Lalbagh Fort, Dhaka

Lalbagh Fort (Bengali: লালবাগ দূর্গ) (also known as "Fort Aurangabad") is an incomplete Mughal palace fortress at the Buriganga River in the southwestern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Construction of the fort was commenced in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam during his 15-month long vice-royalty of Bengal, but before the work could complete, he was recalled by Aurangzeb. His successor, Shaista Khan, did not complete the work, though he stayed in Dhaka up to 1688. His daughter, Iran Dukht nicknamed Pari Bibi (Fairy Lady) died here in 1684, and this led him to consider the fort to be ominous.Lalbagh Fort is also the witness of the revolt of the native soldiers against the British during the Great Rebellion of 1857. As in the Red Fort in India, they were defeated by the force led by the East India Company. They and the soldiers, who fled from Meerat were hanged to death at the Victoria Park. In 1858, the declaration of Queen Victoria of taking over the administrative control of India from the Company was read out at the Victoria park, later renamed Bahadur Shah Park after the name of the last Mughal Emperor, who led that greatest rebellion against then British empire.The fort was long considered to be a combination of three buildings:

• The mosque;
• The Tomb of Bibi Pari; and
• The Diwan-i-Aam, comprising two gateways and a portion of the partly damaged fortification wall.

The central area of the fort is occupied by three buildings:

• The Diwan-i-Aam and the Hammam on its east;
• The mosque on the west; and
• The tomb of Pari Bibi in between the two (in one line, but not at equal distance).

The archaeological excavations have also revealed strata of the Sultanate, as well as of the pre-Muslim periods, from where terracotta heads and plaques have been found. Thus, it is now justified to say that though the Mughals founded Dhaka, it was definitely inhabited long before the Muslims came to Bengal.