Buddhist and Hindu kingdom
The existence of a settlement in the area that is now Dhaka dates from the 7th century. The small area was ruled by the Buddhist kingdom of Kamarupa and the Pala Empire before passing to the control of the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 9th century. The name of the city may have derived after the establishment of the Goddess Dhakeshwari's temple by Ballal Sena in the 12th century. The town itself consisted of a few market centres like Lakshmi Bazar, Shankhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli, Bania Nagar and Goal Nagar. After the fall of the Sena Empire, Dhaka was successively ruled by the Sultanate of Bengal as well as interruption of governors from the Delhi Sultanate.
Mughal rule
In 1576 Bengal came under the control of Delhi as the Mughals conquered it. At that time Dhaka became a Mughal military base, prior to this move dhaka was never considered an important area as Chittagong was the leading city of the Bengal. The development of townships and housing had resulted into a significant growth in population, as the town was proclaimed the capital (Rajmahal) of Bengal under Mughal rule in 1608, during this time many mosques Forts and universities had been built and Muslims were excused from paying taxes, this allowed many Muslims from surrounding areas to swell up the town transforming it into a city, it was at this time Dhaka was known as a city rather than a town or Fort. Mughal documents record subahdar Islam Khan as the first administrator of the city. Islam Khan named the city "Jahangir Nagar" (شهر از جهانگیر; City of Jahangir) in honour of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, although this name was dropped soon after Jahangir's death. A major expansion of the city took place under the direction of a general Shaista Khan on orders from the Sultan Aurangzeb in the 17th
