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Curzon Hall is part
of the school of science of the
University of Dhaka.
 Curzon Hall meant to be a
town hall, was named after
Lord Curzon, the
Viceroy of India, who laid its foundation in 1904. A
year later Bengal was partitioned and
Dhaka or Dacca as it was known then, became the
capital of the newly created province of
East Bengal and
Assam. Following the annulment of partition in 1911
it was used as a premise of
Dhaka College, and after the establishment of the
University of Dhaka in 1921, became part of the
university's science section and continues as such.
Curzon Hall has attained great significance in the
history of the
Language Movement. It was here, in 1948, that
students of Dhaka University uttered their first refusal
to accept
Mohammad Ali Jinnah's declaration that
Urdu alone would be the state language of the whole
of
Pakistan.
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Architecture
One of the best examples of Dhaka's architecture, it
is a happy blend of European and
Mughal elements, particularly noticeable in the
projecting facade in the north which has both horse-shoe
and cusped arches. The style combined traditional art
with modern technology and functions and favoured Mughal
forms such as arches and domes, believed to have entered
the Islamic world from the west. It marks the casting
aside of veiled power after the
Sepoy Revolt of 1857, and India's passing directly
under the
British Crown, seeking legitimacy by linkage to the
Mughals. The red colour substituting for red sandstone,
and the ornate
brackets, deep eaves, and domed terrace pavilions (chhatris),
specially of the middle section are strikingly
reminiscent of the small but well-known
Diwan-i-Khas in the palace fortress of
Fatehpur Sikri, Emperor
Akbar's capital between 1570 and 1585. Not only were
both cities new capitals, but the deliberate choice of
the Fatehpur Sikri style may be explained by the fact
that the British favoured Akbar as the wisest and most
tolerant of all the Mughals, feeding into the ideal of
their own role in India.
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Gallery
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