Commercial evolution of waterfront: a historical analysis of land use pattern & trend of commercial centers in Khulna respecting Barobazar, Khulna

Abstract

Although Khulna's actual history is not about more than 200 years, but it has a 2000 years settlement and commercial history. Khulna was a part of Ganaridai, Vanga, Jessore dynasty, Rarh (South Bengal) in different periods. The connection of rivers always made a blessing for Khulna for water transportation to accelerate trade and commerce. According to Ptolemy, the ancient Gangaridai had an ancient port located in greater Jessore [1,557]. Some archaic incidents, verses, and legends of Mani-Rishis (Ancient Indian Scholars) proved the old settlement and commercial style. The chronological evolution of the ancient Period (6th century BC – 1757 AD) described a civilization's development with the incremental commercial approach [2,315]. The colonial regime can relate to the evolution of a commercial and economic center like Barobazar as a whole. All these chronological narrations, consecutive phenomena, and influential factors will depict the trend of retail evolution. The research aims to describe Khulna's commercial development's sequential affairs and find the missing links between eras. Various ancient documents, Blueprints, Greek Periplus, etc. will describe the settlement, commercial mode, and history. It will determine the answer to the questions about the growth and establishment of river port cities and major economic centers' evolution. The paper will describe commercial –spatial progression in 4 Particular eras. GIS surveys and some old maps will illustrate the commercial land-use patterns of Barobazar from the Colonial Period to the present and the river base trade. These will elaborate on the existing conditions as well as the revolutionary changes. The fundamental research will help for the further Urban regeneration of Barobazar as a central economic hub. The historical consequences will help to sort out the development pattern and strategies behind the progression.