Statue located inside the Armenian Church in Dhaka.

Armanitola (Bengali: আরমানিটোলা) is an area in the old city of Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. The area takes its name from the Armenian settlement that surrounded Armenian church there.[1][2][3][4]

History

The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection was built in 1781 as a wooden chapel and was consecrated by Bishop Eprahim.[5] This was around the time the Armenians were settling in Dhaka.[6] The church holds the tombs of 200 Armenians.[5] The tower of the church collapsed in 1897 following an earthquake.[5]

In 1926, the Tara Masjid was renovated and an extension was added.[7] The Turag River used to flow close to the mosque in the 19th century before the river route shifted away.[8]

Armanitola Maidan was the site of several public speeches by leaders of the Awami Muslim League in 1949.[9]

The old building of the New Government Girls High School collapsed in October 2007.[10]

The Daily Star reported that three years after the 2010 Dhaka fire which killed 124 people areas of Old Dhaka, including Armanitola, had warehouses holding flammable chemicals.[11] In 2014, the owners of the Hinga Bibi Masjid, 324 year old mosque located on KP Ghosh Road in Armanitola, started demolishing the building to replace it with a multistorey building.[12]

There are two dorms of the Jagannath University in Armanitola which like 10 other dorms of the University are under illegal occupation.[13] Abdur Rahman Hall is occupied by Bangladesh Police and Shaheed Anwar Shafique Hostel was occupied by criminals.[13]

In April 2021, a chemical fire at warehouse killed four and injured 23 others.[14] There is a large number of warehouses, including those storing chemicals, in residential areas in Armanitola.[15] Rapid Action Battalion arrested the two owners of the warehouse.[16]

The residence of Nicholas Pogose, founder of Pogose School and 19th century Armenian merchant, was demolished in Armanitola during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]

Administration

Armanitola is part of the Dhaka-7 parliamentary constituency.[17] It is represented in parliament by Haji Salim of the Awami League.[17]

Education

Armanitola Government High School is the public High School of the area was established in 1904.[18][19]

Attractions

References

  1. ↑ Feldman, Herbert (1968). Pakistan: an introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 98. OCLC 512697.
  2. ↑ Ali, Ansar; Chaudhury, Sushil; Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Armenians, The". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. ↑ Lawson, Alastair (10 January 2003). "The mission of Dhaka's last Armenian". BBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Kabir, Tasneem Tayeb (23 December 2011). "The Armenian Church: Legacy of a Bygone Era". The Independent. Dhaka. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Jamil, Syed Maqsud (2015-01-23). "Armenians of Dacca". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  6. ↑ "Silent tales of splendour". archive.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  7. ↑ Haider, M. H. (2023-08-27). "The iconic Tara Masjid did not always have those stars!". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  8. ↑ Ghias, Durdana (2008-07-20). "Shattering tales of tattered mosques". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  9. ↑ Rahman, Sheikh Mujibur (2012). The Unfinished Memoirs. Oxford University Press. pp. 130–131, 137, 141. ISBN 978-0-19-906358-1.
  10. ↑ "Part of century old building in city collapses". The Daily Star. 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  11. ↑ Mollah, Shaheen; Khan, Tamanna (2013-06-04). "No lessons learned". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  12. ↑ Islam, Zyma (2014-03-17). "Historical buildings plundered". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  13. 1 2 Sarkar, Kailash (2009-01-31). "Grabbers occupy all 12 dorms for years". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  14. ↑ "Fire from chemical storage leaves 4 dead, 23 injured in Old Dhaka's Armanitola". The Daily Star. 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  15. ↑ Mollah, Shaheen; Alam, Helemul (2021-04-25). "Armanitola Fire: Newlyweds now on life support". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  16. ↑ "Armanitola fire: 2 warehouse owners sent to jail". The Daily Star. 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  17. 1 2 3 Islam, Zyma (2020-11-22). "History erased". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  18. ↑ "Armanitola, Keramatia in school hockey final". The Daily Star. 2020-03-15. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  19. ↑ Chowdhury, Syed Tashfin. "Armanitola School celebrates a hundred years". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.

23°42′50″N 90°24′07″E / 23.714°N 90.402°E / 23.714; 90.402


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