British India Due to major
military engagements affecting
Bengal, the then
Parliament of the United Kingdom passed a bill within the
Government of India Act 1858 to build new fortifications apart from
Fort William across the region, the British often converted Mughal forts into military bases, such as in
Lalbagh and
Idrakpur. However, in 1874, small scale military installations were built in
Old Dacca,
Pilkhana and
Tejgaon at the outcome of
Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1853. The Tejgaon garrison where the modern Dhaka Cantonment stands, played a pivotal role of logistics during
Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885 and, again in
Burma campaign in
Second World War where it served as the initial headquarters of
fourteenth army before shifting to
Comilla Cantonment.. The
British Army rechristened the area as Dacca cantonment and built an airbase and an army station at Tejgaon as part of the
South-East Asian campaign of Second World War. This installation primarily served British forces and conducted
redoubt operations against
Imperial Japanese Army who were invading from
Burma. At that time, Dacca cantonment was installed with mostly units of
Royal Indian Air Force and few components of
2nd Infantry Division (headquartered then at
Chittagong) in 1944 reflecting its early and limited development.
Pakistan with
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (left) who is conferring the
Military Cross on a
Burma campaign veteran at Dacca Cantonment, 20 March 1948 On 14 August 1947, the cantonment became an installation of the
Pakistan Armed Forces, and in 1952, it was fully ameliorated, with the headquarters of
14th Infantry Division of
Pakistan Army stationed here as the sole army division of
East Pakistan. On 23 August 1969, the
Pakistan Eastern Command's headquarters here was inaugurated with Lt. Gen.
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan being appointed as its first commander. Dhaka Cantonment also became one of the major scheming place for
Operation Searchlight under Lt. Gen.
Tikka Khan with major political leaders of
Awami league and
intellectuals detained as well as tormented in the cantonment. The
Pakistan Army eventually withdrew from its installation on 16 December 1971, according to
their instrument of surrender, after the outcome of
Bangladesh Liberation War. It was the official residence of her husband, former president
Ziaur Rahman, when he was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCS) of the Bangladesh Army. After he became the President of Bangladesh, he kept the house as his residence. Following his assassination in 1981, the acting President
Abdus Sattar, leased the house "for life" to Zia, for a nominal
৳101. When the army again took over in 1982, former president
Hussain Muhammad Ershad confirmed this arrangement. On 20 April 2009, the
Directorate of Military Lands and Cantonments handed a notice asking Zia to vacate the cantonment residence. Several allegations and irregularities mentioned in the notice - first, Zia had been carrying out political activities from the house – which went against a condition of the allotment; second, one cannot get an allotment of two government houses in the capital; third, a civilian cannot get a resident lease within a cantonment. She then moved to the residence of her brother, Sayeed Iskandar, at
Gulshan. == Command installations ==