Dhaka City across
Buriganga
River - a painting by Frederick William Alexander de Fabeck in 1861,
Dhaka,
formerly spelled as
Dacca in English, is the capital and one of the oldest
cities of
Bangladesh. The history of Dhaka begins with the
existence of
urbanised settlements in the area that is now
Dhaka dating
from the 7th century CE. The city area was ruled by the
Buddhist kingdom of Kamarupa before
passing to the control of the Sena
dynasty in the 9th century CE. After
the Sena dynasty, Dhaka was
successively ruled by theTurkic and Afghan governors
descending from the Delhi Sultanate before the arrival of the
Mughals in 1608. After Mughals, British ruled the region for over 150 years
until the independence of India. In 1947, Dhaka became the capital of the East
Bengal province under the dominion of Pakistan.
After the independence ofBangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became
the capital of the new born country.