Hiram Cox Bungalow needs renovation

COX'S BAZAR, May 18: The century-old bungalow of Captain Hiram Cox in Ramu's Fatehkharkul can take a visitor back to the 18th century history of this part of the world.

The sensation intensifies further when one learns that Cox's Bazar was named some 223 years ago after Captain Cox, an officer of the British East India Company, and he passed away in this bungalow.

This once spectacular structure built with bricks, concrete and tin canopy is now on the verge of ruination after years of neglect.

Badiuzzaman, 58, the man who has been taking care of this building for the last 33 years, said, "I can hardly recall when the bungalow was renovated last."

Not only this, visitors find it difficult to identify this house as the bungalow of Captain Cox since there is no monument or any memorial plaque and billboard saying anything about the man after whom Cox's Bazar was named, he added.

"Rather, this historical building is unfortunately known more as Zila Parishad Bungalow,"Badiuzzaman also said.

According to the caretaker, the two-room bungalow still has a bed, a chair and a table, which bear the memories of Captain Cox. "All this furniture can be a great attraction for the tourists," he pointed out.

If a tourist wants to spend a night in this bungalow, he/she has to pay Tk 400 and for government officials it is Tk 200.

Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, president of the Cox's Bazar Civil Societies Forum, said, "The 223-year-old bungalow is dilapidating with the passage of time due to the negligence of the local authorities."

"It has all the potential of becoming a tourist spot if proper steps like naming it Hiram Cox's Bungalow and preserving old furniture are taken," he added.

Burmese king Bodhapaya captured Arakan in 1784. About 13,000 Arakanese escaped the atrocities of the Burmese king to Cox's Bazar. They took refuge in Palongkee, today's Cox's Bazar. The East India Company deputed one Captain Hiram Cox to rehabilitate the refugees. To commemorate his role in rehabilitation work, a market was set up. It was known as Cox Shaheb Bazar and from there the name Cox's Bazar derived.

According to historians, Captain Cox died of malaria in this Ramu bungalow in 1799 before the completion of rehabilitation work.

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