Revati Mohan Lodge: A Century-Old Heritage Spot Now Housing Fire Service Employees

 

Bangladesh is a land layered with centuries of history—Mughal forts, colonial mansions, zamindar palaces, and riverfront residences. Each structure tells a story of power, culture, and society.

Old Dhaka is a city of stories. Its narrow lanes, century-old mansions, and fading palaces whisper tales of a bygone era.

According to historians, in Dhaka, a thriving settlement had begun before the Mughals made it the capital of Bengal. The French merchants came to Dhaka in the 1680s and settled in Tejgaon. They established Farashganj as a trading quarter to conduct business with permission from Naib Nazim Nawajesh Khan in 1740. Mr. Pogose, an Armenian businessman and philanthropist, took lease of the area from the English.

The Hindu Zamindar mansions are dispersed on and around Tipu Sultan Road, Narinda, Farashganj and Sutrapur. The mile long Farashganj Road running East-West, starting from 'Sutrapur' up to the North Brook Hall (Lal Kuthi), once a treasure for traditional architecture, is now the centre of vegetable, spice, timber and cement wholesalers. It is full of derelict and abandoned palatial mansions of Hindu Zamindars, many of which are over 150 years old.

Many of the significant historical sites in old Dhaka particularly in Farashganj and Sutrapur are either illegally occupied or under institutional control, leaving them inaccessible to the public.

Among the most striking examples is the Revati Mohan Lodge of Sutrapur in old Dhaka, a grand zamindar house that once symbolized aristocratic luxury.

Known as the Sutrapur Zamindar Palace, the magnificent zamindar residence, it once reflected the wealth and lifestyle of Dhaka’s elite during the colonial period.

Situated in the Sutrapur area of Old Dhaka on Rebati Mohan Das Road, today, however, it stands as a symbol of a larger tragedy.

The establishment is listed as a heritage site under the Department of Archaeology (DoA). However, these days, locals know it as a fire service quarters.

Among the landmarks of this historic neighborhood is a zamindar’s house on Revati Mohan Das Road. The house was built by Revati Mohan Das, a Hindu landlord, philanthropist, and influential figure in early 20th-century Dhaka. He is remembered not just as a wealthy man, but also as someone who contributed to the modernization of the city. It was Revati Mohan Das who donated funds to install electricity on Walter Road. In his honor, a large portion of that road was renamed Revati Mohan Das Road (R.M. Das Road).

The Revati Mohan Lodge, as the zamindar’s residence is often called, is more than just bricks and mortar. It reflects the architectural vocabulary of its time—a blend of colonial influence and local adaptations. Wide verandas, arched windows, and intricate wooden details tell of an age when houses were not only homes but also statements of taste and wealth.

In 1900, Revati Mohan Das family started living in their new home built in Sutrapur. The mansion soon came to be known as Revati Bhaban, a name that still echoes in the city’s memory. The family flourished within its grand courtyards and stately halls, and the house became not only a private home but also a social and political hub of Dhaka’s elite.

The building contains about thirty-five rooms of varying dimensions. There is another three-storied block on its northern side.

According to Dhaka Kendro, born in Dhaka in 1851, Shri Revati Mohan Das demonstrated an early thirst for knowledge and ambition. He began his education at the age of seven or eight in Chowpathi, and by ten or eleven, he was enrolled at Dhaka Collegiate School, where he passed the entrance examination in the first division in 1870. Remarkably, before even completing his schooling, he married at the tender age of fourteen.

In 1872, he moved to Calcutta Presidency College and successfully completed the FA examination.

Returning to Dhaka, his early ventures met with limited success. It was only around 1884, when he ventured into contracting, that his fortunes began to change. Overcoming financial difficulties with perseverance, he gradually amassed wealth and established himself as a prominent businessman. In 1894, he founded the brick and construction materials enterprise ‘Tahabil Krishna Mohan Das Revati Mohan Das’, specializing in the innovative Pugmill Brick. By 1908, his entrepreneurial vision expanded to printing, with the establishment of the Alexandra Steam Machine Press. Through these ventures, he extended his business reach across the country, earning a reputation as an experienced and enterprising businessman.

Beyond commerce, Revati Mohan Das was deeply engaged in social and cultural life. A lifelong adherent of the Brahmo Samaj, he later founded a new branch, ‘Das Mandali’, which held regular worship sessions at his Sutrapur residence. His philanthropic initiatives left a lasting legacy: he played a key role in establishing institutions like the Dhaka Orphanage, Mukamdhir School, and the Dhaka Widows’ Home. His contributions were so significant that a section of Dhaka’s Walter Road bears his name as a tribute.

The Das family’s influence extended far beyond their homes. They were deeply woven into the city’s social and political fabric. Revati Bhaban often hosted gatherings of colonial officials, commissioners, civil surgeons, and magistrates—many of whom sought out Revati Mohan’s counsel or even used the house as a secure place to keep their valuables. Political leaders and cultural luminaries of the era regularly visited, making the residence a lively arena of discussion, hospitality, and prestige.

Revati Mohan Das was no ordinary citizen. As chronicled in Azimusshan Haider’s "Dacca: History and Romance in Place Names", his letterhead boasted an impressive list of accomplishments: “Revati Mohan Das, Banker and Zemindar, Brick, Tile and Soorkey Manufacturer, Proprietor, Alexandra Steam Machine Press…” It was a testament to a man who had mastered multiple enterprises, leaving an indelible mark on Dhaka’s commercial landscape.

But his vision extended beyond business. A philanthropist at heart, Das donated generously to Mitford Hospital, supporting healthcare at a time when public infrastructure was limited. He also contributed to the electrification of parts of Dhaka, helping to light up the city and usher it into modernity. These acts of civic responsibility made him a figure of both wealth and conscience.

Shri Revati Mohan Das passed away in 1913 at the age of 63, leaving behind a legacy of enterprise, philanthropy, and cultural patronage that continued to shape Dhaka long after his time.

It is said, after the demise of Rebati Mohon Das, his elder son Satyendra Kumar Das, retained the ancestral Rebati Bhavan.

In 1942, a second residence—later called the Das Lodge—was added to the compound. This expansion was the work of Hemendra Kumar Das, Revati Mohan’s younger son, who went on to serve as the mayor of Mymensingh Municipality for several years. The older house, Revati Bhaban, was inherited by the elder son Satyendra Kumar Das, a respected figure who earned the title of Rai Bahadur and twice held the position of chairman of Dhaka Municipality.

Hemendra Kumar Das constructed the new house on the north. This new house was named Das Lodge that contains about the same number of rooms.
The southern block is the older of the two. Its grand entrance, nearly 50 feet high, is held by three majestic Corinthian columns. Above them, semi-circular motifs adorned with vines and leaves can still be traced, though the plaster bears the marks of age. A circular medallion-like design rests below, once a proud display of colonial-era artistry. Within its walls, about 35 rooms of varying size are spread out — echoing the lifestyle of its aristocratic past.

The story of this house took a dramatic turn in 1950. That year, the second and third generations of the family were still living there, but partition’s shadow fell hard. Revati Mohan’s eldest son, Rai Bahadur Satyendra Kumar Das, had no choice but to leave Dhaka with his family. They crossed into India, leaving behind the stately home, its gardens, its courtyards—and a century’s worth of memories.

“There was no chance to sell or change hands at that time,” recalls Satyendra’s daughter, Ruma Chowdhury, who was born in this very house on 18 January 1950.

“This house became enemy property, vested property, and finally a listed archaeological site.”

Ruma spent only the first three weeks of her life in the zamindar bari before her family left forever. Yet, the house remained etched in family stories—the colored glass window on the second floor, the terrace where afternoon shadows fell, the trees that surrounded it, the once-busy Dholaikhal visible from her nursery.

Nearly seven decades later, in January 2019, Ruma returned. On her 69th birthday, she walked into that very room on the second floor, where the glass design still cast its shadow on the floor. She stood silently, overwhelmed. “It felt,” she told an interview to a leading Bangla Newspaper, “as if no one had ever disappeared from my life. Everything was as it was before.”

Her husband, Prashant Chowdhury, now 83, never met his illustrious father-in-law, Rai Bahadur Satyendra. But he knows the legacy. “I’ve heard how much this family did for the people of Dhaka,” he says. “My father-in-law once donated 50,000 taka to Mitford Hospital. When I think of all this, I feel both proud and sad—proud of their contributions, but deeply moved by the fact that they had to leave it all behind.”

Though the house now belongs to the state, Ruma says she will come back to touch its walls again—to bridge, if only for a moment, the gap between memory and history, between Dhaka and Kolkata, between loss and belonging.

The zamindar bari today is no longer an enclave of landed nobility. For decades now, it has sheltered more than fifty families of the Fire Service and Civil Defense. To accommodate them, kitchens and toilets have been retrofitted inside the once-lavish halls. On the compound, a two-storied barracks has been added for officers, while a large shed serves as a garage for fire service vehicles.

Interestingly, there are now plans to establish a Fire Service Museum on the premises — a gesture that could give new cultural meaning to the site, bridging its aristocratic heritage with the story of a public service institution that has long claimed it as home.  Heritage experts have voiced strong opposition.

Heritage is not private property—it is the shared inheritance of a nation. Keeping structures like Revati Mohan Lodge locked away denies future generations the chance to connect with their history. Revati Mohan Lodge could easily be developed into a heritage museum showcasing the colonial-era lifestyle of Dhaka’s zamindars.


Adnan Hadi is a senior journalist
mainly writing on archeological
sites and sports. He can be reached at: [email protected]