Before the luxury: Origins of Dhaka’s Gulshan

At first impression, Gulshan is all about modernity — tall office buildings, luxurious apartments, trendy cafes, and the tag of being a neighbourhood for the rich! But keeping aside all that, there is another side of this swanky area which often gets overlooked: its history.

Until of course, you come across the signboard of Gulshan Jame Mosque at Gulshan Avenue. Written on the signboard is a hint of the yesteryears: "Old Bhola Jame Mosque, established approximately 1875."

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The Gulshan area was once upon a time called "Bhola gram."

On the other hand, today's Gulshan basically means "flower garden."

According to the book "Dacca: History and Romance in Place Names" by Azimusshan Haider, this name was given by G A Madani, Chairman, Dacca Improvement Trust. Madani oversaw the planning and development of Gulshan.

And as for its "posh" label, when did this perception actually begin?

Well, that can be difficult to determine! But we will leave you with a line written in 1962, from historian Ahmad Hasan Dani's book "Dacca: A Record of its Changing Fortunes." The sentence, in retrospect today, reads like prophesy or prediction: "Away from the congestion of the old town, perched like an island within a mass of lowland water, Gulshan is surely going to be a luxurious spot for the aristocrat.”