Dhakaiyas

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Old Dhakaiya
পুরান ঢাকাইয়া
A Dhakaiya Muslim lady in a muslin sari reclining with a hookah.
Regions with significant populations
Old Dhaka (Bangladesh)
Languages
Standard Bengali, Dhakaiya Kutti dialect, Dhakaiya Urdu dialect
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Urdu-speaking people
The Rajoshik sculpture, in front of the InterContinental Dhaka, displays a horse carriage and its driver.

The Old Dhakaites (

Bihari minority community although their presence dates back centuries.[2]

History

ڈھاکہ عجیب شہر، نام جہانگیر نگر
Dhaka ajeeb shahar, naam Jahangir Nagar
Dhaka is a strange city, its name is

Jahangirnagar

دو چار شریف ہے، باقی کٹّی تمام
Do-char Sharif hai, baaqi Kutti tamam
There are a few sharif (nobles), the rest are all Kutti

 – Urdu stanza describing population ratio.[5]

During the

Hindustani counterparts and their main occupation led them to be known as kuttis (other less-common names included kutiyal and hatkutti). The interactions with different cultures and languages led to the birth of an Urdu-influenced dialect of Bengali known as Dhakaiya Kutti, and with that - a new identity.[8]

The merchants from North India also eventually settled in Dhaka and came to be known as khoshbas meaning happily-settled. Other names for them included sukhbas and subbasi. Originally an Urdu-speaking community, their time in Bengal led to the emergence of a Bengali-influenced dialect known as Dhakaiya Urdu as they were a minority in comparison to the Kuttis.[1]

Many of the Kutti community became a lot wealthier over the years due to their occupation and many became landowners. With thousands of Kutti being involved in the rice supplying industry by 1787, they also formed a merchant class by monopolising rice retail in the city.

Ramna Race Course, from which not only he made a fortune from, but also won medals from the British Raj. They can also be found in other localities such as Narinda.[9]

Presently, the Old Dhakaiyas are a minority in

Sadarghat was shifted to Nilkhet and Gulistan
, decreasing Old Dhakaiya influence. The new educated migrant community (now also commonly known as Dhakaiyas with the former now being referred to as "Old Dhakaiyas") spoke in
Standard Bengali, the standardised register of Bengali. Some of the Old Dhakaiya community began to see the new migrant community as their opponents due to these dialectical and cultural differences. This division was the source of modern troubles in the identities of the Old Dhakaiyas (who view themselves as original inhabitants) and the post-partition migrant community (who currently form the majority in the city).[1]

A young boy flying a kite in the Shakrain festival.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Dhaka

Clothing

A common tradition of the Kutti group was that they would wear white shirts and white

rumi topi and taqi. Women are famed for the Dhakai jamdani-sari, a clothing originating in Dhaka using a fine muslin textile. Dating back centuries, it is popular amongst Bengalis in general. The traditional art of weaving jamdani was patronised by the Mughals but under British colonial rule, the jamdani and muslin industries rapidly declined due to colonial import policies favouring industrially manufactured textiles. In more recent years, the production of jamdani has witnessed a revival in Bangladesh and in 2013, UNESCO classed it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.[11][12][13] In 2016, Bangladesh received geographical indication (GI) status for the Jamdani Sari.[14]

Cuisine

Khichuri
is considered a rich gourmet delicacy.

Old Dhakaiya food is one of the most notable regional

shorbot, traditional fruit juices as well as basil seed-based drinks. Falooda, shahi jilapi and shemai
are popular sweet foods and desserts.

Festivals

اٹھ تے ہیں پچھلے پھر رات کو کھا کر سحری
Uth te hain pichle pahar raat ko kha kar sehri
شوق سے رکھیو تو کل روزہ، میں تیرے واری
Shauq se rakhiyo tu kal roza, main tere vaari

 – A common Urdu qasida recited in Ramadan[20]

In the holy

nawabs and sardars of Dhaka and on Eid day, the Chief Sardar would present awards and baksheesh to the best qasida singers. Qasidas were generally sung in Urdu but in the 1980s, Bengali qasidas also came into fashion. This tradition is experiencing a revival with the efforts from the likes of Shamsher Rahman of Posta.[20] Qawwalis as well as Urdu poetry recital was very common amongst the Khoshbas in particular.[21]

The

Kite fighters would assemble in their rooftops, lighting up the skyline.[27] Dhakaiya weddings are also typically seen as very "extravagant".[28] Other sports that were popular amongst Old Dhakaiyas were hockey, horse riding and Nouka Baich (boat racing). The latter was originally practised in rural areas, but its popularity in urban areas increased in the 18th century as the Nawabs would organise many races.[29]

Language

Main articles: Dhakaiya Kutti and Dhakaiya Urdu
Hakim Habibur Rahman was the writer of the celebrated Urdu book Dhaka, Panchas Baras Pahle - a detailed history of Old Dhaka and its people, culture and traditions.

Two languages emerged in Old Dhaka during the Mughal period due to the interactions between the Urdu and Bengali speakers. The Khoshbas and the

Bengali dialect with an Urdu influence.[30] Humour is an important part of Kutti culture and in the past, their jokes - told in the Dhakaiya Kutti dialect - used to generally consist of short stories in which Dhakaiyas mess around with the bhadralok gentry.[31] The Kuttis refer to outsiders or non-Dhakaiya Bengalis by the name "Gaiya" (গাঁইয়া), meaning from the village,[32] and Kolkatans in particular as Demchi (ডেমচি).[33]

Dhaka was also an esteemed centre for the study of

Persia that settled in Dhaka.[35] The Naib Nazim of Dhaka Nusrat Jang was known to have written a history book titled Tarikh-i-Nusrat Jangi around the late 18th century. Agha Ahmad Ali is considered to be the greatest among Persian scholars of Bengal,[36] famed for his Persian lexology works like Muayyid-i-Burhan and Shamsher-i-Teztar, rivalling contemporaries like Ghalib, and are still read today across South Asia.[34] The Department of Persian at the University of Dhaka was opened in 1921.[34]

In media

In 2008,

Dhallywood film "Love Marriage".[38][39]

Notables

See also

  • Nawab of Dhaka, the largest erstwhile zamindari family in Bengal and Assam
  • Biharis in Bangladesh
    , another Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh
  • Nassakh, Urdu poet of nearby Faridpur
  • Mahifarash, Dhakaiya fishmonger community

References

  1. ^
    Rajshahi University
    .
  2. ^ a b c Redclift, Victoria. "The socio-spatial contours of community". Statelessness and Citizenship: Camps and the Creation of Political Space. pp. 66–70.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Paul Robert (September 2015). "Re-branding Bangladesh: The Other Asian Tiger". Money mines: an ethnography of frontiers, capital and extractive industries in London and Bangladesh (Thesis). University of Sussex.
  4. ^ Huda, Sarah Elma (16 March 2019). "Between two languages: Examining my identity as a Bangladeshi". The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  5. ^ Hossain, Nazir (1995). Kingbadantir Dhaka (in Bengali). Paradise Printers.
  6. ^ Ahmad Mirza Khabir (1995). Shotoborsher Dhaka (in Bengali). Rashid Hasan.
  7. ^ Bhowmik, Satya N (1993). Die Sprachenpolitik Der Muslim-League-Regierung und Die Entstehung Der Bengali-Sprachbewegung in Ostbengalen: 1947 - 1956 (in German). F Steiner. p. 60.
  8. ^ ঢাকাইয়া কুট্টি ভাষার অভিধান-মোশাররফ হোসেন ভূঞা-প্রকাশনা: ঐতিহ্য-রুমী মার্কেট ৬৮-৬৯ প্যারীদাস রোড-বাংলাবাজার ঢাকা ১১০০
  9. ^ Abir, Rahad (1 December 2018). "Seeking a Story". The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  10. ^ Jamal Syed (8 January 2019). মুসলমানির গল্প. Prothom Alo (in Bengali).
  11. ^ "jamdani". britannica.com. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Jamdani recognised as intangible cultural heritage by Unesco". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  13. ^ "Traditional art of Jamdani weaving". UNESCO Culture Sector. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  14. ^ "Jamdani Sari gets GI registration certificate". The Daily Star. 17 November 2016.
  15. ^
    Cambridge University
    Press. pp. 210–215.
  16. ^ Mydans, Seth (8 July 1987). "For a secret stew recipe, time is running out". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  17. ^ "Old Dhaka Bakarkhani – A Legendary Bread". 19 October 2013. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Bakarkhani: delight in every bite". Daily Sun. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  19. ^ Ara, Shifat (18 February 2014). "Gourmet Paan". The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  20. ^ a b Mahmud, Faisal (3 June 2019). "Ramadan 'Qasida' songs all but lost". The Independent (Bangladesh).
  21. ^ a b c Jamil, Syed Maqsud (31 August 2012). "Once Upon a Time in Dacca". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Eyewitness: Chak Bazar iftar market in old Dhaka". The Guardian.
  23. ISBN 979-10-331-4296-6
    .
  24. ^ "Dhaka Chawk Bazar Meetup". 1 June 2017.
  25. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka
    . Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Shakrain: A jewel in the crown of Old Dhaka traditions". United News of Bangladesh. 14 January 2019.
  27. ^ Khan, Arman R (22 January 2015). "Old Town Diaries Entry 1: Shakrain". The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  28. ^ Mohsin, Maljha (4 January 2015). "In the Curators' den". Chobi Mela.
  29. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  30. ^ Alam, Shahid (21 February 2013). "Reflections on a contemporary phenomenon". The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  31. ^ Bandopadhyay, Bhanu. "Atmokotha". Bhanu Samagra. pp. 17–20.
  32. ^ Akhtar Imam (1988). Durer Chhaya. p. 7.
  33. ^ Jalil, Azizul (2006). Turbulence and tranquillity. p. 20.
  34. ^
    OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  35. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  36. ^ Sirajul Islam (1992). History of Bangladesh, 1704-1971. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. pp. 446–447.
  37. ^ "New Drama serial " Tuntuni Villa" on Ekushey TV". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 26 October 2008.
  38. ^ "Eid films set to hit cinemas across country". The Independent (Bangladesh). 16 July 2015.
  39. ^ Dewan, Shihan (17 July 2015). "Dhallywood Eid 2015". The New Nation.
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