a city of the Mughals. In

hundred years of their vigorous rule 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
Fig. 3: Site Plan of Badshahi Fort - Old
Fort (Source: Map 1859) 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. But the finest specimen of this period is the
Aurangabad Fort, commonly known as Lalbagh Fort (Baglapedia, 2006), Royal prince Azam Shah had
planned a large fort at Lalbagh, known as Lalbagh Fort. This was originally named as Killa Aurangabad
(Auragnabad fort) following the name of Prince Azam’s father, Mughal emperor Aurangajeb. This fort was
established in 1678 but was not then completed. (Dani, as in Karim 1964) It was indeed an incomplete
Mughal ‘palace fortress’ with ramarts and bastions at Dhaka on the river Buriganga. It occupies the
southwestern part of the old city, overlooking the Buriganga on whose northern bank it stands as a silent
sentinel of the old city. At that time the Lalbagh area was located on the northern fringe of Old Dhaka.
Originally, this part of the city was a garden-villa area for the Mughal nobility. Prince Muhammad Azam is
also said to have commenced building the Lalbagh fort, where Shaista Khan fixed his residence during

4 Afte r the Se na d yna sty, Dha ka wa s suc c e ssively rule d b y the Turkish a nd Afg ha n g o ve rno rs d e sc e nd ing
fro m the Delhi Sulta na te b e fo re the a rriva l o f the Mug ha ls in 1608.

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the second term of his office (Dani, 1956). Shaista Khan had thought to involve in further progress of the
construction work of Lalbagh fort, but he suddenly stopped with the sudden death of his daughter, Pari
Bibi, who was buried inside the palace-fortress.

Original Plan of the encampment garden in Lalbagh is

Fig . 4: Site Pla n o f La lb a g h fo rt in the
ma p o f 1859
not available in record. The map of 1859 shows three
irregular walkways (circulation ways) inside the fort area
(Fig 4). One way was running from north-western corner
to eastern edge. Second one was running from north-
western corner towards east up to the pond. This was
linked with the approach gate. The third one was running
from western edge and connected to the first one in the
middle of the area. This historic map (1859) shows the
location of a pavilion (Audience Hall), a mosque and a
tomb along the center line of the fort area. Moreover, the
map shows the existence of a series of squares in the
southern side, which perhaps indicate the series of
ancillary rooms now in existence. Besides, the location of

Fig 5. Site Plan of Lalbagh Fort (Source: www.banglapedia.org)

the pond is also clearly visible on the map in right position. This observation from the map of 1859
indicates that the fort was then left away in a careless way. The map of 1916 show no such circulation
ways inside the fort area, it points up rather a vacant site only with three structures.

The fort is rectangular in plan enclosing an area of 1082’ by 800’. In addition to its graceful lofty gateways
on south-east and north-east corners and a subsidiary small unpretentious gateway on north, it also

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contains within its fortified perimeter a number of splendid monuments, surrounded by attractive garden
(Baglapedia, 2006). The fort boundary enclosed a small 3-domed mosque, the mausoleum of Bibi Pari,
the reputed daughter of Nawab Shaista Khan, and the Hammam and Audience Hall of the Governor (Figs
6 and 7). The main purpose of this fort, 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 seize fort. For long the fort was considered
to be a combination of three buildings (the mosque, the tomb of Bibi Pari and the Diwan-i-Aam), two
gateways and a portion of the partly damaged fortification wall. But recent excavations carried out by the
Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh have revealed the existence of other structures and it is now
possible to guess a more or less complete picture of the fort (Fig.5) (Banglapedia, 2006).

The recent excavations have revealed the remains of 26/27 structures inside the fort area with elaborate
arrangements for water supply, sewerage, roof gardens, and fountains. However, renovation work by the
Archaeology Department has now put Lalbagh Fort in a much-improved shape and has now become an
interesting spot for tourists and visitors.

Fig 6. Partial view of the Fort showing Diwani-i-Aam, Tomb and the Mosque
(Source: www.banglapedia.org)

The renovated plan shows that the garden was laid in classical symmetrical pattern. The garden in
Lalbagh did not follow the famous Mughal concept – Chahar-bagh. However, the garden was divided into
number of parts by raised walkways. At the intersection of these walkways are octagonal or rectangular
pools. The roof of the utility buildings, on the southern edge, accommodated a beautiful roof-garden with
arrangements for fountains and a water reservoir. There are network of walkways with fountain, rose and
star designs marking the flowerbeds, and a water reservoir (Figs.8a & 8b).

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 Fig. 7: To mb a nd Mo sq ue o f La lb a gh within the ga rd e n
(Source:http://commons.wikimedia.org; www.gardenvisit.com)

Fig. 8: a ) Ge o me tric sha p e d g a rd e ns;

b ) Se rie s o f fo unta ins o n the we st.

The central area of the fort is occupied by three buildings, the Diwan-i-Aam and the Hammam, the
mosque and the tomb of Bibi Pari, which are laid in one line but not at equal distance. A water channel
with fountains at regular interval connect the three buildings from east to west and two similar channels
run from south to north, one through the middle of the ground in between the Diwan-i-Aam and the tomb
forming a square tank with fountains at the intersection with the east-west channel, and the other from the
water reservoir passing through the bottom of the tomb. The water channels and the fountains, a very
common feature of Mughal architecture, set an atmosphere not very unlike north Indian Mughal forts. A
big square water tank (71.63m each side), placed in front (to the east) of the Diwan-i-Aam and in between
the southern and northern gateways, adds to the beauty of the building. There are four corner stairs to
descent into the tank (Banglapedia, 2006).

3.3. Mughal Gardens with Palaces and Tombs

In India, Mughals built a number of famous gardens with palaces and tombs. (such as gardens with
Tajmahal and Humayun’s tomb). But in Dhaka, except Lalbagh’s palace-fortress (with tomb), examples of
Mughal monument with organized classical gardens are rare. Because of the moisture in Dhaka’s weather
Mughal nobles preferred to live in airy structures in open gardens. Thus Katra or ‘Kuttra’5 was the

5 According to Taifur, ‘Kuttra’ meant residential enclosures. Generally, the word ‘Katra’ was mainly used to
mean impressive palacial buildings. Bara Katra (1644) and Choto Katra (1663) are two famous palacial
building built as official residence of Mughal princes but later they were used as caravanserai (means
road side inn) in Mughal period. (Mamun, 1994: 175)

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enclosure where the Mughal princes and governors resided in Dhaka. Many of them were open gardens
with wooden and thatched bungalows surrounded by high walls and massive gate-ways. Around the
enclosure were cloisters and hutments for staff (Taifur, 1956). Bara Katra and Choto Katra were two
6
famous palacial buildings on the bank or river Buriganga. Historical sketches of D’Oyly show that the
surroundings of these two Mughal palaces were full of open spaces with vegetation (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Historical view of Bara Katra and Choto Katra

(Source: http://dushorakash.blogspot.com & http://www.skyscrapercity.com)

3.4. Garden Houses

Gardens with residential villas were common in Dhaka
with the ‘garden-houses’ of the foreign traders, like
those of Dutch, French, Portuguese, English traders.
During the Mughal period, Dani stated that such
garden-houses were located in Tejgaon area which was
two and half mile away from the living city (i.e from the
location Mir Jumal’s gate) beyond the stream of
Begunbari canal (Dani, 1956) (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10: European Settlement in Old Dhaka

(Source: Map 3 Dani, 1956)

3.5. Extensive gardens outside the dense city

Although the historian identified the farthest limit of Mughal Dhaka up to Tongi in the north, however,
Abdul Karim (1964) claimed that from Mir Jumla’s gate (near modern High Court buildings) northward to
Tongi may have been sparsely populated and except for the sparse habitation here and there, the whole
city area was full of gardens. It is also described in the Dairy of William Hedeges that when he visited

6 Sir Charles D'Oyly drew sketches of Dhaka by in 1814, who published them as ‘The Antiquities of
Dacca.’ The city declined rapidly after 1757 and by the D'Oyly made his sketches; it was mostly a
collection of ruins.
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Dhaka (1686) a new Diwan arrived from imperial capital, who for few days after arrival, lived in a tent in a
garden (Karim, 1964). It is also evident from Rennell’s map of Dhaka, which was prepared in 1780, that
the area north of Mir Jumla’s gate (near present day Bangla Academy) was full of gardens and trees (Fig.
2). Although, city had been declined at that period (i.e. just after the fall of the Mughals) and many people
left the city, there is no proof of habitation in this part of Dhaka beyond the Mir Jumla’s gate (Karim, 1964).

The symbols of Surveyor General’s map (1859) shows that this vast area, towards the south of the then
living city, had road network but the large vacant blocks were full of large trees combined with pond like
small water bodies (Fig. 2). It has been refereed in many records that because of the humid weather of
Dhaka, the growth of vegetation was very fast. With the decrease of population in the Company period,
after the Mughals, many areas may be abandoning and might have been covered by vegetation. From
this it can be deducted that the northern part of Dhaka was sparsely urbanized and mainly filled by
vegetation during Mughal time.

4. Chawks:
‘Chowk/ Chawk’ or town square or market square is an open area and a public place commonly found in
the heart of a traditional town. Thus, in traditional cities, ‘Chowk’ or ‘Chawk’ (square) means a cross-road
at the urban core (Pacione, 2001). Like many South Asian cities, Dhaka grew in response to a trade
function organization from agriculture exchange and developed as a transport node, and later as an
administrative center. In this bazaar-based traditional city, there were linear bazaar streets as well as
wider chawks, both the type were surrounded by merchents, who often lived above or behind their shops
and wares houses. Beyond the market activities, the Chawks were the traditional outdoor civic spaces,
which were the generator of many events and human activities. During the Mughal period, such a civic
space was the ‘Chawk bazaar’ in Dhaka. Besides, there were intermediate and small sized public open
spaces in the mohallah7 level at the nodal point of winding streets.

4.1. Chawk bazaar in Dhaka

The heart of the Mughal city was the Chawk. The present day Chawk bazaar was originally known as
Padshahi or Badshahi bazaar (Royal market) (Taifur, 1956). Chowk bazaar, at that time, was the main
square and served as a brisk marketplace or emporium of the city. It was rich in merchandise and colorful
in appearance. The Chawk was well located as it was close to the Buriganga River that served as the
principal means of communication (Khan and Islam, 1964).

The Chowk bazaar had its origin in the time of Raja Mansingh who had his headquarters shifted from
Bhawal to the neighbourhood in this place (western fringe of Dhaka) in 1602. The bazaar was first

7 It is referred in the literature that historically both the Hindus and the Muslims of old Dhaka used to live in
compact groups forming a remarkable system of neighbourhood organisation, locally known as ‘mohalla'
or ‘tola’. The term ‘mohalla’ shows more association with the Muslim neighbourhoods, whereas no definite
name is addressed in the available literature for their Hindu counterpart. Nevertheless, it is stated that
these old Dhaka neighbourhoods were the enclaves of caste or craft groups (i.e. ethnic or occupational
groups) with a high level of mutual help and sharing within geographically defined territories.

11
established at that time besides the fort. Padshahi Bazaar was first established by Murshid Quli Khan in
1702 but it was rebuilt and restored several times. In 1809 Charles D’Oyly described “Chawk . . .
8
renowned as old nakhash , which a square of 200 ft and get congested at the time of sunset”. (Mamun,
1993: 75) (Fig. 11) In 1823, it was again revived by the collector of Dhaka. Mr. Walters. He redeveloped
the Chawk with the wall of dimension 460' in length, 4' in height and 6. in width; also widen the width of
the adjacent roads. In 1839, Dr. James Taylor noted regarding Chawk Bazaar,

“It is square of pretty large dimensions, and is surrounded chiefly by mosques and shops. It is
situated at the western part of city and besides the parallel road of river. The open space, in which
the bazaar is held, is enclosed by a low wall, with a carriage road around it and has in its centre a
large gun, which was found some years ago on the bank of the river” (Taylor, 1840).

Fig. 11: Sketch of Chawk or market place by Sir Charles D’Oyly in 1814 and Photograph of Chawk by
Johnston and Hoffman in 1880. (Source: www.skyscrapercity.com)

4.2. Nodes at Local level

Within the narrow and intricate street network of Old Dhaka, the intersections were rather wide and
irregular in shape. These nodes acted as civic space al local level. The sense of enclosure of these
spaces was very intimate in scale (Ferdous, 2007). Some of the local nodes turned into ‘chowks’
(squares) of mohallahs by attracting public activities around them. Others were rather intimate in nature
and held local social gathering. Within the closely knit medieval urban fabric, these open spaces acted as
relief and were the activity spaces in a pedestrian scale city of Dhaka, during Mughal time.

8 Nakhaas is an Arabic word which means selling and exchange of slave. Hence, this statement

distinctly state that during mughal period Chawk was also famous for selling slave. At the same
time it was the centre of recreation and leisure activity. (Mamun, 1993: 75)

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5. Urban Open Spaces with buildings
For public functions, both religious and secular, Mughals had created open spaces. As, the Mughal
Dhaka was densely built-up, these open spaces had great impact on the city dwellers. Among them the
following cases were famous.

5.1. Courtyards with Palacial Buildings

There were ‘courts’ inside some palacial public buildings
built during Mughal period in Dhaka. Among them two
palacial buildings, Bara Katra (built by prince Shah Shuja,
1644), Choto Katra (built by Shaista Khan, 1663), were
famous ones (Karim, 1964). Bara Katra (1644) and Choto
Katra (1663) were built as official residence of Mughal
princes. Nayeb-e-Nazims of Dhaka used to reside in Bara
Katra until 1765. But later it was used as caravanserai
(means road side inn) in Mughal period (Mamun, 1993).
However, according to some other sources, Choto Katra
was built for some administrative function or as a
caravanserai (Mamun, 1993). In general, the arrangement
of these palacial buildings was introvert in character and Fig. 12: Ground Floor Plan of Bara Katra.
(Source: Hossain, 2008: 8)
was arranged around central courtyards, which were
paved areas separated from the city streets. These
exclusive open spaces were accessed through palace
gates/gate-houses in cardinal direction. However, in case of conversion of a palace into a caravanserai,
the role of ‘courtyard’ with a private palace turned into a ‘square’ with a public building. Thus, the
courtyards of Mughal palaces had transformed into public squares, which were unique places inside the
dense fabric on Dhaka. The basic layout of Bara Katra was can be traced from Rennell’s map (Mamun
1993). In Boro Katra, there was a rectangular courtyard with structures at its four sides. There were two
gateways at north and south (Fig. 12). The plan of Choto katra was also similar, only relatively smaller to
Bara Katra in size. In some cases open spaces were located outside the palacial buildings and set as
foreground of the buildings, like that of Hosaini Dalan.

5.2. Courts with mosques

Mosques in Mughal Dhaka were built
in the middle of built-up city. Within the
tight urban fabric, mosques were
associated with court like spaces in
front of the structure. In case of Khan
Mohammad Mridha’s mosque the
court was at the first floor level. The
Fig. 13: Courts with Mughal mosques.
famous mosque of Chowk bazaar
(1675) was constructed upon a high

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and hollow platform (Taifur, 1956). Another famous mosque, Satgumbad mosque, was built in the
northern part of Dhaka with a court in the forefront. Thus, Mughal mosques had ‘court’ like urban open
spaces within the premise of the religious structures (Fig.13). Such open spaces mainly accommodated
extended part of the congregation during Juma and Eid prayer.

5.3. Eidgah
A great Eidgah (or Idgah) was built in 1640 by Mughal prince
Shah Shuja for the congregational Eid prayer of Mughal nobles
(Dani, 1956). It was located towards the west of the city, on the
road to Rayerbazar in present day Dhanmondi area. It was on
the bank of Buriganga and far beyond the boundary of Old
Dhaka. The Eidgagh consists of a brick platform, which was 4’
raised and measuring 245’X137’ (Taifur, 1956). There was a
15’ high screen wall on the western side with a mihrab in the Fig. 14: Eidgagh in Dhanmondi.
middle (Fig 14).

6. Conclusion
This brief content of the different types of open spaces that existed in the Mughal city of Dhaka tries to
reflect the physical condition of the city as well as the social concern of those open spaces at that context.
It is found out that Mughals, the great builders, had limited interventions in Dhaka compared to their
remarkable gardens in northern part of India. Even so, the Lalbagh Fort can be considered as a great
Mughal contribution to Dhaka. Besides the organized gardens, the city was full of garden like areas
particularly in the northern part. Thus, Mughal Dhaka represented a mediaeval city with plenty of green in
and around.

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