Dutch settlement in Rajshahi

File:Dutch settlement in Rajshahi 2.jpg]]

File:Dutch settlement in Rajshahi.jpg

File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg

A trading post of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) existed in Rajshahi, Bengal, during the 18th century.{{Cite web|url = http://global.britannica.com/place/Rajshahi|title = Rajshahi {{!}} Bangladesh|website = Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date = 2016-05-06}} The Dutch were the first Europeans to arrive in this area. The trading station was located on the banks of the Padma River. It included factories for silk and indigo production. The Dutch silk factory located in the Boro Kuthi still stands on the riverbank as an important landmark.{{Cite news |url = http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/15thanniv/ourcities/ourcities19.htm |title = Rajshahi and the legacy of the Padma |newspaper = The Daily Star |access-date = 2018-11-24 |archive-date = 2020-02-25 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200225210703/http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/15thanniv/ourcities/ourcities19.htm |url-status = dead }} The settlement was built in 1781.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rajshahi-zs-dhaka.org/history.php |title=Rajshahi Jela Samity :: About Us |access-date=2015-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403064529/http://rajshahi-zs-dhaka.org/history.php |archive-date=2015-04-03 |url-status=dead }} It was part of the Dutch Bengal department. It later passed to the control of the British East India Company.

The campus of the University of Rajshahi is located on the site of the old Dutch settlement.