Lalbagh, Murshidabad Gallery

Murshidabad (মূর্শিদাবাদ)

The capital of Bengal, tradition says, was established 4000 years before Akbar's reign at Nadia, but it was transferred first to Gaur or Lakhnauti or Lakshanavati, then in 1564 to Tanda, and in 1592 to Rajmahal, also called Akbarnagar, named after the great Emperor Akbar. In 1609 Jahangir moved the seat of government to the eastern port of Dacca (Jahangirnagar) on the Meghna River, already a centre of considerable trade, but a century later in 1704 AD it was brought back to Murshidabad at the banks of Ganges, a new site even more important economically, not far from Rajmahal, by Murshid Quli Khan. This was the begining of a new phase in Bengal's History.