The story of a port city

Situated on west bank of the river Karnafuli, Chittagong is the only port in Bengal that still survives the ravages of time; and it functions today as the prime maritime gateway for Bangladesh. Chittagong is well known for its unique landscape that has facilitated movement of goods and people for a variety of purposes right from its remote past.
The Daily Star organized "Adamya Chattagram Festival" in 2012 to understand the historical role of Chittagong and its importance in building a future Bangladesh. This volume is the outcome of an exhibition that was organized during the "Adamya Chattagram Festival" and no doubt an addition to the growing literature on the history of Chittagong that focuses on selected antiquities found in and around Chittagong.
The volume has been divided into six parts: i. Prehistory, ii. Pre-medieval Harikela, iii. Sultanate Chatgaon, iv. Arakanese Chatigrama, v. Mughal Islamabad/Chatgam and vi. Colonial Islamabad/Chateegaon/Chittagong. It also contains a list of colonial architecture as an appendix. The material evidence included here are in the form of inscriptions, sculptures, coins, metal objects, terracotta and ornamental bricks, basically chance finds and now preserved in various museums in and outside the country from the 7th century onwards.
The author has also used textual accounts wherever available and documented architectures and architectural members, dating from the Sultanate to the colonial era, which are located in and around Chittagong district. Within each of these chapters the treatment of the theme is chronological and the emphasis is on documentation and cataloguing rather than on analysis and debate. However, the volume is well organised and is illustrated with drawings and photographs. Hence, there can be little doubt that it will make an immense contribution to research on the history of Chittagong district, which has been home to international trade and commerce for thousands of years.

DR. SHAHNAJ HUSNE JAHAN IS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF LIBERAL ARTS BANGLADESH (ULAB) .