JOLEE-Power-Edition-2020

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Bangladesh
Bagerhat
By Susan Berger
New York / San Francisco / Hong Kong / London / Tokyo /
Rome / Toronto
Known as the Mosque City, Bagerhat at one time included 360 mosques,
public buildings, mausoleums, bridges, roads, and water tanks, mostly
constructed of baked brick, which was not a commonly used material at the
time. Located at the convergence of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers,
the city formerly known as Khalifatabad was founded in the 15th century
by the Turkish general Ulugh Khan Jahan, and contains some of the most
significant buildings of the initial period of the development of Muslim
architecture of Bangladesh. The city, which was created within a few years,
was covered up by the jungle after Khan Jahan’s death in 1459.
Interestingly, there is a lack of fortifications, which were deemed
unnecessary due to the impenetrable mangrove swamps of the area, keeping
its enemies away. The quality of the buildings, the methods for the supply
and evacuation of water, the cisterns and reservoirs and the transportation
infrastructure all attest to skilled planning and technical skill and a strong
sense of spatial organization.
More than 50 Islamic monuments, all built in the Indo-Islamic
architectural style, have been discovered after the vegetation that has
obscured the city for centuries was removed. The most remarkable is the
Shait-Gumbad, or Sixty Dome Mosque, which was built with 60 pillars and
77 domes. Also notable is Khan Jahan’s tomb complex, which contains an
engraved inscription attesting to his piety, providing an explanation for the
density of the religious monuments.
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