Abstract

This chapter examines the production and reproduction of Ramna and the surrounding area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Created by the Mughals, Ramna was as an area of pleasure gardens situated outside the city. Throughout the colonial times (from the presence of the East India Company until the British Commonwealth), consecutive manipulations and (re)structuring of Ramna established it as a unique and layered space – a campus-like environment with new types of recreational facilities (for horse racing, polo, etc.) and various institutions (Curzon Hall, a college, a hospital, clubs, etc.) embedded in a unifying and picturesque park. Simultaneously, this constructed ‘natural’ environment became the centre of the metropolitan city that, paradoxically, is also the threshold between the traditional, indigenous, and contemporary post-colonial parts of the city. As the centre of the city and comprised of public buildings and functions, Ramna is positioned between the park and the city, nature and culture. Following independence, the area has become the nation's pre-eminent representative landscape, where competing centres of power are juxtaposed within a space of a few square kilometres. Using ethnographic and historical morphotypological data and mappings of different trajectories through time, this chapter aims to understand the intertwined histories of the continuous production and reproduction of the Ramna area, its role in the construction of the nation, and (re)affirmation of Bengali cultural identity.