Ahsan Manzil

Ahsan Manzil is a historic palace on the banks of the Buriganga River in Kumartoli, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Because of its color it is nicknamed the Pink Palace. It was the official home and headquarters of the Nawab of Dhaka, a local ruler, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The palace was built in the Indo-Saracenic style, which mixes Indian, Islamic, and European ideas.

The long two-storey building was built from 1859 to 1872, and it has a grand open staircase facing the river and a central dome. Today it is a museum run by the Bangladesh National Museum. Inside are objects and papers about the Nawab family and the history of Dhaka, and the building has been named an Old Dhaka Heritage Site.

Who lived here before?

The land has a long story. In the Mughal era a local landowner, Sheikh Enayetullah, had a garden house here and added a palace called Rang Mahal. Around 1740 his son sold the property to French traders, who built a trading house. In 1830 Khwaja Alimullah bought it from the French and turned the trading house into a home, adding a stable and a family mosque.

How did it get its name?

Alimullah's son, Khwaja Abdul Ghani, rebuilt the place into the grand palace we see today. He hired Martin and Company, a European construction and engineering firm, to make the master plan. He named the new palace Ahsan Manzil after his own son, Khwaja Ahsanullah. The words mean something like "Ahsan's mansion". Building lasted from 1859 until 1872, and the palace became the center of the family's social and political life.

On the globe

The model shows the long arcaded front with its grand open staircase toward the river and the central lotus-bud dome.