There are several theories about the origin of Kolkata, erstwhile Calcutta in English, the name of the capital of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
There is lot of discussion on how the city got its name. There are different views on the issue. The most popular and likely one is that the city got its name from its connection to the Hindu goddess Adyashakti paramba Kali with the original name's being either Kalikshetra (in Sanskrit), meaning the place of Adyashakti Kāli, or Kalikkhetrô (the Bengali pronunciation of Kalikshetra), meaning "area of Goddess Kali", with Kolikata being thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô. This theory is the most possible one as in the rural Bengali pronunciation the 'kh' consonant is replaced by 'k' and the 'tro' joined consonant is replaced by 'to', resulting in Kalikhetrô being Kaliketô which is very close to Kolikata. Other more or less plausible theories abound, like:
The name derived from the location of the original settlement beside a khal (which means canal in English)
According to a folk etymology, Britishers, when they visited the city, saw the goddess with a skull garland. This reminded them of the place Golgotha, which later became Kolkotha.[citation needed]
According to another theory, the place was known for the manufacture of shell-lime. And the name derived from lime (kali) and burnt shell (kata).
An interesting, but very possibly casually fabricated, anecdote exists on the nomenclature of Kolkata. According to it, a British merchant was travelling through the village, when he came upon a peasant stacking hay into the barn. Not knowing where he was, the merchant asked the peasant about that place. The peasant, unfortunately, did not understand English, and he guessed that the sahib must be inquiring about the date the crop was harvested. In his own language, he replied "kāl kāʈa hoyechilo" which in Bengali language means "harvested yesterday" (kal – yesterday, kāʈa – cut, harvested). The merchant was happy in the knowledge that he had learned about the name of the place, and left the place. Following English transcription, "Kāl Kāʈa" became "Calcutta" [citation needed].
The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa, which may mean "dug".[9]
The name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila ("flat area").[10][11]
Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[12]
According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata; hence, it was called Kolikata.[11]
The area where the city is now located was originally inhabited by the people of three villages— Kalikata, Sutanuti and Gobindapur. However, the boundaries of the three villages gradually became less distinct, and before the battle of Plassey, the city could be divided into four different sub-areas – European Kolkata (Dihi Kolkata), a residential village with some sacred spots (Gobindapur), a traditional Indian market (Bazar Kalikata or Burrabazar) and a riverine mart concentrating on cloth trade (Sutanati).[13] After the battle of Plassey in 1757, the British started rebuilding the city with the notions of making it the capital for their Empire.
The Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003[14] that Job Charnock, the Englishman generally believed to be the founder of the Kolkata, is not the founder of the city and that hence Kolkata has no birthday. According to the court, the city owes 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 British established a modern township there. References to the existence of an ancient riverine port (named Kalikata) exist in the travel journals of Chinese scholars and Persian merchants dating from centuries BCE.[15] The Hindu epic Mahabharata, lists the King of "Vanga" (meaning Bengal), as having fought alongside the Kauravas in the great war.
In spite of the high court ruling, the growth of the present city can be dated from 1690, when Job Charnock, an agent of the English East India Company chose the place for a trade settlement. In 1698, the East India Company bought three villages (Sutanuti, Kalikata and Gobindapur) from a local landlord family of Sabarna Roy Choudhury. The next year, the company began developing the city as a Presidency City. In 1727, as per the order of King George I, a civil court was set up in the city. The Calcutta Municipal corporation (recently renamed as Kolkata Municipal Corporation) was formed and the city had its first mayor.
Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata or Kôlikata in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[16]
Notes
↑ ibn Mubārak, Abū al-Faz̤l; Blochmann, H. (1873). The Ain I Akbari. Harvard University. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal.
↑ ibn Mubārak, Abū al-Faz̤l (1873). The Ain I Akbari /. Calcutta. hdl:2027/hvd.hl426v.
Kolkata is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, 80 km (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary financial and commercial center of eastern and northeastern India. Kolkata is the seventh most populous city of India with an estimated city proper population of 4.5 million (0.45 crore). It is the centre of the Kolkata Metropolitan Region, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world with a population of over 15 million residents. Kolkata is the de facto cultural capital of India and historically and culturally significant city in the historic region of Bengal. It is the second largest Bengali-speaking city in the world. It has the highest number of Nobel laureates among all cities in India.
Job Charnock was an English administrator with the East India Company. He is commonly regarded as the founder of the city of Calcutta ; however, this view is challenged, and in 2003 the Calcutta High Court declared that he ought not to be regarded as the founder. There may have been inhabitants in the area since the first century CE. The High Court was right in claiming that villages that constituted colonial Calcutta were not established by Charnock or the British Raj itself, but Charnock’s ambition-driven doggedness toward setting up a East Indian Company frontier along the Eastern border of India that he could control on his own terms played a huge role in the creation of present day city of Calcutta.
Kolkata was a colonial city. The British East India Company developed Calcutta as a city by establishing an artificial riverine port in the 18th century CE. Kolkata was the capital of the British India until 1911, when the capital was relocated to Delhi. Kolkata grew rapidly in the 19th century to become the second most important city of the British Empire after London and was declared as the financial (commercial) capital of the British India. This was accompanied by the development of a culture that fused Indian philosophies with European tradition.
Kolkata district is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It only contains the entire city proper of Kolkata, the capital city of the state and therefore it is a city district. It is the smallest district in the state and also the most densely populated district.
Kalighat is a locality of Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in South Kolkata, Kalighat is also densely populated — with a history of cultural intermingling with the various foreign incursions into the area over time.
Khidirpur or Kidderpore is a neighbourhood of metropolitan Kolkata (Calcutta), in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India.
Kalikata was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Sutanuti. Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city. He settled in the village of Sutanuti.
Gobindapur was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Calcutta in late 17th century. The other two villages were Kalikata and Sutanuti. Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city. While Kalikata and Sutanuti lost their identity as the city grew, Gobindapur was demolished for the construction of new Fort William.
Sutanuti was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Kalikata. Sutanuti was set up along the banks of the Hooghly river which is a tributary of the Ganges river. The British had bribed mughal officials into granting rights of three cities, Gobindapur, Sutanuti and Kalikata to the British East India Company in the year 1651. The British built a factory and ware house there where goods for export were stored and many offices were built where company officials sat. This became the base for the company's trades known as factors. As trade increased the company persuaded merchants and traders to settlle there. By 1696 the British had started building fortifications there which eventually led to the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The factory eventually turned into Fort William. Eventually the village grew and merged with the other two settlements to form Kolkata. Sutanuti eventually became part of North Kolkata in the present day.
Gobindram Mitter was one of the earliest Indian officials during the Company rule in India, who earned reputation for his wealth and extravagance.
Sarsuna is a neighborhood in South West Kolkata. It is a part of the greater Behala region and can be reached via Chowrasta or through Barisha. It is a predominantly Bengali neighborhood, though its fast becoming a cosmopolitan place. It is bordered by Barisha in the east and Maheshtala to the west.
Sabarna Roy Choudhury was a Zamindar family of Mughal Bengal. They controlled significant swathes of territory, including what would later become Kolkata, prior to the sale of zamindari rights in 1698 to the East India Company.
Kumortuli is a traditional potters' quarter in northern Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The city is renowned for its sculpting prowess. It not only manufactures clay idols for various festivals but also regularly exports them.
Bagbazar is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar, the citadel of the Bengali aristocracy. Bagbazar has played an active role in growth and development of Kolkata.
Shyampukur is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. As a neighbourhood, it covers a small area but its importance is primarily because of the police station.
Jorabagan is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. As a neighbourhood, it covers a small area but its importance is primarily because of the police station.
Shobhabazar is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district, in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Betore was a major trading centre, the location being around present Shibpur in Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Sett is a Bengali surname, derived from "Shreshthi" . Shreshthis were the oldest known businessmen in northern India. The name was changed to "Shethi" during the medieval period. After the arrival of the East India Company in India, the surname was anglicised to "Sheth" and later to "Sett".
Dihi Panchannagram was a group of 55 villages which the East India Company purchased in 1758 from Mir Jafar, after the fall of Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, in what is now the city of Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in Kolkata district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. These villages initially developed as suburbs of Kolkata, but now forms part of the city proper within the limits of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
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