Buckland Bund and Mitford Hospital
Now a special treat: over the next couple of weeks or so, we will be going back to about the year 1880 and taking a cruise along the River Buriganga. But first, a little historical context.
Dhaka's fortunes declined rapidly after the advent of British rule in 1757. The capital had already moved elsewhere, but the destruction of the lucrative local textiles industry, left the city without any financial means to sustain itself. By the early 1800s, when Charles D'Oyly made his series of sketches, the city was mostly a collection of Mughal period ruins. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, however, the city staged a gradual recovery. The prinicipal factor behind this recovery was the new importance of jute as a world cash crop (most jute in the world at that time being grown in eastern Bengal). Access to the city also improved with the advent of railroads and improvement of other means of communication.
Back then, the Buriganga riverfront was the equivalent of what a place like Gulshan Lake is today...the place to build your house if you were among the wealthiest. But additionally, some important civic buildings were also located there. Development of this waterfront was facilitated by the construction of the Buckland Bund (embankment), named after the British engineer responsible for it. In Mughal times there was only a primitive embankment that did little to protect the city from flooding - this being an important reason why many of the Mughal structures that once lined the river bank no longer survive, having fallen victim to erosion. Buckland's "Bund" was a major improvement, and by 1900 Dhaka had a very elegant riverfront, quite different from the largely chaotic scene that exists today.
The first structure we visit on our boat ride is the Mitford Hospital. This hospital, established in 1854, was once the most important medical facility in the subcontinent east of Calcutta. The hospital was founded through the generosity of Robert Mitford, who served for many years as a collector and judge in Dhaka before his death in Europe in 1836. In his will he bequeathed a large sum of money for the fuoundation of the hospital, but legal challenges by his relatives delayed the construction of the hospital. In 1875 a medical college was added to the hospital, and various ward buildings were also added over the years, most notably the King Edward Memorial Ward.
The first picture, from around 1880, shows the complex more or less as it originally appeared.
Opposite view, showing the front of the hospital:
Here is the same view today, taken from the 2nd Buriganga bridge. This is now the Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital. The original buildings do not survive, but to the best of my knowlege, the later Colonial period buildings, including the Medical College and Edward Memorial Ward, are still intact.
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