Farashganj ( , ) is a neighborhood in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The name comes from the Bengali word for French which is ''Forashi'' and ''ganj'', meaning market-town.

History

Farashganj literally means French town, it takes its name from French merchants based in Dhaka city. In 1740 the

French East India Company Compagnie des Indes () may refer to several French chartered companies involved in long-distance trading: * First French East Indies Company, in existence from 1604 to 1614 * French West India Company, active in the Western Hemisphere from 1664 t ...

started operations in Dhaka and built their "Kuthi" near

Ahsan Manzil Ahsan Manzil () is a palace located in the Kumartoli area beside Buriganga River of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was formerly the residence and seat of the '' Nawab of Dhaka'' and has been designated an Old Dhaka Heritage Site. It now serves as a m ...

Palace with permission from Nowazish Mohammad Khan. The French got into minor conflicts with the British over a factory but was resolved through the mediation of Naib Nazim Jasarat Khan. The French merchants established wholesale trading posts for spices like raw

turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

and chilli. They built fine residences such as the

Ruplal House Ruplal House (formerly known as Aratoon House) is a 19th-century mansion in Farashganj area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was built on the northern bank of the Buriganga River, beside the Buckland Dam. The house was built in 1825 by an Armenian busi ...

. In the late nineteenth century, an influx of lumber-yards and wooden furniture manufacturers made the neighborhood, "the new furniture centre of Dacca".

Geography

Farashganj is located on the northern bank of the

Buriganga River Buriganga (; ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. It ranks among the most polluted rivers in the country. Importance The Buriganga is economically very important to Dhaka. Launches a ...

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

. Its principal thoroughfares are B. K. Das Road and Ahsanullah Road.

Points of interest

There are a number of historic buildings in Farashganj, mostly dilapidated. The stately two-story riverside mansion

is now occupied by squatters. The once magnificent 19th-century mansion Bara Bari, with its ornate curved balconies over the street, has been partly demolished. Loharpul bridge also located in Farashganj. It was a great engineering feat at that time. In 1832 the collector of Dhaka, Mr. Walter put up work for a single-span

hanging bridge Hanging Bridge is a medieval arched bridge spanning Hanging Ditch, a watercourse which connected the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Irwell, Irwell in Manchester, England. It was built in 1421, replacing an earlier bridge at the same location ...

over the canal at Sutrapur (Farashganj) for facilitating passage from Dhaka to

Narayanganj Narayanganj () is a city in central Bangladesh in the Greater Dhaka area. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka. With a population of almost 1 million, it is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is als ...

. Farashganj Sporting Club, established in 1959, is situated between the historical sites

and

Northbrook Hall Northbrook Hall (also known as Lalkuthi) was originally built as a town hall during the British period. It is situated at Farashgonj road in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the north bank of the Buriganga River. History In 1874, Indian Governor Th ...

History

Geography

Points of interest

References

Further reading