Sonakanda Fort

Bengal went under the effective control of the Mughal Empire in 1574 AD after the defeat of Daud Khan Karrani by the Mughal General Munim Khan. Mughals exercised a progressive rule in Bengal and were determined to protect their subjects from external forces.

Mir Jumla II was appointed as the Subahdar or governor of the then Bengal province in 1660 AD. He was aware of the pirates who ran a campaign of terror in the important cities of Bengal. In a quest to protect the capital Dhaka from the pirates, Mir Jumla II decided to build three river forts around Dhaka, including Sonakanda Fort.[2]

Though archaeologists cannot trace any evidence on its date of establishment, according to historians the construction of the fort started between 1660 and 1663 AD.[3]

The square holes on the fort's wall were likely used by artillery

The fort combines thick walls, a massive artillery platform and a gateway to the north.[4]

The fort has two main parts. One is a fortified defensive wall of gigantic dimensions. The defensive walls are 3.05 metres in height and thicker at the bottom. Several wide and narrow loopholes allowed guns and light cannons to fire shells at the pirates. The other one is a raised outwork on the western face to defend the fort from the attack of the pirates.

The most significant structure of the fort is the massive artillery platform. One of the spherical artillery platforms has a stairway, which leads up to the artillery platform. Cannons with bigger calibre were placed on there, aiming at the aggressors coming up the Shitalakshya River. This is a unique feature of the river forts built by Mughal Empire.

The platform is surrounded by two circular structures of which the diameter of the inner one is 15.70 metres and the diameter of the outer one is 19.35 metres. The structure is 6.09 metres in height and surrounded by walls.[4]

The fort is quadrangular in plan, measuring 86.56 by 57.0 metres. There are octagonal bastions on the four corners of the fort. The corner bastions on both sides of the western wing are wider than those of the eastern wing, which are 4.26 metres, while the two on the western wing are 6.85 metres in width.[4]

The only gate of the fort is on the north. The arched entrance is placed within a rectangular frame. The gateway is higher than the average height of the walls of fort and decorated with several groomed panels.

The fort is located in Narayanganj

There are a number of myths related to the river fort that include tragedy and mystery.

• Princess Swarnamoyee was abandoned by her father Kedar Roy, a king of Bikrampur. She went to the Shitalakshya River with her barge to perform the sacred bath. Unfortunately, the pirates attacked her barge that day and looted all the valuables she had. They also kidnapped the princess. She was later saved by Isa Khan, the ruler of Sonargaon. Isa Khan brought her to the Sonakanda Fort and asked her father to take her back. Kedar Roy, however, refused to take her back as she had lost her caste by spending a night in a tent owned by a Muslim ruler.[5]

Swarnamoyee, shocked by the incident, cried for several days in her tent at Sonakanda Fort. According to a popular belief the name of the fort is derived from this incident as the Swarnamoyee in other words Sona, cried a lot in this fort. The Bengali for crying is kanda.

• Another version of the story says that Isa Khan forcefully married Sona Bibi, a widowed daughter of Kedar Roy. She was brought to this fort and put under confinement by Isa Khan's soldiers. She cried following the incident and the name of the fort derived from that.[6]
• Some people believe that there were some hidden tunnels in the fort that linked it with Sonargaon and Lalbagh Fort.[3]

• Hajiganj Fort
• Idrakpur Fort
• List of archaeological sites in Bangladesh

• The World Monuments Fund's 2008 Watch List page for Sonakanda Fort