Place:Dhaka, Dhaka, Dacca, Bangladesh

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Dhaka ( or  ;), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city in the world with a population of 8.9 million residents as of 2011, and a population of over 21.7 million residents in the Greater Dhaka Area. According to a Demographia survey, Dhaka has the most densely populated built-up urban area in the world, and is popularly described as such in the news media. Dhaka is one of the major cities of South Asia and a major global Muslim-majority city. As part of the Bengal delta, the city is bounded by the Buriganga River, Turag River, Dhaleshwari River and Shitalakshya River.

The area of Dhaka has been inhabited since the first millennium. An early modern city developed from the 17th century as a provincial capital and commercial centre of the Mughal Empire. Dhaka was the capital of a proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal for 75 years (1608–39 and 1660–1704). It was the hub of the muslin trade in Bengal and one of the most prosperous cities in the world. The Mughal city was named Jahangirnagar (City of Jahangir) in honour of the erstwhile ruling emperor Jahangir. It hosted the seat of the Mughal Subahdar, Naib Nazims, Dhaka Nawabs, and Dewans. The pre-colonial city's glory peaked in the 17th and 18th centuries when it was home to merchants from across Eurasia. The Port of Dhaka was a major trading post for both riverine and seaborne trade. The Mughals decorated the city with well-laid gardens, tombs, mosques, palaces and forts. The city was once called the Venice of the East. Under British rule, the city saw the introduction of electricity, railways, cinemas, Western-style universities and colleges and a modern water supply. It became an important administrative and educational centre in the British Raj, as the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam province after 1905. In 1947, after the end of British rule, the city became the administrative capital of East Pakistan. It was declared the legislative capital of Pakistan in 1962. In 1971, after the Liberation War, it became the capital of independent Bangladesh.

A beta-global city, Dhaka is the center of political, economic and culture life in Bangladesh. It is the seat of the Government of Bangladesh, many Bangladeshi companies and leading Bangladeshi educational, scientific, research and cultural organizations. Since its establishment as a modern capital city; the population, area and social and economic diversity of Dhaka have grown tremendously. The city is now one of the most densely industrialized regions in the country. The city accounts for 35% of Bangladesh's economy.^[1] The Dhaka Stock Exchange has over 750 listed companies. Dhaka hosts over 50 diplomatic missions as well as the headquarters of BIMSTEC and CIRDAP. The city's culture is known for its rickshaws, cuisine, art festivals and religious diversity. The old city is home to around 2000 buildings from the Mughal and British periods.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Pre-Mughal

The history of urban settlements in the area of modern-day Dhaka dates to the first millennium.^[2] The region was part of the ancient district of Bikrampur, which was ruled by the Sena dynasty.
Under Islamic rule, it became part of the historic district of Sonargaon, the regional administrative hub of the Delhi and the Bengal Sultanates. The Grand Trunk Road passed through the region, connecting it with North India, Central Asia and the southeastern port city of Chittagong.

Early modern

The Mughal Empire governed the region during the early modern period. Under Mughal rule, the Old City of Dhaka grew on the banks of the Buriganga River. Dhaka was proclaimed the capital of Mughal Bengal in 1608. Islam Khan Chishti was the first administrator of the city. Khan named it "Jahangir Nagar" (City of Jahangir) in honour of the Emperor Jahangir. The name was dropped soon after the English conquered. The main expansion of the city took place under Mughal governor Shaista Khan. The city then measured , with a population of nearly one million. Dhaka was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in South Asia. Construction of Lalbagh Fort was commenced in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam during his 15-month-long governorship of Bengal, but before the work could complete, he was recalled by Emperor Aurangzeb.

Bengal was an affluent region in the Mughal era. It was globally prominent in industries such as textile manufacturing and shipbuilding. It was an exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpeter, and agricultural and industrial produce.^[3]

It grew into a regional economic center during the 17th and 18th centuries, serving as a hub for Eurasian traders, including Bengalis, Marwaris, Kashmiris, Gujaratis, Armenians, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, Dutch, French, English, and the Portuguese.^[4] The city was a center of the worldwide muslin, cotton and jute industries, with 80,000 skilled weavers. The city had well-laid out gardens, monuments, mosques, temples, bazaars, churches and caravansaries. The Bara Katra was the largest caravansary. The riverbanks were dotted with tea houses and numerous stately mansions. Eurasian traders built neighborhoods in Farashganj (French Bazaar), Armanitola (Armenian Quarter) and Postogola (Portuguese Quarter).

After the Battle of Buxar in 1765, per the Treaty of Allahabad, East India Company was appointed the imperial tax collector of the province Bengal-Bihar-Orissa by the Mughal emperor. The company was still a subject of the Mughal empire. But it took complete control in 1793 when Nizamat (Mughal appointed governorship) was abolished. The city then became known by its anglicised name, Dacca. Owing to the war, the city's population shrank dramatically in a short time. The city formally passed to the control of the EIC in 1793 and Dhaka became connected to the mercantile networks of the British Empire. With the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, Dhaka became a leading center of the jute trade, as Bengal accounted for the largest share of the world's jute production. Dhaka suffered stagnation and decline beginning during the mid 19th century. Its muslin industry was destroyed by high rates of taxation, restriction of trade and forced imports of foreign-manufactured textiles. Many of the city's weavers starved to death in famines.^[3] The rapid growth of the capital of the Raj, Calcutta, caused a sharp decline in Dhaka's population, with the city experiencing a significant economic downturn. In 1824, an Anglican bishop described Dhaka as a city of magnificent ruins. Horse-driven carriages were introduced in Dhaka as public transport in 1856. The number of carriages increased from 60 in 1867 to 600 in 1889.^[5]

Colonial

During the Indian mutiny of 1857, the city witnessed revolts by the Bengal Army. Direct rule by the British crown was established following the successful quelling of the mutiny. It bestowed privileges on the Dhaka Nawab Family, which dominated the city's political and social elite. The Dhaka Cantonment was established as a base for the British Indian Army. The British developed the modern city around Ramna, Shahbag Garden and Victoria Park. A modern civic water system was introduced in 1874. In 1885, the Dhaka State Railway was opened with a 144 km metre gauge (1000 mm) rail line connecting Mymensingh and the Port of Narayanganj through Dhaka. The city later became a hub of the Eastern Bengal State Railway.^[6] The first film shown in Dhaka was screened on the riverfront Crown Theatre on 17 April 1898. The film show was organized by the Bedford Bioscope Company.^[7] The electricity supply began in 1901.

Some of the early educational institutions established during the period of British Rule include the Dhaka College, the Dhaka Medical School, the Eden College, St. Gregory's School, the Mohsinia Madrasa, Jagannath College and the Ahsanullah School of Engineering. Horse racing was a favourite pastime for elite residents in the city's Ramna Race Course beside the Dhaka Club. The Viceroy of India would often dine and entertain with Bengali aristocrats in the city. Automobiles began appearing after the turn of the century.

By the early-20th century, Dhaka projected itself as the standard-bearer of Muslim minorities in British India; as opposed to the heavily Hindu-dominated city of Kolkata .^[8] During the abortive Partition of Bengal in 1905, Dhaka became the short-lived capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam. In 1906, the All India Muslim League was formed at the Ahsan Manzil, during a conference on liberal education hosted by Nawab Sir Khawja Salimullah. Bengal was reunited in 1911. The University of Dhaka was established in 1921 by an Act passed in the Imperial Legislative Council. It started with three faculties and 12 departments, covering the subjects of Sanskrit, Bengali, English, education, history, Arabic, Islamic Studies, Persian, Urdu, philosophy, economics, politics, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and law.

The East Bengal Cinematograph Company produced the first full-length silent movies in Dhaka during the 1920s, including Sukumari and The Last Kiss.^[7] DEVCO, a subsidiary of the Occtavian Steel Company, began widescale power distribution in 1930.^[9] The Tejgaon Airport was constructed during World War II as a base for Allied Forces. The Dhaka Medical College was established in 1946.

Late modern and contemporary

With the Partition of Bengal (as part of the wider Partition of India) in 1947, Dhaka became the capital of East Bengal (1947–1955) and East Pakistan (1955–1971). It hosted the largest legislature in Pakistan, as East Bengalis comprised most of the new state's population. Dhaka's urban population increased dramatically because of Muslim migration from across Bengal and other parts of the subcontinent. Dhaka began to see rapid urban expansion from the 1950s. The East Pakistan Stock Exchange Association was formed on 28 April 1954 and later became the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Orient Airways, founded by the East Pakistani industrialist Mirza Ahmad Ispahani, began the first commercial flight between Dhaka and Karachi on 6 June 1954. The airline later evolved into Pakistan International Airlines. The Dhaka Improvement Trust was established in 1956 to coordinate the city's development. The first master plan for the city was drawn up in 1959. Several countries opened consulates in Dhaka, including the United States, India, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and China. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization established a research centre (now called ICDDR,B) for combating disease in 1960.

As early as 1947, Dhaka's demanded to host the parliament of the federation of Pakistan. Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah stated that the country's Constituent Assembly should meet in East Bengal due to the region's large population. In 1962, President Ayub Khan designated Dhaka as the seat of the proposed National Assembly outlined in the 1962 Constitution. The government-appointed Louis Kahn and Muzharul Islam to design a capitol complex in Dhaka. The city was declared as the country's legislative capital. The Inter-Continental Hotel of Dhaka, designed by William B. Tabler, opened in 1966 in Ramna. The East Pakistan Helicopter Service connected Dhaka with other regional cities as part of the largest commercial helicopter network in the world.

The Awami League was formed at the Rose Garden Palace, in 1949 as the Bengali alternative to the domination of the Muslim League in Pakistan. Growing political, cultural and economic rifts emerged between the two wings of the country. The Bengali Language Movement reached its peak in 1952.^[10] Dhaka remained a center of revolutionary and political activity, as student activism and demands for autonomy increased. The Six point movement in 1966 was widely supported by the city's residents. The city had an influential press with prominent newspapers like the Ittefaq and the Weekly Holiday. During the political and constitutional crisis in 1971, the military junta led by Yahya Khan refused to transfer power to the newly elected National Assembly, causing mass riots, civil disobedience and a movement for self-determination. On 7 March 1971, Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman addressed a massive public gathering at the Ramna Race Course Maidan in Dhaka, in which he warned of an independence struggle.^[10] Subsequently, East Pakistan came under a non-co-operation movement against the Pakistani state. On Pakistan's Republic Day (23 March 1971), Bangladeshi flags were hoisted throughout Dhaka in a show of resistance.

On 25 March 1971, the Pakistan Army launched military operations under Operation Searchlight against the population of East Pakistan. Dhaka bore the brunt of the army's atrocities, witnessing a genocide and a campaign of wide scale repression, with the arrest, torture and murder of the city's civilians, students, intelligentsia, political activists and religious minorities. The army faced mutinies from the East Pakistan Rifles and the Bengali police. Large parts of the city were burnt and destroyed, including Hindu neighborhoods.^[11] Much of the city's population was either displaced or forced to flee to the countryside. In the ensuing Bangladesh War of Independence, the Bangladesh Forces launched regular guerrilla attacks and ambush operations against Pakistani forces. Dhaka was struck with numerous air raids by the Indian Air Force in December. Dhaka witnessed the surrender of the west Pakistan forces in front of the Bangladesh-India Allied Forces on 16 December 1971 with the surrender of Pakistan.

Dhaka was declared the national capital by the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh in 1972. The post-independence period witnessed rapid growth as Dhaka attracted migrant workers from across rural Bangladesh. 60% of population growth has been due to rural migration. The city endured socialist unrest in the early 1970s, followed by a few years of martial law. The stock exchange and free market were restored in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, Dhaka saw the inauguration of the National Parliament House (which won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture), a new international airport and the Bangladesh National Museum. Bangladesh pioneered the formation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and hosted its first summit in Dhaka in 1985. A mass uprising in 1990 led to the return of parliamentary democracy. Dhaka has hosted a trilateral summit between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1998; the summit of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation in 1999 and conferences of the Commonwealth, SAARC, the OIC and United Nations agencies during various years.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Dhaka experienced improved economic growth and the emergence of affluent business districts and satellite towns. Between 1990 and 2005, the city's population doubled from 6 million to 12 million. There has been increased foreign investment in the city, particularly in the financial and textile manufacturing sectors. But frequent hartals by political parties have greatly hampered the city's economy. The hartal rate has declined since 2014. In some years, the city experienced a widespread flash flood during the monsoon.

Dhaka is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. It is predicted to be one of the world's largest metropolises by 2025, along with Tokyo, Mexico City, Shanghai, Beijing and New York City. Dhaka remains one of the poorest megacities. Most of its population are rural migrants, including climate refugees. Blue-collar workers are often housed in slums. Congestion is one of the most prominent features of modern Dhaka. In 2014, it was reported that only 7% of the city was covered by roads. The first phase of the Dhaka Metro is planned for opening in December 2022, coinciding Bangladesh's victory day.

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