The discovery of Chandraketugarh, an archaeological site near Kolkata,
provides evidence that the area has been inhabited for over two millennia.
The city's documented history, however, begins with the arrival of
the British East India Company in 1690, when the Company was consolidating
its trade business in Bengal.
Job Charnock, an administrator with the Company who eventually settled
in Sutanuti is traditionally credited with founding the city.
In 1699,the British completed the construction of old Fort William,
which was used to station its troops and as a regional base.
Kolkata (then Calcutta) was declared a Presidency City and later became
the headquarters of the Bengal Presidency.
Faced with frequent skirmishes with French forces, in 1756 the British
began to upgrade their fortifications. When protests against the militarisation
by the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-Ud-Daulah, went unheeded, he attacked
and captured Fort William. A force of Company sepoys and British troops
led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.
Kolkata was named the capital of British India in 1772. . It was during
this period that the marshes surrounding the city were drained and
the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River.
Richard Wellesley, the Governor General between 1797-1805, was largely
responsible for the growth of the city and its public architecture,
which led to the description of Kolkata as 'the City of Palaces'.
Miss Emily Eden (the sister of the Governor General, who gave her
name to Eden Gardens), in 1836 wrote of Calcutta: "Depend upon
it, Calcutta is the finest place in the world. I know there are towns
with far larger and grander buildings; but then they are not half
so clean, and new, and beautiful, as this bride-like city. I have
been standing on the roof of the house the last half-hour for air,
and, as it was midnight, had an opportunity of seeing all the gay
company - returning from an entertainment at the government-house;
and I assure you I never witnessed any thing that could compare with
the splendour exhibited."
By the early 19th century, Kolkata was split into two distinct areas
- one British, one Indian, known as 'Black Town'.
The city underwent rapid industrial growth from the 1850s, especially
in the textile and jute sectors; this caused a massive investment
in infrastructure projects like railroads and telegraph by British
government.
The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence
of a new class of urbane Indians - Asia's first middle class - whose
members were often professionals, read newspapers, were Anglophiles,
and usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.
Throughout the nineteenth century, a socio-cultural reform, often
referred to as the Bengal Renaissance resulted in the general uplifting
of the people. In 1883, Surendranath Banerjee organised a national
conference - the first of its kind in nineteenth century India.
Gradually Kolkata became a centre of the Indian independence movement,
especially revolutionary organisations. The1905 Partition of Bengal
on communal grounds resulted in widespread public agitation and the
boycott of British goods (swadeshi movement). These activities, along
with the administratively disadvantageous location of Kolkata in the
eastern fringes of India, prompted the British to move the capital
to New Delhi in 1911.
Twice the Japanese bombed the city's port during World War II. In
1946 demands for the creation of a Muslim
state led to large-scale communal violence resulting in the deaths
of over 2,000 people. The partition of India also created intense
violence and a shift in demographics - large numbers of Muslims left
for East Pakistan, while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into
the city.
Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Gothic, Baroque, Roman, Oriental
and Indo-Islamic (including Mughal) motifs. The "City of Palaces",
as Kolkata is often called, is dotted with colonial buildings. Some
of the major buildings of this period are well maintained and several
buildings have been declared "heritage structures", while
others are in various stages of decay.
Established in 1814, the Indian Museum is the oldest museum in Asia
and houses vast collection of Indian natural history and Indian art.
The Victoria Terminal, one of the major tourist attractions in Kolkata,
has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library
of India is situated in Kolkata. |
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