KOLKATA
Kolkata (
/ˈkoʊlkʌtɑː/; Bengali: কলকাতা, Kolkatā, IPA: [Kolkatā] (
listen)), formerly known asCalcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata is the commercial capital of East India, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River.[7] The city of Kolkata has 4.5 million residents, and the metropolitan area, including suburbs, has a population of approximately 15.7 million, making it the third most populous metropolitan area in India and the 13th most populous urban area in the world. The city is also classified as the eighth largest urban agglomeration in the world.
/ˈkoʊlkʌtɑː/; Bengali: কলকাতা, Kolkatā, IPA: [Kolkatā] ( listen)), formerly known asCalcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata is the commercial capital of East India, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River.[7] The city of Kolkata has 4.5 million residents, and the metropolitan area, including suburbs, has a population of approximately 15.7 million, making it the third most populous metropolitan area in India and the 13th most populous urban area in the world. The city is also classified as the eighth largest urban agglomeration in the world.History
Main article: History of Kolkata
The discovery of the nearby Chandraketugarh,[16] an archaeological site, provides evidence that the area has been inhabited for over two millennia.[17] The city's documented history, however, begins with the arrival of the English East India Company in 1690, when the Company was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator with the company was traditionally credited as the founder of the city.[10] However some academics have recently challenged the view that Charnock was the founder, and in response to public interest, the High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a specific founder.[18]
Up to 18th century Kolkata was under indirect rule of the Nawab of Bengal comprised three villages Kalikata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti. These villages were part of a khas mahal or imperial jagir or an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor himself, whose jagirdari rights were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Against the wishes of this family and in spite of their protests, the rights over these villages were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[19] The British in the late 17th century wanted to build a fort near Gobindapur in order to consolidate their power over other foreign powers — namely theDutch, the Portuguese, and the French. In 1702, the British completed the construction of old Fort William,[20] which was used to station its troops and as a regional base. Calcutta was declared a Presidency City, and later became the headquarters of the Bengal Presidency.[21] Faced with frequent skirmishes with French forces, in 1756 the British began to upgrade their fortifications. When protests against the militarisation by the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah went unheeded he attacked and captured Fort William, leading to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta incident.[22] A force of Company sepoys and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[22] Calcutta was named the capital ofBritish India in 1772, and starting in 1864 during the summer months, the capital was temporarily shifted to the hill station of Shimla.[23] In the early 19th century the marshes surrounding the city were drained and the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, the Governor General between 1797–1805, was largely responsible for the growth of the city and its public architecture which led to the description of Calcutta as "The City of Palaces".[24] The city was a centre of the British East India Company'sopium trade during the late 18th and 19th century.[25]
By the 1850s, Kolkata was split into two distinct areas — one British (known as the White Town) centred around Chowringhee, the other Indian centred around North Calcutta.[26] The city underwent rapid industrial growth from the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries: this caused massive investment by British companies in infrastructure such as Howrah station and telegraph connections. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new Babu class of urbane Indians — whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, Anglophiles, and usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[27]Throughout the nineteenth century, a socio-cultural reform, often referred to as the Bengal Renaissance resulted in the general uplifting of the people. In 1883, Surendranath Banerjeeorganised a national conference — the first of its kind in nineteenth century India.[10] Gradually Calcutta became a centre of the Indian independence movement, especially revolutionary organisations. The 1905 partition of Bengal on communal grounds resulted in widespread public agitation and the boycott of British goods (Swadeshi movement).[28] These activities, along with the administratively disadvantageous location of Calcutta in the eastern fringes of India, prompted the British to move the capital to New Delhi in 1911.[29]
The city and its port were bombed several times by theJapanese during World War II,[30] the first occasion being 20 December 1942,[31] and the last being 24 December 1944.[32] During the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943, caused by a combination of military, administrative and natural factors.[33] In 1946, demands for the creation of a Muslim state led to large-scale communal violence resulting in the deaths of over 4,000 people.[34][35][36] The partition of India also created intense violence and a shift in demographics — large numbers of Muslims left for East Pakistan, while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[37] Over the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Maoist movement — the Naxalites — damaged much of the city's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation.[38] In 1971, Bangladesh liberation war led to the mass influx of thousands of refugees into Kolkata resulting in a massive strain on its infrastructure.[39] In the mid-1980s, Bombay, now Mumbai, overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985 Rajiv Gandhi referred to Kolkata as a "dying city" because of the social and political traumas.[40]Kolkata has been a important base for Communism as West Bengal was ruled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))-dominated Left Front for 34 years (1977–2011) — the world's longest-running democratically elected communist government.[41][42] The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after economic reforms in India introduced by the central government in the mid-1990s. Since 2000, Information Technology (IT) services have revitalized the city’s stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing a growth in the manufacturing sector.
Urban structure
Kolkata city, under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[49] The Kolkata conurbation (Kolkata Metropolitan Area), however, is spread over 1,750 km2 (676 sq mi),[49] and comprises 157 postal areas, as of 2006.[50] The metropolitan area is formally administered by several local governments including 38 local municipalities. The urban agglomeration comprises 72 cities and 527 towns and villages.[49] The suburban areas of Kolkata metropolitan district incorporates parts of the districts North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia.
The east-to-west dimension of the city is narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east, a span of barely 5 km (3.1 mi)–6 km (3.7 mi).[51] The north-south expansion is roughly divided into North, Central and South Kolkata. North Kolkata locality is the oldest part of the city, with 19th century architecture and narrow alleyways and is made of neighborhoods like Nagerbazaar, Bangur, Lake Town, and Shyambazaar. It's northern border is roughy near Kolkata Airport and it's southern border is approximately near Lake Town. It is bordered by the Hoogly River to the west and V.I.P Road to the east. Central Kolkata comprises of B.B.D. Bagh, Esplanade, Dharmatulla, and Kankurgachi with the Hoogly River to it's west and V.I.P Road and the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass to the west. South Kolkata grew mostly afterindependence of India and consists of localities such as Ballygunge, Tollygunge, Alipore, and New Alipore. It's northern border is on Park Circus Ave. and it's southern one near Thakurpukur, Joka, Garia, and Kamdahari. It's western border is the Hoogly River and it's eastern border is the Easter Metropolitan Bypass. Two recently-developed (and planned) areas of Kolkata are: Salt Lake City (Bidhannagar) to the northeast and Rajarhat, also called New Town, to the north of Bidhannagar. The former was developed between 1958 and 1965 to accommodate the burgeoning population of Kolkata.
Central Kolkata houses the central business district around the B. B. D. Bagh area. Thegovernment secretariat, General Post Office, High Court, Lalbazar Police HQs and several other government and private offices are located here. Several companies have set up their offices around the area south of Park Street which has become a secondary central business district. The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city where several sporting events and public meetings are held. Several statues of Britisher colonial officials and Indian freedom fighters and martyrs are erected in the Maidan area. Other notable park in the city includeCentral Park in Bidhanagar and Millenium Park beside the Hooghly river.
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