Dhaka was described, in 1824, by a visiting Anglican bishop, as a city of “magnificent ruins.”
Merchant's house in Farashganj - the French quarter
What he saw were the ruins of what had been, during the first half of the 18th century, a wealthy, cosmopolitan and attractive city. It was a centre (as it is again today) of the international garment trade, and exported fine cloth and muslin to the West. The city was protected by a fort built by Afghans, its business life was dominated by Hindu merchants, and districts of the city were granted to foreingers from France and Armenia
But the upheavals leading up to, and following, the British takeover of Bengal in 1757 put paid to this heyday, and Dhaka’s population dropped to about 60,000 from a high of 700,000 a century earlier.
Few of the magnificent ruins of that period, which Bishop Heber wrote about, are still around, and those that have survived are hard to find. Dhaka is now home to about 14 million souls – crowded together on a thin strip of land. On a map it looks like the twin sister of Manhattan, surrounded on three sides by water (but unfortunately, instead of Central Park, Dhaka has a large military base and airport running through its heart). The only way to fit everyone in is to build up. The old city (Downtown) is incredibly crowded, and rents are high. The pressure on landowners is to knock down the old and build cheap, many-storied office blocks and tenements.
the only way is up in Old Dhaka
Taimur Islam, a local architect, is leading the campaign to save old buildings in danger of demolition. His Urban Studies Group recently scored its first victory, when it won a court order to prevent the French merchant’s house pictured above, from being demolished. The mansion’s rococo exterior was finished in 1917, but a house has stood there for centuries. It is in a row of similarly over-the-top palaces constructed along the banks of the Buriganga river just down from the main port at Saderghat. The largest of these is now the city’s wholesale spice market, and the street smells of garlic and ginger.
a guided tour with Taimur Islam
Taimur wants to make the owners see that they can benefit from the process. He think it is possible turn the building into a restaurant, guest-house, and shop. The families currently living in there (one to a room) will be able to develop the land behind the house and live in apartments there. He says the whole thing will cost 100,000 US dollars to get off the ground.
he could do with some help...
If it works, then the whole neighbourhood could be transformed – traditional crafts rescued, beauty restored, new money, people and ideas brought in. It is similar to a project taking place in the old bazaar of Kabul that I reported on a couple of years ago. But whatever hurdles the Afghans are facing, at least their restoration project is well funded and has the backing of President Karzai. Taimur has nothing like this amount of support. It seems extraordinary that in this one sense, Dhaka is worse off than Kabul.
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October 9, 2008 at 3:36 am
[...] is for Dhaka discusses the history of Dhaka city's architectures and is appalled by the lack of government initiatives [...]