Dhaka historic pictures and potos-2
Chawk Bazar and Bibi Mariam
From Mughal and through Colonial times, Chawk Bazar was the main marketplace / square of Dhaka. In my last post, there is a picture of Chawk Bazar from the early 19th century. The photo below is from the 1880s. Note the Chawk Bazar mosque, a Mughal structure from 1676 (by this time modified with the addition of a classical European portico). Also note the cannon, called Bibi Mariam, in the center of the square. This cannon was brought to Dhaka by Mughal Subedar Mir Jumla as a memento of a military campaign in Assam (actually, he brought back two massive cannon, but the other one, called Kale Jamjam, sank in the Buriganga):
Chawk Bazar mosque still survives, but has been much altered. You can still make out the three original domes (first pic below). The new minaret of this mosque is probably the tallest in Dhaka. It is quite easily visible across the Buriganga, as you can see on the right of this photo. If this same view were shot half a century ago, both Mughal Katras, located quite near this mosque, would also be easily visible in the middle of this picture, but now they are lost in a sea of newer structures (second pic below).
As for Bibi Mariam, she has been moving around a lot. Originally, Mir Jumla placed the cannon on the riverfront at Swarighat. Then, in 1832, it was taken to Chawk Bazar, as in the first photo. In 1917, National Museum authorities moved it back to the riverfront, at Sadarghat. In 1957, it was transported to the intersection of DIT and Jinnah (now Bangabandhu) Avenues, near the then recently created Motijheel Commercial Area, as shown below (this intersection came to be known as "Gulistan"). Notice the DIT (Rajuk) building in the background. Until the 1980s, this was the most prominent landmark in the Motijheel skyline (first pic below).With traffic congestion increasing, this location became impractical, and the gun was moved to the Osmani Udyan in the late 1980s, where it remains today (second pic below).
Here is a story I have heard about this cannon. They say that there was once an evil ruler named Teemak, who lined up all the photographers of the city in front of this cannon, and said "If you do not give me a million photos of Dhaka, I will shoot you from this cannon." And this is how King Teemak came to possess a million photos of Dhaka
Last four photos in this post from Ershad Ahmed's blog (http://dhakadailyphoto.blogspot.com).
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