Paribagh

Paribagh is a neighborhood of Dhaka. It is situated in the north of Shahbagh. It was once the residence of the Dhaka Nawab family. It is now popular for the food street located on Old Elephant Road.

Name
There are two theories about the naming of Paribagh area. According to many, Paribagh area is named after Pari Bano, daughter of Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah. Pari Bano was the half-sister of Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Salimullah. It was the garden house of Nawabs of Dhaka. Before that the area belonged to Hindu landlords. Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Salimullah bought the area from the Hindu landlords. The garden house came to be known as Paribagh as the abode of Pari Bano. 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.

History
In this area in 1902 Nawab Bahadur Sir 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 1950 East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act was passed. In 1952, after the government of East Bengal took over the estate of the Nawab family of Dhaka, Nawab Khwaja Habibullah, started to build a residence called Green House in the area. Since then, most of the members of the family lived in Paribagh.

Food street
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. It is one of the popular food streets in Dhaka.