History of the city
History
Calcutta is the capital city of West Bengal. The “City of Joy” is one of the most popular cities in our country and is located in eastern India. Owing to its strategic location, the city has been a vital observer of several political and social expansions in the past. This is why its history is noteworthy in the chronological depiction of the entire scenario of the Indian subcontinent and the remaining parts of the world. Kolkata has experienced some very well-known monarchial and bureaucratic rules which have highly influenced its culture.
I. THE AWAKENINGS: 1690 – 1790
The awakening started during 1698 only after the purchase of the three villages viz. Sutanuti, Kolikata and Gobindapur from the local landlord, Sabarna Chowdhury. Sabarna Sangrahashala is the exclusive Chowdhury family museum which is located at Barisha. The museum is a unique endeavour to preserve family history and heritage.
In the year 1699, East India Company started developing Calcutta as a Presidency city. Years later, the Mughal emperor Farrukh-Siyar granted the East India Company trading privileges in return for yearly payments of 3,000 rupees and in 1727 as per the order of King George I, a civil court was set up.
Meanwhile, the city corporation was also established and Hallwell became the first mayor of the city. With the commencement of the construction of Fort William, East India Company made it explicitly clear that they were here to stay for good.
The year 1757 witnessed the significant consolidation of the British Raj. With their victory over Siraj–Ud–Daulah, the British elevated themselves from a mere trading company to rulers of Bengal. In the meanwhile, Robert Clive received the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam-II could collect the revenue from these three areas. Hence, Calcutta finally becomes a focus as it is made to be the Capital city with Warren Hastings as its first Governor General and all the important offices are shifted from Murshidabad, the erstwhile capital of Bengal.
• The Asiatic Society is established.
The ASIATIC SOCIETY was established on 15 January 1784 by its founder, Sir William Jones (1746-1794). He began his work with a dream that envisioned a centre for Asian studies including almost everything concerning man and nature within the geographical limits of the continent.
The name went through a number of changes The Asiatic Society; The Asiatic Society of Bengal; The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal and then finally became ‘The Asiatic Society’ again in 1951.
The Society also proved to be a pivotal centre for Oriental studies and research. It extended its helping hand to the other two major centres of activity that paved the way to the Indian Renaissance, namely, the Fort William College and the Serampore Mission of William Carey.
Raja Rammohun, The “Maker and the Father of Modern India”, was born in the year 1774. Along with Dwarkanath Tagore and other eminent Bengali dignitaries, he founded the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential Indian socio-religious reform movement during the Bengal Renaissance.
Primarily this marked the beginning of a luminescent era which later transformed the entire countenance of Kolkata. The next era elevated Calcutta to a strategic position on the World map.
II. The Flourish: 1790 – 1890
With the rendezvous of education and westernization, there began a phase of ‘Renaissance’ in Bengal, the period of the development of Bengal intellect. Architecture saw its spread during this era. For example, The Raj Bhavan is not just a heritage building, it is one of Kolkata’s outstanding landmarks evoking the past and sublimating it. Raj Bhavan is the former Government House of Kolkata, the seat of British majestic power. Built in the years 1799-1803 when Marquis Wellesley was the Governor General, this historic and magnificent building was designed on the lines of Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, which is the ancestral house of Lord Curzon who later lived here as the Viceroy and the Governor General exactly 100 years after Wellesley. Equivalent in significance was the construction of Town Hall in the year 1813.
This is when the confluence of British and Indian culture gave rise to a new Babu class. Their flourish was seen mostly around the 18th–19th Century. Most of them had or still have their residences in the Northern part of Kolkata. Areas such as Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Jorasanko, Sovabazar, etc. became the abodes of some of the most elite families of Calcutta. Some of the most prominent families were Tagores, Ghoshes, Mullicks, Deys, Etc.
First in this list comes perhaps the most prestigious house of Kolkata – Tagores of Jorasanko. The name Jorasanko is supposedly derived from the presence of twin bridges nearby (Jora – Twin; Sanko – Bridge). The most important luminary of this family is Rabindranath Tagore. Prince Dwarka Nath Tagore, the head of the family was deeply moved by the spiritual & social issues of the time. Presently Jorasanko has been converted into a museum containing memorabilia of the art pieces of the Tagore family. They also host a 45-minute light and sound programme regularly (except for Tuesdays & Thursdays) The programme depicts the bygone era in the most magnificent manner.
Second in line is the family of Prasanna Kumar Tagore (1801-1886) and Jatindramohan Tagore (1831 – 1908) of the Pathuriaghata area. The more prominent house is the ‘Tagore Castle’ at 26 Prasanna Kumar Tagore Street. Jatindramohan Tagore made a departure in the way of building residences in India. He replicated the building with that of an English castle. It even had a 100 feet (30 m) high centre tower resembling the Windsor Castle of England. Not only did the passionate Tagore import a clock from England, reminiscent of Big Ben, he even arranged for permission to fly the Union Jack!
Tagore Castle had an auditorium and the Tagores patronized Banga Natyalay, from 1859 to 1872. It was started by Jatindra Mohan Tagore and his brother Shourendra Mohan Tagore, both zealous theatre enthusiasts. The first play staged here was Kalidas’ Mālavikāgnimitram in Sanskrit, in July 1859.
Next to the turrets of Tagore Castle on Prasanna Kumar Tagore Street is the house of the Mullick family topped by traditional statuary. Three large structures have already come up next to these; one of them is the Burrabazar branch of Metropolitan School, established in 1887.
Education received a jumpstart with the establishment of a host of schools & colleges–
1. The Hindu College, now called Presidency College was established in 1817.
2. The Medical College was established in 1835.
3. The Imperial Library, present day National Library is built to commemorate Metcalfe and his decision to emancipate the press in 1835.
4. The Bethune School was established in 1849
5. The University of Calcutta was established in 1857
The first telegraph lines were developed in Calcutta and in 1850, the first experimental electric telegraph line was started which successfully connected Kolkata and Diamond Harbour. It was opened for the use of the British East India Company in 1851.
Trams are an integral part of Kolkata’s age-old tradition. During the 80s, a horse tram system was opened in the city between Dharamtolla and Barrackpur, after an early trial on February 24, 1873, which was started between Sealdah station and Armenian Ghat on the banks of the Ganges. The first Electric tram was pulled out onto the tracks between Esplanade and Kidderpore on March 27, 1902.
Founded in 1814 at the cradle of the Asiatic Society of Bengal is the Indian Museum. It is the oldest and the largest multipurpose Museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia-Pacific region of the world.
With the foundation of the Indian Museum, the Museum movement started rolling in India and from then on, it gained new fillip and great momentum. Since then, it has magnificently developed and has culminated in the fruitful existence of more than 400 museums in the country.
The year 1861 witnessed the birth of Rabindranath Tagore – Son of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore. Debendranath formulated the Brahmoist philosophies espoused by his friend Ram Mohan Roy and became the focal point in Brahmo society after Roy’s death. Tagore despised rote classroom schooling and he beautifully expressed so through the famous “The Parrot’s Training”, where a bird is caged and force-fed textbook pages—to death. While visiting Santa Barbara in 1917, he conceived a novel style of university: he sought to construct Shantiniketan, the connecting string involving India and the world [and] to a world centre for the learning of civilization somewhere ahead of the limits of nation and geography. The school, which he named Visva-Bharati, had its foundation stone laid on 24 December 1918 and was inaugurated precisely three years later.
Next in the line is Swami Vivekananda who was a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and was credited with raising interfaith consciousness. He brought Hinduism to the position of a major world religion in the late 19th century. Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Dutta at Simla, North Calcutta in the year 1863, January 12. From a very young age, he was reportedly drawn towards theology and God’s realisation. His guru, Ramakrishna, taught him Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism); which says that all religions are true and that service to man was the most effectual worship of God.
In January 1899 the Baranagar Math was transferred to Belur in the Howrah district which is now known as the Belur Math.
III. The Milestones: 1890 – 2000
This era helped Calcutta evolve significantly in all facets & made it an independent place of its own.
The year 1897 was a very important year in the pages of Bengal history. On one side it saw the demise of the luminary Swami Vivekananda & on the other it ushered the birth of India’s most fearless fighter – Subhas Chandra Bose. In the history of India’s struggle for freedom, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose stands out in all uniqueness and is a class apart by himself. Born at Cuttack, he secured second position at Matriculation examination & later got admitted to Presidency College but the sparks of his nationalist attitude soon got him expelled from the College as he reportedly assaulted Professor Oaten for the latter’s anti-India remarks.
TheNetaji Research Bureau, founded by Dr. Sisir Kumar Bose in 1957, is an internationally renowned institute for history, politics and international relations. Netaji Bhawan, Calcutta, (est. In 1961) contains the museum, archives and library of Netaji Research Bureau. It is the ancestral house of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, owned and managed by the Bureau itself.
In the meanwhile, Calcutta was unaware that one angel of peace had taken birth in a faraway country whose devotion & love towards all homeless & helpless people of Calcutta would create a history by itself. Any form of description is an understatement for our Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) who was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia.
In 1928, an 18-year-old Agnes Bojaxhiu decided to become a nun and set off for Ireland to join the Loreto Sisters of Dublin. It was there that she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. A year later, she traveled on to Darjeeling, India for the novitiate period and in May 1931; Mother Teresa made her First Profession of Vows. Afterwards, she was sent to Calcutta, where she was assigned to teach at Saint Mary’s High School for Girls, run by the Loreto Sisters and dedicated to teaching girls from the city’s poorest Bengali families. Mother Teresa learned to speak both Bengali and Hindi fluently as she taught geography and history and dedicated herself to alleviating the girls’ poverty through education. She was the recipient of several honours together with the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.
On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was then the Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of setting up a decent memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most suitable memorial would be a “stately”, large, colossal and splendid building surrounded by a lovely garden. King George V, then the Prince of Wales, laid the foundation stone of the Victoria Memorial Museum on January 4, 1906, and it was officially opened to the public in 1921.
Another milestone in this era was perhaps India getting represented in the Western world through Rabindranath Tagore who became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his collection of poetry named as Gitanjali or Song Offerings.
Howrah Bridge, later renamed as <Rabindra Setu was opened to the public in February 1943, thus connecting both banks of Hooghly & creating a better communication system.
Calcutta began fortifying itself slowly & steadily after its Independence. Being rich in tradition & heritage, Calcutta gradually started becoming a cultural seat of poets, writers, theatre enthusiasts & motion picture directors.
The Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata is one of the oldest fine arts societies in India. The academy was formally established in 1933 by Lady Ranu Mukherjee (daughter–in–law of Sir R.N Mukherjee). It was originally located in a room loaned by the Indian Museum, and the annual exhibitions used to take place in the adjacent verandah. In the 1950s, thanks to the efforts of Lady Ranu Mookerjee and patronage by B.C. Roy, Chief Minister of West Bengal and Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, the academy was shifted to a much larger space on Cathedral Road, beside St. Paul’s Cathedral, the present site.
Rabindra Sadan: It is a cultural centre and theatre in Calcutta. Its construction began on 5th August 1961 and ended on October 1967. It is renowned for its large stage which is a prime site for Bengali theatre and the Kolkata Film Festival. The Rabindra Sadan compound now houses the Rabindra Sadan stage, Nandan, Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, and Gaganendra Prodorshonshala among other centres of cultural activities.
Along with the same site as Rabindra Sadan, Nandan was built in the year 1985 to facilitate film consciousness. It includes a few comparatively large screens housed in an impressive architectural building. Satyajit Ray designed the logo for the complex.
Birla Planetarium: Popularly known as Taramandal, the Birla Planetarium was inaugurated in 1963 by the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It has an electronics laboratory for the design and fabrication of science tools. It has an astronomy gallery that maintains a huge compilation of fine paintings and celestial models of popular astronomers. Being the largest planetarium in Asia, it also has an astronomical observatory operational with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with accessories such as an ST6 CCD camera and solar filter. It offers to the public and students more than 100 astronomical projects dealing with a variety of facts of astronomy, astrophysics, Space Science as well as myths relating to stars and planets.
The Metro Rail: Communication received a jumpstart with the introduction of underground railways or Metro Rail. It was the first such variety of transportation in India, opening commercial services in 1984. It is the 17th zone of the Indian Railways. As it is run on electricity, pollution levels are zero.
With the extraordinary rise in city traffic and to moderately release the pressures of the Rabindra Setu, the largest cable-stayed bridge (in India) over the River Hooghly was constructed. The Bridge was commissioned in the year 1992 under the guidance of Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners. This bridge was christened “Vidya Sagar Setu“, after the country’s greatest educationist-reformer and freedom fighter, Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar.
Maybe all the independence gained was not enough until the final step which was taken by changing the spelling of this City of Joy officially. While the city’s name has always been pronounced Kolkata or Kolikata in Bengali, the anglicized form Calcutta was the official name until January 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.