The Lalbagh Fort, Old Dhaka,Bangladesh

                                                    The Lalbagh Fort,Bangladesh

Lalbagh Fort is a historical monument of Mughal period. Lalbagh Fort, located on the banks of the Buriganga in Dhaka, is one of the most important antiquities among the historical structures built in Bengal during the Mughal period. There are three antiquities inside the fort.Paribibi's shrine, Durbar house and Hammamkhana and three-domed mosque. When you see this fort surrounded by tall ancient walls, it suddenly seems to be made of red clay. The height of the wall is up to twenty feet in some places. There were four gates to enter the fort. The gate on the south side was used as the main gate. Now it's off. A little north of the gate was once a secret passage.Some people think that communication was kept secretly with Sonakanda Fort of Narayanganj through this route. The secret passage is now closed. The place is now unfit for visitors due to the accumulation of dirty garbage. Midway from the southern gate to the northern gate is a rectangular pond. Building a wall around the pond. There is a legend that the dead bodies of the soldiers of this region who were killed in the Sepahi Revolution were dumped in this pond.About one and a half hundred feet west of the pond is the Durbar house. Here Subedars used to meet the visitors. The Hammam Khana is on the ground floor of the Durbar House. Many people think that Subedar Shaista Khan lived in this building. The Durbar House and Hammamkhana have traces of Mughal architecture. Now it is being preserved as a museum.

The Lalbagh Fort is the historical site of the Mughal rulers' rule and architectural development in Bengal in the seventeenth century. Shaista Khan's name was found in the pages of history as the builder of Lalbagh Fort, but Shaista Khan did not actually start the construction work. Its construction was dreamed up and started by Muhammad Azam Shah, the third son of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Azam Shah was Subedar of Bengal from 1678 to 1679.At this time he started building an establishment named after his father. Its first name was Aurangabad Fort but later it was named Lalbagh Fort. When Azam Shah started working on the fort, he left Dhaka on urgent summons and went to Delhi. The construction of the fort stopped. Azam Shah requested the new Subedar Shaista Khan to complete the work on the fort. But Shaista Khan could not implement this instruction.According to many, Shaista Khan lost his daughter Iran Dukht during the construction of the present Lalbagh Fort, Iran Dukht was the wife of Azam Khan and was the first architect of the fort. After this, Shaista Khan became convinced that the place was deserted. Then in 1684, he stopped its construction.Although he did not build the fort, he made his daughter's shrine a sight to behold. Shaista Khan brought important structures from different parts of India to build the shrine. Recently light and sound system has been installed here, which has become very attractive to tourists.

At present Sunday is closed for full day and Monday for half day. The fort is open for visitors on the remaining six days of the week.