Dhaka (previously Dacca; Bangla: ঢাকা Đhaka; IPA: [ɖʱaka]) is the capital of Bangladesh and the Dhaka District. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka and its metropolitan area have a population exceeding 9 million, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and one of the most populous cities in the world.

Under Mughal rule, the city was also known as Jahangir Nagar. The modern city was largely developed by British authorities and soon became the second-largest city in Bengal after Kolkata. With the partition of India, Dhaka became the administrative capital of East Pakistan before becoming the capital of an independent Bangladesh in 1972. During this period Dhaka witnessed extensive political turmoil, including many periods of martial law, the declaration of Bangladesh's independence, military suppression and devastation from war and natural calamities.

Modern Dhaka is the centre of political, cultural and economic life in Bangladesh, enjoying the highest literacy rate amongst other Bangladeshi cities and a diverse economy. While the urban infrastructure is the most developed in the country, Dhaka suffers from severe challenges such as pollution, congestion, supply shortages, poverty and crime. In recent decades Dhaka has seen a modernisation of transport, communications and public works. The city is attracting considerable foreign investment, greater volumes of commerce and trade and an increasing influx of people from across the nation. (more...)

• July 30: Bangladesh government sets up a truth commission that would allow corrupt businessmen and politicians to avoid going to jail if they confess and refund money obtained illegally. (AFP)

• July 30: New research by scientists in Dhaka shows Bangladesh's landmass is increasing, contradicting forecasts that country will be under the waves by the end of the century. (BBC)

• July 7: At least 21 people are killed and nearly 40 injured when two buses collide on a Bangladesh highway. (reuters)

• June 30: The Caretaker Government increases prices of petroleum products for the second time during its tenure. (Daily Star)

• June 26: The results of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations 2008 publishes breaking all previous records with a 70.41 percent pass rate and 41,917 students achieving GPA-5. (Daily Star)

• June 20: The Election Commission (EC) announces that polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities will be held on August 4. (Daily Star)

• June 11: Bangladesh Caretaker Government frees former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. (VoA)

• ...that Somapura Mahavihara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bangladesh, was one of the best known Buddhist viharas in South Asia since King Dharmapala erected it in the 8th century?
• ...that Bangladesh is separated from Nepal by the Chicken's Neck?
• ...that Pundravardhana was a territory, mostly in present-day Bangladesh, of the Pundras, a group of non-Aryan people, dating back to 8th-7th centuries BC?
• ...that the Tagore family, with over three hundred years of history, has exercised the greatest influence on reawakened Bengali spirit?
• ...that Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh was also known as Jahangir Nagar?
• ... that Bangladesh declined to renew its 1972 Friendship Treaty with India, criticizing it as unequal and an imposition of excessive Indian influence?
• ...that the Armenian community of Dhaka played a major role in education in Bangladesh, and owned major landmarks like the gardens of Shahbag and Bangabhaban?
• ...that Matir Moina, a Bangladeshi film by Tareque Masud, was temporarily banned by censors in Bangladesh before becoming the country's first film to compete for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category?
• ...that a proposed strategic road link through Bangladesh and its capital Dhaka will reduce the travel distance between the Indian cities of Agartala and Kolkata from 1,700 kms to 400 km?
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Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad, commonly known as Bābur (February 14, 1483 – December 26, 1530) (Chaghatay/Persian: ﻇﻬﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ محمد بابر; also spelled Zahiruddin, Zahiriddin, Muhammad, Bobur, Baber, Babar, etc.), was a Muslim Emperor from Central Asia who founded the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur, and believed himself to be a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother. Following a series of set-backs he succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal Empire.

The Mughal Empire was an important imperial power in the Indian Subcontinent from the early sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. At the height of its power, around 1700, it controlled most of the subcontinent and parts of what is now Afghanistan. Its population at that time has been estimated as between 100 and 150 million, over a territory of over 3 million square km. Following 1720 it declined rapidly. Its decline has been variously explained as caused by wars of succession, agrarian crises fueling local revolts, the growth of religious intolerance and British colonialism. The last Emperor, whose rule was restricted to the city of Delhi, was imprisoned and exiled by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. (more...)