A ‘Mela’ in Dhaka (1960) captured by extraordinaire photographer and scientist late Dr. Nowajesh Ahmed. A mela is a wonderful melting pot for all types of people, their culture, and tradition. Its characteristics and objectives are identical regardless of whether it...
SiS Fun Facts
Warfaze, a pioneering Bangladeshi heavy metal music band along with Rockstrata, is performing at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka Hotel in 1988. The band was incepted by Ibrahim Kamal in 1984. The initial lineup was: Kamal on bass, Helal on drums, Mir and Naimul on...
A 'Boot-polish' stand is seen on the footpath of Dhaka, probably in the 1960s. Shoe-shiner or boot-polisher is an occupation in which a person buffs shoes, applies wax, and then polishes them with a brush or a piece of cloth to give the shoes a shiny appearance. Most...
The Aztecs called it xocolātl (meaning "bitter water"), but it should have been called ambrosia. The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the God of wisdom, and the seeds had so much value they were used as a form of currency. Cacao has been...
Never has a plant fooled so many. It’s called a vegetable but is really a fruit; it was once thought to be poisonous but is enjoyed by millions; today it is mostly red, but originally it was yellow. The tomato is a native fruit of South America, specifically the Andes...
Few vegetables are as versatile as the potato, another native of the Andes with an ancestry extending back to around 8000-5000 BCE in Peru. You can have them boiled or broiled, fried or mashed, with meat or fish. Potatoes were first introduced into Europe following...
There was a king who believed that he would not fail if he knew the answers to the three questions: 1. What was the right time for every action? 2. Who were the right people to be with? 3. What was the most important thing to do? The king announced that he would give...
When we look at Bangladesh today, it is hard to imagine that this third world country is mostly responsible for the development of present Europe. Back in the 18th century, when the Mughal dynasty was considered one of the richest and most prosperous in the world,...
Among the many famous characters of the Mughal era, stands one name that deserves more recognition and glory than most. She is none other than Mughal Queen Jahanara Begum, the eldest daughter of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his beloved wife, Mughal Empress Mumtaz...
From a very early age, the Mughal children were groomed to fight for the throne; they had to know the ropes of battle in order to achieve the highest power, that of the emperor. Bloodshed and murder was a part of the system, if one had to fulfill their greatest...
The tragic story of Anarkali and Mughal Emperor Jahangir (Salim), as depicted in the famous 1960 film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, has always been one of passionate romance and mystery. According to the legend and movie, Prince Salim was head over heels for the beautiful Mughal...
Primogeniture is the right of succession belonging to the firstborn child, especially the feudal rule by which the whole real estate of an intestate passed to the eldest son. Alas, this was not the norm and culture of the Mughal Empire. Had it been so, the...
