1.
Mughal Empire
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The dynasty, though ethnically Turco-Mongol, was Persianate in terms of culture. The Mughal empire extended over parts of the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of the empire is conventionally dated to the victory by its founder Babur over Ibrahim Lodi, the Mughal emperors were Central Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur. During the reign of Humayun, the successor of Babur, the empire was briefly interrupted by the Sur Empire, the classic period of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as harmony. Akbar was a warrior who also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, between 1628 and 1658 was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, as well as the Moti Masjid, Agra, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, Delhi. By the mid-18th century, the Marathas had routed Mughal armies, during the following century Mughal power had become severely limited, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, had authority over only the city of Shahjahanabad. He issued a firman supporting the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and following the defeat was therefore tried by the British East India Company for treason, imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon. Contemporaries referred to the empire founded by Babur as the Timurid empire, which reflected the heritage of his dynasty, another name was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari, and which has been described as the closest to an official name for the empire. In the west, the term Mughal was used for the emperor, and by extension, the use of Mughal derived from the Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, and it emphasised the Mongol origins of the Timurid dynasty. The term gained currency during the 19th century, but remains disputed by Indologists, similar terms had been used to refer to the empire, including Mogul and Moghul. Nevertheless, Baburs ancestors were sharply distinguished from the classical Mongols insofar as they were oriented towards Persian rather than Turco-Mongol culture, ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, Baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayuns triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River
2.
Buriganga River
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The Buriganga River flows past the southwest outskirts of Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh. Its average depth is 7.6 metres and its depth is 18 metres. In the distant past, a course of the Ganges river used to reach the Bay of Bengal through the Dhaleshwari river, when this course gradually shifted and ultimately lost its link with the main channel of the Ganges it was renamed the Buriganga. It is said that the levels during high and very high tides in this river astonished the Mughals. In the 20th century the water table and river became polluted by polythenes, the course of the Padma, as the main course of the Ganges is known in Bangladesh, changed considerably during the period 1600 to 2000 AD. In the 18th century, the course of the river flowed further south. About the middle of the 19th century the volume of the channel flowed through this southern channel. Gradually the Padma adopted its present course, the Buriganga is economically very important to Dhaka. Launches and country boats provide connection to parts of Bangladesh. When the Mughals made Dhaka their capital in 1610, the banks of the Buriganga were already a prime location for trade, the river was also the citys main source of drinking water. Today, the Buriganga river is afflicted by the problem of pollution. The chemical waste of mills and factories, household waste, medical waste, sewage, dead animals, plastics, the city of Dhaka discharges about 4,500 tons of solid waste every day and most of it is released into the Buriganga. According to the Department of Environment,21,600 cubic metres of waste are released into the river by the tanneries every day. Most of the units of these areas have no sewage treatment or effluent treatment plants of their own. More than 60,000 cubic metres of waste, including textile dying, printing, washing. According to the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority, about 12,000 cubic metres of untreated waste are released into the lake from Tejgaon, Badda, the waste mostly comes from garment washing and dyeing plants. Textile industries annually discharge as much as 56 million tonnes of waste and 0.5 million tonnes of sludge, sewage is also released into the Buriganga. A newspaper article from 2004 indicated that up to 80% of Dhakas sewage was untreated, nearly 4.0 million people of the city are exposed to the consequences of water pollution every day
3.
Aurangzeb
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Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his regnal title Alamgir, was the sixth, and widely considered the last effective Mughal Emperor. He ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent during some parts of his reign, Aurangzeb was a notable expansionist and during his reign, the Mughal Empire temporarily reached its greatest extent. During his reign,4.6 million people were said have died due to war, Aurangzebs policies partly abandoned the legacy of pluralism, which remains a very controversial aspect of his reign and led to the downfall of the Mughal Empire. Rebellions and wars led to the exhaustion of the imperial Mughal treasury and he was a strong-handed authoritarian ruler, and following his death the expansionary period of the Mughal Empire came to an end. Nevertheless, the territory of the Mughal Empire still remained intact more or less until the reign of Muhammad Shah. Aurangzeb was born on 3 November 1618, in Dahod, Gujarat and he was the third son and sixth child of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. In June 1626, after a rebellion by his father, Aurangzeb. His daily allowance was fixed at Rs.500 which he spent on religious education, on 28 May 1633, Aurangzeb escaped death when a powerful war elephant stampeded through the Mughal Imperial encampment. He rode against the elephant and struck its trunk with a lance, Aurangzebs valour was appreciated by his father who conferred him the title of Bahadur and had him weighed in gold and presented gifts worth Rs.200,000. This event was celebrated in Persian and Urdu verses and Aurangzeb said, If the fight had ended fatally for me, death drops the curtain even on Emperors, it is no dishonor. The shame lay in what my brothers did, by arrangement, Aurangzeb stayed in the rear, away from the fighting, and took the advice of his generals as the Mughal Army gathered and commenced the Siege of Orchha in 1635. The campaign was successful and Singh was removed from power, Aurangzeb was appointed viceroy of the Deccan in 1636. In 1637, Aurangzeb married the Safavid princess, Dilras Banu Begum and she was his first wife and chief consort. He also had an infatuation with a girl, Hira Bai. In his old age, he was under the charms of his concubine, the latter had formerly been a companion to Dara Shikoh. In the same year,1637, Aurangzeb was placed in charge of annexing the small Rajput kingdom of Baglana, in 1644, Aurangzebs sister, Jahanara, was burned when the chemicals in her perfume were ignited by a nearby lamp while in Agra. This event precipitated a crisis with political consequences. Aurangzeb suffered his fathers displeasure by not returning to Agra immediately, Shah Jahan had been nursing Jahanara back to health in that time and thousands of vassals had arrived in Agra to pay their respects
4.
Shaista Khan
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Mirza Abu Talib شاه خان, better known as Shaista Khan was a subahdar and a general in the Mughal army. A maternal uncle to Emperor Aurangzeb, he served as the Mughal governor of Bengal from 1664 to 1688, under Shaista Khans authority, the city of Dhaka and Mughal power in the province attained its greatest heights. One of this notable achievements was the Mughal conquest of Chittagong, in the year 1660, he was sent to participate in the struggle against the Maratha king Shivaji. However, he was defeated in an attack and lost one of his sons. He then left Pune and shifted his camp to Aurangabad, Shaista Khan was of Persian origin. His grandfather Mirza Ghias Beg Itimaduddaula and father Asaf Khan were the wazirs of the Mughal Emperors Jahangir and Shahjahan, Shaista Khan trained and served with the Mughal army and court, winning multiple promotions and being appointed governor of various provinces. He also developed a reputation as a military commander and grew close to the prince Aurangzeb when the duo fought against the kingdom of Golconda. After his accession to the throne and the death of Afzal Khan. In January 1660 Shaista Khan arrived at Aurangabad and quickly advanced, seizing Pune and he also captured the fort of Chakan and Kalyan and north Konkan after heavy fighting with the Maratha. The Maratha were banned from entering the city of Pune and Mughal distance from the locals turned out to be an error, on the evening of 5 April 1663, a wedding party had obtained special permission for holding a procession. Shivaji and many of his nearly 400 men disguised as the bridegrooms procession members entered Pune, others entered in small parties dressed as labourers and soldiers of Maratha generals serving under Shaista Khan. After midnight, they raided the Nawabs compound and then entered the palace in an attempt to assassinate Shaista Khan, Shaista Khan was clearly unaware and unprepared. The Marathas broke into the courtyard of the palace and slaughtered the palace guards, Shaista Khan lost three fingers in a skirmish with Shivaji, while his son was killed in an encounter with the Marathas in the palace courtyard. Taking advantage of the confusion and darkness, the Marathas escaped the palace and Pune, shocked by the sudden and bold attack in Pune, Aurangzeb angrily transferred Shaista Khan to Bengal, even refusing to give him an interview at the time of transfer as was the custom. Shaista Khan was appointed the Subahdar of Bengal upon the death of Mir Jumla II in 1663, as governor, he encouraged trade with Europe, Southeast Asia and other parts of India. He consolidated his power by signing agreements with European powers. Despite his powerful position he remained loyal to Aurangzeb, often mediating trade disputes and rivalries and he banned the British East India Company from Bengal, sparking Childs War in 1686. Shaista Khan encouraged the construction of modern townships and public works in Dhaka, leading to a massive urban, Khan greatly expanded Lalbagh Fort, Chowk Bazaar Mosque, Saat Masjid and Choto Katra
5.
Johan Zoffany
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Johan Joseph Zoffany, RA was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England. His works appear in many prominent British National galleries such as the National Gallery, London and his name is sometimes spelled Zoffani or Zauffelij. Of Bohemian origin, Johan Zoffany was born in Frankfurt on 13 March 1733 and he undertook an initial period of study in a sculptors workshop in Ellwangen in the 1740s and later at Regensburg with the artist Martin Speer. In 1750, he travelled to Rome, entering the studio of Agostino Masucci, in autumn 1760 he arrived in England, initially finding work with the clockmaker Stephen Rimbault, painting vignettes for his clocks. He also was popular with the Austrian Imperial family and in 1776 was created Baron by the Empress Maria Theresa, Johan Zoffany was a Freemason and was initiated into the Craft on 19 December 1763 at The Old Kings Lodge No 28. He was a master of what has called the theatrical conversation piece. Zoffany has been described by one critic as the real creator, in the later part of his life, Zoffany was especially known for producing huge paintings with large casts of people and works of art, all readily recognizable by their contemporaries. Though Zoffany made several visits to continental Europe and India in his lifetime, he remained in Britain and he is buried in the churchyard of St Annes Church, Kew. The painter Thomas Gainsborough was, by that artists own request, in the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, by Gilbert and Sullivan, the Major-General brags of being able to distinguish works by Raphael from works by Gerard Dou and Zoffany. Zoffany lived in Lucknow for a time, during his return to England, the survivors held a lottery in which the loser was eaten. William Dalrymple thus describes Zoffany as having been the first and last Royal Academician to have become a cannibal. Despite the high profile the artist enjoyed in his day, as painter in London and Vienna, Zoffany has, until very recently. In 1920 Lady Victoria Manners and Dr. G. C. Williamson published John Zoffany, R. A. his life and works. 1735–1810 – the first in-depth study of the artist and his work, privately printed, presumably at some cost and this was followed by Johan Zoffany, 1733–1810, Mary Websters short but authoritative illustrated guide for the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In December 2009, the first full biography was published, Johan Zoffany, Artist, in 2011 Mary Webster published her long-awaited monograph on the artist, Johan Zoffany 1733–1810. A2014 book by David Wilson describes Zoffany’s relationship with Robert Sayer, in this way he helped to secure Zoffany’s international reputation. Sayer and the artist became longstanding friends as well as business associates, in 1781 Zoffany painted Robert Sayer in an important ‘conversation piece’. The Sayer Family of Richmond depicts Robert Sayer, his son, James, from his first marriage, on Sayer’s death in 1794 the house was to become the residence of a future king of Great Britain
6.
Turkish bath
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A Turkish bath is the Islamic variant of the Roman bath, steambath, sauna, or Russian banya, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam. In Western Europe, the Turkish bath as a method of cleansing, the process involved in taking a Turkish bath is similar to that of a sauna, but is more closely related to ancient Greek and ancient Roman bathing practices. The Turkish bath starts with relaxation in a room that is heated by a flow of hot, dry air. Bathers may then move to an even hotter room before they wash in cold water, after performing a full body wash and receiving a massage, bathers finally retire to the cooling-room for a period of relaxation. The difference between the Islamic hammam and the Victorian Turkish bath is the air, the hot air in the Victorian Turkish bath is dry, in the Islamic hammam the air is often steamy. The bather in a Victorian Turkish bath will often take a plunge in a pool after the hot rooms. In the Islamic hammams the bathers splash themselves with cold water and it is not wet air, nor moist air, nor vapoury air, it is not vapour in any shape or form whatever. It is an immersion of the body in hot common air. One of the Five Pillars of Islam is prayer and it is customary before praying for Muslims to perform ablutions. The two Islamic forms of ablution are ghusl, a cleansing, and wudu, a cleansing of the face, hands. In the most extreme of cases, cleansing with pure soil or sand is also permissible, often, hammams are located close to mosques and other places for prayer for those who wish to perform deeper cleansing. Islamic hammams, particularly in the Moroccan case, evolved from their Roman roots to adapt to the needs of ritual purification according to Islam, for example, in most Roman-style hammams, one finds a cold pool for full submergence of the body. The style of bathing is less preferable in the Islamic faith, for al-Ghazali, the hammam is a primarily male experience, and he cautions that women are to enter the hammam only after childbirth or illness. Even then al-Gazali finds it admissible for men to prohibit their wives or sisters from using the hammam, the major point of contention surrounding hammams in al-Ghazalis estimation is nakedness. In his work he warns that overt nakedness is to be avoided, … he should shield it from the sight of others and second, guard against the touch of others. He focuses extensively in his writing on the avoidance of touching the penis during bathing and he writes that nakedness is decent only when the area between the knees and the lower stomach of a man are hidden. For women, exposure of only the face and palms is appropriate, according to al-Gazali, the prevalence of nakedness in the hammam could incite indecent thoughts or behaviours and so it is a controversial space. Ritual ablution is also required before or after sexual intercourse, during those centuries of war, peace, alliance, trade and competition, the two cultures had tremendous influence on each other
7.
Maratha
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The Maratha is a group of castes in India found predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Marathas are people of India, famed in history as yeoman warriors and they reside primarily in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The general body of lists are often at variance with each other. The term Maratha originally referred to the speakers of the Marathi language, in the 17th century, it emerged as a designation for soldiers serving in the armies of Deccan sultanates. A number of Maratha warriors, including Shivajis father, Shahaji, by the mid-1660s, Shivaji had established an independent Maratha kingdom. After his death, Marathas fought under his sons and defeated Aurangzeb in the war of 27 years, the Confederacy remained the pre-eminent power in India until their defeat by the British East India Company in the Third Anglo-Maratha War. By 19th century, the term Maratha had several interpretations in the British administrative records, in the Thane District Gazetteer of 1882, the term was used to denote elite layers within various castes, for example, Maratha-Agri within Agri caste, Maratha-Koli within Koli caste and so on. In the Pune District, the words Kunbi and Maratha had become synonymous, the Pune District Gazetteer of 1882 divided the Kunbis into two classes, Marathas and other Kunbis. The 1901 census listed three groups within the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex, Marathas proper, Maratha Kunbis and Konkani Marathas, the Kunbi class comprised agricultural workers and soldiers. The upper-class Marathas proper claimed Rajput descent with Kshatriya status, and included princes, some of the Maratha clans claiming Rajput descent include Bhonsales, Chavans, and Pawar. Gradually, the term Maratha came to denote an endogamous caste, from 1900 onwards, the Satyashodhak Samaj movement defined the Marathas as a broader social category of non-Brahmin groups. These non-Brahmins gained prominence in Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement, in independent India, these Marathas became the dominant political force in the newly-formed state of Maharashtra. The empire also resulted in the relocation of substantial numbers of Maratha and other Marathi-speaking people outside Maharashtra. Today several small but significant communities descended from these live in the north, south. These descendant communities tend often to speak the languages, although many also speak Marathi in addition. Notable Maratha families outside Maharashtra include Scindia of Gwalior, Gaekwad of Baroda, Holkar of Indore, Puar of Dewas & Dhar, Ghorpade of Mudhol, and Bhonsle of Nagpur. These Brahmins supported the Maratha claim to Kshatriya status, but their success in political alliance was sporadic. Marathas have dominated the politics of Maharashtra since its inception in 1960
8.
Charles D'Oyly
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Charles DOyly, was a British public official and painter from Dhaka who produced numerous images on Indian subject matter. He was born in India on 17 September 1781 and his father, Sir John DOyly, 6th Baronet was the resident of the East India Company at the Court of Nawab Babar Ali of Murshidabad. DOyly went to England with the family in 1785 and received his first formal education there, in 1798 he returned to India as Assistant to the Registrar in the Court of Appeal in Calcutta. In 1803 he was appointed as Keeper of the Records in the office of the Governor General, DOyly was appointed as the Collector of Dacca in 1808. After serving with the company for forty years, his health compelled DOyly to leave India in 1838. After the death of his father, DOyly inherited the baronetage, the greater part of the rest of his life was spent in Italy and he died there on 21 September 1845 leaving no male issue. DOyly was Collector of Dhaka from 1808 to 1817, during that period, he painted a wide variety of pictures, especially the Mughal ruins. He decided to publish the drawings relating to Dhaka in the form of a folio-size book, after engraving, the drawings of DOyly were published in London from 1823 onwards. A short historical account of Dhaka was also appended to each book, james Atkinson wrote these accounts, accompanied by engravings done by Landseer. These books came to be known as Antiquities of Dacca and became important social documents, DOyly collaborated with Christopher Webb Smith in producing a number of books. Two of these were Feathered Game of Hindostan and Oriental Ornithology, Webb Smith depicting the birds and the foliage, and DOyly doing the backgrounds. Between 1832 and 1833, DOyly took leave at the Cape of Good Hope, returning to Calcutta to fill the post of Senior Member of Customs, the complete work was published after DOylys death in Italy in 1845
9.
History of Dhaka
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Dhaka, formerly spelled as Dacca in English, is the capital and one of the oldest cities of Bangladesh. The history of Dhaka begins with the existence of urbanised settlements in the area that is now Dhaka dating from the 7th century CE, the city area was ruled by the Buddhist kingdom of Kamarupa before passing to the control of the Sena dynasty in the 9th century CE. After the Sena dynasty, Dhaka was successively ruled by the Turkic, after Mughals, British ruled the region for over 150 years until the independence of India. In 1947, Dhaka became the capital of the East Bengal province under the dominion of Pakistan, after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became the capital of the new state. There are several myths on the origin of the name Dhaka, one is that the name came following the establishment of Dhakeshwari temple by Raja Ballal Sena in the 12th century and Dhakeswari is the name of a Goddess. While others say that Dhakeshwari stands the meaning of Goddess of Dhaka, another myths says that the Dhak is used as part of the Durga Puja festival in this temple and hence the name Dhaka. Yet another one says it came from the plant named Dhak which was found in that area. The more credible theory comes from the source of Rajatarangini written by a Kashmiri Brahman and it says the region was originally known as Dhakka. Bikrampur and Sonargaon—the earlier strongholds of Bengal rulers were situated nearby, so Dhaka was most likely used as the watchtower for the fortification purpose. Kamarupa kingdom, also known as Pragjyotisa, existed between 350 and 1140 CE, according to the chronicle of Yogini Tantra, the southern boundary of the kingdom stretched up to the junction of Brahmaputra River and Shitalakshya River which covered the Dhaka region. Pala Empire was the last dynasty to rule the whole Kamarupa region, during their reign between the 8th century until the late 11th century, Vikrampur, a region 12 miles from Dhaka, was their capital. The Pala rulers were Buddhists, but majority of their subjects were Hindus, Sena dynastys founder, Hemanta Sen, was part of the Pala dynasty until their empire began to weaken. He usurped power and styled himself king in 1095 AD, then largely Hindu community populated the lower Dhaka region. According to popular legend, Dhakeshwari Temple was built by Ballal Sena, another tradition says, there were fifty two bazaars and fifty three streets and the region acquired the name of Baunno Bazaar O Teppun Gulli. Upon arrival of Islam in this region, Turkish and Afghan rulers reigned the area from the early 14th century until the late 16th century, an Afghan fort was built at that time which was later converted to the present-form of Dhaka Central Jail in 1820 by the British. A 17th-century historian, Mirza Nathan, described the fort in his book Baharistan-i-Ghaibi as surrounded by mud walls, in 1412 Shah Ali Baghdadi, a saint arrived in Delhi and then came to Dhaka where he became a disciple of Shah Bahar of the Chistia order. His tomb is still at Mirpur on the outskirts of Dhaka, binat Bibi Mosque was built in 1454 at Narinda area of Dhaka during the reign of the Sultan of Bengal, Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah. It is the oldest brick structure still exists in the city
10.
Ahsan Manzil
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Ahsan Manzil was the official residential palace and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka. The building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, construction was started in 1859 and was completed in 1872. It was constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture and it has been designated as a national museum. In Mughal era, there was a house of Sheikh Enayet Ullah. Sheikh Enayet Ullah was a charming person. He acquired a big area in Kumortuli and included it in his garden house. Here he built a palace and named it Rongmohol. He used to enjoy here keeping beautiful girls collected from the country and abroad, dressing them with gorgeous dresses, there is a saying that, the foujdar of Dhaka in that time was attracted to one of the beautiful girls among them. He invited Sheikh Enayet Ullah in a party one night and killed him in a conspiracy when he was returning home and that girl also committed suicide in anger and sorrow. There was a grave of Sheikh Enayet Ullah in the north-east corner of the yard which was ruined in the beginning of the 20th century. Probably in the period of Nawab Alibardi Khan around 1740 century, Sheikh Moti Ullah, there was a French trading house beside this property. The trading house became wealthier after purchasing this property, in that time, French traders could do business here without paying any taxes by a decree from the emperor Awrangajeb. In that time, the French became very wealthy by doing business here in competition with the English and they made a big palace and dug a pond for sweet water in the newly purchased property. The pond still exists in the compound of Ahsan Manjil which was called Les Jalla in that time, in the English-French war, French got defeated and all their properties were captured by the English. On 22 June 1757, the French left the house with a fleet of 35 boats from the river station of Buriganga in front of Kumartuli. In 1785, the French transferred the property to a French tradesman named Mr. Champigni, according to Paris agreement of 1814, the French claimed all their left properties at Dhaka, and in 1827 the property was again returned to the French. For the increasing power of the English, the French was forced to leave subcontinent and they decided to sell all their properties in Dhaka. So in 1830, the house of Kumartuli was purchased by the established landlord of Dhaka Khwaja Alimullah
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