Sonargaon, Dhaka Division

Sonargaon (সোনারগাঁও)

About 26 km. far from Dhaka, Sonargaon is the earliest known capital (first capital) of Bengal. It was the seat of Deva dynasty until the 13th century. From then onward till the advent of the Mughals, Sonargaon was the subsidiary capital of the sultanate of Bengal Among the ancient monuments, still intact are the Tomb of Sultan Ghiasuddin (1399-1409) A. D.), the shrines of Panjpirs and Shah Abdul Alla and a beautiful mosque at Goaldi village. Sonargaon is a sub-district of Narayanganj district under Dhaka division. Sonargaon means "The city of Gold". This ancient city also known as “The Panam City”. Before going there I had no idea about this lost city. I really amazed to see such wonderful architectures. After I returned I googled it and found the glorious history behind it. Thought the historical background is large but it’s quite interesting. I studied it carefully and make a summary for my readers.

Panam Nagar

It's wonderful still now. I wonder how it was in the late 19th century when first established. During British rule it was the trading center of cotton fabric. There are about fifty old building on the both side of the road and the highest among them is a three storied building. The road is about 396 m long and 3.65 m wide. We see a very old building called "Kashinath Bhaban" situated in the year 1899 (Bangla year 1305). Almost 114 years old and still standing. Panam City is 0.5 km distance from Bangladesh Folk Art Foundation. There is no boundary wall of the buildings. Back in 2010 there was no ticket to enter Panam Nagar. Now you have to pay 15 tk to enter there.

Inside an Old Building of Panam City

My 2nd visit to Sonargaon 27.02.2016

(Click any picture to see full view)

		Kashinath Bhaban
Kashinath Bhaban Bangla (1305)
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My 1st visit to Sonargaon 03.12.2010

	Kashinath Bhaban Bangla-1305	Kashinath Bhaban Year-1899
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Historical background of Sonargaon:
The Panam City was the central part of the renowned Deva Dynasty in the 13th century. Hindu ruler Raja Danuj Rai (Danujamadhava Dasharathadeva) shifted his capital to Sonargaon (known as Suvarnagrama) from Bikrampur in the middle of the 13th century.

In early 14th century Shamsuddin Firoz Shah of Lakhnauti occupied this place and extended it to his kingdom. Thus Hindu ruling in this area ended. He died in 1322 and his son Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah became the ruler.

In 1324, Bahadur Shah lost the battle against the Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and Bengal (including Sonargaon) became a province of Delhi Sultanate. Later the son of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq released him (Bahadur Shah) and appointed him as the governor of Sonargaon province. 

But after 4 years in 1328, Bahadur Shah declared the independence of Bengal. Delhi Sultan Muhammad Bin Tughlaq sent his general Bahram Khan to recapture Sonargaon. Bahadur Shah was defeated and killed and Bahram Khan was appointed the governor of Sonargaon.

Bahram Khan died in 1338, his armor-bearer, Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, declared himself the independent Sultan of Sonargaon. After the death of Fakhruddin in 1349, Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah became the next independent ruler of Sonargaon.



In 1352, Elyas Shah, the independent ruler of Laknauti attacked Sonargaon and by defeating Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi he became the sole ruler of whole Bengal for the first time in history. He became the founder of a sultanate of the unified Bengal.

Isa Khan's ruling:
In the 15th century Taj Khan Karrani was the independent Afghan ruler of Bengal. In 1564, Isa Khan obtained an estate in Sonargaon and Maheswardi Pargana as a vassal of the Karrani rulers. Isa Khan gradually increased his strength as a result he was selected as the ruler of whole Bhati Region in 1571. In 1575 he helped Daud Khan Karrani to a fight against Mughal convoy in the surrounding area of Sonargaon.

Daud Khan Karrani died in the Battle of Rajmahal against Mughals in 1576. Akhbar then assigned Isa Khan as the Zamindar of Sonargaon. Since then he protested Mughal's ruling in his area. With the help of his allies (Bara-Bhuiyans) he stood against Mughals in several battles. He was undefeated in the battle against Subahdar Khan Jahan in 1578, Subahdar Shahbaz Khan in 1584 and Durjan Singh in 1597.

Isa Khan died in September 1599 and his son Musa Khan, took control of Bhati region. But Musa khan was defeated by the Mughals in July, 10, 1610. The army general of Mughals Islam Khan became one of the sarkars of Bengal Subah (country subdivision).
Then the capital of Bengal was shifted to Jahangirnagar (now Dhaka).

Bangladesh Folk Art & Crafts Foundation:
Lok Shilpa and Karu Shilpa Foundation is situated over 15.66.hector area beside Panam City. Consist of two museum, one stage (Lokoj Moncho), one seminar center, one Karu Shilpa village, cafeteria, few shop, eight lake, garden, one liberary, one rest house etc.

Lok Shilpa Jadughar:
The place is called Sardar Bari where the Folk Art Museum exist. Built in 1901 in a Rajbari. Inside the museum rooms are full of folk are and handicrafts. Inside the Rajbari we also see a Lake, wooden bridge, garden and some architectures represent our old age. Open Friday to Wednesday (9 am to 5 pm).

Sonargaon Jadughar 03.12.2010

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Sonargaon Jadughar 27.02.2016

	Elephant Sculpture
Royal Bengal Tiger Sculpture
		Inside Folk Art Museum
Folk Art Museum

Hajigang Fort: 
Usually people don't go to visit this place. We find it on the way. There is a board written "Hajigang Durgo". Local people using as a play ground as well as to dry industrial cloths. This place is neglected by all. The boundary wall's are getting damage day by day. The inside building (maybe used as a check post) is almost destroyed.

Hajigang Fort 03.12.2010

About our 1st journey (Friday, 03.12.2010):
It was my last trip with my colleague Mr. Sajid. We had an issue in Narayanganj BTCL Exchange. Narayanganj is not far from Dhaka, maybe 25 km, without traffic one hour distance. We started early in the morning in Sajid vi's car, finished our job and went to see Sonargaon.

Our 2nd journey (Saturday, 27.02.2016):
Last time we went there for our post weeding photography. Though the place was crowded and we couldn't complete our photoshoot. So we moved to Taj Mahal of Bangladesh.

Banglar Taj Mahal

Banglar Taj Mahal:
Taj Mahal Bangladesh is a replica of the original Taj Mahal. Ahsanullah Moni, the owner of Razmoni Group also a well known film-maker started this project in 2003 and completed in December 2008. The Banglar Taj Mahal is over 500 decimal (5 acre) of land and it took 5 years to complete. The project cost about 56 million USD.

Banglar Pyramid:
Razmoni Pyramid is the another project of Mr. Ahsanullah Moni. It's located near Taj Mahal - Perab, Sonargaon. In one ticket you can visit both place. Inside Pyramid there are some dummy Mummys. According to Ahsanullah sir one mummy is real. There are some old film making equipment's including camera and film editing machine inside one room. One big movie making stage and a small movie theater inside the Pyramid area.

Taj Mahal Bangladesh

Banglar Taj Mahal

Razmoni Pyramid

Razmoni Pyramid	Mummy inside Pyramid	Mummy inside Pyramid
With Ahsanullah Moni Sir	Film editing machine	Film making Camera
Film making Camera

Luckily we met Ahsanullah sir during our Pyramid visit. He told us the story of Taj Mahal and Pyramid making. Share some of his new idea that he is planning to do in future. He also told us some history of our Liberation war. According to him he was the only film maker how directly fight with our enemy during liberation war. Here is some of his speech about Liberation war.

Ticket Fair
1. Panam Nagar: 15 tk
2. Bangladesh Folk Art & Crafts Foundation: 20 tk. 
(Including Folk Art Museum)
3. Taj Mahal & Pyramid Bangladesh: 70 tk. 

Places we see:
1. Panam Nagar
2. Bangladesh Folk Art & Crafts Foundation (Folk Arts Museum)
3. Hagigang Durgo (Hagigang Fort)
4. Taj Mahal Bangladesh
5. Pyramid Bangladesh 

Some other places to see:
1. Mograpara
2. Sadarbari
3. Goaldi Moshjid (The Goaldia Mosque is situated in the Goaldi village and is a wonderful example of an ancient Sonargaon building.)
4. Ek Gombuj Moshjid (One Dome Mosque) of Goyaladi Village, year 1519.
5. Ek Gombuj Moshjid (One Dome Mosque) of Eusufgong Village, year 1484

How to go Panam City:
From Dhaka you can hair a private car for pick and drop. Without traffic it's one hour distance. If you want to  go by bus then go to Gulisthan Bus Stand and get in a bus called "Doyel Service". Bus will take you to Mograpara. From there take a rickshaw or auto rickshaw to go Panam City.

Related Post:

Sixty Dome Mosque (81 dome in total) World Heritage Site.

Chandra Mahal, Ranjitpur, Bagerhat .

Tomb of Pari Bibi, Lalbag Fort Fort Aurangabad, beside river Buriganga.