Lalbagh Fort- is the most popular and renowned fort and a great signature of art by Mughal Empire in Bangladesh. It is also known as Fort Aurangabad. It is located in Lalbagh of old Dhaka, hence named so. It is situated by the bank of the river Buriganga in a rich red soil.
History of Lalbagh Fort
Lalbagh Fort is an incomplete structure by a Mughal prince and later emperor himself named Muhammad Azam (third son of Aurangazeb). He started the work of the fort in 1678 during his vice-royalty in Bangladesh (Previous Bengal). He stayed in Bengal for 15 months. It remained incomplete when he was called by his father Aurangazeb to the capital Delhi.
Shaista Khan was the new Subedar (Governor) of Dhaka in that time, and he did not complete the fort. In 1684, the daughter of Shaista Khan named Iran Dukht (Pari Bibi) died there. After her death, he started thinking the fort as ominous, and left the structure incomplete. Among the 3 major parts of Lalbagh Fort, one is the tomb of Pari Bibi.
After Shaista Khan left Dhaka, it lost its popularity. The main cause was that the capital was shifted from Dhaka to Murshidabad. After the end of royal Mughal period, the fort became abandoned. In 1844, the area achieved its name as Lalbagh replacing Aurangabad, so the fort as Lalbagh Fort.
