Panam Nagar

Panam ancient Painam, situated at Mograpara point of Sonargaon upazila of Narayanganj district was part of the first capital of Bengal, Sonargaon, established by the Baro Bhuiyan leader Isa Khan in the 15^th century. With time, the importance of this place has changed, but the buildings are standing being the witness of the glorious history of this region. In 2006, World Monument Fund declared Panam Nagar as one of the 100 ruinous historical establishments.

At the time of Isa Khan, twenty square kilometer area of Sonargaon consisted of the city at that time. This area was best known for Bengal Muslin, as the weather over here was best suited for the production of the best quality Muslins. This city was built for high ranked royal employees and the Muslim businessmen. You can feel the luxury of that time while roaming around the city.

After the Mughal conquest of Sonargaon the Panam area was connected with the ruling metropolis by constructing highways & bridges. Still there is existence of three brick built bridges (Panam Bridge, Dalalpur Bridge and Panamnagar Bridge) of Mughal period. There were five ponds in the city & two ponds at the side of the city.

According to historians the present Panam Nagar grew up during the activities of East India Company. The East India Company established their factory in Panam for the purpose of Muslin & other cotton fabrics. The existing buildings of Panam Nagar were mostly the residence of the hindu merchants. Panam Nagar which developed in the nineteenth century, continued to flourish till the end of the Second World War.

There are actually three basic types of buildings in Panam according to building layout design, central hall type, central courtyard type, consolidated type and the type without any inner court or hall. Once the capital of Bengal with time started losing its importance and became empty town after the Indo-Pak War of 1965 because of the migration of the Hindus to India.