Show A BRIEF HISTORY OF CALCUTTA THE DATA OF WHICH IS DRAWN FROM VARIOUS AUTHENTIC SOURCES EMBRACING THE TRE FIRST settlement OF THE TIIE ENGLISH TOGETHER WITH ITS PRESENT description DY ELDER N X V JONES calcutta is situated about one hundred miles from tile the sea oil on tile tiie eastern bank of tho tile western branch of the ganges gauges called by europeans the hongly or calcutta river by tile the natives bhag eel ateo and the true ganges and topside considered red by thein as a holy stream fort furl william its cita citadel dei def stands elands in latitude 22 0 23 3 N I 1 longitude 8 4 s 22 E oaf Caf calcutta eutta may irmy be sid said lo 10 have been founded by job Ch charnick Charn arnick arvick ck and is built on a dead level with a rich fecunda ted soil since 1717 the j jungle forest has been cleared away to a certa certain iii distance and the tile streets properly constructed and drai dral drained ned nod aula auld ail aul d the ponds filled up by which a vast surface of stagnant water has been removed especially in tint that portion that call can properly be called new calcutta the old od has lias been but little changed bui but the air of the city is still much affected by tile the near proximity ol 01 the tile salt lakes at high water the i ver sven is here a full mile in breadth but during the tiie ebb tide the tile shore exposes a lorg range of of muddy banks banic is which are daily increasing in slee site s we by the depo its ils of mud irom from the feculent turbid waters at p the niver river rive i r on oil approaching calcutta from th alie th e stranger is much with the magnificence of us its appearance the elegant villas oil on each side of tile hie river the government govern ment mant and companas comp anys botanical tail tali leal gardens the and minarets mina of the numerous churches and temples s and the strong and regular citadel of fort william lilliain Vill vili lain iain make that impression upon tile the nind of the stranger that is seldom if ever eradicated especially tf if 1 lle he lizs come from a long sea voyage in 1771 it exhibited a very different appearance the place where the tile present town now stands was then a village villi ige appertaining to the district ol 01 luddia the tiie houses of which were scattered in clusters of ten or twelve each and the innabi tants chiefly husbandmen husban husbaD dinen A forest then existed to tw tile the south of chand paul ghant wll wil which ich was afterwards removed by degrees between Kidder pore and tile the forest were two villages whose inhabitants were invited to settle in calcutta by the ancient family of the sells se lis ils who that time merchants of great note and very instrumental in bri bringis bringing ngin ngip calcutta into the present form of a town fort william and tile the esplanade are the sites where the forest and the villages before mentioned stood in 1717 there were straggling villages consisting of or small houses surrounded by puddles of water where now stand tile the elegant houses houes of chow ghee and in 1742 a ditch was dug round rould considerable sid erable portion of calcutta to prevent tiie tile incursions cur of the tile Maharr attas and is still known by the name of the Mah arratta ditch it appears from ormes li astory story of tile the wars of bengil bengal th t at the time of its capture by sera fand land bowlah in 1756 1755 there were about seventy houses in the town belonging to the tile english tile tiie esplanade and the site of fort william was all a jungle at the time though it was evident that the first ell eil english 9 lish settlement was long iong antel antei lor to this tilis date it has lias without doubt been a com corn iner mercial marcial cial clai depot than any of the records of the place now ilow show the old cemetery of calcutta bears inscriptions of english merch ants and seamen as far back as the thirteenth century thi the town ol 01 0 calcutta extends along the east batik kalik bank of the tiie river jar over ovel six miles but tile the breadth varies much at if florent places tile the esplanade between the town and fort william leaves a grand opening along the borders of which is placed the tile government ment house erected bysshe by the marquis maiquis of wellesley C oil on a lino line with this edifice is a range of magnificent houses beautifully fully rully orna in buted with spacious verandas at every floor and terraced roofs ls the tile conventional divisions of the city which are but two aro arc tolerably well defined and may be described as follows a line drawn from lle ile lie the new gew mint on the river banks due east to the burrall barrah bazar baz ar and from there to where Gossit ollah oliah st crosien loll 1011 bazar street and from there due east to the oil on upper circular road antl and from hasting hastings bridge oil on hollys mullah in a northeasterly north easterly direction to the lower Circular road will the whole of the space occupied by the christian chi istian community while a similar procesa process of demarcation commencing at the new mint and running as above mentioned including all of the streets northward as far as Chit pore bridge and the boundary of the tile Mah arratta ditch will comprehend the greater portion of the city which is occupied by the tile natives tile tiie natives however are not exclusively confined fined to this portion of the city the european division istl fill ision is thickly settled with them a great in n of which are and the tile lower order oi 01 1 Hin dous doos while buttery but very few of the europeans llave their abode in the native portion of the city in the native division of the tile city with but very few exceptions the tha streets are like those of most oriental cities exceedingly narrow and the houses lofty with loop holes tor lor windows made to close with shutters and are invariably built with the tile bicks backs to the street and ia in the form of a li hollow ollow square and lind it is strictly against their caste to allow a european to even come luto into that part of the hou houe houie io occupied by their families and they are lo 10 so tenacious in respect to this that the europeans beans yeans hare hava never been able to correctly get the tile census of the city there are whole squares of buildings in the tiie heart of the native portion of the city that a white man never saw the inside of the lower rooms are seldom inhabit inhabited eds being principally used for shops and store rooms r koms boms the business portion of the city is comprised between chand pul pud ghaut chaut alid and the tha new mint on the he river bank and from the former to lle ile lie the lead head of street at its junction with dur and road and from the new mint in all an eastern direction to the tile burrah bazar and a line drawn from that to 0 o the tilo head of will complete the tiie deff defilement the western divi division blon bion of the city is hy by far tile tha finest portion it is chiefly the residence of tile tiie Ticia ls rich mol moi chants and functionaries function aries of calcutta and if there is any propriety in III the term city aty of palaces it will apply to this tilis portion the stranger trauger on oil viewing the esplanade and chow li r road from the citadel of fort william about sundown would say that the title was not altogether inappropriate some of the llie streets in this division are of great dimensions a tile the road for instance which is two miles in length average width not dot less than 80 feet this however is only built oil en the eastern side facing the plain or aidan which is from three fourths of a mile to one and a quarter miles in width and separating it from the river the houses are mostly of gigantic proportions averaging from forty to sixty feet in height beight with spacious verandahs verandas veran daks dahs and colo nades hades which overlook oveil ovell ook the fort william and the tiie shipping lying in the river on oil the western tide tlde of the road are ore several large tanks which supply that part of the town with eater water the midair is enclosed with a brick fence the llie upper portion portions js panelled panel led and dhe alie interstices f filled with rounded tile resembling turned posts of wood the whole is re fitted every year aich which gives it a clean and neat appearance the is some somewhat whai what jess in extent there are ho ta ever never many fine bildings bul hul dings on the line of this street which have all an elegant outward appearance the interstices oil on both sides of the street are filled up tip with native hovels which are rude structures built of mud and bamboo bain buin boo some are enclosed with matts they are chiefly covered w willi it litile tile their near vicinity to tile abodes of the tile europeans places before the mind ever and anon alion the contrast between a palace and a shanty chaudney Chand ney choke chioke or thieving bazar is situated oil on this street you will invariably find t tile lle streets full of peddlers and retailers of all c escarp cioll eions s I 1 who vilo seriously encroach upon the public thoroughfare they are not confined to tills this street alone but are so found generally throughout the city which renders a walk iu in the tho streets anything but agreeable vei wellesley wellesley Vel lesley iesley is a street of considerable dimensions it is is lined almost continuously with native buts huts which present a most unsightly appearance they tiley are con constructed strutted chiefly of ma mats s made from a sort eort of large cane grass which are tied to the frame fraine work of the he buildt buildings gs which are of bam 1 boo see sei in the groland the roofs are mostly made of tile some ara thatched with grass and are tire generally from five to eidt feet from the ground the Kal assee or native seamans quarters are ore situated in the most central portion of this street near liere where jt it intersects with jaun iaun azar street a and ud is inhabited by a debauched and other otherwise ise lse totally demoralize demoralized mass it is a resort generally gener lally vally for those that are out of employment employ mentor or who live by tha wages of prostitution the most part of the street in this vicinity is a nuisance this tills and jaun J a un bazar street and the adjacent lanes and alley alleys s support not less than female prostitutes the upper and lower circular roads which nearly encompass the city on its eastern or landward side are long and are of very fine proportions and called so from the limits they prescribe as their name indicates they form the eastern boundary of the city and alid lun fun lun iun parallel wilh with the maharatta Mah aratta ditch the roads alde aide are sparsely settled by europeans and by far tile the greatest number of these these are on the calcutta side while the back ground of the other is filled with jungle and native huts which is a great reat drawback to to its app appearance arance and gives a desolate aspect to the entire roads like most of the other streets this also is crowded with natives and their being bein rios no such thing in all calcutta as a side walk there is of course but little safety to the tile pedestrian the fear of being run over by horses a and carriages keeps him constantly on the tiie alei aielt t there are also some ome very fine streets in the iha quarter they are arp generally short but of good proportions of which I 1 might name russel paik park carna carra cana and lowdon old court howe home street is of the most magnificent proportions it is not less than 90 feet in width and so something methin near one mile and a half in length commencing at toll bazaar oil on the tile northeast north east corner of tank square and running west by the governor generals palace crossin crossing the eplan E plan pian adeana ade and the aidan OI 01 this his street are situated some of the first business bus hies bies houses botes in calcutta calcutta proper has bas about miles of streets and contains a population of one million of inhabitants the principal square is called tank square ritu situ situated north of old court Hous HouE estreet and west of loll 1011 bazaar in the heart of the business portion of the city containing an area of about yards square in the center of which is an extensive tank v surrounded by a handsome iron railing and having a gradation of steps to the bottom of which is 60 feet the remainder of the square is beautifully laid off into grass plots and beds for shrubs and flowers and is often resorted to by the middle aw alid lower classes for an evening promenade there are also in the eastern portion of the city wellington and wellesley squares situated on streets bearing the same name each of which contains a tank tand in point of locality they are inferior to tank square both are enclosed by an iron railing and supply that part of the city with water calcutta has no walls or other outward appliance of a fortified town for the called tile the Ma Maharat baratta fa ditch merits no such rank though it was constructed ostensibly for that pur pose and if at tile the time it made any defensive appearance pe arance it has long iong since lost it th the whole city is supplied with di hiking water f from ra m I 1 its t s numerous tanks the tanks are supplied from the periodical rain rains called burrah hurrah bahgat 1 1 or more properly the south west monsoons which commence about the of june and en end about the first of october during the dry season they are supplied from the river river by means of steam hydraulic works which raise raise it fi flom om the river to a large reservoir reservoir from which it is is conveyed by means of aqueducts to almost all parts of the tile city where it is is used for watering the streets and replenishing the tanks calcutta hast has gen wen expensive sive irregular and thickly peopled environs environ but the E europeans europeans uro thereal thereabouts bouls aie die few and far between of the suburban localities cali call tiep ties there are but two worthy of note dote in tolly east of the circular road and at tile the termination of street sheet is is chiefly innab lied by the middle and lower classes garden I 1 reach about four miles south of the town is is by far the most im important and lias has a magnificent appearance pe arance some of the buildings are oil on a large scale of grandeur and elegance and afe are laid off it in miniature representation of beautiful tile the east and north are con lined with w ith native villages and hus buls tile the population of calcutta is much larger during tile the day then at night the natives cross the nver river by thousand going to and from their labor fort william commands tile the country anand and in in an could contain the entire christian hr st ian lan kopul population won it stan star stanis stands ids on the east bank of the river ahou abou phoutone tone one quarter ora ot a mile below lie lle the lown and is is in in strength and ity I 1 to 0 an any y forar fortress sa in in india it is of nearly an octagonal t form five of the sides being part of a r regular lepason he pason while the he forms forma of the ollied three are according to local circumstances the five regular sides are towards the he land the bastions here have retired flanks and oril orillous lons ions also an inverse double flank at the height of ha the beam this double flank is an excellent defence and would altogether preclude the passage of tile the ditch as from its form it cannot bf be enfiladed tile the barme opposite to the curtain serves as a rond rood to it and contributes to the defence of the ditch the ditch ii is dr dry ti with a lunette in in the middle the water of the ditches are received by means of two sluices juices that are commanded by the fort on the he river bank 1 the covered way or entrance is is excellent every curtain is covered by a large |