The Munshibari (Bengali: মুন্সীবাড়ী) estate was established in the 18th century in Bengal (present day Chandpur District, Chittagong Division in Bangladesh).

When the East India Company was awarded the Diwani or overlordship of Bengal by the empire in 1764, it found itself short of trained administrators, especially those familiar with local customs and law.

They failed to consider the question of incentivisation; hence Warren Hastings, then governor-general, introduced a system of five-yearly inspections and temporary tax farmers.

It is in this time, that a lot of foreign merchants and traders, well versed in reading, writing and account-keeping were employed by the British to collect revenue and maintain order.

The title Munshi therefore denotes the family's role in teaching native languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Persian and Bengali or as secretaries to the Europeans.

The Mihrab also has a Minbar (منبر) for regional khatibs (خطيب) to deliver sermons (khutbah; خطبة) The exterior has a corridor by the pond for ritual purification (Wudu; الوضوء).

The structure also houses a living quarter for Islamic scholars and a carved in library in the main hall for scriptures used during Madrasah (مدرسة) lessons.

It was named after Bilayet-un-Nissa, the wife of Ab'dul Hamid Munshi, a member of the family, who made a school for her because she wanted to attend lessons outside of the residence.