I left the house one morning very early. I decided to wander around old Dhaka. I crossed the river Buriganga and found the alleys of Keraniganj. The rush of people will be less. But it was so unfortunate that I found out that the floor would not open before ten o'clock. Anyway, I could not go to the service, but a few days later I went to Ahsan Manzil.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, Sheikh Enayetullah Ahsan, the zamindar of Jalalpur Pargana, built a recreation building called Rangmahal on the present site of the manzil. Later his son Sheikh Matiullah sold the Rangmahal to a French merchant. It has long been known as their trading cottage. Then in 1835 Khwaja Alimullah, the father of Nawab Abdul Gani, who lived in Begum Bazar, bought it and started living there. Nawab Abdul Ghani rebuilt the palace in 162.
After the construction of the new building, he named it Ahsan Manzil after his beloved son Khwaja Ahsanullah. When the earthquake hit Dhaka on 12 June 1897, the Ahsan Manzil was severely damaged. The Nahabat Khana adjacent to Islampur Road along the south verandah of Ahsan Manzil completely collapsed. Later Nawab Ahsanullah rebuilt it. Earlier, Ahsan Manzil was also damaged in a severe cyclone.
The architectural style of this building is very nice. There is a beautiful dome on the roof of the palace. At one time the peak of this dome was the highest peak of Dhaka city. It is also beautiful to see the three-arched entrance outside the main building. In the same way, the stairs that go up also attract everyone's attention. There are two beautiful arches on the east and west ends which look the best. There are two parts inside Ahsan Manzil. There is a living room and a library in the eastern part. In the western part there are dance halls and other living rooms. On the ground floor there is a court house and a dining room.
The floor-to-ceiling height of the two-storey palace building on a one-meter high altar is 5 meters and the height on the second floor is 5.6 meters. On both the north and south sides of the palace, there is a car verandah equal to the ground floor. The house on the south side has a large open staircase from the two-story verandah over the verandah to the river bank through the front garden. There was a fountain in the garden in front of the stairs which is not present.
On the north and south sides of both the floors of the palace there is a wide verandah with semicircular arches. The floors of the verandas and rooms are decorated with marble stones. To build the dome of Ahsan Manzil, the square room on the ground floor was first filled with bricks and given a round shape. The room was then octagonal to the roof at the top of a similar round room built on the second floor. This octagonal room later turned into the barrel of the dome on the roof. Finally, the pointed dome-shaped dome is made by tilting the pointed heads of the octagons towards the center. The height of the top of the dome from the ground is 26.13 meters.
On the inside, the building can be divided into two balanced parts on either side of the dome. There is a large drawing room on the second floor on the east side. It has a library and card room on the north side and 4 square rooms on the east side. On the second floor there is a large pool on the west side, Hindustani rooms on the north side and 4 square rooms on the west side. The vaulted ceiling made of wood on the roof of the drawing room and the pool is very nice. The floor covering of these two rooms is made of wooden deck. Downstairs on the east side there is a large dining hall and six square rooms. To the west is the large court hall. To the north is the billiard room. The floor of the dining and court hall is decorated with white, green, yellow etc. Chinese tiles. Downstairs, in the middle of the 5 rooms built on the west end, is the famous Strong Room where the valuable items of the Nawabs were stored.
There is a way to get to the bottom of the long stairs.
All policy decisions of the Nawabs were taken from here. In particular, the palace was the center of everything including social structure, zamindari and politics. At night, there was a dance hall in the inner court. Then the waves of the Buriganga would rise at the sound of the dancers' anklets. However, in the course of time, those stylish luxurious days of the Nawabs are no more today. Now all this is just history. Although the zamindari activities of the Nawabs were not conducted from here, their traces are a witness of the times. The construction work of Ahsan Manzil started in 1859 and was completed in 182. As such, it is about one and a half years old. Therefore, this ancient architecture is a part of the national heritage of Bangladesh. The Department of Archeology is in charge of its maintenance.
The entire room of the museum is decorated with various specimens of the Nawabi period. The newly added 9 galleries in 12 galleries are arranged in the India Office Library in London and matched with photographs taken by the Fritz Cup in 1904. Work on the new galleries was completed a few years ago. At the same time, 40 CCTV cameras have been installed in the vicinity to ensure the security of Ahsan Manzil.
Gradually, various items used by the Nawabs are being displayed in the galleries. Dining room, ark, large mirror, cupboard, zamindar's trusted elephant, brass and bronze dishes, turquoise ivory head skeleton, ornaments, chair-table, perfume, pandan, ivory comb, scissors, sofa and drawing room with 4 The museum is rich in more than a thousand specimens. There are also descriptions of Nawabs' contribution to public welfare in the country including electricity and water in Dhaka, law books, water drums, cutting of newspapers related to Nawabs published at different times, letters, swords, feztupi, diamonds, hookahs and many more.
In this case, Gallery No. 13 is the most attractive to the visitors. Here are framed pictures of social, politicians and famous thinkers of that time. It contains various contributions including their acquaintances. In particular, the history of the establishment of the Muslim League by Nawab Salimullah in 1906 and the big picture of the then All India Leaders in the same frame are rare in the history of Bangladesh. In addition, there is a dome on the roof of the palace, which was once considered the highest peak in Dhaka. It has two beautiful arches at the east-west end. And on the east side there is a living room and a library.
The room on the north side of the dome room has an attractive wooden staircase. The railing of the staircase is very impressive with a ballaster made of vine-rich iron and a wooden ceiling rich in geometric designs. In the glorious days of the Nawabs, a visitor's book bound with gold was kept in this stairwell. Notable personalities who came to the palace used to write their comments in it. The height of the two-storey inner palace is slightly less than that of the Rangmahal. However, the wide verandah on the south side of both the floors and the parapet on the roof have given a suitable look to the side of the Rangmahal.
Ahsan Manzil is an architecture associated with several chapters of the history of Bengal. From the last part of the nineteenth century to the first part of Pakistan, the Muslims of East Bengal have been led from this building for almost one hundred years. The Nawabs did everything to establish the political and religious rights of the Muslim inhabitants of Dhaka and East Bengal at that time. The Nawabs of Dhaka, as the head of the panchayat, used to hold arbitral tribunals here almost every day. Many anti-Congress rallies have been held here at the initiative of Nawab Ahsanullah, a believer in Muslim independence.
The Viceroy, Governor and Lt. of British India. The governor has come to Dhaka, all of them have come here. In 184, at the behest of Nawab Abdul Ghani, Governor Northbrook came to Dhaka to lay the foundation of a water tap in Dhaka and attended an evening ceremony at the palace. There is still Northbrook Hall in the Bangla Bazar of old Dhaka named after this Northbrook. Lord Dufferin came to Dhaka in 18 and received the hospitality of Ahsan Manzil. Lord Curzon visited East Bengal in 1904 with the aim of gaining public support for the Bengal partition plan and stayed at the palace on 18 and 19 February. Khwaja Salimullah conducted all his political activities from the palace. As the birthplace of the All India Muslim League, Ahsan Manzil is therefore a part of history.
As the influence of the Nawabs of Dhaka waned, so did the splendor of Ahsan Manzil. When the Dhaka Nawab Estate was acquired in 1952 under the Zamindari Eviction Act, it became financially impossible for the Nawab's heirs to maintain the palace. After acquiring the zamindari, Khwaja Habibullah left the palace and started living in Paribagh Green House. The building was demolished as the partners rented out the rooms of the palace without judgment. Over time, illegal occupants turned the place into a slum.
Realizing the historical and architectural importance of Ahsan Manzil, the Bangladesh government took the initiative to renovate the building and turn it into a museum. Ahsan Manzil and adjoining premises were acquired in 1975. Its renovation work was completed in 1992 under the charge of the Department of Public Works and Architecture. From September 20 of that year, the palace was brought under the control of the Bangladesh National Museum and a museum was set up here. Every day many people flock here to see the heroism of the Nawabs.
Ahsan Manzil, which stands on its banks on the banks of the river Buriganga, has now been redesigned and made more attractive. Rare species of trees and blooming flowers in the courtyard of Ahsan Manzil Museum will thrill anyone. Looking at the historical monuments inside the Ahsan Manzil, one can get a good idea of a system of government hundreds of years ago. Curious visitors scrutinized the fragmentary history of the Nawabi period. These patterns have considerable appeal to visitors. However, the ancient museum is rich in everything, but instead of bricks, tin boundary wall, parking of vehicles near the boundary wall on the other three sides except the main gate, and unwanted banners and festoons, the museum's hundred-year tradition has faded. Besides, shops are sitting on the sidewalks near the border wall. The front road has become narrow. As a result, there is a kind of dissatisfaction in the eyes of the visitors who come to Ahsan Manzil. Here the rickshaw-car clutter is easily removed.