Pilkhana, Bangladesh

Pilkhana is a place within Dhaka City in Bangladesh. The word Pilkhana means "stable of elephants". Pilkhana is not officially named in any record of Dhaka City Corporation, but this is the popular name of this place as elephants are a part of its history (pil means "elephant" and khana means "home").HistoryDuring the 16th century AD, in the period of the Mughal Empire, Pilkhana was a jungle place and was used as the grazing area for the royal elephants, its stable housing no less than 300 elephants. Later, during the period of East India Company administration, the company employees used to tame freshly caught untamed elephants. The rich Zamindars also sent their untamed elephants to this place, where company employees were paid to tame the elephants. This place was practically a forest, with River Buriganga beside it. During the Mughal period the royal elephants kept in this place used to go for grazing in the nearby jungle to the east, which was later turned into Dhaka Nawab's Garden, now known as Paribagh and Shahbagh. The path between Pilkhana and the jungle, through which the elephants traversed, later became public road named Elephant Road.The Elephant Road now can be traced starting at BGB Gate number 3, running through the middle of New Super Market, adjacent to Dhaka New Market, touching the Gauchia Market to reach Bata signal point, and ending at Paribagh. This road is now known as Old Elephant Road.