Hope you guys don't mind, as I couldn't find an existing thread on old East Bengal here. But mods are free to delete or merge.

I started similar threads on MP too, check them out if interested.

There is lots of history that we're unaware of, thus less interested in preserving the past. When we know what we lost, maybe we'll cherish whatever history we're left with. IMO

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00026000[SVC2].jpg

Photograph taken by Fritz Kapp in 1904 with a view of the Imambara Hussaini Dalan in Dacca (now Dhaka), overlooking the tank, 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, 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 Husseini Dalan building consists of two large halls back to back, the Shirni Hall and the Qutba Hall. The flat roof and Doric columns holding up the verandah were added during the building's reconstruction by Nawab Ahsanullah Bahadur in 1898 after the earthquake of the previous year.

Imam Hussein was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammed who refused to swear allegiance to Yazd and became a martyr, together with a number of his followers, at the battle of Karbala (in Iraq) in the year 680. During the month of Muharram Shiite Muslims observe ten days of mourning for the Imam, and a procession leaves the Imambara as part of the rites.

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00017000[SVC2].jpg
Photograph taken by Fritz Kapp in 1904 of a herd of deer taken in the Nawab's Deer Park in Dacca (now Dhaka), part of an album of 30 prints from the Curzon Collection.

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000001019U00013000[SVC2].jpg
Photograph of Dacca (Dhaka) taken in the 1885, from an album 'Architectural Views of Dacca', containing 13 prints by Johnston and Hoffman. Dhaka 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.
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019XZZ000000628U00001000[SVC2].jpg
1816
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.
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO0000125S3U00028000[SVC2].jpg

Photograph of a view the old Dhaka College to the left and the old Court Building to the right taken in the 1870s by an unknown photographer.

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00027000[SVC2].jpg
1904, a view of Dacca College from the tennis courts in Dacca
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000001019U00005000[SVC2].jpg
Mahomed Mosque at Dacca, 1885
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO0000125S3U00041000[SVC2].jpg
Dacca, Ramna Gate to Race Course (now Subrawardy Udyan), 1870s

..more to come

Hi Pakia

In my opinion this is very good thank you for sharing it........much appreciate it and look forward to more.

Hi Pakia

In my opinion this is very good thank you for sharing it........much appreciate it and look forward to more.

Glad you like it, here are some beautiful paintings from bygone days of east Bengal.
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019WDZ000000336U00000000[SVC2].jpg
Water-colour painting of Chittagong showing European bungalows and a river in the distance by James George (1782-1828), 5 October 1813. Inscribed on the front in ink is: 'Chittagong. J. George. 5th Oct. 1813,' and on the back in ink:' View of Chittagong. By Captn George.'
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019WDZ000001704U00000000[SVC2].jpg
Chittagong and the Karnaphuli River by Jane Blagrave 1830s
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019WDZ000001708U00000000[SVC2].jpg
Gouache painting of Noakhali House, Noakhali (Bangladesh) by Jane Blagrave (fl. 1809-1840) in 1837. Inscribed on the front of the mount in ink is: 'Noacolly House, J. Blagrave./37.'

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000000124U00046000[SVC2].jpg
A village family
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000000124U00003000[SVC2].jpg
A muslim scholar

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO0000125S3U00038000[SVC2].jpg
Lal Bagh, Dhaka, 1875

How did you find/have access to these photos?

How did you find/have access to these photos?

Not that hard, if you don't mind poking around museum website & archive galleries esp. the British ones.

Pics below are just over a century old. The year is 1904, place Dhaka
Dhaka Chowk
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00020000[SVC2].jpg
Darrassari Temple, [Dhakeshwari, Dacca]
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00030000[SVC2].jpg
Northbrook Hall, [Dacca]
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00022000[SVC2].jpg
Mitford Hospital, [Dacca]
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00021000[SVC2].jpg
Nawab's Dilkusha Garden, [Dacca]
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00016000[SVC2].jpg

I wonder how many of the above places are still standing?

^^ Thanks for posting Pakia...you will find some of these pictures, plus info on the buildings, in this thread:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=436396

The buildings in your postings are all standing except the old Dacca College and Court buildings, although some of them - like Chawk Bazar Mosque and Kar Talab Khan Mosque - have had additions and modifications.

^^ Thanks for posting Pakia...you will find some of these pictures, plus info on the buildings, in this thread:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=436396

The buildings in your postings are all standing except the old Dacca College and Court buildings, although some of them - like Chawk Bazar Mosque and Kar Talab Khan Mosque - have had additions and modifications.

Lot of pics you had already posted but many not of restored quality.

I think a thread just for old & ancient history and restored old pics might be better (for history buffs like me).

But you decide if its better to merge this thread into the existing but inactive one. Thanks Tanz.

I'll be adding to it either way, like it or not. :lol:

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000001019U00004000[SVC2].jpg

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00024000[SVC2].jpg
Photograph taken by Fritz Kapp in 1904 with a view of the iron suspension bridge over the Dulai Creek in Dacca
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO0000125S3U00032000[SVC2].jpg
Photograph of the Hanging Bridge at Dhaka taken in the 1870s by an unknown photographer

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO000430S31U00018000[SVC2].jpg
Photograph taken by Fritz Kapp in 1904 of a large tank or reservoir in Dilkusha Gardens in Dacca

But you decide if its better to merge this thread into the existing but inactive one. Thanks Tanz.

I'll be adding to it either way, like it or not. :lol:

I have no problem with the thread at all...but you asked about the buildings in the pictures, so if you would like to know more about some of them, a little info is available on that older thread :)

On another note - the name of the mosque in second pic of post 3 is actually Kar Talab Khan Mosque aka Murshid Quli Khan Mosque aka Begum Bazar Mosque. IMO this is was the best Mughal mosque in Dhaka...unfortunately today the front is no longer visible, being appended to an unsympathetic modern extension.

Thanks for sharing and putting them pics up - really enjoyed them. Looking fwd to more!

Thanks for the pics Pakia!

I am wondering if the bridge is the bridge over Dholai Khal? Or is it the famed Lohar pool? In either case, there the pool has been made underground and a road has been constructed over it.

I am wondering if the bridge is the bridge over Dholai Khal? Or is it the famed Lohar pool?

I could be mistaken, but I believe those two were the same, ie Lohar Pool over Dolai Khal.

Shiva temple, Painam, Sonargaon
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO001000S27U02735000[SVC2].jpg

Photograph of the Shiva temple at Painam, Sonargaon, Bangladesh, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections, taken by W. Brennand in 1872.
Painam was perhaps the residence of the early Muslim governors of Eastern Bengal whose capital was at Sonargaon, a thriving port and commercial centre nearby. The city was later a centre of trade in cotton fabrics carried out by the East India Company. This view looks along a street of thatched huts towards the temple. The temple is briefly mentioned in J. Wise, Notes on Sunargaon, Eastern Bengal (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. XLIII, part I, Calcutta, 1874), "In the one street of Painam is a modern and very ugly temple of Shiva, ornamented with numerous pinnacles."

Old bridge, called Dullalpur pul, Painam, Sonargaon. 1872
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019PHO001000S27U02732000[SVC2].jpg

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019XZZ000000628U00010000[SVC2].jpg
The Lal Bagh Fort in Dhaka was begun around 1677 by Prince Muhammad Azam, son of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It was never completed. One of the principal attractions in the Old City of Dhaka, it has three storeys and contains many buildings including the tomb of Pari Bibi or 'Fairy Lady' (the wife of a Mughal governor of Bengal) and a huge mosque.

This etching was based on plate 10 from Charles D'Oyly's 'Antiquities of Dacca'.

http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019WDZ000004219U00000000[SVC2].jpg
Map of Chittagong, 23 January, 1818, by John Cheape, Bengal Engineers.
http://ogimages.bl.uk/images/019/019WDZ000002661U00000000[SVC2].jpg

The Lal Bagh Fort in Dhaka was begun around 1677 by Prince Muhammad Azam, son of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It was never completed. One of the principal attractions in the Old City of Dhaka, it has three storeys and contains many buildings including the tomb of Pari Bibi or 'Fairy Lady' (the wife of a Mughal governor of Bengal) and a huge mosque.


Is this true? Lal Bagh Fort was built that late? Dhaka became the capital of Bengal as soon as Mughal rule was established which was during the time of Akbar IIRC.

^^ Sorry I don't know much about Bengal history. I just cut & paste the captions.

I'm sure others here are more knowledgable.

Is this true? Lal Bagh Fort was built that late? Dhaka became the capital of Bengal as soon as Mughal rule was established which was during the time of Akbar IIRC.

Yes, that is correct, Lalbagh Fort was built between 1678 and 1684, except the mosque, which was built earlier.

History of Mughal Dhaka could be broken into the reigns of the three emperors - Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Alamgir (aka Aurangzeb). Dhaka was the capital of Bengal during times of Jahangir and Alamgir. During reign of Shah Jahan, the capital was at Rajmahal in West Bengal.

Of the first period, under Jahangir, nothing survives.

Of the second period, under Shah Jahan, there are the two katras, Dhanmandi Eidgah, and Lalbagh mosque.

The rest of the surviving monuments are from era of Alamgir.

Absolutely fascinating pictures of old old Bangladesh. please upload more. The one with the old Muslim scholar is brilliant as it gives an insight into the way of living i.e clothing, attire and surroundings. Fantastic!!

I appreciate your interest in Bangladeshi History, please keep it up :)