Dhaka: History, Former Names & Timeline

City of the Ganges delta, capital of Mughal Bengal and famed for its fine muslin; today the capital of Bangladesh.

Map showing Dhaka in 1900 — Border map for 1900. See the world in 1900.

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Former names of Dhaka

From	Name	Note
1608	Jahangirnagar	Mughal capital of Bengal
1717	Dhaka

Timeline of Dhaka

Year	Event
1608	The Mughals make it the capital of Bengal
1717	The capital moves to Murshidabad
1905	With the Partition of Bengal it becomes capital of Eastern Bengal
1947	Becomes capital of East Pakistan
1971	Bangladesh becomes independent

Who ruled Dhaka

Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.

Period	State
500 BC–401 BC	Unclaimed / no data
400 BC–301 BC	Magadha
300 BC–2 BC	Mauryan Empire
1 BC–199	Hindu kingdoms
200–299	Magadha
300–599	Gupta Empire
600–699	Shaskanka
700–1199	Palas
1200–1299	Sultanate of Delhi
1300–1491	Unclaimed / no data
1492–1599	Bengal
1600–1649	Islamic and Hindu states
1650–1782	Mughal Empire
1783–1799	Bengal
1800–1814	Bundelkhand
1815–1879	British East India Company
1880–1944	British Raj
1945–1959	Bangladesh
1960–1993	Pakistan
1994–today	Bangladesh

Nearby cities

Kolkata · about 251 km
Bagan · about 543 km
Patna · about 568 km

Questions about Dhaka

What was Dhaka called in the past?

Dhaka has been known as Jahangirnagar (from 1608, Mughal capital of Bengal). Its present name dates from 1717.

Which states have ruled Dhaka?

On the historical border maps from 500 BC to today, Dhaka lies within 15 different states: Magadha, Mauryan Empire, Hindu kingdoms, Gupta Empire, Shaskanka, Palas, Sultanate of Delhi, Bengal, Islamic and Hindu states, Mughal Empire and others.

What are the key dates in the history of Dhaka?

1608: The Mughals make it the capital of Bengal. 1717: The capital moves to Murshidabad. 1905: With the Partition of Bengal it becomes capital of Eastern Bengal. 1947: Becomes capital of East Pakistan. 1971: Bangladesh becomes independent.

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.