Situated on the east bank of the River Hugli about 129 kilometers (80 miles) from the Bay of Bengal, Calcutta lies close to the mouth of the two great river systems of the Ganga (Ganges) and the Brahmaputra. Consequently, the port possesses the advantage of excellent inland navigation for transporting foreign imports upstream and sending down the products of the fertile interior by the same channel.
Already prior to the arrival of the English merchant Job Charnock (d. 1693) in 1690, the settlements on the east bank of the river had attracted a number of high-caste Hindu families with literary traditions. The foundation of a British settlement raised the potential of the site, but the political events in the eighteenth century that changed the course of history were not to be predicted in the 1690s.
The right of fortification, obtained by the British in 1696, allowed the construction of Fort William. In 1698 the English East India Company purchased the right of revenue and tax collection for the three villages of Kalikata, Sutanuti, and Govindapur. In 1700 the settlement received the status of a presidency. This put the English technically on an equal footing with the Mughal nawabs (local rulers) of Bengal, who were now confronted with the unrestrained extracommercial ambitions of East India Company officials.
Bengal subah (province) in the early eighteenth century had obtained autonomy and economic stability under the nawab Murshid Quli Khan, and Bengal was known as the granary of India. Muslin, silk, saltpeter, indigo, and opium attracted the European trading companies, and the arrival of private merchants from different parts of the world made Calcutta the home of Abyssinians, Afghans, Armenians, Burmese, Chinese, and Persians, as well as English, Dutch, French, and other Europeans.
The grant of a firman (imperial permit) by the Mughal emperor to the English in 1717 led to the growth of Calcutta as a center of English private trade. Extensive fortifications and the ambition of East India Company officials, however, led to a rupture with the nawab Alivardi Khan. Alivardi’s successor, Siraj ud daula, attacked and overran Calcutta and renamed it Alinagar (1756). Robert Clive (1725-1774) and Admiral Charles Watson (1714-1757) recaptured Calcutta in February 1757. In June 1757 Clive won the Battle of Plassey, a triumph more of intrigue than of military action, and laid the foundation for British paramountcy in India. From 1773 to 1911, Calcutta was the capital of British India and the second city in the British Empire.
There was a cleavage in the pattern of Calcutta’s urban growth. The European Town around the Tank Square and Chowringhee areas witnessed a high level of real-estate development, especially under the governors-general Warren Hastings (1774-1785) and Marquis Wellesley (1798-1805). The massive buildings of New Fort William, the Supreme Court, the Writers’ Building, and Saint John’s Church established marks of colonial rule. The British-built Town Hall, Metcalf Hall, and the Senate House were a few of the public buildings that lent Calcutta the epithet ”city of palaces.” The Indian Town in the north, and the intermediate zone were, however, overcrowded and lacked adequate municipal amenities.
These deficiencies did not stand in the way of the growth of the city. Between 1742 and 1901 the area of the settlement grew from about 1,307 to 5,357 hectares (3,229 to 13,237 acres), while the population rose from 179,917 to 542,686 during the same period. Calcutta was the most important port in India for shipping cotton, coal, jute, opium, and indigo. The large concentration of jute mills within a radius of 64 kilometers (40 miles) from Calcutta by 1911 resulted in a large-scale migration of laborers from up-country provinces to the city. Another important migrant group was the Marwaris, who came to dominate trade and industry in the region.
The phenomenal growth of the metropolis led to a demand for municipal services. Statutory civic services began in 1794. Calcutta received a municipal government in 1852, which became the Calcutta Corporation in 1899. The city’s public sewerage system was completed in 1859, and filtered water became available from 1860. Railway services began in the city in 1854. Telegraph lines were installed in 1851, and the telephone exchange was opened in 1883. Horse-drawn trams were introduced in 1873, and following the introduction of electricity in 1899, electric trams started running in the city in 1902. Regular bus service began in 1924.
Warren Hastings’s interest in the revival of Oriental learning and arts led to the foundation of the Calcutta Madrasa (1781) and the Asiatic Society (1784). The establishment of the printing press (1777) stimulated the growth of public opinion. Fort William College, founded in 1800, was designed to impart the knowledge of Indian languages and culture among East India Company civilians. The spread of English education was facilitated through the foundation of Hindu College in 1817 and Bethune School, the first public school for girls, in 1850. Calcutta Medical College and Calcutta University were established in 1835 and 1857 respectively.
The interaction of the Bengali intelligentsia with Western education, British Orientalism, and Christianity brought about an awakening commonly known as the Bengal Renaissance. Its earliest spokesman was Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833), the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, a monotheistic Hindu reform movement based on the Upanishads, ancient Hindu texts of wisdom. The British Indian Association, established in 1851, reflected a growing political consciousness in the region. Calcutta’s Muslim community had the Mohammedan Literary Society (1863) and the Central National Mohammedan Association (1877) as their platform. Surendranath Banerjea (1848-1925), the founder of the Indian Association (1876), was the main force behind the National Conference held in Calcutta in 1883. Between 1885 and 1905, Calcutta was the nerve center of Indian politics and of the Indian National Congress, the forum of Indian public opinion on political issues.
During the Swadeshi movement (a movement pledging the use of indigenous products) that followed the partition of Bengal (1905), the demand for complete swaraj (self-rule) became a pan-Indian issue. A widespread boycott and the rise of extremist revolutionary groups in Bengal seriously threatened British rule. Consequently, the British moved the capital to Delhi. In August 1946 the city was shaken by the Hindu-Muslim riots, which resulted in the killing of large numbers of people on both sides, known as the ”great Calcutta killings,” following the direct action demanding a separate electorate for the Muslims. Riots broke out again in August 1947, just before and after India gained independence. Due to the partition of India, Calcutta lost much of its hinterland, which became part of East Pakistan.
