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Sonargaon [ সোনারগাঁও ] also transcribed as Sunārgāon, meaning City of Gold) was a historic administrative, commercial and maritime Centre in Bengal. Situated in the Centre of the Ganges delta, it was the seat of the medieval Muslim rulers and governors of eastern Bengal. Sonargaon was described by numerous historic traveler’s, including Ibn Battuta, Ma Huan, Niccolò de' Conti and Ralph Fitch as a thriving Centre of trade and commerce.
It was an administrative Centre of Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah's sultanate, the Bengal Sultanate and the Kingdom of Bhati.
The area is located near the modern industrial river port of Narayanganj in Bangladesh. Today, the name Sonargaon survives as the Sonargaon Upazila (Sonargaon Subregion) in the region.
Bara Sardar Bari called Isa Khan's bari in Sonargaon.
The name Sonargaon came as the Bangla version of the ancient name Suvarnagrama. Buddhist ruler Danujamadhava Dasharathadeva shifted his capital to Suvarnagrama from Bikrampur sometime in the middle of the 13th century. In early 14th century, Bauddha ruling in this area ended when Shamsuddin Firoz Shah (reigned 1301–1322) of Lakhnauti occupied and annexed it to his kingdom.
The 7th voyage of Zheng He's fleet map based on analysis by Edward L. Dreyer shows that Hong Bao and Ma Huan visited Sonargaon in 1432.
Muslim settlers first arrive in Sonargaon region in around 1281. Sharfuddin Abu Tawwamah, a medieval Sufi saint and Islamic philosopher came and settled here sometime between 1282 and 1287. He then established his Khanqah and founded a Madrasa.
Firoz Shah built a mint in Sonargaon from where a large number of coins were issued. When he died in 1322, his son, Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah, replaced him as the ruler. In 1324 Delhi Sultan, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, declared war against him and after the battle, Bahadur Shah was captured and Bengal, including Sonargaon, became a province of Delhi Sultanate. The same year, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, son and successor of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, released him and appointed him as the governor of Sonargaon province.
After 4 years of governorship, in 1328, Bahadur Shah declared independence of Bengal. Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq sent his general, Bahram Khan, to depose him. In the battle, Bahadur Shah was defeated and killed. Bahram Khan recaptured Sonargaon for the Delhi Sultanate and he was also appointed the governor of Sonargaon.
When Taj Khan Karrani was the independent Afghan ruler of Bengal, Isa Khan obtained an estate in Sonargaon and Maheswardi Pargana in 1564 as a vassal of the Karrani rulers. Isa Khan gradually increased his strength and in 1571 he was designated as the ruler of the whole Bhati region. In 1575 he helped Daud Khan Karrani fight the Mughal flotilla in the vicinity of Sonargaon.
Daud Khan Karrani died in the Battle of Raj Mahal against Mughals in 1576. Akbar then made Isa Khan the zamindar of Sonargaon, making him one of the Baro-Bhuiyans. However, he continued resisting Mughal rule. With the help of his allies, he stood defiant against Mughals in battle against Subahdar Khan Jahan in 1578, Subahdar Shahbaz Khan in 1584 and Durjan Singh in 1597. Isa Khan died in September 1599. His son, Musa Khan, then took control of the Bhati region. But after the defeat of Musa Khan on 10 July 1610 by Islam Khan, the army general of Mughals, Sonargaon became one of the sarkars of Bengal subah. The capital of Bengal was then shifted to Jahangirnagar (later named Dhaka).
Panam City was established in the late 19th century as a trading centre of cotton fabrics during British rule. Hindu cloth merchants built their residential houses following colonial style with inspiration derived from European sources. Today this area is protected under the Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh. The city was linked with the main city area by three brick bridges – Panam Bridge, Dalalpur Bridge and PanamNagar Bridge – during the Mughal period. The bridges are still in use.
Sonakanda Fort is a Mughal river-fort located on the bank of the Shitalakshya River at Bandar.
Lok Shilpa Jadughar (Folk Art and Craft Museum) of Sonargaon was established by Bangladeshi painter Joynul Abedin on 12 March 1975. The house, originally called Bara Sardar Bari, was built in 1901.
On 15 February 1984, Narayanganj subdivision was upgraded to a district by the Government of Bangladesh. Hence Sonargaon became a subdistrict of Narayanganj District of Dhaka division.
Due to the many threats to preservation (including flooding and vandalism), Sonargaon was placed in 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund.
