History:In 1690, Job Charnok, an agent of the East India Company chose this place for a British trade settlement. 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. There were three large villages along the east bank of the river Ganges, named, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata. These three villages were bought by the British from the local land lords. The Mughal emperor granted East India Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees. How did the city get the name Calcutta ? Different opinions: It was a village; the capital city of Bengal was Murshidabad, around 60 miles north of Calcutta. In 1756, Siraj-ud-daullah, Nawab of Bengal, attacked the city and captured the fort. Calcutta was recaptured in 1757 by Robert Clive when the British defeated Siraj-ud-daullah on the battle field of Plassy. In 1772, Calcutta became the capital of British India, and the first Governor General Warren Hastings moved all important offices from Murshidabad to Calcutta. Till 1912, Calcutta was the capital of India, when the British moved the capital city to Delhi. In 1947, when India gained freedom and the country got partitioned between India and Pakistan, Calcutta was included in the Indian part of Bengal, West Bengal. Calcutta became the capital city of the state of West Bengal. What was Calcutta like before the British came? Kalikata is derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra meaning “Ground of the Goddess Kali.” Some say the city’s name is derived from the location of it’s original settlement on the bank of a canal (khal). Some match the name to the Bengali words for lime (kali) and burnt shell (kata), since the area was noted for manufacturing shell-lime. Another opinion is that the name is derived from the Bengali term kilkila(meaning, “flat area”), which is mentioned in the old literature
Culture: It is fun to explore the culture of Kolkata India. Over here, the days begin with a cup of tea and thereafter people leave from their houses to enjoy the morning breeze. They carry out their fitness workout consisting of walking, jogging, stretching etc. Bengal offers a mind-blowing variety of sweets and yummy mouthwatering dishes. Read on to know more about Calcutta culture: Kolkata is truly a city of talent and passion, where people are lively and have an enthusiasm to live life to the fullest. If you want to get well versed with the Kolkatta culture, the best way is to look out for a friend over there and join adda i.e. the local parlance where chat sessions are held. Discussions take place on a wide variety of subjects ranging from politics, sports, religion, news, books, art, films, music, food etc. The discussions are healthy and never end with arguments or an ugly note. Bengalis are very fond of music. Infact, if you go about visiting houses in the neighborhood, you'll find that there is an aspiring singer in almost every home. Bengalis love to indulge in yummy food. Infact, every meal ends up with some delicious dessert. For people who love eating junk food, Calcutta is just an apt place. Festivities are an integral part of the city. Calcutta hosts a variety of fairs, film fests, music conferences and folk fairs. It houses the Marwaris, Parsis, Anglo Indians, Jews, Armenians and the joyous people of China town. Kolkata has a plethora of tourist attraction places encompassing museums, galleries, heritage buildings, amusement parks, temples, churches and synagogues.http://www.reckontalk.com/calcutta-history-in-pics-kolkata-rare-photos-part-1/
Origin:In 2001, India’s ‘Cultural Capital’ Calcutta was renamed Kolkata “in order to match Bengali pronunciation”. However, the origins of the city’s name are still shrouded in mystery. Here are some of the most popular theories regarding the origins of the name of India’s City of Joys.1. Due to the high mortality rate among the colonists, the Englishmen called the Cultural Capital of India ‘Gol gotha’ (land of skulls). Some scholars suggest this Biblical phrase was the source for the nomenclature of the city. 2. As per A Short History of Calcutta by A.K. Ray, the name Calcutta was born out of Kilkila (an ancient province around 21 yojanas or 160 miles in extent). Ray says that Kilkila was a province with Saraswati on the west and Jamuna on the East, and contained the towns and villages of Hooghly, Basberia, Bhatpara, Khardaha, Sialdaha, Govindapur, etc.3. Some scholars are of the opinion that the city derives its name from Kol-ka-hata, the territory of the Kols (a Dravidian tribe). But there are no records of the Kols inhabiting the lower Bengal, and the very term Kol seems to be of late origin.4. The Englishmen faced stiff competition from other European trading powers in India such as the Dutch, Danes, French, and Portuguese. To compete with the cloth exported by the Portuguese from Calicut, the English stamped ‘Kalikat’ on their exports from Bengal, thus giving rise to the name.5. Another very popular and celebrated explanation was the existence of a warehouse for burning crustacean shells to prepare unslaked lime in that area. People used the term Kata used for a warehouse or kiln, and kali for unslaked lime, hence the name, ‘Kalikata’. However, we do not know for certain whether such trade flourished in this part of Bengal.6. Khal in Bangla, as in other languages of North India, is a canal or a ditch, and kata is cut or excavated. ‘Khal-kata’ thus, as many scholars prescribe, is the source of the English form Calcutta.
