The biggest cloth market of Bangladesh is Islampur Cloth Market, located close to Sadarghat in Old Dhaka. The market began in the British period with a few shops, expanded in the Pakistani period and completed its development after independence in 1971.
Islampur bazaar stands on the bank of Buriganga River in Old Dhaka near to Sadarghat and is mainly famous as a wholesale cloth market. Islampur draws on Dhaka’s long association with the tradition of weaving and cloth making. Jamdani, katan, Rajshahi silk, batik, hand painted saris are available here. Women’s dresses, shalwar kameezes, shirt cloth, pant cloth, bed sheets, cover sheets, lungis and every other type of imaginable cloth also available here.
There are many multi storied buildings built up in Islampur, such as the Jahangir Tower, Latif Tower, Ahsanullah Super Market, Lion Tower, Kader Sharkar Tower, the Doulot complex, Amanullah complex, Khaless Mansion, Khan Mansion and the Hayat Dulon complex. There are also a lot of small markets associated with Islampur. Altogether there are more than 1200 wholesale shops of different sizes in this market. Everyday thousands of ordinary people as well as cloth business people come here from around the country to shop. There are ten beautiful mosques in Islampur Bazaar.
The market is controlled by a committee and the executive members of the committee, selected by the vote of general businessmen every two years, set policy and rules that control the market.
Islampur Bazaar opens at 9:30am and closes at 8:00pm. Friday is the holiday. This market is also closed in all government holidays.