Ruplal House: From Viceroy’s ball to disputed property
The lavish balls at Ruplal House were once written about in British journals, making it a part of Dhaka’s rich history. Though listed as a Heritage site in 1989, the disputed property now has several occupants with overlapping claims on different parts of the property
The Das Brothers' residence on the Buckland Bund, popularly known as Ruplal House, was all prepared to host a special evening on 27 November 1888.
The Viceroy of British India, Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, better known as Lord Dufferin, and his family members, were set to leave their footprints on the palatial mansion to attend a ball organised by a club of British officers in Bengal.
Ruplal House had just outcompeted the Ahsan Manjil to become the venue for the ball. So the owners – two prominent Farashganj businessmen Ruplal and Raghunath - were looking forward to making the event a grand success. Although the club booked the venue at Tk200 for two days, the brothers spent Tk45,000 more to make the event memorable.
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The venue was lit up by thousands of clay lamps. A music band from Calcutta (now Kolkata) was hired and an array of party food was prepared.
The main hall had high ceilings, an attached balcony, and four doorways that faced the River Buriganga, so it was airy. The last quarter moon sprinkled soft light on the flowing river. The chandeliers were sparkling, but the ceiling was glittering more from the mirrors attached to wooden ceiling roses. The guests found themselves in a fairytale ball.
The English ladies donning long gowns and the gentlemen in tailcoats were all in a partying mood. When the band began a soft but catchy tune, the gentlemen bowed before their female partners.
As the band continued playing, a wave of music flew over the wooden floor, breaking the guests up into couples. They grabbed their partner's hand as they began to waltz. They floated slowly like butterflies, spinning and shuffling their feet to the rhythmic music.
The ambience amazed the grey-haired Lord Dufferin so much that he eventually rose up from his upholstery chair and joined the ball.
A description of the event was written in a chronicle by the Vicereine Lady Hariot. "…the most silver programmes for us… The ball was very well done, and was very pretty, and the Viceroy danced 10 dances without stopping, while I talked to all the ladies in turn."
Lady Hariot's chronicle of her Dhaka visit was printed in 'Our Viceregal Life in India (volume: 2)' published in 1890. She recollected the Ruplal House and the people, "…as we left the ladies cheered from the balcony, and all the men from the quay, till we were out of sight."
The party went on the whole night. The event created such hype that Dhaka Prakash - this land's first newspaper – published a report on it the next day.
It said that despite being elderly, the Governor-General (Viceroy of India) honoured all the distinguished ladies by dancing with them. The guests were served with an abundance of wine, [grilled] meat, tea and coffee. Even though Lord Dufferin had left the place, the English guests spent the rest of the night enjoying themselves. They were so drunk and loud that they frightened the neighbours of Ruplal House.
The news report confirmed that the ball was held at the central block which has two large dance halls on the first floor. There were two other blocks: the western block where Ruplal and his family lived, while the eastern block sheltered Raghulal and his family. The blocks were linked to the central one by archways.
The hall rooms still exist today. But it is occupied by the civilian staff of Postogola Cantonment and their family members.
The long balcony attached to the larger dance hall has lost its elegance as the circular columns, their bases and the arches got eroded, the roof's wooden beams collapsed and all the marble slabs on the floor have vanished. Parasitic plants have grown on every outer corner.
Although the wooden planks on the hall floor have survived, the mirrors and decorative panels attached to the ceiling have disappeared. Due to lack of maintenance, the walls are losing lime mortars and the classic wallpapers fell off a long time ago.
The larger hall is now used as a space for drying washed clothes. The occupants have converted the historic hall into a backyard where their children often play.
Like the occupants of the dance hall, there are more than 24 families dwelling on the west block's first floor and attic. All the family heads are the civilian staff of RE (Riverine Engineer) Battalion at the Postogola Cantonment.
The first floor and attic of the east block are under the possession of its present owners: the successors of one certain Noorjahan Begum, daughter of a Calcutta zamindar. This particular block is still standing in a better state compared to the western one because of private renovation.
None of the present dwellers were willing to talk to journalists. The spice and betel leaf wholesalers who occupy the entire ground floor and open spaces also felt the same way.
With a gazette notification effective from 21 December 1989, Ruplal House has been listed as a heritage site. But the mansion is now inaccessible to tourists because the entry into the building is almost restricted to outsiders.
Once considered a royal structure, the now dilapidated Ruplal House is almost hidden from view because of a jungle of tin-shed establishments. There is no signboard of the archaeological department labelling the establishment a heritage site.
Occupied or grabbed?
History literature suggests that Armenian landlord and businessman Stephen Aratoon built a mansion on the bank of Buriganga in 1825. 10 years later, the Das Brothers bought the property and commissioned a Calcutta-based construction firm, Martin and Company, to renovate this.
Having a portico with a triangular pediment, beams supported by fluted columns with Corinthian capitals, rooms arranged around the central courtyard, hall rooms and gardens, the mansion became an exhibit of neo-classical architecture.
The next three generations of Das Brothers lived in the mansion. The latter brother had survived a sectarian riot in the mid-1950s. To avert such a situation in the future, Raghunath's son, Ramanath, exchanged his share of the property with a house in Park Street, Calcutta owned by Noorjahan.
Ruplal, meanwhile, died in 1913. His family too left for Calcutta when Raghunath's family left. Ruplal's grandson, Jogesh Das, exchanged his share of the Ruplal House for two houses in Baligaon area of Kolkata with a Gujarati Merchant.
However, the Gujarati merchant could not claim ownership because a Pakistani citizen, Siddique Jamal, occupied the western and central blocks - Ruplal's portion - claiming he had power of attorney.
Jamal organised the first floor as his residence and rented out the ground floor to wholesalers. Later, the first floor was used as the Prince Karim Aga Khan Preparatory school.
After Bangladesh's independence, Jamal permanently left the country and so the public works department took ownership of the western block.
The 'abandoned property' was then requisitioned to accommodate the Rakkhi Bahini. When the paramilitary force was dissolved in 1976, it was leased out to the Bangladesh Army. Since then, the RE Battalion members have been living there.
When enquired, ship crewman Akhter Hossain said the families will not leave the premise unless there is an order from the high command.
He said that conservation of the site will be very challenging as the property is already under occupation of several occupants, including the wholesalers.
"This is a 'disputed' property. There are more than three parties claiming ownership of the building (west block). However, we are paying rent to the public works department, " said betel leaf wholesaler Biplob Hore.
The other wholesalers warned that they would go to the High Court for 'justice' if the government tried to evacuate them.
"Bangabandhu [Sheikh Mujibur Rahman] permanently settled us here. We pay rent to the public works department. We pay holding tax. We will not move since relocation will certainly harm the reputation of this market place," said Dinabandhu Paul, owner of betel leaf wholesaler MPR Trading. His uncle Sree Pada Paul started the enterprise there in the 1950s.
The wholesalers did not show any settlement documents. But they have rent and tax payment receipts.
Ruplal House conservation: A challenging task
The occupants' anxiety over evacuation was triggered recently after the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor hinted at a conservation plan covering two neighbouring heritage buildings: the Lalkuthi and the Ruplal House.
While the settlement issue serves as one setback, the conservation of Ruplal House is made more complex by the fact that the heirs of Noorjahan, in the last decade, sold 7.44 decimals of the northern plot and 4.13 decimals of the east-southern plot to third parties. The northern plot was the famous Raghunath's Garden.
Recently, the foundation of a six-storey building construction on the 7.44 decimal land once again highlighted the utter negligence and inefficiency of the concerned authorities.
Dhaka's lone land development regulatory body Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) included the Ruplal House in its historic overlay map of the Detailed Area Plan 2010. The previous year, Rajuk issued a gazette that included the House in the Heritage List. Two updates of the list in 2017 and 2020 did not change the status.
The High Court has given a blanket protection to all the sites included in the Heritage List, in a response to a writ petition filed by non-government Urban Study Group (USG).
Despite so many legal bindings, Rajuk itself issued a land use clearance in 2020 to set up the six-storey building, violating the Building Codes and Antiquities Act, 1968.
If you pay a visit to the site, a steel beam structure will appear in view. Spice wholesaler Rudra-Indra Enterprise has rented the shed.
"The negligence by Rajuk was intentional. Surprisingly, the archaeological department turned a blind eye to the construction," said Taimur Islam, Save Old Dhaka Campaign organiser and CEO of USG.
He demanded that the archaeology department address the loopholes in their system and the 1968 Act. "How is it possible that one can sell land from an antiquity site like Ruplal House? " Taimur asked.
Over the phone, this correspondent communicated with Dhaka Region Director of the Department of Archeology Rakhi Roy. She refused to comment.
Recently, DSCC's establishment department sent a letter to the public works department for property transfer. The letter recipient, however, has not replied yet.
"Soon after we receive the property [the west block] from the public works department, we will acquire the rest through due legal process," said Russel Sabrin, Chief Estate Officer of DSCC.
Taimur said he would welcome DSCC's move to conserve Ruplal House but doubted whether they would be able to pull it off. At the same time, he stressed that the conservation process should be transparent, accountable and involve top-level experts.
"The renovation should be done very carefully. We don't want a rebuilt Ruplal House. To add to its heritage value, the conservation approach should ensure that the patina of the old building is preserved," Taimur concluded.
Timeline: Ruplal House through the ages
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Armenian landlord and businessman Stephen Aratoon built a mansion on the bank of Buriganga in 1825.
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Businessmen Ruplal and Raghunath Das - also known as the Das brothers - bought the property in 1835.
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Ruplal House hosted a grand Viceroy Ball in November 1888 when the Viceroy of British India visited Dhaka.
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In the mid-1950s, the Das brothers' descendants gave up their share of Ruplal House to Noorjahan Begum and a Gujarati merchant.
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A Pakistani citizen Siddique Jamal occupied some portions of Ruplal House claiming he had power of attorney.
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After Bangladesh's independence, Jamal permanently left the country. The public works department took ownership.
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The 'abandoned property' accommodated the Rakkhi Bahini. In 1976, it was leased out to the Bangladesh Army.
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Since 1976, members of the Riverine Engineer Battalion at the Postogola Cantonment have been living on the first floor.
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Wholesalers - who have been using the property since pre-Liberation War - occupy the ground floor and claim they were settled there.
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In the last decade, Noorjahan's descendants sold more than 11 decimals of Ruplal House to third parties.
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In 2020, Rajuk issued a land use clearance to set up a six-storey building on Ruplal House's northern plot.
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Recently the DSCC Mayor hinted at a conservation plan for two neighbouring heritage buildings: the Lalkuthi and the Ruplal House.
