At Kamini Mohan (K.M.) Das Lane in Tikatuli of Old Dhaka, there lies a majestic mansion called “Rose Garden”. Interestingly, it was built to host parties by one of the prominent zamindars of Dhaka, named Hrishikesh Das. He built the Rose Garden in 1931 on a 22-bigha plot along with a famous garden that had various species of rare roses. Thus the compound earned the name “Rose Garden”. The central piece of the garden is the elegant building.

Kim Dovey is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design and Director of the Informal Urbanism Research Hub InfUr–.

The year 1860 holds great significance for Dhaka’s cultural history. It saw the first printing press—Bangla Mudran Jantra—being set up in Dhaka, the publication of the first ever Bangla novel Nil Darpan, and also the introduction of Dhaka’s first periodical Kabita Kusumabali.

Tutankhamun is probably the most famous king of the age of antiquity in the modern world. A teenage pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of the ancient Egypt, who started to rule the Egyptian kingdom at the age of nine when Egypt was at its golden age, managed to rule only 11 years and died at the age of 19.

It is often repeated that the ‘founding fathers’ of the Armenian church in Dacca were Messrs Sarkies, Kevorke, Pogose and Petrus respectively. Numerous reports tell us the land was donated by ‘Armenian nobleman Agha Catchick Minas’ (also known as Agha Catchik Emnias). Let’s explore some of these individuals and take a peek into a small period of their lives.

The medieval mosques of Bengal transformed from socio-political spaces to more socio-cultural zones. The mosques became part of the neighbourhood’s culture, with participation from both men and women.

November 29 marked the 72nd anniversary of UN Resolution 181 (II) to end the British mandate in Palestine and the historic decision to partition Palestine and establish, after a transition period, “Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem.” For the Palestinians, this was the origin of the “Nakba” (catastrophe).

Four exhibitions in four different locations of the world, with one in Bangladesh, demonstrate the new vibrancy propelling architectural production and thinking in Bangladesh.

The world knows late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw as the man who, as the chief of the Indian army in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War following the Bangladesh Liberation War, made great contributions to the creation of Bangladesh.

The year was 1971. Dissent steadily brewing in East Pakistan. The enemy’s brutalities continued well into November. That November, people cried. But they dreamed of victory too. Then Eid-ul-Fitr arrived. How did Muslims celebrate this particular Eid, perched precariously upon a pivotal moment in history?

In a fast growing mega city like Dhaka, the purpose of designing a strategic transport plan is to provide a structural framework for the total urban transportation needs for the future, from which segmental parts may be implemented in phases.

Like most great historical events, the October Revolution of 1917 that shook Russia and helped shape the world into what it is today was the result of a confluence of factors that had slowly gathered momentum.

The two main objects of the partition were, “the reinvigoration of Assam and the relief of Bengal.” These were the objects stated in public, and the confidential official and private correspondence confirms that unquestionably these were the fundamental purposes.

Crowds, michhil, and political gatherings have played formative roles in the origin story of Bangladesh. The crowd at Bangabondhu’s speech at the Ramna Race Course in 1971 is a significant part of national folklore. The event of March 7 was a grand moment of declaration where the boundaries between popular demands for independence and constitutionalism were blurred to produce one of the most iconic moments – and sound bites – of East Pakistan’s struggle for nationhood.

Born on October 1, 1918, in the village of Darikandi under Bancharampur upazila in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh, Abul Kalam Mohammad Zakariah received his Matriculation Certificate in 1939 from Brindaban High School in Bancharampur and Intermediate Certificate in 1941 from Dacca Intermediate College (currently Dhaka College), Dhaka.

Before the tribes and kingdoms of pre-medieval Bengal could unanimously elect Gopala king in 750 CE, they had to endure a hundred years of utter lawlessness, infighting and bloodshed. We know how Gopala’s Pala Dynasty heralded a golden era in Bengal, little is known about the dark age, and what came before.

The potters of the present day whose business it is to prepare clay images for worship, never dream of dressing the gods and goddesses made by them in any other garb than those ordinarily worn by the present-day inhabitants of Bengal.

The following account of Ma Huan was written at the commencement of the fifteenth century. It is a chapter taken from a work, bearing the title Ying-yai-sheng-lan (a general account of the shores of the ocean) compiled by Ma Huan who was an interpreter attached to the suite of Cheng Ho who was sent to the various kingdoms of the Indian Ocean by the Chinese Emperor Yung-lo.

In her bright head scarves and long, flowy dresses, Yonghua Zheng is a recognisable figure around Sangpo in Henan province, central China. This is because Zheng is an imam – or Ahong – of an all-women mosque in the hamlet.

Feroz Ahmed (F. A.): Let me begin with a question concerning a recent development in the East Bengal independence movement, i.e., the formation of a consultative committee consisting of the Awami League, your party and three other parties. Do you think that it is a significant development?