CALCUTTA~THE BEGINNING

THE CITY OF KALI

Episode I

The story of Kolkata as we know it starts with the Sabarno Roy Chowdhury family. The origin is traced back to the 10th Century CE, when Adisura brought five Brahmins to Bengal, one of whom is an ancestor to Sabarno Roy Chowdhury. Later, Panchanan Gangopadhyay (Panchu Saktikhan) of the family acquired the Khan title from the Mughal Emperor Humayun in the sixteenth century, for his bravery as a cavalry in charge of Pathan soldiers. He built a palace at Halisahar and the family spread from there to Uttarpara, Birati, Barisha and Kheput.

The three villages of Sutanuti, Govindapur and Kalikata were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor himself, whose jagirdari rights were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. On 10 November 1698, they transferred, by lease, their rights over the three villages to the East India Company much against their wishes and protests.

Lal Dighi (or red tank), that still stands in the middle of B. B. D. Bagh in the heart of commercial district of Kolkata was part of the kutchery (court-house) and temple of their family deity-Shyam Rai, set in the centre of the settlement. One story is that Lal Dighi is so named because of the red colour the water acquired during dol, the festival of colours. Another is that the water reflected the red colour of the fort. John Anthony was a Portuguese who worked for the Roy Chowdhury family.He was the grandfather of Anthony Firingee of Firingee Kalibari and Kavigan/literary face-offs fame. He was once famously whipped by Job Charnock for preventing his men from entering the enclosure where the women of the family were bathing.
Dalhousie area which is the business district since East India Company times, developed in the court-house area that was first taken on rent and later purchased by the British East India Company.
In photo: Dalhousie Square renamed as B.B.D. Bagh where Binoy,Badal&Dinesh (the trio of early revolutionaries in the independence movement of India) were martyred; and the 200 year old St.Andrew's church and Writers building reflected in the waters of the tank.

The Subarno Roy Chowdhury family has been celebrating Durga Puja since 1610 in their ancestral home at Barisha and it is the oldest organized festival in Kolkata region.
In Photo:The oldest Durga temple in Kolkata of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Built in 1610 by Laksmikanta Gangopadhyay. Source: Wikipedia, Biswarup Ganguly

The 'Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad', the supreme family organisation and nine other intellectuals of the city filed a public interest litigation before the Kolkata High Court in 2001 demanding a probe into the matter whether Job Charnock can be regarded as the founder of Kolkata. The Court, upon an Expert Committee finding, declared on 16 May 2003, that Job Charnock cannot be regarded as the founder of the city and 24th August also cannot be considered as the city's birthday. However, there is no doubt that it is Job Charnock who transformed three small villages on an inhospitable tract of riverbank into what was to become the premier city in India. Of all the great cities of modern India, Calcutta it is that owes its existence to the vision and commitment of one man.

Reference of Calcutta in ancient texts: Kalikatah is mentioned in the Bengali poetry Manasamangal written by Bipradas Pipilai in 1495 as lying next to a Kali mandir or Kalighat.