Dhaka flourished in the 17th century as a Mughal provincial capital under the name «Jahangirnagar», then a thriving global centre for the production of fine muslin cloth exported across Europe and beyond.

The city houses hundreds of mosques, some dating to the Mughal era, earning it the nickname «City of Mosques». It is also known for the unfinished 17th-century Lalbagh Fort, and for hosting the largest fleet of cycle rickshaws in the world, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.