Moulavibazar

Moulavibazar one of the oldest and busiest grocery markets of Dhaka. All kinds of food items, spices, edible oil, cosmetics and groceries are sold here. It bears the memory of Moulavi Abdul Ali (1786-1866), reputed as a landlord and a philanthropist. His house was at Paniati Lane near the Chawkbazar, close to which he established the bazaar now known as the Moulavibazar. The bazaar is bounded by the Dhaka Central Jail on the north and the Chawkbazar on the west.

In 2001, Moulavibazar and the areas in its vicinity accommodated no less than 4,000 shops and about 15,000 people earn their daily living by working in them. The daily crowd attending the market as shop owners, labourers, employees and customers is about fifty thousand people. Goods are imported in this market from other countries through the Chittagong and Mongla ports as well as through Benapole and other landports. The locally produced commodities are transported mainly by trucks. The Moulavibazar market has been playing an important role in the commerce of Bangladesh for more than a hundred years. Almost all major banks and insurance companies of the country have their branches at Moulavibazar. The market, however, suffer from a number of problems. For example, parking facilities are not available for vehicles taking goods and customers to the market and traffic congestion is almost regular because of narrow roads inside and around the market. Traders of the market formed the Moulavibazar Traders' Association, which tries to solve many of their problems locally. Transactions in the market take place in both cash and credit. Goods are supplied from this market to almost all markets of the Dhaka city and these are carried by pickups, rickshaw-vans and wheelbarrows. [Sadat Ullah Khan]