From Mughal Brews to Modern Cafés: A Sip Through Dhaka’s Coffee History

 

From the private quarters of Mughal elites and the colonial gardens of Ramna to the first coffee houses of New Elephant Road and today's specialty roasters, Dhaka's relationship with coffee has been a long, fascinating journey. Some chapters are documented, others survive through old accounts and local memories. Together, they tell the story of a city gradually discovering a drink that had travelled across continents before finding a place in its everyday life.

Before the cafés: Coffee arrives in the Mughal world

Long before Dhaka became a city of espresso machines, pour-over brewers and speciality coffee menus, coffee was already travelling through the trading networks of the Islamic world.

Its journey into South Asia was closely connected to Yemen, particularly the port of Mocha, which became one of the most important centres of the international coffee trade. Merchants carried coffee across the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, connecting the Arabian Peninsula with ports across India and beyond.

Bengal was part of this commercial world. Its merchants traded textiles, silk, saltpetre and other commodities with destinations throughout Asia and the Middle East. Imported luxuries moved through these same networks.

Coffee was also familiar in parts of the wider Mughal world. It was consumed in elite and intellectual circles, particularly among people connected to Persianate and Islamic cultural traditions.

It is tempting to imagine that Mughal Dhaka must have participated in this culture. The city was an important provincial centre, and its wealthy residents maintained connections with wider commercial and political networks.

But there is a difference between knowing that coffee was consumed in the Mughal world and proving precisely when it first arrived in Dhaka.

One date occasionally mentioned in accounts of Dhaka's coffee history is 1682. The story connects East India Company agent William Hedges with the consumption of coffee during his dealings with Mughal officials.

Hedges was indeed active in Bengal during the period. However, I have not located a verifiable contemporary passage establishing that coffee was served to him in Dhaka in that particular year.

Until the original diary or corresponding document is identified, 1682 should remain a historical lead rather than a confirmed date.

What we can reasonably say is that Dhaka was connected to a trading environment through which coffee could have reached the city long before the appearance of modern cafés.

And that brings us to an interesting group of people who may have played a part in this story.

The Armenian merchants and the forgotten trading networks

Walk through Armanitola in Old Dhaka today and you will find the Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection, consecrated in 1781.

The church is more than a religious landmark. It is a reminder of a merchant community whose commercial connections stretched across several regions, linking the Caucasus, Persia, India and European trading centres.

Armenian merchants were active in Bengal, including Dhaka, Murshidabad and Calcutta. They dealt in a variety of commodities, including textiles, silk, leather and other goods.

Their commercial world was international, and their ability to operate across different political territories made them important participants in regional trade.

This raises an interesting possibility: could Armenian merchants have helped introduce coffee to Bengal and Dhaka?

It is a reasonable question. Coffee was an important commodity in the wider Red Sea and Indian Ocean trading environment, and Armenian merchants had commercial connections that could have brought them into contact with this trade.

However, a specific surviving invoice, shipping record or merchant ledger establishing that Armenian traders brought the first coffee to Dhaka has not been identified.

The same caution applies to the Marwari merchants who became increasingly influential in eastern India's commercial networks during the nineteenth century. Their kinship-based business relationships and hundi arrangements helped facilitate trade and finance across considerable distances. But their particular involvement in Bengal's early coffee imports remains uncertain.

Perhaps the most interesting lesson is that the people who moved commodities were not necessarily the people whose names survived in the official records.

The British colonial administration documented its commercial and agricultural activities extensively. Smaller merchant networks often left a less accessible paper trail.

It would be too simple to say that the British brought coffee to Dhaka. They certainly influenced the development of its colonial commercial environment, but the movement of coffee through Bengal may have involved a much wider network of merchants.

1808: Charles D'Oyly arrives in Dhaka

The early nineteenth century brings us to one of the more intriguing characters in this history: Sir Charles D'Oyly.

D'Oyly arrived in Dhaka in 1808 to serve as Collector, a position he held during the following years. He was not simply a colonial administrator. He was also a talented artist who documented the buildings, landscapes and everyday surroundings of the city through sketches and paintings.

His work provides a valuable visual record of early nineteenth-century Dhaka.

At the time, the city was experiencing a period of decline compared with its earlier Mughal prominence. Parts of the old urban landscape had deteriorated, commercial activity had shifted, and vegetation had reclaimed areas that had once been more densely populated.

D'Oyly became associated with the development and documentation of the city's northern surroundings, particularly Ramna.

This is where the coffee story takes an unexpected turn.

According to the historical account discussed by Tarek Aziz in Atit Dhakar Ashcharja Itihas, D'Oyly was associated with a small elevated location near the old racecourse, remembered as a mound or hillock. The account connects this place with a cottage where European residents could escape the crowded city, enjoy the surroundings and socialise.

The location is associated with the name "Doz Phooli", also described in the account as the Judge's Mound.

The image is easy to imagine: a group of European officials riding out in the morning, finding some relief from the heat and gathering in a quieter part of Ramna.

Coffee, conversation and the relative tranquillity of the countryside would have made a pleasant combination.

But we should be careful about calling this Dhaka's first coffee house.

The account provides an intriguing historical tradition, not a fully documented commercial establishment with a verified business name, owner, menu or operating records.

There is a significant difference between a private gathering place where coffee was served and a public coffee house where customers regularly paid for drinks.

D'Oyly's presence in Dhaka is documented. The exact coffee-house interpretation of the Ramna story still needs further archival investigation.

Nevertheless, it offers a fascinating glimpse into how coffee may have functioned as part of the social life of the colonial European community.

1840: What did James Taylor actually tell us?

Another important source from this period is James Taylor's A Sketch of the Topography & Statistics of Dacca, published in 1840.

Taylor was a surgeon, but his book was much more than a medical account. It covered Dhaka's geography, history, population, occupations, commerce, agriculture, customs and social conditions.

For anyone interested in nineteenth-century Dhaka, it remains an important historical document.

Its value lies partly in showing us what the city looked like before the transformations of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

It describes a place whose commercial reputation was closely associated with muslin, weaving and other industries. It also records the changing condition of the city's economy and population.

Taylor's book is sometimes brought into discussions of early coffee in Dhaka. However, I could not locate a passage in the digitised original that verifies coffee cultivation experiments in the district.

That distinction is important. A historical source should not be made to support an argument simply because its publication date fits the story.

Coffee cultivation elsewhere in eastern Bengal, particularly around Chattogram, is a separate but equally interesting part of the nineteenth-century history.

1786–1843: Coffee experiments in the hills of Chattogram

While Dhaka's coffee story was developing around trade and social life, eastern Bengal was also exploring the possibility of growing coffee.

In 1786, Sir William Jones described coffee blossoms among the vegetation of the Chattogram hills in his correspondence.

This is an important historical reference because it suggests that coffee plants were present in the region by the late eighteenth century.

However, it does not establish whether those plants were cultivated commercially, introduced by traders or growing in another way.

By 1843, the possibility of commercial cultivation had attracted more serious attention.

A proposal for the Chittagong Joint Stock Coffee Company was submitted by Commissioner Sconce on 7 April 1843. The plan reportedly involved six acres of land, approximately 1,920 trees per acre and an initial capital of Tk 6,000 divided among 50 shareholders.

There was also local commercial involvement.

A merchant named Sheikh Obaidullah reportedly collected coffee from his garden and sent samples to the Agricultural Society of Calcutta for assessment. The coffee was described favourably in the historical account.

Some coffee from the region was also reportedly sent to London.

For a brief period, Chattogram appeared to have the ingredients for a small coffee-growing enterprise.

But the project struggled. Labour and land-related difficulties, competing agricultural interests and the growing commercial importance of tea all affected its prospects.

Tea eventually developed the stronger plantation economy in the wider region.

The lesson is worth remembering: producing a crop is not the same as building an industry around it. Commercial coffee requires more than suitable land and healthy trees. It needs processing, transport, capital, consistent quality and dependable buyers.

The nineteenth-century experiments in Chattogram demonstrate both the agricultural possibilities and the commercial difficulties.

The nineteenth century: Coffee, tea and Dhaka's social life

While coffee was moving through international trading networks, tea was gradually becoming an important part of everyday life in Bengal.

Dhaka's commercial and social culture was changing. The city was no longer simply the Mughal provincial centre it had once been. New administrative structures, educational institutions, commercial activities and colonial influences were changing how people lived.

The city's Armenian businesses also appear in the history of tea distribution. Their involvement in selling tea is one indication of how international merchant communities helped introduce and popularise imported beverages.

Coffee and tea, however, did not develop identical social histories.

Tea became deeply embedded in everyday Bengali life. It could be served at home, in shops, at roadside stalls and during informal gatherings.

Coffee remained comparatively associated with imported tastes, selected households and particular social circles.

This distinction would continue well into the twentieth century.

Dhaka did not need European-style coffee houses to develop an active intellectual culture. People already had their own spaces for conversation, debate and social exchange.

And in many of those spaces, tea was the drink of choice.

The twentieth century: Coffee enters the lives of a new generation

The twentieth century brought major social and cultural changes to Dhaka.

Education, travel, employment and exposure to international lifestyles gradually influenced the consumption habits of the city's growing middle and upper-middle classes.

People travelling abroad for education or work encountered different coffee cultures. Some returned with new preferences, brewing habits and packaged coffee products.

For certain households, coffee became part of breakfast or an occasional treat for guests. It represented something different from the familiar cup of tea.

It was not yet an everyday habit for most residents, but it was becoming more visible.

A particularly interesting detail appears in the history of Dhaka's intellectual circles.

Anecdotal accounts associate the renowned scholar Dr Muhammad Shahidullah with a preference for coffee or tea with plenty of milk. The familiar story about his breakfast routine adds a personal dimension to the history, although I have not found a sufficiently reliable primary source to verify the reported quotation.

Coffee also appears in discussions of Bengali literature from this period. Abul Kalam Shamsuddin's 1953 novel Kharataranga is cited in accounts of Dhaka's coffee history in connection with characters drinking coffee.

Such references are valuable because they suggest that coffee had entered the imaginative and domestic world of Bengali urban life, even if it had not displaced tea as the dominant everyday beverage.

Literature can reveal the cultural presence of a product in ways that commercial records cannot.

A cup of coffee in a novel may tell us something about the social aspirations, habits and changing lifestyles of the people the author was describing.

31 December 1981: The Coffee House on New Elephant Road

One of the most interesting milestones in Dhaka's coffee history comes in the early 1980s.

According to Tarek Aziz's historical account in Atit Dhakar Ashcharja Itihas, a dedicated Coffee House opened at 73 New Elephant Road on 31 December 1981.

This deserves attention because it represents a different stage in the city's relationship with coffee.

The earlier Ramna story is associated with colonial officials and private social gatherings. The Coffee House of New Elephant Road, by contrast, is remembered as a public meeting place for a new generation of Dhaka residents.

Young people, intellectuals and music enthusiasts reportedly gathered there. Conversations, discussions and musical activities became part of its identity.

Coffee was no longer simply an imported drink enjoyed by a relatively small circle of people. It was becoming part of an emerging urban social culture.

The location itself is interesting. New Elephant Road was developing as an important commercial and social area, and the Coffee House became associated with the wider cultural life of the neighbourhood.

It is also a reminder that Dhaka's coffee history did not begin with the arrival of international café chains or specialty roasters.

There were local establishments and local coffee enthusiasts long before the current café boom.

The exact opening date, address and cultural activities should ideally be cross-checked against contemporary newspaper advertisements, business records and photographs. For now, the 1981 account is an important lead in reconstructing the city's café history.

2000–2005: The modern café begins to take shape

By the turn of the millennium, Dhaka was changing rapidly.

Shopping centres, restaurants, private universities and new commercial districts were transforming the city's social landscape. A younger generation was looking for places to meet, study, work and spend time outside the home.

Coffee fitted naturally into this changing environment.

Café Mango opened in Dhanmondi on 9 November 2000. Its arrival helped establish the idea of a café as a destination rather than simply a place to purchase a drink.

Coffee World followed in 2005 with its Banani outlet, bringing another recognisable café concept to the city.

These establishments helped make café-going part of urban leisure culture.

The appeal was not only the coffee. It was the atmosphere: comfortable seating, conversations, music, meetings and the opportunity to spend time in a different environment.

For many customers, a café became a place to meet friends, discuss assignments, hold informal business meetings or simply escape the noise of the city.

Dhaka was beginning to develop a recognisable modern café culture.

2011: North End and the emergence of specialty coffee

A new chapter began in 2011 with the opening of North End Coffee Roasters.

Founded by Rick and Chris Hubbard, North End introduced a more developed relationship between coffee sourcing, roasting and café operations.

It is important to understand what made this development different.

A conventional café primarily focuses on serving customers. A roastery adds another dimension: it works with green coffee, roasting profiles, consistency, sourcing and the quality of the finished product.

North End helped bring these elements into greater focus in Bangladesh.

Customers increasingly encountered conversations about bean origins, roasting, espresso preparation and brewing methods. Coffee was becoming something that could be discussed and evaluated beyond whether it was simply strong, sweet or milky.

Its business also extended beyond individual café customers through the supply of roasted coffee to other establishments.

This was an important development for the wider market.

Specialty coffee is not merely about charging more for a cup or using expensive equipment. It involves attention to the quality of the raw material, processing, roasting, preparation and the experience in the cup.

North End helped establish this approach as a visible part of Dhaka's coffee landscape.

It did not create café culture from nothing. Rather, it helped move the conversation towards the coffee itself.

Coffee returns to the hills: Bangladesh's next opportunity

While Dhaka's cafés were developing, another important story was unfolding in the hill districts.

Bangladesh has been exploring coffee cultivation for several decades, particularly in Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari.

The modern cultivation story includes government and agricultural research initiatives dating back to the late twentieth century, with further variety testing and development in the 2000s.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute has developed varieties including BARI Coffee-1 and BARI Coffee-2, representing Robusta and Arabica coffee respectively.

Research and cultivation efforts in the hill districts have created opportunities for farmers to diversify their agricultural activities.

However, the real challenge is not simply getting coffee trees to grow.

Coffee must be harvested at the right stage of maturity, processed correctly, dried to appropriate moisture levels, graded, stored and transported. Without these steps, the potential quality of the crop may never reach the buyer.

There must also be a dependable market.

Farmers need to know who will purchase their coffee, what quality standards are expected and whether the price will justify continuing production.

This is where Bangladesh's coffee industry has an opportunity to develop.

The future should not be measured only by the number of coffee trees planted or the number of cafés opened in Dhaka.

It should also be measured by the strength of the relationships between farmers, processors, exporters, roasters and cafés.

A country that imports most of its coffee while experimenting with local cultivation has an interesting opportunity to connect these two sides of the market.

The challenge is to make that connection commercially sustainable.

The story is still being written

Look back at the journey.

Coffee may have reached Bengal through the trading networks of the Indian Ocean long before anyone in Dhaka thought about