Lalbagh Fort is an incomplete Mughal palace fortress at the
Buriganga River in the southwestern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Construction was commenced in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam during his
15-month long vice-royalty of Bengal, but before the work could
complete, he was recalled by Aurangzeb. His successor, Shaista Khan,
did not complete the work, though he stayed in Dhaka up to 1688. His
daughter Iran Dukht nicknamed Pari Bibi (Fairy Lady) died here in 1684
and this led him to consider the fort to be ominous.
The tomb of Bibi Pari, located in the center, is the most impressive
of the surviving buildings of the fort. Eight rooms surround a central
square room that contains the mortal remains of Bibi Pari. The central
room is covered by a false octagonal-shaped dome, wrapped by a bronze
plate.
The entire inner wall of the central room is covered with white
marble, while the four rooms at the sides had stone skirting up to a
height of one metre. The walls in the rooms at the four corners are
skirted with beautifully glazed floral tiles. The tiles have recently
been restored; two of the original tiles have been retained. The room
at the south eastern corner contains a small grave, popularly known to
be of that of Shamsad Begum, possibly a relative of Bibi Pari.
The archaeological excavations have also revealed strata of the
Sultanate, as well as of the pre-Muslim periods, from where terracotta
heads and plaques have been found. Thus, it is now justified to say
that though the Mughals founded Dhaka, it was definitely inhabited
long before the Muslims came to Bengal.
No comments:
Post a Comment