Paribagh

There are two theories about the naming of Paribagh area. According to many, Paribagh area is named after Pari Bano, daughter of Khwaja Ahsanullah.[1] Pari Bano was the half-sister of Khwaja Salimullah. It was the garden house of Nawabs of Dhaka. Before that the area belonged to Hindu landlords. Khwaja Salimullah bought the area from the Hindu landlords. The garden house came to be known as Paribagh as the abode of Pari Bano.[2] Another view is that Khwaja Salimullah visited Patna without informing his father. He married Pari Begum there. As Pari Begum used to live in Paribagh, the area is named Paribagh.[2]

In this area in 1902 Khwaja Salimullah planned to build a garden house of Dhaka Nawab family. There were many low places in this area which were always waterlogged. He filled the low lands and made gardens there. He built many buildings in this area, one of which is the Paribagh House. Three years after starting work on the garden, he established a mosque in the area which still exists. In 1952, after the government of Pakistan confiscated the property of the Nawab family of Dhaka, Khwaja Habibullah, another member of the family, started to build a residence called Green House in the area. Since then, most of the members of the family lived in Paribagh.[3]

There is a street food zone in this area. The street food zone is located on Old Elephant Road. In every evening, makeshift food stalls line both sides of the street.[4] It is one of the popular food streets in Dhaka.[5]