Ahsan Manzil - A reminder of Glorious Past

Ahsan Manzil (Bengali: আহসান মঞ্জিল,Ahsan Monjil) was the official residential palace and seat of theNawab of Dhaka. This magnificent building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The construction of this palace was started in 1859 and was completed in 1872. In Mughal era, there was a garden house of Sheikh Enayet Ullah, the landlord of Jalalpur Porgona (district), in this place. Sheikh Enayet Ullah was a very charming person. He acquired a very big area in Kumortuli (Kumartuli) and included it in his garden house. Here he built a beautiful palace and named it "Rongmohol" (Rangmahal). He used to enjoy here keeping beautiful girls collected from the country and abroad, dressing them with gorgeous dresses and expensive ornaments. There is a saying that, the foujdar of Dhaka (representative of mughal emperor) in that time was attracted to one of the beautiful girls among them. He invited Sheikh Enayet Ullah in a party one night and killed him in a conspiracy when he was returning home. That girl also committed suicide in anger and sorrow.

 Probably in the period of Nawab Alibardi Khan around 1740 century, Sheikh Moti Ullah, the son of Sheikh Enayet Ullah, sold the property to the French traders. They made a big palace and dug a pond for sweet water in the newly purchased property. On 22 June 1757, the French left the trading house with a fleet of 35 boats from the river station of Buriganga in front of Kumartuli. In 1785, the French transferred the property to a French tradesman named Mr. Champigni, and retaken it at 1801. 

For the increasing power of the English, the French was forced to left subcontinent. They decided to sell all their properties in Dhaka. So in 1830, the trading house of Kumartuli was purchased by the established landlord of Dhaka Khwaja Alimullah. After some renovation work, the trading house became the residence of Khwaja Alimullah. In his time, a stable and a family mosque was added in the compound. After his death, his son Khwaja Abdul Gani made a great flourish to the property, and named it "Ahsan Manjil" on his son Ahsan Ullah. Ahsan Manjil was severely damaged and abandoned after devastating tornado of 7 April 1888. The old French building was reconstructed to a two storied building keeping similarity to the Rangmahal. A gangway was made with wood connecting the first floors of the two buildings. The most beautiful thing made in this time was the dome, which made the palace so beautiful. After the death of Khwaja Ahsanullah in 1901, the glory of Ahsan Manjil was ended.

 

Photo Source: Collected from Internet