West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Bangladesh (1776) by James RennellKalakriti Archives
1) Almost 600 years ago, the city of Khalifatabad arose from Sundarbans’ edge, a triumph of social will and religious piety.
Walkway Towards the 60 Dome Mosque in Bagerhat (2019-05) by CyArkCyArk
Today, the remains of the medieval city, known as the “Old City of Bagerhat,” stand as a silent observer to the race between the human ingenuity that has allowed people to thrive in this forbidding climate and the accelerating pace of global climate change.
2) Bagerhat went through a period of abandonment
Despite a period of abandonment in the late early modern period, today the Old Mosque City is again recognized as one of the most important religious sites in Bangladesh.
Bagerhat mosque before prayerCyArk
3) History links to the Muslim conquest of south east Asia
The site sits in southwestern Bangladesh in the historical region known as Bengal, home today to the world's second-largest ethnic Muslim population. Its history is inextricably linked to the Muslim conquest of south east Asia.
Pond bank in BagerhatCyArk
4) It was targeted during the medieval period
Throughout the medieval period, successive regional sultanates targeted the fertile Ganges Delta, bringing in Persianized Turks and other immigrants spurring growth and spreading Islam in equal measure.
Shait Gombuj Masjid in BagerhatCyArk
5) Its infrastructures have survived eras
The quality of the infrastructures – the supply and evacuation of water, the cisterns and reservoirs, the roads and bridges – all reveal a perfect mastery of the techniques of planning and a will towards spatial organization.
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Find out more about ICOMOS' efforts to increase engagement of cultural heritage in climate action here.
Andrew Potts, ICOMOS Working Group on Cultural Heritage and Climate Change.
This project was made possible through a collaboration between the Department of Archaeology, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
