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Ahsan Manzil, Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh photo by Sourav Das

Top 10 Famous Facts about Ahsan Manzil Museum

Ahsan Manzil  was the  official residential palace and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka. The building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Its Construction was started in 1859 and was completed in 1872.Ahsan Manzil was constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. It has been designated as a national museum.

The city was ruled by the Sultans in the 14th Century. Afterward in the 17th century, this became a popular Mughal Capital. The entire city was ruled by the British in 1757. This Ahsan Manzil was popular as Nawab Bari.

It was a mark of luxury, influence, and aristocracy. Moreover, this wonderful structure was the very first building constructed in this city that had electricity. Its extraordinary history excites the people and compels them to visit this historical location.

Here top 10 facts about the Ahsan Manzil Museum

1. It was constructed for 13 years

This is a photo of a monument in Bangladesh photo by Rayhan9d   

The Construction was started in 1859 and was completed in 1872.It was constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture.

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 enhanced the beauty of the palace.

2.Ahsan Manzil is one of the most significant architectural monuments of Bangladesh

The building structure was established on a raised platform of 1 meter, the two-storied palace measures 125.4m by 28.75m. The height of the ground floor is 5 meters and the height of the first floor is 5.8 meters.

The thickness of the walls of the palace is about 0.78 meters. There are porticos of 5 meters height on the northern and southern sides of the palace. The building has a broad front-facing the Buriganga River.

3. The palace was  damaged during the earthquake of 1897 and 1888

Ahsan Manzil, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo by Ranadipam Basu

Ahsan Manzil was severely damaged during the tornado that occurred on 7 April 1888. The western block of Andermahal was completely demolished and later it was entirely rebuilt.

 The present day dome, which is situated on the top, was built during the time of reconstruction. Nawab Khwaja Ahsanullah repaired the whole place again.

4. The glory of Ahsan Manzil was ended after the death of Khwaja Ahsanullah

Ahsan Manzil was severely damaged and abandoned. Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Abdul Ghani and his son Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah turned their full attention to rebuild the palace.

This was after an English engineer from Kolkata arrived here to examine the palace. He gave an opinion that except for the “Rangmahal”, all the other parts of the palace would have to be reconstructed

Both of the buildings were reconstructed during that time with a new design and supervised by the local engineer Gobinda Chandra Roy.

Its glory ended in 1901 after the death of Khwaja Ahsanullah. This because his  successors could not continue the glory because of the internal family quarrel. They rented different parts of the palace to tenants, who actually made it a slum

5. Ahsan Manzil was known for establishment of All India Muslim League

Ahsan  Manzil, Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh photo by  Sourav Das

Ahsan Manzil was the official resident and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka. It is located along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka. The conference of 1906 was held in this place where the foundation of the Muslim League was laid.

6. The palace became the Bangladesh National Museum in 1992

It was the official residential palace and seat of the Dhaka Nawab Family. This magnificent building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Bangladesh.

The construction of this palace was started in the year 1859 and was completed in 1869. It is constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. To preserve the cultural and history of the area. It was made   the Bangladesh National Museum in1992.

7. Ahsan Manzil was also known as Pink palace

Ahsan Manzil, Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh photo by Sourav Das

Ahsan Manzil is famous for its bright pink color. It is one of Dhaka city’s most popular  tourist attraction. It is located  in old Dhaka on the bank of the river  Buringanga.

This was  the residence of the most influential family in Dhaka . They were the  feudal landlords  during the British rule  in the Indian  sub- continent.

8. The palace has a total of 31 houses

 Out  of the 31 houses in palace , 23 houses have been opened  with various exhibitions. 9 houses are decorated with photographs found in India office library  in London. Including the photos of  Fritz cup in 1904.

The utensils in the Toshokhana and crocerky room in Ahsan Manzil and various specimen collected from the old office  of Nawab estate that has been preserved and opened to all

9. Nawab adopted the  European style of architecture of Ahsan Manzil

This is a photo of a monument in Bangladesh photo by Rayhan9d 

The reason for adopting the European style was  that since the rich and aristocratic people of the time followed the  Mughai style. This was when building  their houses.
It was built during the growing influence  of colonial British  rule in India.

Due to political influence the Zamindars and wealthy people of the time gradually shifted to western style of architecture instead of the Mughai’s. This was purposely to show their dignity and modernity.

10. The palace has been divided into  two part Eastern  and western side

The palace Ahsan Manzil is divided into two parts: the eastern side and the western side. The eastern building with the dome is called the Rangmahal and the western side with the living rooms is called Andarmahal.

The high octagonal dome is placed on the central round room. There is a large drawing room, card room, library, stateroom, and two other guest rooms are located on the east side of the palace. The ballroom, the Hindustani room, and few residential rooms are situated on the western side.

 A beautiful vaulted artificial ceiling, made of wood, decorates the drawing-room and the Jalsaghar. A splendid dining hall and few smaller rooms are placed on the west part. The floors of the dining and Darbar Halls are decorated with white, green, and yellow-colored ceramic tiles.

The famous storeroom, where the valuables of the Nawabs used to be stored, was in the middle of the five rooms located in the western half of the ground floor. Along with those rooms, a Darbar Hall or assembly hall and a chest room is also placed there