Jessore Board 2025

Heritage is what we inherit from the past, live with in the present and then pass on to our children or future generation. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak of 'World Heritage', it indicates places and sites that we inherited from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The 'Shat Gambuj Mosque' in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. Originally, the historic Mosque City was known as 'Khalifatabad'. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat town, not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century. The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was dominated by the tradition of Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable. There were about 360 mosques in the city. Among them the most remarkable is the multi-domed Shat Gombuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with 77 low height domes. The 4 towers at 4 corners have smaller domes at the top as well. The vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall. The west wall in the interior has 11 'Mihrabs' (niche in mosque pointing towards Makkah). These Mihrabs are decorated with stonework and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick.

Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as his court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and one of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

Heritage is what we inherit from the past, live with in the present and then pass on to our children or future generation. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak of 'World Heritage', it indicates places and sites that we inherited from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The 'Shat Gambuj Mosque' in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. Originally, the historic Mosque City was known as 'Khalifatabad'. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat town, not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century. The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was dominated by the tradition of Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable. There were about 360 mosques in the city. Among them the most remarkable is the multi-domed Shat Gombuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with 77 low height domes. The 4 towers at 4 corners have smaller domes at the top as well. The vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall. The west wall in the interior has 11 'Mihrabs' (niche in mosque pointing towards Makkah). These Mihrabs are decorated with stonework and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick.

Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as his court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and one of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

The great men were born in different places of this world but their activities make them familiar and closer to us. Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah was one of those who contributed a lot to Bangla Language and Literature. He was the greatest scholar of Bengal. This great scholar was born on July 10, 1885 at 24 Parganas, in West Bengal, India. He passed his Entrance Examination in 1904 and obtained his BA degree six years later. It took him two years to complete his MA and another two years for his Bachelor of Law degree.

He later joined the University of Dhaka in 1921 as a professor of Sanskrit and Bangla. He was awarded the Doctorate degree from Sorbonne University, Paris in 1928. 'Bangla Shahitter Katha', the well-arranged history of Bangla literature was composed by him. It was published in 1953. This great scholar remained busy with work till he became seriously ill in 1967 and was confined to bed for about two and a half years. Dr. Shahidullah breathed his last on 13 July 1969 in Dhaka. We remember him with great respect and gratitude.