Media News: Mega City Dhaka - Capital Of Bangladesh

Dhaka is a mega city and one of the major cities of South Asia Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, has a population of over 12 million, making it the largest city in Bangladesh.[2] It is the 9th largest city in the world and also among the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhaka is known as the City of Mosques Under Mughal rule in the 17th century, the city was known as Jahangir Nagar. It was a provincial capital and a center of the worldwide muslin trade. The modern city, however, was developed chiefly under British rule in the 19th century, and became the second-largest city in Bengal after Calcutta (presently Kolkata). After the Partition of Bengal in 1905, Dhaka became the capital of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam but lost its status as a provincial capital again after the partition was annulled in 1911. After the partition of India in 1947, Dhaka became the administrative capital of East Pakistan, and later, in 1971, the capital of an independent Bangladesh. During intervening period Modern Dhaka is the center of political, cultural and economic life in Bangladesh. Although its urban infrastructure is the most developed in the country, Dhaka suffers from urban problems such as pollution, congestion, and lack of adequate services due to the rising population. In recent decades, Dhaka has seen modernization of transport, communications and public works. The city is attracting large foreign investments and greater volumes of commerce and trade.

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.

Historians disagree on when the city of Dhaka was founded. The

official date is 1610, when it was turned into a capital of the Bengal province by Mughal rulers who once controlled most of what is modern-day India. Previous to that, there had been other various Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim kingdoms. There is also dispute on where the name Dhaka, previously spelled “Dacca,” comes from. The word means “covered” in Bengali.

In the latter part of the 17th-century, the British East India Company was allowed to establish a trading post in Bengal in the city of Calcutta. When it was attacked in 1757, the British fought back, resulting in the fall of the Mughal empire and the transition of power in Bengal to the British. The center of the region’s power was moved from Dhaka to Calcutta.

In 1947, British India was partitioned into Muslim and Hindu sections, with present-day Bangladesh breaking off to become East Bengal, later known as East Pakistan. Dhaka was again the capital of the region. Later, East Pakistanis fought for their independence from West Pakistan, eventually succeeding in 1971 with help from Indian forces. This resulted in the establishment of the People’s Republic of Bengladesh.

dramatically in a short period of time. Although an important city in the Bengal province, Dhaka remained smaller than Kolkata, which served as the capital of British India for a long period of time. Under British rule, many modern educational institutions, public works and townships were developed. A modern water supply system was introduced in 1874 and electricity supply in 1878. The Dhaka Cantonment was established near the city, serving as a base for the soldiers of the British Indian Army. Dhaka served as a strategic link to the frontier of the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam.

The city passed to the control of the British East India Company in 1765 after the Battle of Plassey. The city then became known by its anglicized name, Dacca. Owing to the war, the city’s population shrank dramatically in a short period of time. Although an important city in the Bengal province, Dhaka remained smaller than Kolkata, which served as the capital of British India for a long period of time. Under British rule, many modern educational institutions, public works and townships were developed. A modern water supply system was introduced in 1874 and electricity supply in 1878.[5] The Dhaka Cantonment was established near the city, serving as a base for the soldiers of the British Indian Army. Dhaka served as a strategic link to the frontier of the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam.

Following the partition of Bengal in 1905 and again in 1946, Dhaka became the capital of East Bengal. On August 15, 1947 East Bengal became a part of the new Muslim state of Pakistan. The city witnessed serious communal violence that left thousands of people dead. A large proportion of the city’s Hindu population departed for India, while the city received hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants from the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam and Bihar. The city’s population catapulted in a very short period of time, creating severe shortages and infrastructural problems. As the centre of regional politics, Dhaka saw an increasing number of political strikes and incidents of violence. The adoption of Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan led to protest marches and strikes involving hundreds of thousands of people. Known as the BengaliLanguage Movement, the protests soon degenerated into widespread violence after police firing killed students who were demonstrating peacefully. Martial law would be imposed throughout the city for a long period of time. The Shaheed Minar, located near Dhaka Medical College, commemorates the Language Movement of 1952.

The arrest of the Bengali politician (later to become known as the father of the nation)Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1968 would also spark intensive political protests and violence against the military regime of Ayub Khan. The 1970 Bhola cyclone devastated much of the region, killing numerous people. More than half the city of Dhaka was flooded and waterlogged, with millions of people marooned. The following year saw Sheikh Mujib hold a massive nationalist gathering on March 7, 1971 at the Race Course Ground that attracted an estimated one million people. Galvanising public anger against ethnic and regional discrimination and poor

cyclone relief efforts from the central government, the gathering preceded the March 26 declaration of Bangladesh’s independence. In response, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight, which led to the arrests, torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of people, mainly Hindus and Bengali intellectuals. The fall of the city to the Indian Army on December 16 marked the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh.

Despite independence, political turmoil continued to plague the people of Dhaka. The Pakistan Army’s operations had killed or displaced millions of people, and the new state struggled to cope with the humanitarian challenges. The year 1975 saw the killing of Sheikh Mujib and three military coups. The city would see the restoration of order under military rule, but political disorder would heighten in the mid-1980s with the pro-democracy movement led by the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Political and student strikes and protests routinely disrupted the lives of Dhaka’s people. However, the post-independence period has also seen a massive growth of the population, attracting migrant workers from rural areas across Bangladesh. A real estate boom has followed the development of new settlements such as Gulshan, Banani and Motijheel. In 1985, Dhaka hosted the inaugural summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It has also hosted the summits of the D8 group and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.