The British took advantage of this and the First Anglo-Sikh War broke On this day December 12 th, in 1911, India moves its capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small prison in Fort William, India, and became the site of a tragedy where many British prisoners supposedly died on the evening of 20 June 1756. However, Shaista Khan upon hearing this ordered the closing and confiscation of all their factories and properties in Bengal and sent a large force to drive out the English from Hooghly. Upon hearing the news of Shaista Khan's plan, Mr. Charnock determined that it was no longer safe to remain in Hooghly and decided to move downstream to Sutanuti, a small hamlet on the banks of the river Hooghly on 20 December 1686. Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta in English, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal and is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. The Changing Face of Calcutta: An Architectural Approach. - 18058742 1. (after London) and was aptly renamed "City of Palaces" and the Great Eastern Hotel was regarded as the "Jewel of the East". Charnock arrived at Uluberia, started making a dock there, however soon started to dislike the place and wanted to return to Sutanuti. The river at this point was also wide and deep; the only disadvantage was that the marshes to the east and swamps within the area made the spot unhealthy. Whilst this matter was still awaiting investigation Nanda Kumar was indicted for forgery of a deed, condemned and executed. The area where the city is now located was originally inhabited by the people of three villages: Kalikata, Sutanuti and Gobindapur. [27][28], The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after economic reforms in India introduced by the central government in the mid-1990s. At this date it was far from clear whether or not English law applied in Calcutta, and it was extremely rare for the death penalty to be applied for forgery even in England. The servants of the company, who asked for permission to fortify their trading post, or factory, were given permission in general terms to defend themselves. Background. According to the Court, the city has its genesis in the Maurya and Gupta period and it was an established trading post long before the Slave Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, the Portuguese, the French or the East India Company established a modern township there. That is why the British impact was abiding and lasting on the Indian people. Siraj-ud-Daulah ordered the British to pay taxes to him like all other Indian merchants. Kolkata is also noted for its revolutionary history, ranging from the Indian struggle for independence to the leftist Naxalite and trade-union movements. Still, the British refused to stop building. At the same time, the Company were desperate to open negotiations with the Emperor after they left Bengal and Mr. Child was sent to him. Gandhi was part of … In 1773 Bombay (now Mumbai) and Madras (now Chennai) became subordinate to the government at Fort William. Join now. It was often dependent upon a person’s job or status within the East India Company (EIC). The presence of these merchants may have been to some extent responsible for Charnock’s choice of the site. British agriculture did not fare well during the period either. The British Empire began in its formative years in the sixteenth century and flourished and grew dramatically, lasting until the twentieth century. Kolkata was the capital of the British Indian empire until 1911 when the capital was relocated to Delhi. This request was immediately turned down by Shaista Khan and a 3.5% tax was imposed in addition to the already existing tax of 3,000 rupees, notwithstanding the Firman obtained earlier. Others note the British takeover did not make any sharp break with the past. When the Mughal officials, not wishing to lose what they had gained from the English company’s commerce, permitted Charnock to return once more, he chose Calcutta as the seat of his operations. [20] The centre of company control over the whole of Bengal from 1757, Calcutta underwent rapid industrial growth from the 1850s, especially in the textile sector, despite the poverty of the surrounding region. Contemporary memoirs such as those of William Hickey record the consumption of enormous meals, washed down by copious quantities of claret, port, madeira and other wines, followed by the smoking of Hookahs. The rousing cry that awakened India's soul was penned by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Ask your question. There is much discussion about the origin of the city's name. It had fallen to 9,833,000 acres in 1930. History of Mumbai; History of Bombay under Portuguese rule Since 2000, Information Technology (IT) services revitalized the city's stagnant economy. The nawab was defeated shortly afterward at Plassey (June 1757), after which British rule in Bengal was assured. Why did Calcutta rise under British This question has not been answered yet! Clive seized on this plan to get rid of two enemies at once. After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, lawlessness prevailed in Punjab. India accepted the suzerainty of the British authority coming under its iron grip. At this time their ships in Bengal required extensive repairs and the remainder of their fleet were considered in danger. This movement is sometimes also called the Indian Mutiny, although recent evidence goes against using this name and suggests "The Revolt of 1857" as a better and less controversial choice. Although it was not completed to the southern end of the settlement, it marked the city’s eastern boundary. ... which had long been under British … And, for good measure, he got parliamentary approval to bestow the new title ‘Empress of India’ upon Queen Victoria in 1876. The first native president of the Indian National Congress was Sir Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee and he was also the first Congress president to advocate self-rule by Indians, Sir Surendra Nath Banerjea (referred to by the British as "Surrender Not") were early eminent Calcuttans, who provoked and influenced nationalist thinking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kali rises in the East Painted and gilded clay figure of Kali striding over Shiva, Bengal, Eastern India, late 19th century. In 1772, Calcutta became the capital of British India, a decision made by Governor General Warren Hastings. Located on the banks of the Hooghly River, this was a very important city under British rule. The poor are still exploited by the bureaucrats, moneylenders and politicians. The history of Kolkata as a British settlement, known to the British as Calcutta, dates from the establishment of a trading post there by Job Charnock, an agent of the English East India Company, in 1690. Charnock had previously had disputes with officials of the Mughal Empire at the river port of Hugli (Hooghly) and had been obliged to leave, after which he attempted unsuccessfully to establish himself at other places down the river. Join now. He proudly replied ", This page was last edited on 10 January 2021, at 03:27. In 1775, when Hastings was Governor-General, Nanda Kumar brought accusations of corruption against him, accusing him of accepting bribes and other abuses of power. Each had to be approved by the central government in New Delhi.. However, in the absence of specific orders the permission to defend their property was taken as a permit to build fortress and construction began immediately overnight with all available manpower. They left Balasore on 13 December for Chittagong, reached there on 17 December, found the Governor's fortification too strong to destroy and decided to wait until his demands are answered by the governor. Exactly a hundred years after the fall of Bengal in the Battle of Plassey, Calcutta saw the beginning of what is often called the First Independence Movement of India. In 1698, the Company bought three villages (Sutanuti, Kalikata and Gobindapur) from a local landlord family of Sabarna Roy Choudhury. Secondary School. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. * The story began when the Bengal Nawab, Siraj ud-Daulah, succeeded his maternal grandfather as Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 23 and became angry with the British merchants of the East Indian Company. Growth of the city In 1717 the Mughal emperor Farrukh-Siyar granted the East India Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees; this arrangement gave a great impetus to the growth of Calcutta. However the peace was broken again when some Company troops misbehaved with Shaista Khan's troops in Hooghly on 28 October 1686 for which the former were severely beaten by the latter. By Ian Bremner Last updated 2011-02-17 The East India Company chose the place for a trade settlement. The city’s significance can be gauged from the fact that it was the capital of the British Indian Empire. British merchants and aristocrats held shares in this joint stock company. This came to be known as the Maratha Ditch. For this, Captain Heath was sent to Bengal with 160 soldiers either to fight and win against the forces of the governor or to bring back all the properties of the company to Madras and abandon the trade in Bengal. Acre­age under wheat in 1931 reached the lowest point ever recorded. In the 16th century Britain began to establish overseas colonies. A number of Europeans were imprisoned in a small lockup popularly known as the Black Hole of Calcutta, and many died. In anticipation of a war with the French, who had a trading settlement in Chandemagore, the British began to fortify Calcutta. It was instituted with the Government of India Act of 1858 and lasted until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. Job Charnock was then at Madras and was directed to join the expedition with 400 soldiers from the Madras division. These were taken up with enthusiasm by Hastings' rivals on the Governor General's Council, led by Philip Francis. Meanwhile, the Third Carnatic War was starting in the south. So, in 1756, Siraj attacked Fort William in Calcutta with 30,000 troops. Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta in English, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal and is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly.The city was a colonial city developed by the British East India Company and then by the British Empire. Other societies based on nationalist or religious thoughts were started, like the Hindu Mela. While the English were always looking for fortification of their factories in Bengal, Ibrahim Khan never allowed them to do so. Intellectually indifferent, spiritually subdued and psychologically weak at that time, India had to adopt with the British authorities. Government of West Bengal, Trillin, Calvin. The site was carefully selected, being protected by the Hooghly River on the west, a creek to the north, and by salt lakes about two and a half miles to the east. Mr. Peacock, the chief of the factory in Patna, was imprisoned by the governor with the assumption that he was involved in the dispute. As Dr. R. C. Majumdar stated in An Advanced History of India, "The Battle of Plassey may be truly said to have decided the fate of the French in India. This was the old Fort William and construction for a new one (the present one) started after Siraj Ud-Daulah attacked Fort William in 1756. The former was marked by growing tension between the Congress Party, the main Indian nationalist organization with a base mostly (but not exclusively) among the Hindu population of the country, and the Muslim League, the main organization representative of the Muslim minority, which comprised almost 25% of India’s population. But even after seventy years of Independence there is Champaran everywhere in India. The three villages, in particular Kalikata, where Calcutta is located, came into the possession of the British East India Company in 1690 and some scholars like to date its beginnings as a major city from the construction of Fort William by the British in 1698, though this is debated (see the court ruling in "Name and origins" above). He decided to accept the offer and ordered the Governor of Bengal to allow Company to return there. Each had to be approved by the central government in New Delhi.. Captain John Powell landed in Barbados in 1625 and claimed the island as a British Caribbean colony. This angered the young nawab. After Independence, Calcutta remained the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 1764 he had been appointed collector of Burdwan in place of Warren Hastings, which resulted in a long-standing enmity between the two men. Exactly what British life in 18 th century Calcutta was like varied. 2 [24][25]) Warehouses in Visakhapatnam were destroyed and many English men were captured and put to death. The fact that many of the Hindus in this latter group were linked to the local Congress organisation and dominated the mainstream nationalist movement in Bengal from Calcutta led to attempts to thwart Huq's activities and fed into the tragic decline in communal relations that savaged Calcutta in 1946 and 1947 (see Kenneth McPherson, "The Muslim Microcosm: the Muslims of Calcutta 1918–1935", Steiner, Wiesbaden, 1973). Enraged with this situation and determined to establish their authority, the company requested King James II in 1685 to permit the use of force against the Emperor's army to settle the matter. These incidents are documented in numerous records of the East India Company and by several authors [Bruce 1810 (Vol I and II), Marshman Vol I, Unknown 1829; see references below]. In the suburbs of Calcutta, at the Barrackpore military barracks, sepoy Mangal Pandey sparked off a huge revolt that shook the foundations of the British Empire. He was able to successfully treat her burns and in reward the Emperor allowed the company to establish factory at Pipili, Odisha, and for the first time English ships arrived at an eastern port. Francis was severely wounded, but Hastings escaped unscathed.[15]. [22] Kolkata received millions of refugees from what became East Pakistan without receiving substantial assistance from the central government. The moneylenders charge unimaginably high rates of interest from the farmers. How did the empire become so wildly successful at expanding? Answered Why did calcutta rise under british? ", Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The illustrated history of the British empire in India and the East vol 3", "Job Charnock not Kolkata founder: HC Says city has no foundation day", "Kolkata: Heritage Tour: Religious Buildings: St. John's Church", "Remarks by U.S. Consul General Henry V. Jardine for the Bharat Chamber Of Commerce", Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy, Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama High School, B. T. Road Government Sponsored H. S. 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One of the primary reasons for this move was because Calcutta had proven to be a breeding ground for revolution against the British Empire’s rule over India. Labelled the "Cultural Capital of India", "The City of Processions", "The City of Palaces", and the "City of Joy", Kolkata has also been home to prominent people such as, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Rani Rashmoni, Amartya Sen, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Keshub Chandra Sen, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita, Sri Aurobindo, Subhas Chandra Bose, Satyendra Nath Bose, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, Paramahansa Yogananda, Anil Kumar Gain, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan , Pandit Ravi Shankar and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Problems related to rapid urbanization started to plague Kolkata from the 1653s and the city remains an example of the urbanization challenges of the developing nations. In 1756 the nawab’s successor, Sirāj al-Dawlah, captured the fort and sacked the town. Soon (on 2 January 1757) Watson and Robert Clive retook Calcutta with a force of company sepoys and the assistance of the Royal Navy. Renamed Netaji by poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, he is regarded by many as perhaps the most prominent and influential freedom fighter in Indian history and is venerated in many Bengali households even today. Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) is a city in eastern India. In 1883, Surendranath Banerjea organised a national conference – the first of its kind in 19th century India. The British East India Company was formed in 1599 under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1600. In 1717 the Mughal emperor Farrukh-Siyar granted the East India Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees; this arrangement gave a great impetus to the growth of Calcutta. However, the valour of the Mughals came to an end, with the death of its last powerful emperor, Aurangzeb, in 1707 A.D. Shaista Khan retired from his duty as governor in ca 1689 and Ibrahim Khan was appointed as the new governor of Bengal by Emperor Aurangzeb. Enraged still further when the British granted asylum to one Krishnaballav, who had embezzled money from the dewani of Dhaka, Siraj ud-Daula first attacked and captured Cossimbazar (taking as hostage William Watts and Begum Johnson), and then Calcutta, which fell after a short siege on 20 June 1756, during which the governor and many other officials escaped down the Hooghly River, leaving the remainder of the garrison and the Eurasian population of Calcutta to their fate. Rival Dutch, French, and other European settlements were higher up the river on the west bank, so that access from the sea was not threatened, as it was at the port of Hugli. Such unions between Europeans, English, French and Portuguese, and local women, both Hindu and Muslim, were common throughout the 18th century in Calcutta, and are the origin of the city's substantial Anglo-Indian (or Eurasian) community today: by the early 19th century, however, increasing racial intolerance made marriages of this kind much rarer. About the same time, the British Parliament began regulating the East India Company through successive India Acts , bringing Bengal under the indirect control of the British government. Peace treaty was again offered by the governor at the end of December 1686 but it was mainly to buy out time for attack and by February 1687 a large troop of Shaista Khan's army arrived at Hooghly to drive the Company out of Bengal. There were three large villages along the east bank of the river Ganges, named, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata. This was a total failure of English objectives in Bengal during the early period of 1689 which caused them abandoning Bengal as their trading location in eastern region. The empire reached its full glory in the 16th century during the reign of Akbar. In fact, within three months about half of Charnock's soldiers died and the remaining half were ready to be hospitalized. The British period, c. 1700–1947. At the same time, when the news of failure of Nicholson reached England, it was decided that until a fort was built on the bank of the river, the English would never be able to do business with ease and would always be on the mercy of the forces of the governor. Disraeli did, however, succeed in purchasing controlling shares in the Suez Canal Company, easing British worries over who would control the vital quick route to the east. The bedrock of the Mughal empire was laid in 1526 by Zahiruddin Babur. This is the first time English soldiers came on the soil of Bengal. While he was returning to Delhi, Englishmen sent with him a request to the Emperor to obtain a special firman to do business forever in Bengal; the Emperor was pleased to provide them the Firman and the occasion was celebrated with a 300 gun salute at Hooghly. At this time the governor asked them to return and settle at Hooghly, ordered them not to build any structure at Sutanuti and asked Charnock to pay a large sum of money for compensation. These three villages were bought by the British from the local land lords. The British gained strength in the region as the Mughal empire weakened. In the time of British India, Calcutta was regarded as "the second city of the British Empire"[19][according to whom?] Furthermore, Nanda Kumar was a Brahman, and his hanging caused widespread dismay and outrage in Calcutta. [16] After the death of his English wife, Charlotte, (who is buried in Park Street Cemetery) Hickey married a Bengali girl called Jemdanee, who died in childbirth in 1796, prompting him to write in his journal that "Thus did I lose as gentle and affectionately attached a girl as ever man was blessed with".[17]. Some years later they began to strengthen the defences against the French. The earlier British struggle with the French in south India had been but a dress rehearsal. Calcutta's intellectual life received a great boost in 1784 with the foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Sir William Jones, with the encouragement of Warren Hastings, himself no mean Oriental scholar. The reason… In this situation they considered that they would be extremely fortunate if they could hold their current position instead of their desires on Chittagong and for this matter they decided to ask forgiveness from the Emperor and requested to reinstate the previously obtained Firman. By this time Aurangzeb was camping at Visapur and was much aware of the fact that he was losing revenues from the Company trade and the Company ships could cause him much trouble by stopping the pilgrimage to Mecca since they controlled the sea-route. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The most accepted view is that it comes from the Hindu goddess Kali and the original name was KaliKshetra, "the place of Kali". Despite being almost totally destroyed by a cyclone, in which 60,000 died, on 5 October 1864, Calcutta grew, mostly in an unplanned way, in the next 150 years from 117,000 to 1,098,000 inhabitants (including suburbs), and now has a metropolitan population of approximately 14.6 million. During the rule of the emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658–1707), the English East India Company was permitted to establish its base at Calcutta ( Kolkata ). In 1985 Rajiv Gandhi referred to Calcutta as a "dying city" because of the social and political traumas. One thousand British settlers evacuated, including the military commanders, leaving one hundred or so behind. The shift of capital agitated the British traders, who at that time were all based out of Calcutta. The intense violence caused during the partition of India led to a shift in demographics in Bengal, and especially Kolkata; large numbers of Muslims left for East Pakistan, while hundreds of thousands of Hindus arrived to take their place. As a result, Ibrahim Khan invited Mr. Charnock back to Bengal; but Mr. Charnock refused to come back until a specific Firman with terms and conditions clearly specified was issued by the Emperor so that they would not be subjected to further humiliations. Many scholars in India and the West agree today that the British power depended upon excellent cooperation with Indian elites and that the British rule did not change the highly divisive caste … The renaming of cities in India started in 1947 following the end of the British imperial period.Several changes were controversial, and not all proposed changes were implemented. They also used the wealth of Bengal to defeat the French. The rent-roll of Akbar, the 16th century Mughal emperor, and the work of a Bengali poet, Bipradas Pipilai, of the late 15th century, both make mention of the city's early name's being Kolikata, from which Kolkata/Calcutta derive.[4]. The company’s control over Bengal was effectively consolidated in the 1770s when Warren Hastings brought the nawab’s administrative offices to Calcutta (now Kolkata) under his oversight. Revolutionary organisations like the Jugantar and the Anushilan Samiti were formed with the goal of using force against the British rulers. Join now. From there much of it was smuggled to Canton in China by foreign traders, eventually leading to the First Opium War (1839–1842). Moreover, the invasion of Nadir Shah (1738-39) was the last nail on the coffin, exposing the vulnerability of the Mughal authority. His residence in Hooghly was secured with soldiers obtained from Madras. From 1772 to 1911, Calcutta was the capital of British India. Until recently, it was believed that Job Charnock, an agent of the East India Company, had founded this city. This also fostered the Bengal Renaissance,[citation needed] an awakening of modern liberal thinking in 19th century Bengal, and which gradually percolated to the rest of India. taraknathhati6733 taraknathhati6733 04.06.2020 History Secondary School +5 pts. There he remained with his soldiers in an utterly inhospitable place full of mosquitoes, snakes and tigers. This culture was fostered in its wake by the Zamindari system, the Dayabhaga System the Hindu Joint Family System, the Mitakshara System, the Muslim Zenana System, the Protestant spirit of free capitalist enterprise, the Mughal-inspired feudal system and the Nautch. At the same time the admiral opened fire and burnt down 500 houses; property losses were about thirty lacs of rupees. Log in. In examining why the British never colonized Nepal, it is imperative to first clarify the nature of British rule in the subcontinent, and how it varied from preexisting state formations like that of the Gorkhas. Why did calcutta gain importance under the british Get the answers you need, now! After the nawab’s soldiers easily conquered the fort, they crammed the British prisoners into a small, dark basement. The 282-year-long period of the British domination in Bombay ended after India's Independence in 1947. When Madras fell to Dupleix, the British were still able to direct the war from another of their strongholds, Calcutta. Calcutta became plagued by power outages, labor unrest, disappearing industry, and violence from the Naxalite movement. It took almost 20 years for the British to plan and accomplish, under the architectural skills of Luytens and Baker. To protect their trade in Bengal, the original East India Company requested to build a fort in the mouth of Hooghly or on its banks. British raj, period of direct British rule over the Indian subcontinent following the uprising of 1857 and the abolition of the East India Company’s role in managing the region. British from the Naxalite movement the English were always looking for fortification of their factories in Bengal, Ibrahim never. The Fort and sacked why did calcutta rise under british town started rebuilding the city was a Brahman, and the remaining were. 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