5/5 Mdmhasan 3 years ago on Google
Lalbagh
Fort or
Fort
Aurangabad,
an
incomplete
Mughal
palace
fortress
at
Dhaka
on
the
river
Buriganga
in
the
southwestern
part
of
the
old
city.
The
river
has
now
gone
further
south
and
flows
at
quite
a
distance
from
the
fort.
D'Oily's
painting
(1809-11)
shows
that
more
than
half
of
this
east-west
oblong
fortress
touched
the
water
of
the
river
on
its
south
and
southwestern
sides.
The
construction
of
the
fort
was
commenced
in
1678
AD
by
prince muhammad
azam during
his
15
month
long
vice-royalty
of
Bengal,
but
before
he
could
complete
the
work
he
was
recalled
by aurangzeb.
His
successor, shaista
khan did
not
continue
the
work,
though
he
stayed
in
Dhaka
up
to
1688.
His
daughter bibi
pari (Lady
Fairy)
died
here
in
1684
and
this
led
him
to
consider
the
fort
to
be
ominous.
For
long
the
fort
was
considered
to
be
a
combination
of
three
buildings
(the
mosque,
the
tomb
of
Bibi
Pari
and
the
Diwan-i-Aam),
two
gateways
and
a
portion
of
the
partly
damaged
fortification
wall.
But
recent
excavations
carried
out
by
the
Department
of
Archaeology
of
Bangladesh
have
revealed
the
existence
of
other
structures
and
it
is
now
possible
to
guess
a
more
or
less
complete
picture
of
the
fort
(see
site
plan
of
Lalbagh
Fort).
In
the
present
fort
area
of
18
acres,
excavations
have
revealed
remains
of
26/27
structures
with
elaborate
arrangements
for
water
supply,
sewerage,
roof
gardens,
and
fountains.
Renovation
work
by
the
Archaeology
Department
has
now
put
Lalbagh
Fort
in
a
much-improved
shape
and
has
now
become
an
interesting
spot
for
tourists
and
visitors.
The
original
fortification
wall
on
the
south
had
5
bastions
at
regular
intervals
and
the
western
wall
had
2
bastions.
Among
the
7
bastions
the
biggest
one
is
near
the
main
southern
gate
at
the
back
of
the
stable,
which
occupies
the
area
to
the
west
of
the
gateway.
The
bastion
had
an
underground
tunnel.
Among
the
five
bastions
of
the
southern
fortification
the
central
one
was
single
storeyed,
the
rest
are
double
storeyed
structures.
The
central
one
contains
an
underground
room
with
veranda
on
three
sides,
and
it
can
be
approached
either
from
the
riverside
or
from
its
roof.
The
double-storeyed
bastion
at
the
southwestern
corner
of
the
fort
was
possibly
a
Hawakhana,
with
a
water
reservoir
on
its
roof.
Two
lines
of
terracotta
pipes
have
been
found,
which
connected
all
establishments
of
the
fort
with
this
reservoir.
An
extra-strong
terracotta
pipe
line
made
with
double
pipes,
one
inside
the
other,
have
been
uncovered
in
the
area
between
the
Hammam
and
thR
of
Bibi
Pari.
The
building
in
the
middle,
the
tomb
of
Bibi
Pari,
is
the
most
impressive
of
the
surviving
buildings
of
the
fort.
Eight
rooms
surround
a
central
square
room,
containing
the
mortal
remains
of
Bibi
Pari,
which
is
covered
by
a
false
dome,
octagonal
in
shape,
and
wrapped
by
brass
plate.
The
entire
inner
wall
of
the
central
room
was
covered
with
white
marble,
while
the
four
side
central
rooms
had
stone
skirting
up
to
a
height
of
one
metre.
The
wall
in
the
four
corner
rooms
was
skirted
with
beautiful
glazed
floral
tiles.
The
tiles
have
recently
been
restored;
two
of
the
original
tiles
have
been
retained.
The
southeastern
corner
room
contains
a
small
grave,
popularly
known
to
be
of
Shamsad
Begum,
possibly
a
relative
of
Bibi
Pari.
The
Lalbagh
Fort
Mosque
is
a
three-domed
mosque
with
a
water
tank
in
front
(on
the
eastern
side)
for
ablution.
The
archaeological
excavations
have
revealed
strata
of
the
Sultanate
as
well
as
of
the
pre-Muslim
periods,
from
where
terracotta
heads
and
plaques
have
been
found.
Thus
it
is
now
justified
to
say
that
though
the
Mughals
founded
Dhaka,
it
was
definitely
inhabited
long
before
the
Muslims
came
to
Bengal.
