 The
name Kolkata or Kalikata is derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra,
meaning "Ground of the GoddessKali."
Some say the city's name derives from the location of its original
settlement on the bank of a canal (khal).
Some match it to the Bengali words for lime (kali) and burnt shell
(kata), since the area was noted for the manufacture of shell-lime.
Another opinion is that the name is derived from the Bengali term
kilkila (meaning, "flat area"), which is mentioned in the
old literature.
There were three large villages along the east bank of the river Ganges
named Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata. The British bought these
three villages from local landlords. The Mughal emperor granted East
IndiaCompany freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of 3,000
rupees.
Before the British came Calcutta was just a village. The capital city
of Bengal was Murshidabad, around 60 miles north of Calcutta. In 1756
Siraj-ud-daullah, nawab of Bengal attacked the city and captured the
fort. Robert Clive recaptured Calcutta in 1757 when the British defeated
Siraj-ud-daullah on the battlefield of Plassy.
In 1772 Calcutta became the capital of British India and the first
Governor General Warren Hastings moved allimportant offices from Murshidabad
to Calcutta. Till 1912 Calcutta was the capital of India, when the
British moved the capital city to Delhi.
In 1947, when India gained freedom and the country got partitioned
between India and Pakistan, Calcutta was included in the Indian part
of Bengal, West Bengal. Calcutta became the capital city of the state
of West Bengal.
The state government changed the city's official name from Calcutta
to Kolkata in 2001 following similar moves elsewhere in the country.
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