Rotary started with the visualization of one man — Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905, so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Over time, Rotary’s reach and vision gradually extended to humanitarian service. Members have a long track record of addressing challenges in their communities and around the world. The first Rotary Club was formed when attorney Paul P. Harris called together a meeting of three business acquaintances in downtown Chicago, United States, at Harris's friend Gustave Loehr's office in the Unity Building on Dearborn Street on February 23, 1905. In addition to Harris and Loehr (a mining engineer and freemason), Silvester Schiele (a coal merchant), and Hiram E. Shorey (a tailor) were the other two who attended this first meeting. The members chose the name Rotary because initially, they rotated subsequent weekly club meetings to each other's offices, although within a year, the Chicago club became so large it became necessary to adopt the now-common practice of a regular meeting place. The National Association of Rotary Clubs in America was formed in 1910. On November 3, 1910, a Rotary club began meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, marking the beginning of Rotary as an international organization. On 22 February 1911, the first meeting of the Rotary Club Dublin was held in Dublin, Ireland. This was the first club established outside of North America. In April 1912, Rotary chartered the Winnipeg club marking the first establishment of an American-style service club outside the United States.  To reflect the addition of a club outside of the United States, the name was changed to the International Association of Rotary Clubs in 1912. During World War I, Rotary in Britain increased from 9 to 22 clubs, and other early clubs in other nations included those in Cuba in 1916, the Philippines in 1919 and India in 1920. In 1922, the name was changed to Rotary International. From 1923 to 1928, Rotary's office and headquarters were located on E 20th Street (now E Cullerton Street) in the Atwell Building. During this same time, the monthly magazine The Rotarian was published mere floors below by Atwell Printing and Binding Company. By 1925, Rotary had grown to 200 clubs with more than 20,000 members.

The tradition of crafting a theme is credited to Percy C. Hodgson, Rotary’s president in 1949-50. When Hodgson addressed the International Assembly in 1949, he impressed upon the incoming leaders that they had a “glorious opportunity to impart Rotary knowledge” and that “lack of Rotary knowledge can be a deterrent to the successful operation of a Rotary club.” Hodgson’s 83-word theme, which included a list of four objectives, was substantially longer than today’s punchier themes, but it captured his hope that incoming leaders have essential knowledge of Rotary. In the decades that followed, RI presidents introduced theme logos, lapel pins, ties, and scarves. These ties were introduced in the 1990s, and are now crafted annually. Scarves first appeared in 1998-99. Dhaka City, in the late thirties was a burgeon township of 120-150,000 people mostly living in and around what is now known as the ‘Old Town’ along the river Buriganga. A major city, in the Muslim-populated East Bengal, Dhaka was growing in importance due mainly to the trading business based on the riverine communication. The gentry comprised businessmen, educationists, professionals, and officials, both local and foreign, who mixed well socially. In their effort to introduce Rotary ideals, Sir James and Herbert Bryant visited Dhaka and came across such dedicated men as H R Wilkinson, S J E Virgo, Professor Ramesh Chandra Majumder and Altaf Hossain to organize the first Rotary club in region sponsored by Rotary Club of Calcutta. The Club was admitted as the 16,114th Club on the 26th February 1937, which is observed as the charter date. The Charter was presented to the Club on the 22nd March 1938. The following members were the founding members:

The Club was raised under the RI District 89 with Rtn Phiroze Sethna was the District Governor and Rtn Herbert Bryant was the Governor’s Special Representative. The Club grew steadily in the first ten years but it suffered a setback with the partition of India in 1947 when most of the members left Dhaka. The membership of the Club was reduced to only seven. In 1950s and 60s, the Club made great progress of the membership rose to 57 in 1971 just before liberation. During these difficult and challenging period dedications of some Club members, including M H Khan, S M Hussain, Hafizur Rahman, Dr Hedayatullah, A H Faridi, B C Sharbadhakary, M A Jabbar, A Motaleb, Rahim Khan, Imran Faruque, Alamgir Rahman, Colonel T D Ahmed, Fentress Gardener (of US Consulate), S E Kabir, K S Alam, Justice Abu Sayeed Choudhury, Azizul Huq and Iftekharul Alam was outstanding that helped in the growth of the Club and the Rotary movement in this region. The Club through sponsorship organized a number of Rotary Clubs, namely – RC Chittagong in 1952, RC Narayanganj in 1954, RC Khulna in 1958, RC Mymensingh in 1958, RC Dhaka North in 1968 and RC Comilla in 1969. During this time Rtn S M Hussain in 1955-56 became the first District Governor from the Rotary Club of Dhaka of RI District 325. This was a rare achievement for the Club as the District 325 then covered East Pakistan, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Nepal and Bhutan. Later Rtn A Rahim Khan in 1962-63 became the District Governor of RI District 325 and Rtn A F M Abdul Huq Faridi in 1970-71 became the District Governor of RI District 307 which covered East and West Pakistan. Throughout this time Rotary Anns, notably Ann M H Khan, Ann Husneara Huq, Ann Khorshedi Alam and Ann Dossani worked closely with the Club members and their Anns and helped in promoting fellowship through their active participation in various Club programs and activities which helped Club to achieve sustainable growth during the same period. During the liberation war in 1971, the Club had another setback and suffered with the entire Bengali nation. The Club President Rtn Dr M Innas Ali was wounded on the night of 25 March 1971 when the Pakistani forces stormed the Dhaka University campus. Again Past District Governor A Rahim Khan died in a firing incidence on 17 December 1971. Although his bullet ridden car was found near the BRTC bus depot at Mohmmadpur his dead body was never found. All the Rotarians mourned his death with deep shock and sorrow. In an effort to revive the Club, a joint meeting was held with the Rotary Club of Dhaka North under the leadership of Rtn Sanaullah Sheikh (the first President of RCD after the lieration) and Rtn Moniruzzaman Khan of RC Dhaka North. The meeting was held on 23 February 1972 at Purbani Hotel with Justice Abu Sayeed Choudhury, the Presiednt of Bangladesh as the Chief Guest. The Club membership reduced to twenty-nine. Since 1972, the Rotary Club of Dhaka has significant progress in all avenues of services and spear headed the growth of Bangladesh, organizing over 50 new Rotary Clubs through sponsorship and patronization. In 1984, a separate District 3280 was formed for Bangladesh to cope with the growing number of members. Today, Bangladesh has two districts, District 3281 and 3281 with over 5000 Rotarians in 350 Clubs and large number of Rotaract and Interact Clubs contributing significantly to the Rotary movement in this region which all has been rooted in the 79 years of history and tradition of the Club, makes it MOTHER of Rotary Clubs in Bangladesh.

The first Rotary Club of Dhaka was established on 26th February 1937 under the patronage of Rotary Club of Calcutta under the first RI District 89 in undivided Bangladesh. The club charter was received on 22nd March 1938. Those whose names bear testimony in the history of Rotary Bengal are the then District 89 Governor Rtn Feroze Sethna and the Special Representative. Rtn Herbert Bryant. Following this, RC Chittagong (1952), RC Narayanganj (1954), RC Khulna (1958) were established under the auspices of Rotary Club of Dhaka. In 1977, Rotary Club of Khulna started the journey of Rotary till them on May 20, 2022 started our new journey as Rotary Club of Rajshahi Central.