Shahbag (also Shahbaugh, Bengali: শাহবাগ় Shabagh, IPA: [ˈʃaːbaːɣ]) is a major neighbourhood and a police precinct or thana in Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is also a major public transport hub. It is a junction between two contrasting sections of the city—Old Dhaka and New Dhaka—which lie, respectively, to its north and south. Developed in the 17th century during Mughal rule in Bengal, when Old Dhaka was the provincial capital and a centre of the flourishing muslin industry, the neighborhood was originally named Bagh-e-Badshahi (Persian for Garden of Kings), but later came to be called by the shortened name Shah (Persian:شاه, king) Bagh (Persian: باغ, garden).