History of Dhaka

Dhaka, formerly spelled as Dacca in English, is the capital and one of the oldest cities of Bangladesh. The history of Dhaka begins with the existence of urbanised settlements in the area that is now Dhaka dating from the 7th century CE. The city area was ruled by the Buddhist kingdom of Kamarupa before passing to the control of the Sena dynasty in the 9th century CE. After the Sena dynasty, Dhaka was successively ruled by the Turkic and Afghan governors descending from the Delhi Sultanate before the arrival of the Mughals in 1608. After Mughals, British ruled the region for over 150 years until the independence of India. In 1947, Dhaka became the capital of the East Bengal province under the dominion of Pakistan. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became the capital of the new state.

There are several myths on the origin of the name Dhaka. One is that the name came following the establishment of Dhakeshwari temple by Raja Ballal Sena in the 12th century and Dhakeswari is the name of a Goddess. While others say that Dhakeshwari stands the meaning of Goddess of Dhaka; so the temple must have been named after the region. Another myths says that the Dhak (a membranophone instrument) is used as part of the Durga Puja festival in this temple and hence the name Dhaka. Yet another one says it came from the plant named Dhak (Butea monosperma) which was widely found in that area.

The more credible theory comes from the source of Rajatarangini written by a Kashmiri Brahman, Kalhana. It says the region was originally known as Dhakka. The word Dhakka means watchtower. Bikrampur and Sonargaon—the earlier strongholds of Bengal rulers were situated nearby. So Dhaka was most likely used as the watchtower for the fortification purpose.

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