Dhaka (Dacca) is one of the oldest inhabited mega cities of the World. The history of Dhaka begins with the existence of urbanised settlements in the area that is now Dhaka dating from the 7th century CE. The city area was ruled by the Hindu Gauda Kingdom, Buddhist and Shaivite Pala Empire before passing to the control of the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 10th century CE. After the Sena dynasty, the city was ruled by the Hindu Deva Dynasty. Dhaka was successively ruled by the Turkic and Afghan governors descending from the Delhi Sultanate, followed by the Bengal Sultanate, before the arrival of the Mughals in 1608. The city became proto-industrialised and declared capital of the Mughal Bengal and commercial (financial) capital of the Mughal India. The Dhaka natural riverine port has a recorded existence since the 16th century CE. Dhaka's strategic riverine location in Bengal made it a hub for Eurasian traders, including Armenians, the Portuguese, French, Dutch and British. The bustling old city was known as the Venice of the East. After Mughals, British ruled the region for 200 years until the independence of India in 1947. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became the capital of the new state.
Etymology
The origin story of the name Dhaka is not definite. But there are several assumptions. The name came following the establishment of Dhakeshwari temple built by Raja Ballal Sena in the 12th century and Dhakeswari is the name of Goddess Durga. Dhakeshwari may also mean Goddess of Dhaka; so the temple might have been named after the region. Dhak (a membranophone instrument) is used as part of the Durga Puja festival in this temple and hence the name Dhaka. The plant named Dhak (Butea monosperma) which was widely found in that area. In the 4th century, at Allahabad Prsahasti (also Prayag Prashasti), a eulogy for the Gupta Emperor Samudragupta, the poet-laureate Harisen mentioned Dabaka and Dabaka eventually became Dhaka. Rajatarangini, written by a Kashmiri Brahman, Kalhana says the region was originally known as Dhakka. The word Dhakka means watchtower. Bikrampur and Sonargaon — the earlier strongholds of Bengal rulers were situated nearby. So Dhaka was likely used as the watchtower for the fortification purpose.
Kamarupa kingdom
Kamarupa kingdom, also known as Pragjyotisa, existed between 350 and 1140 CE. According to the chronicle of Yogini Tantra, the southern boundary of the kingdom stretched up to the junction of Brahmaputra River and Shitalakshya River which covered the Dhaka region.
Pala Empire
The Pāla Empire (r. 750–1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the Varendra subregion of Bengal. After the fall of Shashanka's Gauda kingdom, the Bengal region was in a state of anarchy. There was no central authority, and there was constant struggle between petty chieftains. The contemporary writings describe this situation as matsya nyaya ("fish justice" i.e. a situation where the big fish eat the small fish). Gopala ascended the throne as the first Pala king during these times. The Khalimpur copper plate suggests that the prakriti (people) of the region made him the king. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffix Pāla ("protector" in Prakrit). The empire was founded with the election of Gopāla as the emperor of Gauda in late eighth century CE. Pala Empire ruled the whole Bengal region after the fall of King Shashanka's Gauda Kingdom. During the reign of Pala rulers between the 8th century until the late 11th century, Bikrampur, a region located in greater Dhaka district, was one of the capital of them. The Pala rulers were mostly Shaivite and Buddhists. But majority of the subjects of Buddhist rules were Hindus.