Ramana Race Course/Sohrawardy Park

 Ramana Race Course/Sohrawardy Park

 During the British colonial rule, Ramana Race Course Maidan was called 'Ramana Gymkhana'. At that time there was a military club of British soldiers in Ramna. Then in 1610, during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Subedar Islam Khan established the capital and established two excellent residential areas in the northern suburbs of Dhaka.He named the area 'Mahala Chishtia' after his brother and 'Mahala Sujatpur' after his commander Suja Khan. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, Ramana gradually lost its former glory. Ramana was a forested wasteland during the East India Company. In 1825, the British collector of Dhaka Mr. Dawes took some special steps for the development of Dhaka.He cleared the entire Ramna area and named it Ramna Green. Ramana was then surrounded by a wooden fence to use as a race course. Every Sunday a legitimate horse race was held at the race course grounds. Since then Dhaka started to regain its old glory. Nazir Hossain wrote in the book 'Legendary Dhaka', 'During the British period Ramna Maidan was famous for horse racing. Horse races were held every Sunday.

It was simultaneously a place of entertainment for British rulers and people from all walks of life. Dhaka University History Department Professor Dr. According to an account of Sharif Uddin Ahmed, Charles Dodge built a race course or horse racing field at Ramna. After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947 AD, the famous scholar Mufti Din Muhammad of Dhaka started a movement against horse racing from a party. Because of that, the government stopped horse racing in 1949. Once upon a time horse racing became very popular in favor of Nawabs of Dhaka. The horse stable of the Nawabs was intact a few days ago on the north side of Mohsin Hall, the current dormitory of Dhaka University. The Nawabs of Dhaka developed the race course area. Create a beautiful garden. He named it Shah Bagh or royal garden. The Nawabs also set up a zoo at the Ramana Race Course. In 1851 British bureaucrats established the Dhaka Club at the northern corner of the race course.

Bengal in 1905 during the rule of Lord Curzon, Ramna area was also selected to set up the official residence of the Governor of the newly formed province of East Bengal and Assam. When Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from jail in 1969, he was accorded a civic reception at Ramna Racecourse and was conferred the title of Bangabandhu. On March 7, 1971, Bangabandhu announced the country's independence in his historic speech at a mass gathering at the Ramana Race Course Maidan. Pakistani soldiers formally surrendered on December 16, 1971 in this field. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi addressed a large public meeting held on March 17, 1972.Since then, Ramana Racecourse has become an important and political gathering place. After the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971 AD, Ramna Race Course Maidan was renamed as 'Sohrawardy Udyan' after the national leader Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy. In 1999, Independence Monument and Shikha Chirantan were erected in Suhrawardy Udyan to commemorate the historical events related to independence.