Panam an ancient locality now in Sonargaon thana of Narayanganj district, about 2.

5 kilometre to the north of Dhaka-Chittagong highway at !"#$%$#$ &oint. 't is said to ha(e been the site of )indu ca&ital city of S!N$#"$!N emerging in the last *uarter of the thirteenth century. +he %anam area formed &art of the uslim metro&olis de(elo&ed on the south of the old city, and &erha&s constituted the &lace of residence of the early uslim go(ernors. $fter the ughal con*uest of Sonargaon ,-.--/ the %anam area was connected with the ruling metro&olis by construction of highways and bridges. %anam still &ossesses three brick bridges belonging to the ughal &eriod0 %$N$ 1#'D"2, D$3$3%4# 1#'D"2 and %$N$ N$"$# 1#'D"2. +he e5istence of these bridges and the canals enclosing the site on three sides is indicati(e of its being a sub-urban area of the medie(al city. +he &ucca road which leads from the ogra&ara crossing on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in the direction of %anam e5tending u& to the N223-64+)' looks like a di(iding line between medie(al Sonargaon and the &resent %anamnagar, the only sur(i(ing relics of the %anam area. +he %anam townshi& stands on the east of this road o&&osite $min&ur, and a one-arched hum&ed bridge leads from the same road o(er a narrow canal to the main street of %anamnagar. 'n all &robability the &resent %anamnagar grew as a by&roduct of the commercial acti(ities of the 2nglish 2$S+

and the %2# $N2N+ S2++32 2N+. Sonargaon de(elo&ed into a centre of trade in cotton fabrics, chiefly 2nglish &iece goods, during the colonial &eriod, and thereby grew the new townshi& of %anamnagar. $ grou& of )indu talukdars, who came into being from among the traders in the nineteenth century, chose this &lace as their residence. +he e5isting brick buildings of %anamnagar, ob(iously the residence of the )indu merchant-talukdars, can be dated back to early nineteenth, and the later ones to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. %anamnagar which de(elo&ed in the nineteenth century continued to flourish till the end of the Second 8orld 8ar.
'ND'$ C! %$N7

%anamnagar, a uni*ue townshi&, stretched in a single street 5 metre wide on the a(erage and .99 metre in length. $ll the buildings ha(e the character of urban street front houses and are lined u& on either side of this street which ends u& at the %anam ba:ar. ;ifty two houses e5ist in dila&idated and disused condition ha(ing <- in the north side of the street and 2- on the south. %anamnagar a&&ears to be well &rotected by artificial canals all around. +wo fairly wide canals run &arallel to the street on its either side and joined by a narrow canal on the western side o(er which is the entrance bridge. !n the eastern side, the canal on the south swer(es rightward and goes eastward crossing the north-south road that &asses through the %anam ba:ar. +he northern canal, the %ankhiraj 6hal, runs eastward to meet the eghna- enikhali stream.

+he building layouts in %anamnagar are both detached and attached ty&es, mostly rectangular in sha&e and elongated in the north-south direction. )eight of the buildings (aries from single to three storeys. $ shared use of backyard facilities among the adjoining houses can be obser(ed from the layout of &ond, ghat, well etc. +he buildings follow a &attern language by which a unity has been achie(ed, like the use of two or three storey height, symmetry, arched o&enings etc. !n the other hand (ariety has been achie(ed through the introduction of (erandahs, balconies, loggias and &orches. +he crowning of the buildings with decorati(e &ara&et and &rojected cornice fascinatingly interlocks the structures with sky in the backdro&. +he decorati(e treatments were trans&osed from 2uro&ean architecture and blended in &laces with local motifs. 1ricks of %anam, the &rime construction material, ha(e been modeled in different sha&e like rounded, angular, arched, &ointed, semi-circular, cur(ilinear etc according to the need of surface articulation. +he thickness of brick masonry walls (ary between 59 and =9 cm. #oof stands on rafter and &urlin made of wood in most cases. ;alse wooden doors and windows sha&ed with &laster are also a&&lied as a common decorati(e element. Cast iron brackets, (entilators, window grill, balusters ha(e been e5tensi(ely used. +he use of broken China, locally known as chinitikri, is almost common in interior decoration while its stray a&&lication is (isible in e5terior decoration. Decoration elements ha(e been

e5tensi(ely a&&lied in the s&ace between the arch and ceiling. $ccording to building layout design the dwelling houses of %anam can be classified into three basic ty&ologies0 central hall ty&e, central courtyard ty&e and consolidated ty&e. +he central halls being the ner(e centre of the houses are highly romanticised with e5tensi(e decorations. +he building acti(ities and layout are arranged around the courtyards which are essentially enclosed, &a(ed and o&en to sky. 'n general the courtyards are surrounded by (erandah on all sides ha(ing arched o&enings. Consolidated ty&ology refers to those houses without any inner court or hall. ost of the houses, &articularly the single storeyed ones, belong to this ty&ology. %anam had altogether been a )indu &o&ulated area. +he migration of the )indus to 'ndia after the 'ndo-%ak 8ar of ->.5 has reduced %anamnagar into an em&ty townshi&. ? ua::am )ussain 6han@