Lalbagh anda (Bengali: লালবাগ কেল্লা) is a fort in the old city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its name is derived from its neighborhood Lalbagh, which means Red Garden. The term Lalbagh refers to reddish and pinkish architecture from the Mughal period. The original fort was called Fort Aurangabad. Its construction was started by Prince Muhammad Azam Shah, who was the son of Emperor Aurangzeb and a future Mughal emperor himself. After the prince was recalled by his father, the fort's construction was overseen by Shaista Khan. The death of Shaista Khan's daughter Pari Bibi (Fairy Lady) resulted in a halt to the construction process, apparently due to Shaista Khan's superstition that the fort brought bad omen. Pari Bibi was buried inside the fort.
History
South gate of the fort painted by Johan Zoffany in 1787
The Mughal prince Muhammad Azam Shah, third son of Aurangzeb
started the work of the fort in 1678 during his vice-royalty in Bengal. He
stayed in Bengal for 15 months. The fort remained incomplete when he was called
away by his father Aurangzeb.
Shaista Khan was the new subahdar of Dhaka in that time, and
he did not complete the fort. In 1684, the daughter of Shaista Khan named Iran
Dukht Pari Bibi died there. After her death, he started to think the fort as
unlucky, and left the structure incomplete. Among the three major parts of
Lalbagh Fort, one is the tomb of Bibi Pari.
After Shaista Khan left Dhaka, it lost its popularity. The
main cause was that the capital was moved from Dhaka to Murshidabad. After the
end of the royal Mughal period, the fort became abandoned. In 1844, the area
acquired its name as Lalbagh replacing Aurangabad, and the fort became Lalbagh
Fort.
Architecture
Tilework inside one of the buildings of Lalbagh Fort
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), with two
gateways and a portion of the partly damaged fortification wall. Recent
excavations carried out by the Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh have
revealed the existence of other structures.
The southern fortification wall has a huge bastion in the
southwestern corner. On the north of the south fortification wall were the
utility buildings, stable, administration block, and its western part
accommodated a beautiful roof-garden with arrangements for fountains and a
water reservoir. The residential part was located on the east of the west
fortification wall, mainly to the southwest of the mosque.
The fortification wall on the south had five bastions at
regular intervals two stories in height, and the western wall had two bastions;
the biggest one is near the main southern gate. The bastions had a tunnel.
The central area of the fort is occupied by three buildings –
the Diwan-i-Aam and the hammam on its east, the Mosque on the west and the Tomb
of Pari Bibi in between the two – in one line, but not at an equal distance. A
water channel with fountains at regular intervals connects the three buildings
from east to west and north to south
Diwan-i-Aam
The Mughal governor's residence (Diwan-i-Aam) and its
attached hammam
Diwan-i-Aam is a two storied residence of the Mughal governor
of Bengal located on the east side of the complex. A single storied hammam is
attached on its west. The hammam portion has an underground room for boiling
water. A long partition wall runs along the western facade of the hammam.
The building is situated about 39 metres (128 ft) to the west
of the tank, running from north to south. The external measurements of the
building are 32.47 m × 8.18 m (107 ft × 27 ft).
There are living quarters on each level of two stories and a
main central hallway connecting them. There is a Hammamkhana (Bathhouse) in the
southern part of the building which is one of the seventh Hammamkhana still
existing in ruins in the heritage of Bangladesh.
Recent excavations (1994–2009) show that there was a special
room below the room of Hammamkhana, where archaeologists found the arrangements
for heating water, supplying the hot water as well as cool water to the
Hammamkhana through the terracotta pipes which was specially manufactured for
such purpose. The discovery of black spots in the underground room proof that fire
had been used for the purpose of heating the water for the Hammamkhana. There
was also a toilet room by the side of Hammamkhana.
All the building along with the arrangements of Hammamkhana
clearly shows that it was very much in use by the Subadar of Bengal and that
Subadar was Shaista Khan. From the report of the Governor of English Factory it
was learned that Shaista Khan used to live in this room and some Europeans were
kept in custody here.
A water
tank
A square shaped water tank (71.63 m (235 ft) on each side) is
placed to the east of the Diwan-i-Aam. There are four corner stairs to descend
into the tank.
Tomb of Bibi Pari
The tomb of Bibi Pari, the daughter of Shaista Khan, is in
the middle of the complex. There is a central square room. It contains the
remains of Pori Bibi covered by a false octagonal dome and wrapped by brass plate.The
entire inner wall is covered with white marble. Eight rooms surround the
central one. There is another small grave in the southeastern corner room.
Lalbagh
Fort Mosque
The mosque has three domes, and is relatively small for a
large site, with a water tank for ablutions in front. The mosque has an oblong
plan of 20.34 m × 10.21 m (66 ft 9 in × 33 ft 6 in) externally and 16.36 m ×
6.15 m (53 ft 8 in × 20 ft 2 in) internally.
Stories
View from the Buriganga River in 1799. Painting by Robert
Home
From the time of construction till date, various myths have
revolved around the fort. Among all the historical stories and debates, it is
widely believed that Lalbagh Fort stands as a monument of the unfulfilled
dreams of Prince Muhammad Azam Shah, beloved son of Emperor Aurangzeb. In the
mid 17th century, he was serving as the Viceroy of Bengal and began the construction
of the impressive Lalbagh Fort complex.
Therefore, the popular stories about the fort begin. Before
the construction was finished, Prince Azam was called back to his father, to
assist in the war against the Marathas. Legend says after the Mughal prince
departed, Shaista Khan continued with building the project, but upon the
untimely death of his much-loved daughter Iran-Dukht, warmly known as Pari
Bibi, the construction was stopped. Bibi was engaged to Prince Azam at the time
of her death.
There are also legends and debates about the identity of Pari
Bibi. Few researchers claim she was a nine-year-old Ahom princess. Mir Jumals
Ahom's expedition brought a war adjoining the Garo hills. He took the daughter
of Ahom Raja to compel him for the full execution of the previous peace treaty.
Later, the emperor made her convert to Islam and married her off to Prince
Azam. However, overshadowing all the debates, people now believe that she was
the loving daughter of Nawab Shaista Khan.
Research
Lalbagh Fort Ground
Archeologists discovered the continuity of the main fort
walls eastward below Shaishta Khan Road. They opined that the present area of
Qilla represents half the portion as planned by Prince Azam Khan. The gate at
the southeast the fort (adjacent to Lalbagh Shahi Masjid) as per requirement
fits properly as the Central Gate in the middle of Fort. The other half to the
east — likely planned for administrative purpose (Girde Qilla area) — were incomplete
or extinct long ago.
There are some tunnels in the fort which are now sealed. It
is said that two of the tunnels lead to now ruined Zinzira Fort which was on
the other side of the Buriganga River. Another passage was made as a maze. It
is claimed that many defeated sepoys (soldiers) of the Sepoy Revolution of 1857
tried to run away through the passage and lost their lives. The British
soldiers who chased them to arrest also did not return. To investigate the
claim, British researchers sent an elephant and dogs to the tunnel but they did
not return either. After that, the tunnels were sealed.
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