Dhaka came into the domain of Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbarafter the Battle of Tukaroi which was fought in 1575 near the village of Tukaroi now in Balasore District, Odisha between the Mughals and the Karrani Sultanate of Bengal and Bihar.
However, during this reign of Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605), Dhaka was referred as a Thana (a military outpost). Dhaka was situated in Bhati region which hosted several rebel forces led by Bara-Bhuiyans from mid to late 16th century. After the leader of Bara-Bhuiyans, Musa Khan, was subdued by Mughal General Islam Khan Chisti in 1608, Dhaka again went directly under control of Mughals.
The newly appointed Governor of Bengal, Islam Khan transferred the Bengal capital from Rajmahal to Dhaka in order to crush further rebel uprisings. This initiated a new era of the history of Dhaka as the capital city of Mughol province of Bengal. He also renamed Dhaka asJahangirnagar (City of Jahangir) after the Emperor Jahangir. Due to its location right beside some main river routes, Dhaka was an important center for business. The Muslin fabric was produced and traded in this area. He successfully crushed the regional revolts in Jessore, Bakla(present days Barisal) and Bhulua (present days Noakhali) and brought almost the entire province under the Mughal domain.
As the next governor, Prince Shuja built Bara Katra between 1644 and 1646 in Dhaka to serve as his official residence. He also patronized building of Hussaini Dalan, a Shiashrine in old Dhaka though he himself was aSunni. In the late 1640s, for personal and political reasons, he made the temporary move to shift the capital back to Rajmahal. Dhaka became a subordinate station.
Due to political turmoil, Emperor Aurangzeb sent Mir Jumla to deal with Prince Shuja. He pursued Shuja up to Dhaka and reached the city on 9 May 1660. But Shuja fled to Arakan region. As Jumla was ordered to become the next Governor of Bengal, Dhaka was again made the capital of the region. He was engaged in construction activities in Dhaka and its suburbs - two roads, two bridges and a network of forts. A fort at Tangi-Jamalpur guarded one of the roads connecting Dhaka with the northern districts which is now known as Mymensingh Road. He built Mir Jumla Gate at the northern border to defend the city from the attacks of Magh pirates. Italian traveler Niccolao Manucci came to Dhaka in 1662–63. According to him, Dhaka had large number of inhabitants compare to the size of the city. Most of the houses were built of straw. There were only two kuthis - one of the English and the other of the Dutch. Ships were loaded with fine white cotton and silk fabrics. A large number of Christians and white and black Portuguese resided in Dhaka.
Construction of Lalbagh Fort was commenced in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam during his 15-month-long governorship of Bengal, but before the work could complete, he was recalled by Emperor Aurangzeb.
The largest expansion of the city took place under the next Mughal governor Shaista Khan (1664–1688). The city then stretched for 12 miles in length and 8 miles in breadth and is believed to have had a population of nearly a million people. The Chawk Mosque, Babubazar Mosque, Sat Gumbad Mosque, Choto Katra were originally built during this period. He also built tombs of Bibi Pari, Bibi Champa and Dara Begum. A French traveler,Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, arrived Dhaka on 13 January 1666 and met Shaista Khan. He referred Shaista Khan as "the uncle of King Aurangzeb and the cleverest man in all his kingdom".
Prince Azim-ush-Shan became the Governor of Bengal in 1697. Due to conflict with Diwan Murshid Quli Khan, he shifted his office from Dhaka to Patna in 1703. Murshid Khan also shifted his office to Mauksusabad (later renamed it to Murshidabad).
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