Ahsan Manzil Museum Palace in Dhaka

Ahsan Manzil is a palace located in the Kumartoli area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was formerly the residence and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka and has been designated a World Heritage Site of Ancient Dhaka. It now serves as a museum.

Ahsan Manzil History:

During the Mughal Empire, Sheikh Enayet Ullah, Zamindar of Jamalpur Porgona district, had a garden house on this property and later added a palace, which he called Rongmohol. He was buried in the northeast corner of the palace courtyard, but his tomb was left in ruins at the beginning of the 20th century. His son, Sheikh Moti Ullah, sold the property to French merchants, who erected a shophouse next to the property. After changing hands several times over the next few centuries, the property was purchased by Khwaja Alimullah in the 19th century. Alimullah renovated the property, converting the shophouse into a residence and adding a stable and a family mosque. After his death, his son Khwaja Abdul Ghani named the property Ahsan Manzil after his son Khwaja Ahsanullah. He continued the renovations; the old building was renamed Ondor Mohol and the new building was named Rangmahal.

On April 7, 1888, a tornado severely damaged Ahsan Manzil and it was temporarily abandoned. Except for Rangmahal, which only required repairs, all buildings had to be rebuilt. Abdul Ghani and Ahsanullah continued with the renovations. What was formerly the French trading house was rebuilt as a two-story building similar to the Rangmahal. A wooden bridge connected the first floors of the two buildings. The palace was again repaired after the Assam earthquake of 1897. After Ahsanullah died in 1901, the property again changed hands due in part to disagreements within the family. It was a slum for a period before it was acquired by the government in 1952 under the East Bengal Property Acquisition Act.

The Government of Bangladesh acquired the palace and property in 1985 and began renovating it, taking care to preserve the remaining structure. Renovations were completed in 1992 and ownership was transferred to the National Museum of Bangladesh. Part of the northern side of the property was handed over to Dhaka City Corporation, while half of the residential area of Andarmahal and Nawab could not be acquired. [clarification needed] Just under 5 acres (220,000 sq ft) were then used for the museum.

Ahsan Manzil Architecture:

Ahsan Manzil was built on a 1 meter (3.3 ft) raised platform and the palace measured 125.4 meters (137.1 yd) by 28.75 meters (31.44 yd). There are 5-meter (16 ft) porticos on the north and south sides of the palace. The building itself faces the Buriganga River. On the river bank, there is a staircase that leads to the second portal. There was previously a fountain at the foot of the stairs, but it was not rebuilt. Along the north and south sides of the building are terraces with open terraces.

The palace is divided into the eastern side, the Rangmahal, and the western side, the Andarmahal. The Rangmahal has a dome, a hall, a games room, a library, a state hall, and two guest rooms. The Andarmahal has a ballroom, a storeroom, a meeting room, a chest, a dining room, a music room, and some residential rooms. Both the living room and the music room have artificial vault ceilings. The dining room and function rooms have white, green, and yellow ceramic tiles.

The dome is in the center of the palace and has a complex design. The room at its base is square with bricks placed around the corners to make it circular. Trunks were added to the corners of the roof to give the room an octagonal shape and were gradually tilted to give the dome the appearance of a lotus bud. The peak of the dome measures 27.13 meters (89.0 ft) high.