Qadam Rasul at Nabiganj

Qadam Rasul at Nabiganj

Nabiganj is a small market-town on the eastern bank of the river Lakhya, opposite Narayanganj. The name Nabiganj is of recent time. Its older name, as given by Mirza Nathan, was Rasulpur, and also Qadam Rasul. Mirza Nathan also points out that this name originated from the fact of the Qadam Rasul, i.e., foot-print of the Prophet, being deposited here. He informs that this footprint “was obtained by Masum Khan Kabuli from the merchants who brought it from Arabia on payment of a large sum of money.” The story given by Sayid Aulad Hasan regarding the discovery of the footprint by Dewan Munawwar Khan and ultimately the erection of the building here by him is not corroborated in historical account.

 

The shrine is enclosed within a compound wall, to which a double storeyed gateway provides an entrance. The gateway, which was built by Ghulam Muhammad, son of Ghulam Nabi, in A. D. 1814, gives a picturesque appearance from the river side. The shrine itself was built by Ghulam Nabi in 1758. The inscriptions recording the erection of these buildings are now preserved in the Dhaka Museum. Besides the main shrine, there are ruins of a langar—khana (alms house) to its south; to the north are the ruins of houses built by the Nawabs Nasrat Jang and Ghaziuddin Haidar; and to the east arc the ruins of a hujra, where pious people spend their time in prayer and religious meditation.

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