Calcutta

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Calcutta
Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates: 22.572625°N, 88.363893°E
Altitude: 9 m (30 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name: Kolkata
State/Province: West Bengal
Country: India
Transport links
East Indian Railway (Howrah)
Bengal-Nagpur Railway
Calcutta and South Eastern Railway (Sealdah)
Eastern Bengal Railway (Sealdah)
Calcutta Port Commissioners' Railway
Arrah-Sasaram Light Railway
Barasat-Basirhat Light Railway
Futwah-Islampur Light Railway
Howrah-Amta Light Railway
Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway

Calcutta (present day Kolkata) is a large city in north-east India. Calcutta was the headquarters of the Government of the Bengal Presidency. It was also the capital of British India until Delhi became the capital on 12th December 1911. The city had a large European mercantile community.

History

Battle of Calcutta 1757
3rd Carnatic War

Spelling Variants

Modern name: Kolkata
Variants: Calcutta

Location

Calcutta is now known as Kolkata in modern day India and is situated at 22°33′N, 88°20′E in the Ganges Delta.

Places of interest

The Maidan

The site of Fort William, the Maidan was (and still is) the centre of Calcutta. It was bounded on the west side by the Hooghly River and the Strand Road, and on the east side by Chowringhi Road. Government House, the Governor's residence, was at the north end of the Maidan and Belvedere, the residence of the Lieutenent-Governor of Bengal, was near the southern end.

Eden Gardens

The Eden Gardens were started by Lord Aukland's sisters and are beautifully laid out. They were the main gathering place of Calcutta Society in the time of the British Raj. They are also the home of India's oldest cricket ground, the Calcutta Cricket Club, and have a lake which was the home of the Rowing Club. Beside the lake is a Burmese Pagoda brought from Prome and set up in 1856. There were many statues in the Gardens.

Churches and missions

Anglican

  • St James Church - see FIBIS Journal 5, The Man Who Built St James Calcutta
  • St John's Cathedral Church - consecrated 1787
  • St Paul's Cathedral - completed in 1847
  • St Peter's Church, Fort William - built 1828
  • 'Old' Mission Church - see article in FIBIS Journal 7, includes a list of graves
  • St Stephen's, Kidderpore

Roman Catholic

  • RC Cathedral (Virgin Mary of the Rosary) - built 1797
  • St Patrick's Chapel, Fort William - built 1857
  • St Theresa - built 1893
  • St Thomas' Church - begun in 1841, adjacent to the Convent of Our Lady of Loreto

Other denominations

  • St Andrew's Church of Scotland - opened 1818
  • Greek Church - established 1780
  • Holy Church of Nazareth (Armenian) - built in 1724. Dr. Reuben Khachaturyan/Liz Chater have transcribed all the baptisms at this church. They can be viewed on the FIBIS database. Liz also has many photos of graves at the Nazereth Church on her website.

Missions

  • Church Mission Society
  • Free Church of Scotland - started in 1830
  • London Missionary Society
  • Oxford Mission - Church of England
  • Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (Anglican)

Non-Christian places of worship

As well as the temples and mosques that served the general Indian populace, Calcutta also housed:

  • Parsi temple
  • Synagogue
  • Chinese temple

Cemeteries

See Cemeteries in Calcutta.

Education

Colleges

  • Bengal School of Art
  • Bishop's College, Circular Road - run by the Oxford Mission
  • Calcutta Medical College - formerly Bengal Medical College, founded 1835
  • Doveton College
  • Presidency College

Schools

  • Benevolent Institution School - see these two references from 1818 and 1851
  • La Martiniere School - established 1836
  • St James' School - founded by Bishop Cotton in 1864
  • St Lawrence High School
  • St Thomas School, Kidderpore - founded 1789
  • St. Xavier's Collegiate School - founded by the Jesuits in 1860

Economy and business

External Links

Encyclopedia entries
Maps
Guides and directories

See the Directories reading list for links to many directories with information on Calcutta.

  • Thacker's Guide to Calcutta (1906) by Rev W.K. Firminger a noted historian. This book gives the historical background of Calcutta, area by area. Read online or download archive.org
Pictures
Other
  • Calcutta in the Olden Times-Its Localities Article in Calcutta Review Vol 18, July-Dec 1852, p 275 (Google Books)
  • Calcutta in the Olden Times-Its People Article in Calcutta Review Vol 35, Sept-Dec 1860, p 164 (Google Books)
  • Calcutta in 1810 commences page 131 Journal of a Residence in India by Maria Graham 2nd Edition 1813 Illustrated by Engravings. Google Books
  • Calcutta in 1836 commences page 7 of Book 2 Travels in South-Eastern Asia, embracing Hindustan, Malaya, Siam, and China: with notices of numerous missionary stations, and a full account of the Burman Empire; with dissertations, tables, etc by Howard Malcolm 2nd edition 1839 2 volumes in one Google Books
  • Catholic Institutions in Calcutta c 1881 from Indian Gods, Sages, and Cities by C Cesary Limited View Google Books 1987 page 172 reprint of original published 1881
  • Calcutta 1940's Oral history site
  • Bengal Past and Present-Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society
Bengal, Past and Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society was first published 1907 and is a very valuable source of information. Available at the British LibraryThere are published indexes, each of one volume, as follows: Volumes 1 (July 1907)-8 (June 1914); Volumes 9 (1914)-18 (1919); Volumes 1 (1907)-85 (1966); Volumes 1 (1907)-104 (1985). In addition, the British Library has an index for Volumes 19-29.
Note that a different Journal, with a somewhat similar name, is the Calcutta Historical Journal, published by the University of Calcutta, first published July 1976, available at the British Library
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