Munshiganj, Dhaka
A compact Mughal water fort in the middle of Munshiganj town, with a tall round gun platform that once watched over the rivers below Dhaka.
Idrakpur Fort is one of the Mughal water forts built in the 17th century to defend Dhaka against river raiders, and is generally attributed to the time of Mir Jumla, governor of Bengal in the 1660s. It stood near the meeting of the old Ichamati with the bigger rivers; the rivers have since moved and the town has grown around it.
The fort is a brick enclosure with crenellated, loopholed walls and round bastions, and on one side a high circular gun platform of the kind also seen at Sonakanda.
Small and well kept, it is a protected monument and the best-known landmark of Munshiganj town, easily seen in an hour.
Take a morning launch or water bus down the Buriganga and Dhaleshwari to Munshiganj (or come by bus).
Walk the walls and climb the gun platform.
Take a CNG to Rampal to see the six-domed mosque of 1483.
Eat in town, then head back to Dhaka by bus or launch.
November to February, in the morning or late afternoon
In Munshiganj town itself, a short rickshaw or battery-auto ride from the bus stand or the launch ghat.
