Brimming with History

Built on the banks of the rivers Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Tongi, Dhaka was urbanised centuries ago. For the last five hundred years, the city has gone through numerous iterations, but Chawkbazar has remained an important marker of the city's past and present. It was the political, administrative and commercial hub during the Sultanate, Mughal, and Nawab periods, and as such, has long been designated as a historically and archeologically significant area of the capital.                                        

In terms of both number and variety, the highest number of artefacts has been found in Chawkbazar in Dhaka. An ancient stone statue of Basudev was found during an excavation on the Churihatta Mosque premises in 1906. In 2011, the Dhaka Architectural Writing Committee found a Nateshwar statue – a prominent symbol in art from the Chandra dynasty, dating back to the 10th and 11th century – at Sarangodhor monastery in the area.

 The oldest artefact from the Sultanate period in Chawkbazar is an inscription about the renovation of Urdu Road Mosque, excavated in the 19th century. According to the inscription – now preserved in the Bangladesh National Museum – the construction of the arch of the mosque in Chawkbazar was completed in 1459.

It is still unclear exactly when the Chawkbazar Fort was constructed, but it can be confirmed that it existed during the rule of the Bengal Sultanate between the 14th and 16th centuries. At the time, it was surrounded by palaces, treasury, courts and administrative offices. The fort was possibly renovated before Islam Khan reached Dhaka after being appointed as a subedar during the Mughal period.

The area's political and commercial importance started to decline with the beginning of East India Company rule. The office of the then nayeb-e-nazim, who was the administrative chief of Dhaka, was relocated to Nimtoli Palace from Chawkbazar Fort. The fort eventually became a mental asylum and prison. The latter remained in operation during British and Pakistani rule and in independent Bangladesh, till it was finally closed down in 2016.

This jailhouse has a significant place in recent history too, bearing witness to the anti-British movement, Language Movement, and the Liberation War. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and many key important figures in the country's politics served time here as political prisoners. The assassination of four national leaders took place here in 1975.

The government formed a technical committee – Committee for Documentation in Architectural Sites in Dhaka – comprising representatives from the home ministry, prison authorities and Department of  archaeology   of Bangladesh, architects, planners, and historians in 2016 to oversee the process of turning the old prison into a heritage site and urban oasis.

Historians say that if exploration continues in Chawkbazar, more artefacts can be discovered in the future.