Friday, December 29, 2006

Old Dhaka scenes and Minarets


Dhaka Central Jail Entrance

Aerial view of Central Jail

The Moghuls built their main fort here. When capital of the Subah-i-Bangala was shifted from Dhaka to Murshidabad in about 1717, Dhaka was made the seat of a Deputy-Governor of a sub-province comprising approximately of the greater part of present Bangladesh. The deputy-governor resided in one of the many abandoned palaces or forts of Dhaka. In 1763, the British Army officers stormed the city and occupied the fort. It was subsequently turned into Dhaka Central Jail in 1883 when other structures were built around it, and is the largest and oldest jail of Bangladesh. Over 11,000 detainees and convicts (about 250 of them women) are squashed into this prison originally built for 2,650 detainees.


Left: Central Jail watch tower and Minaret of mosque behind; Right: Guard of a local bank



Road over Dholai khal (canal) and mushrooming of second hand spare-parts shops

Second Buriganga bridge connecting Badamtali ghat to Jinjira

Bridge ghat ferry boats at Badamtali

Approach deck of the bridge - Badamtali end

Unauthorised trading shops grow underneath bridge deck

Mosques at Dholai khal (left) and Hatkhola (right)

Market and mosque at Tikatuli

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