History of Kolkata

Get poised by the Glory of Kolkata, the city of joy for the History of Kolkata abounds in instances talking of such goods which have termed this place as the City of Joy. Come here; enjoy the rich cultural heritage of this cultural capital of India.

The City of Joy's documented history began with the arrival of the British East India Company in 1690. Job Charnock, a Company administrator who finally established in Sutanuti was conventionally ascribed as the founder of Kolkata.

The city of Kolkata then known as Calcutta was named the capital of British India in the year 1772. On those days the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River.

Richard Wellesley, the Governor General between 1797–1805, was mostly responsible for the expansion of the city and its civic structural design which actually led to the depiction of Kolkata as 'the City of Palaces'.

Kolkata port, an important military base during WW2 was established in the year 1945. The city experienced speedy industrial growth from the 1850s, particularly in the cloth and jute sectors, which caused an enormous venture in infrastructure projects like rail roads and telegraph by the British Raj.

The effect of British and Indian culture resulted in the coming out of a new Babu class of urbane Indians—Asia's first middle class—whose members were often professionals, read newspapers, were Anglophiles, and usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.

Bengal Renaissance took place throughout the nineteenth century resulting in the all-purpose elevating of the people.

In 1883, Surendranath Banerjee organised a national conference.

Step by step Kolkata became the heart of the Indian independence movement, particularly revolutionary organizations.

The 1905 Partition of Bengal on communal grounds resulted in well-known public agitation and the boycott of British goods (Swadeshi movement).

During the Second World War, as food stocks were being preoccupied to feed Allied troops, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943.

Over the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Maoist movement — the Naxalites — hurt much of the city's infrastructure, leading to a financial stagnation.

In 1971, war between India and Pakistan led to the mass invasion of refugees into Kolkata resulting in an immense damage on its infrastructure.

Since 2000, Information Technology (IT) services revitalized the city’s stagnant economy. The city has also experienced a growth in the manufacturing sector.