Lalbagh Fort

Lalbagh Fort, an incomplete Mughal area fortress in Dhaka stood on the banks of the river Buriganga in the southwestern part of the old city. The river has now moved to south and flows at Quite a distance from the fort. The structure of the fort was commenced in 1678 AD by Prince Muhammad Azam during his 5 month long vice-royalty of Bengal.

For a long time the fort was considered to be a grouping of three buildings (the mosque, the tomb of Bibi Pari and the Diwan-i-Aam), two gateways and a portion of the partly damaged fortification wall. Of the three surviving gateways, the southern one is the very imposing. Seen from the front it is a three-storied arrangement with a fronton, bordered with slender minarets. From inside it gives the impression of a two-storied formation.

A water channel with fountains at regular intervals connects with the three buildings from east to west and two similar channels run from south to north. The building in the center, the tomb of Bibi Pari, is the most impressive of the surviving buildings of the fort. Eight rooms surround a square room, containing the mortal remains of Bibi Pari, which is covered by a false dome. The shape is octagonal, and wrapped by brass plate. The entire inner wall of the middle room was covered with white marble. While the four side middle rooms had stone skirting up to a height of one meter. The wall in the four corner rooms was skirted with good-looking glazed floral tiles. The tiles have very soon, been restored; two of the original tiles have been retained. The corner room contains a small vital, popularly known to be of Shamsad Begum, possibly a relative of Bibi Pari.