Darul Adalat
Photo: Prabir Das
A local myth says, the two hundred years old building on the hill-top was built by Portuguese pirates. There was a tunnel from the building that connected Karnaphuli River through which pirates would frequent secretly. From the two tower's tops, guards would conduct surveillance all around. Hence locals call it "the Portuguese Fort".
However, historians say that the myth does not have any historic evidence. Instead, it is a British colonial building that was used as the first court of Chittagong. Hence, its name is 'Darul Adalat'.
Although built by the English during their rule, the name 'Darul Adalat' is a Persian word which means "court building". Historians say that this is because soon after the British took over the rule from Mir Kashim in 1760, they continued to use Persian as their official language till 1837.
There is a dispute over the funding date of the building among historians. Chittagong history researcher Abdul Haque Chowdhury in his book 'Shahar Chattagramer Itikotha'(History of Chittagong City) said the building was built soon after British took over in 1761. Antiquity researcher Shamshul Hossain, however thinks the building was built in the mid nineteenth century.
According to college documents, the Mohsin College authorities bought the building along with the hill from government in 1879 at the price of 30 thousand taka. From then on, they used it for various purposes and abandoned it in 2002, terming it 'risky'. Later, they planned to demolish the building in 2009 to replace it with a new one. But the government halted the plan considering its historic importance.
The two storey building has unique architectural traits. The walls are made of brick-lime-mortars and each are three feet wide. There are sixteen rooms in the building. Besides, two towers on the North-East and North-West corner.
Inside the towers, there are two spiraling staircases. Deep darkness prevails inside the towers even in sunny days. The towers are topped by two small domes. But no tunnel could be found, in the building area of 0.775 acres.
At present, weeds have taken over the building as no one takes care of it. Large cracks are visible in some rooms. The college authorities who owns the building has hoisted a signboard warning visitors not to enter. Besides, three buildings have been built to house a mosque, two dormitories in the north and west sides of the building covering its magnificent view.
Resident students say visitors from different areas still visit the building. Even foreign archeology enthusiasts come to see the unique building. Recently a team of Chinese archeologists visited the site, they said.
On hearing about the building, recently Shohrab Uddin, a lecturer and Department Head of Comilla University's archeology department visited it. He said the building could be declared protected and turned to its original condition by repairing damaged portions. "Merely declaring protected would not do. The authority could turn it into a mini history museum displaying historic articles of Chittagong. Then the building would attract more visitors and become an entertainment facility as well as a learning hub".
Lovely Yeasmin, Assistant Director of Department of Archeology (DoA), Chittagong, said they have submitted a report suggesting protection of the building to the Director General of DoA in April 2013. However, the DoA Dhaka office is yet to declare the building protected.
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