Architecture and Archeology

Muzharul Islam is the single most dominant influence on modern architecture in Bangladesh. Fifty eight years since he started his practice the influence continues. Other than the odd article here and there and references to his projects in others, there has been no major publication of his works. Muzharul Islam gave the first public lecture on his work at BRAC University in May, 2002 at the age of 78, when he had almost stopped designing. It was soon after his lecture that a book on his work was conceived. This was not an easy task since nowhere was his work documented.

The British period was not only one during which the British alone were responsible for constructions but also one during which magnificent palaces were built by local ruling class, in it style unique to Bengal. Although most of the grand monuments of the British period are located in and around Calcutta - the Job Charnock's factory-city established in 1692, - which eventually-occupied a premier position as the British capital of India between 1773 and 1912, the building remains of the period in Bangladesh are no less significant, if only less grandiose in scale.

The book was first published in 1992. It is still the only authoritative and comprehensive review of Bangladesh archaeology in the context of the archaeology of the subcontinent. The present print bears an update on the more recent development in the field. In the context of South Asian Archaeology as a whole, the archaeology of Bangladesh in viewed with general indifference.