Kolkata: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Archaeological evidence from the ruins of Chandraketugarh suggests that the area around Kolkata was home to a thriving and sophisticated civilisation around 2000 years ago. By the time the British arrived in 1686 there were just small villages, strung out along the banks of the Hooghly and overseen by wealthy Bengali landowners. The first British trading depot was established in Hooghly, 38km (23mi) upriver from modern-day Kolkata, but in 1686, Job Charnock shifted operations downriver to the villages of Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata, setting the foundation for the city that would one day become the capital of British India. Despite the post's initial lack of success, a fort was laid out near present-day BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square) and in 1698, the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's grandson gave the British officials permission to occupy the villages.

Kolkata grew steadily until 1756, when Siraj-ud-daula, the nawab of Murshidabad, attacked the town. Most of the British inhabitants escaped, but those captured were packed into an underground cellar where, during the night, most of them suffocated in what became known as 'the black hole of Calcutta'. In 1757 the British, under Clive of India, re-took the city and made peace with the nawab. A stronger fort (Fort William) was built in Kolkata and the town became British India's capital. Over the following centuries, the British created a facsimile of London on the banks of the Hooghly, with parks, gardens, parade grounds and wide boulevards lined with colonial mansions, many of which still stand today. Kolkata's Indian population was relegated to the bustees - sprawling slums extending for miles around the British enclave. This unfair segregation sowed the seeds for rebellion. In the 19th century, Bengal became an important centre in the struggle for Indian independence, leading the British to transfer the capital to Delhi in 1911.

Modern History

Loss of political power did not alter Kolkata's economic control, and the British continued to pump money out of India through Kolkata trading companies and banks until well after WWII. The partition of India in 1947 devastated Kolkata. Bengal was one of the main areas with a mixed Hindu and Muslim population, so the dividing line was drawn through the middle of the state. Kolkata became an industrial city and port without a hinterland, while across the border, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) became a hinterland with nowhere to process or export its produce. Although partition was less brutal here than in the Punjab, Kolkata was inundated with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from East Bengal. The massive influx of refugees and the departure of the British, combined with India's postwar population explosion, took its toll on Kolkata, both economically and socially. The city became a 20th-century horror story, at least in the eyes of the Western media, who focused obsessively on the poverty and the work of Mother Teresa and her missionary nuns in the slums. In 1971 the India-Pakistan conflict and the creation of Bangladesh led to another flood of refugees into Kolkata, putting yet more strain on the city and its resources.

Recent History

After hitting a low in the 1980s, Kolkata has slowly begun to find its voice again. Public works programs by the Communist government have reduced some of the pressures on housing and resources and middle-class amenities such as shopping malls and multiplex cinemas are popping up across the city. In December 2000, the government officially abandoned the British name Calcutta for the Indian name Kolkata, marking a new-found confidence in the city. More recently, the Indian IT boom has started to catch up with Kolkata, prompting many multinational companies to set up bases in the city.

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