Pilkhana is not officially named in any record of Dhaka City Corporation, but this is the popular name of this place as elephants are a part of its history (pil means "elephant" and khana means "home").

[citation needed] During the Mughal period, the royal elephants kept in this place used to go for grazing in the nearby jungle to the east, which was later turned into Dhaka Nawab's Garden, now known as Paribagh and Shahbagh.

This Frontier Force changed its name as Assam Bengal Rifles in the year 1920 AD.

Although with the passage of time the name of the said para-military force was changed on a number of occasions but the headquarters of it remains in Pilkhana.

Over the next three days, the BDR jawans killed as many as 54 officers and their family members including women and children.