The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection was built in 1781 as a wooden chapel and was consecrated by Bishop Eprahim.[4] This was around the time the Armenians were settling in Dhaka.[5] The church holds the tombs of 200 Armenians.[4] The tower of the church collapsed in 1897 following an earthquake.[4]
In 1926, the Tara Masjid was renovated and an extension was added.[6] The Turag River used to flow close to the mosque in the 19th century before the river route shifted away.[7]
Armanitola Maidan was the site of several public speeches by leaders of the Awami Muslim League in 1949.[8]
The Daily Star reported that three years after the 2010 Dhaka fire which killed 124 people areas of Old Dhaka, including Armanitola, had warehouses holding flammable chemicals.[10] In 2014, the owners of the Hinga Bibi Masjid, 324 year old mosque located on KP Ghosh Road in Armanitola, started demolishing the building to replace it with a multistorey building.[11]
There are two dorms of the Jagannath University in Armanitola which like 10 other dorms of the University are under illegal occupation.[12] Abdur Rahman Hall is occupied by Bangladesh Police and Shaheed Anwar Shafique Hostel was occupied by criminals.[12]
In April 2021, a chemical fire at warehouse killed four and injured 23 others.[13] There is a large number of warehouses, including those storing chemicals, in residential areas in Armanitola.[14] Rapid Action Battalion arrested the two owners of the warehouse.[15]
The residence of Nicholas Pogose, founder of Pogose School and 19th century Armenian merchant, was demolished in Armanitola during the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
Administration
Armanitola is part of the Dhaka-7 parliamentary constituency.[16] It is represented in parliament by Haji Salim of the Awami League.[16]
Education
Armanitola Government High School is the public High School of the area was established in 1904.[17][18]
^Feldman, Herbert (1968) [First published 1961]. Pakistan: an introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 98. OCLC512697. the Armanitola district, a name acquired from the fact that an Armenian community was once concentrated there.
