McCluskieganj

McCluskieganj was founded by Ernest Timothy McCluskie (1872-1935), a property developer in Calcutta of Scottish Indian descent, who was a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly. In the 1930s he negotiated a perpetual lease on 10,000 acres of forested land in Jharkhand State from the local ruler , Ratu Maharajah. The area was about 40 miles north west of Ranchi in Bengal. McCluskie then sent out 200,000 circulars to Anglo Indians in the country inviting them to participate in creating a home state for Anglo Indians. To this purpose a company known as The Colonisation Society of India was founded in 1933. Land was Rs50 per acre for agriculture and Rs 250 per acre for residential plots. The offer was taken up by about 350 families.

The colonists were allowed to build their settlements in nine village areas but this was not to be on land occupied by the original settlors of the area. At first the colony appeared to prosper - due largely to the enthusiasm of its inhabitants. Homes were built, pretty gardens , small holdings , orchards and farms appeared - much in European style. Community buildings such as church, schools and clubs sprung up.

However, it was not long before the population began to decline and prosperity diminished. There were a number of reasons for this. The area lacked a good road and rail infrastructure and this isolated the community with respect to markets for its produce and also receipt of supplies. There was not enough work for the younger generation and the majority left - especially on outbreak of the Second World War when many joined the services. As a result McCluskieganj began to take on the aspect of a retirement village. In addition, many of the Anglo Indian families finally left the country following Independence.

Today only a small community remains.

External Links

• McCLUSKIEGANJ An Anglo-Indian Junction Ronnie Johnson's page includes many links and, at the end, lists the names of families that settled and contributed to the community of McCluskieganj, derived from The Colinization Observer 1936-41
• Letter From India : No Place Like Home Time Magazine World 2002
• Forested Anglo-Indian community McCluskieganj disappearing in India By Agence France-Presse 2011 via British Raj Mailing List
• Somewhere To Call Their Own travel.outlookindia.com