1.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
2.
States and union territories of India
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India is a federal union comprising twenty-nine states and seven union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and further into smaller administrative divisions, the Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any State between the Union and that State. The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by different ethnic groups throughout its history. Between 1947 and 1950, the territories of the states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, the new republic was also declared to be a Union of States. The nine Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India, the Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin. The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners provinces and some states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Cutch, Manipur, Tripura, the only Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Union Territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states, as a result of this act, Madras State retained its name with Kanyakumari district added to from Travancore-Cochin. Andhra Pradesh was created with the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State in 1956, kerala was created with the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. The Laccadive Islands which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State were united and organised into the territory of Lakshadweep. Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra State and Kutch State, Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal. Bombay State was split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963, the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. The act also designated Chandigarh as a territory and the shared capital of Punjab
3.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
4.
Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
5.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
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Kolkata Municipal Corporation or KMC is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. This civic administrative body administers an area of 200.71 km2 and its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali script. KMC is headed by Sovan Chatterjee the present Mayor of Kolkata, the KMC was established in 1876. Later mayors include Deshapriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque, the city is divided into 144 administrative wards that are grouped into 15 boroughs. Each of these elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee consisting of the elected from the respective wards of the boroughs. The Corporation, through the committees, maintains government-aided schools, hospitals and municipal markets and partakes in urban planning. The corporation as the apex body discharges its function through the Mayor-in-Council, consisting of a mayor, assisted by a deputy mayor, the mayor is responsible for the overall functioning of the KMC and has a tenure of five years. At present, the All India Trinamool Congress holds the power in the KMC, recently the KMC has faced a lot of criticism for legalising unauthorized construction largely responsible for a number of deaths because of fire. This was also responsible of the growth in the city. The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, the Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences. Another ancillary civic body is the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority responsible for the statutory planning, the KMA includes a large suburban hinterland around the urban centres of Kolkata. The jurisdiction of the KMC covers the area covered by the Kolkata Police, according to KMC website, erstwhile Joka-I & Joka-II Gram Panchayats were added to municipal limits, although information on their distribution into wards was not available. This addition increases the area of KMC to 200.71 square kilometres, in 2011, it was announced that Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation area will be coterminous. Kolkata Postal District however extends right up to Barrackpur in the North, Barasat in the East, up to Baruipur in South-East and Joka in South, the Postal code in this entire area starts with 700, indicating Postal Sorting District of Kolkata. Thus Kolkata Postal area is bigger than the area of KMC. In general term, people identify a locality with its Postal address, Postal address of people residing in the delivery jurisdiction of any of the 160 Delivery Post offices of Kolkata will be having PIN Code no. from 700001 to 700160. So for all practical purpose, anyone residing in Kolkata Postal area, the KMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city
6.
Kolkata Metro
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The network currently consists of one operational line of 27.22 km from Noapara to Kavi Subhash with five other lines in various phases of construction. The Kolkata Metro was the first metro railway in India, opening for services from 1984. On 29 December 2010, Metro Railway, Kolkata became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways, there are 300 metro services daily carrying over 650,000 passengers making it the second busiest metro system in India. After independence in 1947, the problem of Kolkata drew the attention of city planners. It was soon realized something had to be done quickly in order to cope with the situation. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, first conceived in 1949, a survey was done by a team of French experts, but nothing concrete came of this. With a view to finding solutions to alleviate the suffering of commuters. The MTP, with help of Soviet specialists and East German engineers, prepared a plan to provide five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata. However, only three were selected for construction.45 km, and the work on this project was sanctioned on 1 June 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, on 29 December 1972, B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury - often against the prevailing socio-political stance of his contemporaries in the West Bengal government. The first metro was driven by Tapan Kumar Nath and Sanjoy Sil, the service was quickly followed by commuter services on another 2.15 km stretch in the north between Dum Dum and Belgachhia on 12 November 1984. The commuter service was extended up to Tollygunge on 29 April 1986 covering a distance of 4.24 km making the service available over a distance of 9.79 km. However, the services on the section were suspended with effect from 26 October 1992. After a gap of more than eight years, the 1.62 km Belgachhia-Shyambazaar section, another 0.71 km stretch from Esplanade to Chandni Chowk was commissioned shortly afterwards, on 2 October 1994. The Shyambazaar-Shobhabazar-Girish Park and Chandni Chowk-Central sections were opened on 19 February 1995, services on the entire stretch of the Metro were introduced from 27 September 1995 by bridging the vital gap of 1.80 km in the middle. The latest extension constructed was the 2.59 km elevated corridor from Dum Dum to Noapara on 10 July 2013, the state government has also prepared a detailed project report on a proposed extension of East West Metro from Howrah Maidan to Santragachhi. Rites, the agency for the 10 km East-West Metro extension project from Howrah Maidan to Santragachhi bus terminus, is set to start work on the corridor early in 2017. In 2010, the Railway Ministry announced plans for the construction of five new metro lines, commuters of Line 1 will be able to interchange trains going towards the Airport via Line 4
7.
Borassus
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Borassus is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and New Guinea. These massive palms can grow up to 30 m high and have robust trunks with distinct leaf scars, in some species the trunk develops a distinct swelling just below the crown, the leaves are fan-shaped, 2–3 m long and with spines along the petiole margins. The leaf sheath has a cleft at its base, through which the inflorescences appear, old leaf sheaths are retained on the trunk. The fruits are 15–25 cm wide, roughly spherical and each contain 1-3 large seeds, depending on species, fruit color varies from black to brown, yellow or orange, the fibrous pulp is aromatic and sweet to taste. Each seed is enclosed in a woody endocarp, which protects it when the fruit is consumed by elephants, monkeys, the palmyra palm has long been one of the most important trees of Cambodia and India, where it has over 800 uses. The leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, in Cambodia, the tree is a national floral symbol/emblem that is seen growing around Angkor Wat. Palmyra palm can live for over 100 years, in ancient India and Indonesia, Palmyra leaves were used as writing paper, with their parallel veins providing a useful rule. In India, mature leaves of size, shape and texture were chosen. Once dry enough, the surfaces were polished with pumice, cut to the proper size. Each leaf has four pages and a stylus is used to write, completed leaves are then tied up as sheaves. The black timber is hard, heavy, and durable and highly valued for construction, especially in structures exposed to water, such as wharves, fences, the tree also yields many types of food. The young plants are cooked as a vegetable or roasted and pounded to make meal, the fruits are eaten roasted or raw, as are the young, jelly-like seeds. It is called Gula Jawa in Indonesia and is used in Javanese cuisine. The roots can be dried to form Odiyal, a hard chewable snack, in addition, the tree sap is taken as a laxative, and medicinal values have been ascribed to other parts of the plant. The Palmyra tree is the tree of Tamil Nadu. In Tamil culture it is called karpaha, nungu celestial tree, the recently germinated seeds form fleshy sprouts below the surface which can be boiled and eaten as a fibrous, nutritious food. The germinated seeds hard shell is cut open to take out the crunchy kernel which tastes like a water chestnut. The ripe fibrous outer layer of the fruits is edible after boiling or roasting, when the fruit is tender, the kernel inside the hard shell is an edible jelly that is refreshing and rich in minerals
8.
Evan Cotton
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Sir Harry Evan Auguste Cotton CIE, better known as Evan Cotton or H. E. A. Cotton, was a Liberal politician, barrister, administrator, journalist, historian and writer. His Calcutta Old and New, first published in 1909, remains unsurpassed to this day and he had his early schooling at Mount Liban School, Pau and then at Sherborne School. He held a scholarship at Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a second class in Classics Honour Mods, followed by second class degrees in history. He was a debater and was elected secretary and then treasurer of the Oxford Union. He was called to the bar by Lincolns Inn, Cotton practised at Calcutta High Court from 1893 to 1908. He served as a member of Calcutta Municipal Corporation and he covered the Delhi Durbar of 1903 as a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. He subsequently served as the Kolkata correspondent of the Daily News and he undertook the editorship of India, the weekly organ of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. He served as President of the Bengal Legislative Council from 1922 to 1925 and he was an active member of the Indian Historical Records Commission and was chairman from 1923 to 1925. Evan returned to England in 1906 and joined the Liberal Party and his father was himself a Liberal MP who sat for Nottingham East from 1906–1910. In March 1913 he was re-elected to the LCC, In July 1918, Cotton was an obvious candidate to defend the seat for the Liberal Party. The Coalition Government chose to endorse the Unionist candidate who was the sitting MP for the old Central seat. In all his activities, his concern was for India. He provided strong support to the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and served on a committee at the India Office in connection with the 1919 Act. He was pivot of a group that supported reforms. However, the political environment dampened his spirits. He later became a critic of the constitutional changes that led to the Round Table Conference. In 1896, he married Nora, daughter of William H. Grimley of Bengal ICS
9.
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
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Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley KG PC PC was styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781 and was known as Earl of Mornington from 1781 until 1799. He was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator and he was the eldest son of The 1st Earl of Mornington, an Irish peer, and Anne, the eldest daughter of The 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was also the brother of Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington and he first made his name as Governor-General of India between 1798 and 1805 and later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Wellesley was born in 1760 in Ireland, where his family were part of the Ascendancy and he was educated at the Royal School, Armagh, Harrow School and Eton College, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar, and at Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1782, due to the extravagance of his father and grandfather, he found himself so indebted that he was ultimately forced to sell all the Irish estates. However, in 1781 he was appointed to the position of Custos Rotulorum of Meath. In 1784 he joined also the British House of Commons as member for Bere Alston, soon afterwards he was appointed a Lord of the Treasury by William Pitt the Younger. Mornington seems to have caught Pitts large political spirit in the period 1793 to 1797, Robert Clive won and Warren Hastings consolidated the British ascendancy in India, but Mornington extended it into an empire. On the voyage outwards, he formed the design of annihilating French influence in the Deccan, soon after his landing, in April 1798, he learned that an alliance was being negotiated between Tipu Sultan and the French republic. Mornington resolved to anticipate the action of the enemy, and ordered preparations for war, the first step was to effect the disbandment of the French troops entertained by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The invasion of Mysore followed in February 1799, and the campaign was brought to a conclusion by the capture of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799. In 1803, the restoration of the Peshwa proved the prelude to the Mahratha war against Sindhia and he found the East India Company a trading body, but left it an imperial power. He was an excellent administrator, and picked two of his brothers for his staff, Arthur was his military adviser, and Henry was his personal secretary. He founded Fort William College, a training centre intended for those who would be involved in governing India, a free-trader like Pitt, he endeavoured to remove some of the restrictions on the trade between Britain and India. He reached England just in time to see Pitt before his death and he had been created a Peer of Great Britain in 1797, and in 1799 became Marquess Wellesley in the Peerage of Ireland. He formed a collection of over 2,500 painted miniatures in the Company style of Indian natural history. A motion by James Paull to impeach Wellesley due to his expulsion of the traders from Oudh was defeated in the House of Commons by 182 votes to 31 in 1808. Resolutions condemning him for the abuse of power were moved in both the Lords and Commons, but defeated by large majorities, in 1809 Wellesley was appointed ambassador to Spain
10.
Muhammad Mohsin
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Muhammad Mohsin was a prominent philanthropist in Bengal. His most notable contribution was during the famine of Bengal during 1769-70. Mohsin was born to Haji Faizullah and Zainab Khanam in Hughli in 1732 and he was home-schooled and gained knowledge in the study of the Quran, Hadith and the Fiqh. Later, he went on a voyage to other countries of Asia, including the regions in current-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and he also made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and visited Medina, Kufa, Karbala and other holy places. After performing the Hajj, he was given the title Haji, following his return, Mohsin took over the management of the estate of his half-sister, Munnujan. She was the widow of Mirza Salahuddin, the Naib-faujdar or deputy military governor of Hughli working for the Nawab of Bengal and she inherited a fortune from her mother Zainab, whose first husband Aga Motahar had much land and properties in Hughli, Jessore, Murshidabad and Nadia. After Munnujans death in 1803, Mohsin inherited all of her fortune and he bequeathed this fortune for charity and created a Waqf or trust in 1806, with his entire wealth of 156,000 taka. He also gave 40 acres of land out of 42 acres for establishing Govt, which is the 10 th College of Bangladesh and the very first college of the southern part of Bangladesh. Mohsin died on 29 November 1812, due to his immense contributions in the field of education, Mohsin is the namesake of many educational institutions in India and Bangladesh. The New Hooghly College in Chinsura, West Bengal, which now bears his name as the Hooghly Mohsin College was established by him and he is the namesake of Government Hazi Mohammad Mohshin College, Chittagong, Bangladesh. and the Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall, University of Dhaka. He is also the namesake of a Bangladesh Navy base located in Dhaka
11.
Aliah University
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Aliah University, is a state government controlled minority autonomous university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008 and it offers multiple modern day professional undergraduate and postgraduate programs in different Engineering, Arts, Science and Management subjects respectively. Professor Abu Taleb Khan is its present vice chancellor, admission to most undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Aliah University is granted through written entrance examinations. Admission to M. S. and Ph. D. programmes is based primarily on a personal interview, but Ph. D programme is open to all, not only for the Aliah Universities students. Candidates who qualify for admission through AUAT can apply for admission to LLM, Integrated MBA, Integrated MCA, Integrated M. Sc. and Integrated M. A. courses in different Engineering, Business, Science and Arts subjects. But for now only the student who have completed their B. tech from Aliah University they are eligible to take admission here, Aliah University has four campuses for different types of curriculum located at Park Circus, Taltala and New Town. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal laid the stone of Aliah University Campus at Rajarhat on 15 December 2011. Later on 11 November 2014 Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the finished campus, New Town campus contains 156 class rooms with a capacity of 12000 students and houses Science and Technology students only. The campus also has boys and girls hostel currently under construction. New Town campus also has three buildings dedicated for various laboratories and a central library. The Park circus campus is used to house Arts & Nursing students, while the Taltala campus houses the Islamic Theology students, Aliah University has three libraries in its three different campuses. All of them the library of Newtown Campus has a central library including 1. 33lac books. Aliah University has a library rich in collection of literature in Islamic Theology, Islamic Jurisprudence & Law, the library is now diversifying in the areas of Science, Engineering, Management Science, Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Abu Taleb Khan, because students were experiencing lack of books in library, lack of faculty, the protest began on 8 Nov.2016. On 18 Nov,2016 tudents insulted their VC Prof. Abu Taleb Khan giving a rose to him. They blockaded the main gates of the University and the made a loud slogan. With the help of police and security guards of the University, students were requested by the EC members, Fact Finding Committee, and also the Minority and Madrasah Education Minister Giasuddin Molla to stop the protest and class boycotts. But students said they will continue to boycott classes until the Vice Chancellor resigns
12.
Battle of Plassey
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The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757. The battle consolidated the Companys presence in Bengal, which expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years. The battle took place at Palashi on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 kilometres north of Calcutta and south of Murshidabad, the belligerents were the Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India Company. Siraj-ud-daulah had become the Nawab of Bengal the year before, Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander in chief of the nawabs army, and also promised him to make him Nawab of Bengal. He defeated the Nawab at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta, the battle was preceded by the attack on British-controlled Calcutta by Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah and the Black Hole massacre. The British sent reinforcements under Colonel Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson from Madras to Bengal, Clive then seized the initiative to capture the French fort of Chandernagar. Tensions and suspicions between Siraj-ud-daulah and the British culminated in the Battle of Plassey, the battle was waged during the Seven Years War, and, in a mirror of their European rivalry, the French East India Company sent a small contingent to fight against the British. Siraj-ud-Daulah had a superior force and made his stand at Plassey. The British, worried about being outnumbered, formed a conspiracy with Siraj-ud-Daulahs demoted army chief Mir Jafar, along with such as Yar Lutuf Khan, Jagat Seths, Omichund. Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh and Yar Lutuf Khan thus assembled their troops near the battlefield, the battle was ended in 11 hours. This is judged to be one of the battles in the control of Indian subcontinent by the colonial powers. The British now wielded enormous influence over the Nawab and consequently acquired significant concessions for previous losses and revenue from trade. The British East India Company had a presence in India with the three main stations of Fort St. George in Madras, Fort William in Calcutta and Bombay Castle in western India. These stations were independent presidencies governed by a president and a council, the British adopted a policy of allying themselves with various princes and Nawabs, promising security against usurpers and rebels. The Nawabs often gave them concessions in return for the security, by then, all rivalry had ceased between the British East India Company and the Dutch or Portuguese. The French were a late comer in India trade, but they established themselves in India and were poised to overtake Britain for control. The War of the Austrian Succession marked the beginning of the struggle between Britain and France and of European military ascendancy and political intervention in the Indian subcontinent. In September 1746, Mahé de La Bourdonnais landed off Madras with a naval squadron, the defences of Madras were weak and the garrison sustained a bombardment of three days before surrendering
13.
Fort William, India
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Fort William is a fort built in Calcutta on the eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganges, during the early years of the Bengal Presidency of British India. It was named after King William III of England and Ireland, in front of the Fort is the Maidan, which used to be a part of the Fort and is the largest urban park in Calcutta. There are actually two Fort Williams, the old and the new, the original was built in 1696 by the British East India Company under the supervision of John Goldsborough. Sir Charles Eyre started construction near the bank of the River Hooghly with the South-East Bastion and it was named after King William III in 1700. John Beard, his successor, added the North-East Bastion in 1701, the original building had two stories and projecting wings. An internal guard room became the Black Hole of Calcutta, in 1756, the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah, attacked the Fort, temporarily conquered the city, and changed its name to Alinagar. This led the British to build a new fort in the Maidan, the rebuilding of the fort was started by Robert Clive in 1758, after the Battle of Plassey, and completed in 1781 at a cost of approximately two million pounds. The area around the Fort was cleared, and the Maidan became the Lungs of Kolkata and it stretches for around 3 km in the north-south direction and is around 1 km wide. Fort William is one of Kolkatas most enduring Raj era edifice. This is a fort of stupendous dimensions and is spread over an area of 70.9 hectares and it was built by Robert Clive in the year 1781. The Old Fort was repaired and used as a house from 1766 onwards. Today this fort located in the periphery of the lush green Maidan is the property of Indian Army, the headquarters of Eastern Command is based at Fort William and it has provisions for accommodating 10,000 army personnel. The Army guards it heavily, and civilian entry is restricted, the Fort is built of brick and mortar in the shape of an irregular octagon with an area 5 km². Five of its sides face landward, and three towards the Hooghly River, the design is that of a star fort, suited to defence against cannon, but from before the advent of explosive shells. It is surrounded by a dry moat 9 m deep and 15 m broad, there are six gates, Chowringhee, Plassey, Calcutta, Water Gate, St Georges and the Treasury Gate. There are similar forts at places like Thalassery in Kerala and it has a 9-hole golf course currently
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Gobindapur, Kolkata
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Gobindapur was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. 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, tolly’s Nallah or Adi Ganga was then the outlet to the sea and ocean-going ships came up to around where Garden Reach is now, then the anchoring place for ships. Only country boats operated further up the river, possibly the Saraswati river was another watery life line. It started drying up from the middle of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese built a new port at Hugli in 1580. He dreamt of goddess Kali asking him to dig the land on the bank. He did so and discovered enormous qualities of wealth hidden underground and he stayed back and founded the place. It is said that the name of the place Gobindapur was named after him, gobindaji was the family deity of the Sheths and Basaks, and so they named the village Gobindapur. In 1596, the place is mentioned as a district of the Sirkar of Satgaon, in the book Ain-e-Akbari by Abul Fazal, as traders, the Portuguese were succeeded by the Dutch and finally the British. Job Charnock favoured Sutanuti as a settlement because of the security of the location and it was protected by the river on the west and by impassable marshes on the south and the east. Only the north-east had to be guarded, the three villages were part of the khas mahal or imperial jagir, whose zemindari rights were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of Barisha. On 10 November 1698, Job Charnock’s successor and son-in-law, Charles Eyere, the company paid regular rent to the Mughals for these villages till 1757. Within a short period Kolkata grew considerably, siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, was alarmed by the growing prosperity and enhanced fortifications of Kolkata. In 1756, he decided to attack Kolkata and captured it, Gobindapur was fired by the English themselves. The English evacuees set up quarters at Falta, some 40 miles downstream. What followed was a series of skirmishes finally leading to the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, one of the first things that the English embarked upon on their return to Kolkata was the construction of new Fort William. It commenced in 1758 and completed in 1773, the site chosen was in the heart of ‘populous flourishing’ village of Gobindapur. A portion of the ‘restitution money’ was spent in compensating the inhabitants who were given lands in other parts of the town notably in Taltala, Kumortuli and Shobhabazar
15.
Kumortuli
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Kumortuli is a traditionally potters’ quarter in northern Kolkata, the capital of the east Indian state of West Bengal. The city is famous as a sculpting hot-spot which not only manufactures clay idols for various festivals, the British colonisation of Bengal and India started following the victory of the British East India Company in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The Company decided to build new settlement Fort William at the site of the Gobindapur village, most of the existing population shifted to Sutanuti. While such neighbourhoods as Jorasanko and Pathuriaghata became the centres of the local rich, the villages of Gobindapur, Sutanuti and Kalikata developed to give rise to the later day metropolis of Calcutta. In addition, Marwari businessmen virtually flushed out others from many north Kolkata localities, the potters of Kumortuli, who fashioned the clay from the river beside their home into pots to be sold at Sutanuti Bazar, managed to survive in the area. Gradually they took to making the images of gods and goddesses, worshipped in large numbers in the all around and later at community pujas in the city. Kumortuli is located in Ward No.9 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and it is between Ahiritola and Shobhabazar. In maps showing thanas or police stations in old Kolkata, Kumortuli is shown as being between Shyampukur, Bartala, Jorasanko, Jorabagan and Hooghly River, being in the periphery of the heart of Kolkata, Kumortuli was home to a number of renowned persons during the Bengal Renaissance. There is a road in Kumortuli named after Nandram Sen, famous as Black Deputy, gobindram Mitter, the next Black Deputy, had a sprawling house at Kumortuli spread on 50 bighas of land. Banamali Sarkar’s famous house which is immortalized in Bengali rhyming proverb, was till the 19th century. He has a lane named after him in Kumortuli
16.
Shobhabazar
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Shobhabazar is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Sheths and Basaks, well-to-do traders at Saptagram, were among the first to settle in Sutanuti and are said to have cleared much of the jungles in the area. Neighbouring Shyambazar was named after the deity of the Basaks, Shyam Roy. No historian touches upon the origin of the name of the neighbourhood but all link its fame and growth to the Deb family, who settled there. When Ramcharan Deb was murdered by Maratha marauders in the jungles of Midnapore, the house was washed away by the Hooghly River and they moved to Arpooly, and from there to Shobhabazar. Ramcharan’s youngest son Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb rose to fame and power, the glorious days of Shobhabazar starts with the decision of the British to build, after their decisive win in Battle of Plassey, the new Fort William in the heart of Gobindapur. The inhabitants of the village were compensated and provided land in Taltala, Kumortuli. Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb built his Rajbari at Shobhabazar, some say that he acquired it from Shobharam Basak and made major extensions, matching his taste for pomp and grandeur. At least money was not in short supply, after the death of Siraj ud-Daulah, Nabakrishna Deb along with Mir Jafar, Amir Beg and Ramchand Roy earned eight crore rupees worth of treasures from the secret treasury. Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb is said to have constructed the road from Upper Chitpur Road to Upper Circular Road, however, while half of the street was merged with Grey Street, another half became Shobhabazar Street. Another street north of it was named Raja Nabakrishna Street, Shobhabazar is spread over Ward No.9 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and is bounded by Baghbazar on the north, Shyambazar on the east, Nimtala on the south, and the River Hooghly on the west. Ward No.9 under Shyampukur police station had a population of 19,937 in the 2001 census. Maharaja Naba Krishna Deb started the Durga Puja in Shobhabazar Rajbari in 1757 and he set a pattern for the puja which became a fashion and a status symbol among the upcoming merchant class of Kolkata. The number of Englishmen attending the family Durga Puja became an index of prestige, religious scruples fell by the wayside. The nautch girls were mostly from Muslim gharanas, the Englishmen attending the dance-parties, dined on beef and ham from Wilson’s Hotel, and drank to their heart’s contentment. The Shobhabazar Durga Puja is split into two parts, near each other, but both the Pujas continue with their characteristic distinctions, karttikeya is dressed in breaches worn by Englishmen. In earlier days Nidhu Babu and kabials like Anthony Firingee and Bhola Moira vied for attention with the nautch girls, as the non-Brahmin patrons of Sovabazar Rajbari were not allowed by tradition to offer annobhog or rice in any form, they offered homemade sweets to the goddess. For the past 250 years, generations of haluikars from Bardhaman come down to the Sovabazar Rajbari and make lip-smacking delicacies like jibe gaja, khaja and nimki
17.
Surendranath Banerjee
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Sir Surendranath Banerjee pronunciation was one of the earliest Indian political leaders during the British Raj. He founded the Indian National Association, one of the earliest Indian political organizations and he also organised two sessions of Indian National Conference in 1883 and 1885. Surendranath Banerjee and Anandamohan Bose were main architect of Indian National Conference, Surendranath also founded Indian National Liberation Federation. He was also known by the sobriquet Rashtraguru and he was editor of The Bengali newspaper. Surendranath Banerjee was born in Calcutta, in the province of Bengal to a Bengali Brahmins family and he was deeply influenced in liberal, progressive thinking by his father Durga Charan Banerjee, a doctor. Banerjee was educated at the Parental Academic Institution and at the Hindu College, after graduating from the University of Calcutta, he traveled to England in 1868, along with Romesh Chunder Dutt and Behari Lal Gupta, to compete in the Indian Civil Service examinations. He cleared the competitive examination in 1869, but was barred owing to a dispute over his exact age, after clearing the matter in the courts, Banerjee cleared the exam again in 1871 and was posted as assistant magistrate in Sylhet. Banerjee was soon dismissed for making a judicial error. He went to England to appeal his discharge, but was unsuccessful because, he felt and he would return to India bitter and disillusioned with the British. During his stay in England, he studied the works of Edmund Burke and these works guided him in his protests against the British. He was known as the Indian Burke, upon his return to India in June,1875, Banerjee became an English professor at the Metropolitan Institution, the Free Church Institution and at the Ripon College, founded by him in 1882. He began delivering speeches on nationalist and liberal political subjects. He founded the Indian National Association with Anandamohan Bose, one of the earliest Indian political organizations of its kind and he used the organization to tackle the issue of the age-limit for Indian students appearing for ICS examinations. He condemned the racial discrimination perpetrated by British officials in India through speeches all over the country, in 1879, he founded the newspaper, The Bengalee. The INA expanded considerably, and hundreds of delegates from across India came to attend its conference in Calcutta. After the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885 in Bombay, Banerjee merged his organization with it owing to their common objectives and he was elected the Congress President in 1895 at Poona and in 1902 at Ahmedabad. Surendranath was one of the most important public leaders who protested the partition of the Bengal province in 1905, Banerjee became the patron of rising Indian leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Sarojini Naidu. The declining popularity of moderate Indian politicians affected Banerjees role in Indian politics, Banerjee supported the Morley-Minto reforms 1909 – which were resented and ridiculed as insufficient and meaningless by the vast majority of the Indian public and nationalist politicians
18.
Bengali Muslims
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Bengali Muslims are an ethnic, linguistic, and religious population who make up the majority of Bangladeshs citizens and the largest minority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. Ethnic Bengalis who adhere to Islam, they speak the Bengali language and they form the second largest Muslim ethnolinguistic group in the world. Bengal was a power of the medieval Islamic East. The Bengali Muslim population emerged as a synthesis of Islamic and Bengali cultures, after the Partition of India in 1947, they comprised the demographic majority of Pakistan until the independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh in 1971. A Bengali is a person of ethnic and linguistic heritage from the Bengal region in South Asia speaking the Indo-Aryan Bengali language, the mighty Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers allowed the Bengali people to develop a great civilisation. Islam arrived in the first millennium and influenced the native Bengali culture, the influx of Persian, Turkic, Arab and Mughal settlers further added to the rich cultural melting pot of Bengal. Today, most Bengali Muslims live in the state of Bangladesh. The dominant majority of Bengali Muslims are Sunnis who follow the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, there are also minorities of Shias and Ahmadiyas, as well as people who identify as non-denominational. Rice-cultivating communities existed in Bengal since the second millennium BCE, the region was home to a large agriculturalist population influenced by Indian religions, but was not fully integrated into the caste system. Buddhism influenced the region in the first millennium, the Bengali language developed from Apabhramsa and Magadhi Prakrit between the 7th and 10th centuries. It once formed a single Indo-Aryan branch with Assamese and Oriya, early Muslim traders and merchants visited Bengal while traversing the Silk Road. This increased trade with seaports like Chittagong from the 9th century, coins of the Abbasid Caliphate have been discovered in many parts of the region. Early Muslim explorers visited the Bengal region while traversing the Silk Road in the first millennium, one of the earliest mosques in South Asia is under excavation in northern Bangladesh, indicating the presence of Muslims in the area around the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. Starting in the 9th century, Muslim merchants increased trade with Bengali seaports, coins of the Abbasid Caliphate have been discovered in many parts of the region. The Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent took place between the 12th and 16th centuries, Bengal became a province of the Delhi Sultanate in 1204. In the 14th century the Sultanate of Bengal became independent and emerged as a regional power and it adopted Bengali as one of its official languages, alongside Persian, the diplomatic language of the Islamic world, and Arabic, the liturgical language of the religion. The Sultanate also ruled parts of Arakan and Assam, the Sur Empire briefly overtook the region in the 16th century. During the sultanate period, Hindu aristocrats occupied prominent positions in the administration, the Mughal Empire eventually controlled the region under its Bengal Subah viceregal province
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Bihari Muslims
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Bihari Muslims are people originating and tracing descent from the Indian state of Bihar who practice Islam as their religion. Bihari Muslims mainly practice Sunni Islam of the Hanafi creed, though a small Shia minority exists, about 3 million Bihari Muslims migrated to Pakistan and Bangladesh after independence. Sum total of this table is 14,780,500 Muslims out of 83.0 millions total population in 2001 census, in 2011 census, total population grew to 103.9985 millions, of which 16. 9% or 19,922,048 were Muslims. During 2001–2011, Muslims grew by 33. 433%, while non-Muslims grew by 23. 537%, district-wise break up by religions for 2011 is not available. Stranded Pakistanis Pathans of Bihar The Forgotten People, Bihari Refugees of Bangladesh, UCANews
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Dharmatala
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Dharmatala is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Dharmatala Street has been renamed Lenin Sarani but the neighbourhood continues to be referred to as Dharmatala and it is a busy commercial area that had come up with the growth of Calcutta during the British Raj and is thus one of the repositories of history in the city. It is commonly held to derive its name from a mosque which stood at the site of Cook. Some discern the name as a reference to dharma, one of the units of the Buddhist Trinity, there was a Buddhist temple at Janbazar, nearby. Tipu Sultan Mosque at the corner of Chowringhee Road and Dharmatala, was built in 1842, by Prince Gholam Mohammad, bioy Ghosh feels that the name Dharmatala is because of the preeminence of Dharmathakur in olden days. Haris and Doms, who are worshippers of Dharmathakur, predominated the area even in the memorable past, Dharmatala extends from Chowringhee Road to Lower Circular Road. It is bounded to the north by Bowbazar and the south by Janbazar, the neighbourhood is spread over 4 wards,46,47,50 and 51 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. In the 18th century, Dharmatala is described as ‘a well raised causeway, just north of Dharmatala a creek formerly ran from Chandpal Ghat to Beliaghata. The creek passed through what was later Wellington Square and Creek Row, the earlier name of Creek Row was Dhinga Bhanga, as a ship broke there during the cyclone of 1737. The creek was navigable for large boats, Wellington Square was a tank made on the bed of this creek. Both Wellington Square and Creek Row were developed by the Lottery Committee, the native quarters to the north consisted of a number of straggling villages. After their victory in the Battle of Plassey, the English decided to build new Fort William, for this purpose, the native population shifted from Gobindapur mostly to Sutanuti. The European inhabitants of Kalikata gradually forsook the narrow limits of the old palisades, civilians were not allowed to live within the new fort. Gradually the areas to the south of the Great Tank and to the east along Chowringhee Road were emerging as preferred haunts for the Englishmen, while Sutanuti developed as the Black Town, the Esplanade and Chowringhee emerged as the White Town. Rudyard Kipling in the last chapter of his Kolkata sketches published under the title of The City of Dreadful Nights, has given a description of the market. It was formerly called Shakespeare’s Bazar, in the earliest list of police stations in Kolkata made in 1785, both Dharmatala and Dingabhanga were included. However, when the stations were reorganised in 1888-89, the number of police stations were reduced. A three-horse omnibus plied briefly between Dharmatala and Barrackpore in November 1830 but the truly successful horse-drawn public transport was the tramcar and these were introduced in Dharmatala in March 1882
21.
Entally
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Entally is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It has a station and is an assembly constituency. Once it was considered close to the area which was home to the poor, gurudeva daya Kara Dina Jane Entally was one of the thirty-eight villages bought by the British East India Company in 1717 and reconstituted as Pancahannagram. Entally, Pagladanga, Nimakposta, Kamardanga, Gobra and Tangra constituted Dihi Entally, oriya palanquin-bearers, poor Christians, Muslims, Chinese and other depressed communities such as Dalits, lived in the area. Upper caste Hindus avoided living in the area because of the slaughter house. However upper-class European resided in the Entally post office neighbourhood, rich Hindu milk businessmen occupied an area near the Entally market and forbade low caste to come near their locality. Cotton describes Entally in the century as “an area extensively intersected with numerous roads. It contains a number of European residences, some of them fine buildings in extensive grounds. South of Entally was the Volunteer Rifle Range constructed in 1877, in the nineteenth century many factories were set up in Entally because of the low cost of land. Many of them survive to this day, Entally Market was previously known as Enayat Ali Market. The spelling became Enat_ali, then Entali or Entally Market, Entally is spread over parts of Ward Nos.54,55 and 56 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, partly under Entally police station and partly under Beniapukur police station. It is bounded by Sealdah and Beliaghata in the north, Tangra in the east, Beniapukur in the south, Entally market is one of the old markets in Kolkata. Loreto Entally was founded as an orphanage in 1845 but it is no longer an orphanage in the strict sense, day scholars outnumber the boarders but the latter continue to be the nucleus of the school. Loreto Kilkenny has been twinned with Loreto Entally, Mother Teresa arrived in Kolkata in 1928. While teaching in Loreto Convent at Entally, the slums beyond the school compound engaged her more and more. In 1948, when she secured permission to work fully with the poor and the sick, she established a home in an house in Entally, with a nurses training. Her activities spread out subsequently to other areas of Kolkata, the Sri Sri Radha Mohan Jew / Jeu temple house is situated in Panbagan Lane in Entally. Many cultural events, social gatherings and seasonal festivals are held here and it is considered to be first establishment in Calcutta to perform daily worship and bhajan of Satya Sai Baba
22.
Park Street, Kolkata
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Park Street, is a famous thoroughfare in the city of Kolkata, India. The street runs through what was a park of Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta from 1773 to 1789. Its current official name was given by Kolkata Municipal Corporation in honour of Mother Teresa, in the 1970s and 1980s much of Kolkatas night life took place at Park Street. Many noted musicians had played at night spots such as Trincas, Blue Fox, Mocambo. Even before that, in the 1940s, 50s and 60s Kolkatas prolific night life was centred on Park Street, the Park Hotel chain started with the opening of its first hotel, the 150 room, The Park on the fashionable Park Street on November 1,1967. Park Street remains Kolkatas foremost dining district, with many restaurants and it is often known as Food Street and The Street that Never Sleeps. This road originates from Chowringhee Road and connects to Park Circus 7 point crossing in an eastern direction. The portion of Park Street between Chowringhee Road and Mullick Bazar has been one of the attractions for years. Park Street has been the zone for Kolkata people since the British era. However, it is one of the prime commercial and entertainment zones of the city. Park Street is traditionally decorated with lights on Diwali, Christmas Day, Park Street is filled with landmarks. Some prominent ones are Asiatic Society The Park Hotel St
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Janbazar
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Janbazar is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. The two century-old house of Rani Rashmoni, the attraction in Janbazar, is still used by descendants in the family. On the Maha Saptami the puja start with the Kalabou snan at Dighi, on the next day maha asthami is held. At the time of Sandhi puja the 108 maha pradeep is lightend by family members, the Chandi path and Arati is held on all three days The Maha bhog of the puja consists of luchi, aluvajha. Chal kumror tarkari, pach tarkari without salt, narkel naru, on the next day nabami start with jogga and also held Sidur khala At thetime of dusk the immersion of the pratima is done with Spacility is that the pratima is taken to the Dighi on. The shoulders where the family members join with Kahar at this is considered to be holy ritual, Janbazar is broadly spread across Ward Nos.52 and 46 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The road from Chowringhee to Circular Road, about a long, was called Jan Bazar Road till the end of the 19th century. It was then renamed Corporation Street and was further renamed Surendranath Banerjee Road, in olden days, Kolkata streets had oil lamps. Then came the gas lamp and electricity, for sometime there was a tussle between gas lamps and electricity. In 1914, high-powered Keith lamps of 1,000 candle power were fixed on Corporation Street, Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation bore the cost to demonstrate the advantage of electricity. Janbazar is served by New Market Police Station of Kolkata Police, the police station is located in Janbazar. The most famous resident of Janbazar was Rani Rashmoni, married at the age of 11 to Raj Chandra Das, the zamindar of Janbazar, she constructed Dakshineswar Kali Temple and engaged in numerous philanthropic activities. What is now known as Rani Rashmonis house at the crossing of Rani Rashmoni Road, Rani Rashmonis father-in-law, Pritiram Das, started constructing this house in 1805. It took some 7–8 years to complete construction of the big house, Rani Rashmoni did not have a son, she had four daughters – Padmamani, Kumari, Karunamoyee and Jagadamba. Karunamoyee died two years after her marriage, mathuramohan Biswas, the widower, was married to Jagadamba. The house is now divided into three parts, jagadambas descendants live in 13 Rani Rashmoni Road, Kumaris descendants live in 18/3 Surendranath Banerjee Road, and Padmamanis descendants live in 20 Surendranath Banerjee Road. Rani Rashmoni was a pillar of strength in the male dominated society of mid-nineteenth century, almost all the rooms of her house are occupied or are still in use. There is a natmandir in front of the verandah, where the famous Durga Puja is held, the family is finding it difficult to maintain the house and although Kolkata Municipal Corporation has declared it a heritage building, it has no funds needed for restoration
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Chowringhee
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Chowringhee is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Jawaharlal Nehru Road runs on its western side, a neighbourhood steeped in history, it is a business district, as well as a shopper’s destination and entertainment-hotel centre. The name ‘Chowringhee’ has defied etymologists, there is, however, the legend of a yogi, Chourangi Giri, who discovered an image of the goddess Kali’s face and built the first and founded the original Kalighat temple. In the seventeenth century or prior to it, the now occupied by the Maidan. At the eastern end of it was an old road, which had once built by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family from Barisha to Halisahar. Beyond it there were “pools, swamps and rice-fields, dotted here and there with the huts of fishermen. In that region were three small hamlets – Chowringhee, Birjee and Colimba, in 1717, Chowringhee was a hamlet of isolated hovels, surrounded by water-logged paddy-fields and bamboo-groves separated from Gobindapur by the jungle. Tradition has it that Warren Hastings, hunted with elephants in the jungle, Birjee occupied the south-eastern end of later day Maidan, Victoria Memorial and Rabindra Sadan area. Colimba took its name from the Bengali word for musk melon, the strengthening of British power, subsequent to their victory in the Battle of Plassey was followed by the construction of the new Fort William, in 1758. The European inhabitants of Kalikata gradually forsook the narrow limits of the old palisades, in the mid eighteenth century Englishmen began to build magnificent houses on the Chowringhee that earned Kolkata the title of ‘City of Palaces’. The first road in Kolkata to be macadamised was Chitpur Road in 1839, in the evening of 6 July 1857 Chowringhee was lit up with gas lights provided by the Oriental Gas Company. Building of pavements started in 1858, first in Chowringhee and then elsewhere, the pavements were built to facilitate the erection of gas lamps. The traders objected as their customers were forced to park their carriages some distance from the shops, the ‘road to Chowringhee’ ran from Lower Circular Road in the south to Dharmatala in the north. According to old maps, Chowringhee is a locality, not a road, in Colonel Mark Wood’s map of 1784 while the road is marked ‘Road to Chowringhee’, the name ‘Chowringhee’ is given to the locality immediately south of Park Street. Travelling along the ‘Road to Chowringhee’ from south to north, the first crossing was with Theatre Road, at that corner was the Theatre of Calcutta from 1813 to 1839. It was destroyed in a fire, the next turning is that of Harrington Street named after John Herbert Harrington, a judge of the Sadar Adalat. The next crossing Middleton Street was named after Dr. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, further down the road was Bengal Club. The building was once the residence of Thomas Babington Macaulay, behind Bengal Club ran Russel Street, named after Sir Henry Russel, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1806-1813
25.
Kolkata Police Force
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The Kolkata Police Force is one of the three police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata Police has the task of policing the area of Kolkata, India, as defined under the Calcutta Police Act,1866. As of 2014, Kolkata Police has 8 divisions covering 69 Police Stations and it has a strength of approximately 27,000 and a territorial jurisdiction of 243 km2. There are 8 battalions of armed forces as well as specialised branches, the force also uses various modern technologies for effective handling of unconventional crimes, terrorism and related activities. The history of the present structure of policing in Kolkata goes back to times, when the city was known as Calcutta. Calcutta was founded on the banks of the Hooghly by an Englishman. Policing in Calcuttas earliest days was confined to the Mughal administration, Bengal was still technically a part of the Mughal Empire, but the Nawabs of Bengal, based in Murshidabad in North Bengal, were its effective rulers. The Watch and Ward functions were entrusted to a Kotwal or town prefect who had 45 peons under him, armed with weapons like staves and spears. In 1720, the East India Company formally appointed an officer to be in charge of civil and he was assisted by an Indian functionary commonly known as black deputy or black zamindar. Under him were three naib-dewans, one of whom was in charge of the police, the settlement was divided into thanas under thanadars who had in turn contingents of naiks and paiks. A small contingent of police was also formed. A statute passed in the year 1778 raised the strength of the police in Calcutta to 700 paiks,31 thanadars and 34 naibs under a superintendent, in 1785 commissioners of conservancy were appointed for the town who also ooked after watch and ward. Policing was still very loosely organised, in 1794, justices of peace were appointed for the municipal administration of Calcutta and its suburbs, under a chief magistrate who was directly in charge of the Police. In 1806 justices of peace were constituted as magistrates of 24 Parganas, the middle decades of the 19th century witnessed a greater systematisation and institutionalisation of policing in Calcutta. A city magistrate by the name of William Coats Blacquiere inaugurated a network of spies or goendas, in 1845 a committee under J. H. Patton brought about key changes in police organisation which now began to be modelled on the London Metropolitan Police. A Commissioner of Police was appointed with powers of a justice of peace to preserve law and order, detect crime,1857 was a difficult time for the English East India Company. The year saw the first upsurge against British rule, the rebellion led to the dissolution of the East India Company in 1858. It also led the British to reorganise the army, the financial system, the country was thereafter directly governed by the crown as the new British Raj
26.
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
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The Communist Party of India is a communist party in India. The party emerged from a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964, the CPI was formed at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India held in Calcutta from 31 October to 7 November 1964. The strength of CPI is concentrated in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, as of 2016, CPI is leading the state governments in Tripura and Kerala. It also leads the West Bengal Left Front, as of 2014, CPI claimed to have 10,48,678 members. The highest body of the party is the Politburo, CPI emerged from a division within the Communist Party of India. The undivided CPI had experienced a period of upsurge during the following the Second World War. The CPI led armed rebellions in Telangana, Tripura, and Kerala, however, it soon abandoned the strategy of armed revolution in favour of working within the parliamentary framework. In 1950 B. T. Ranadive, the CPI general secretary, under the government of the Indian National Congress party of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India developed close relations and a strategic partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet government consequently wished that the Indian communists moderate their criticism towards the Indian state, moreover, the Indian National Congress appeared to be generally hostile towards political competition. In 1959 the central government intervened to impose Presidents Rule in Kerala, simultaneously, the relations between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China soured. In the early 1960s the Communist Party of China began criticising the CPSU of turning revisionist, Sino-Indian relations also deteriorated, as border disputes between the two countries erupted into the Sino-Indian War of 1962. The basis of difference in opinion between the two factions in CPI was ideological – about the assessment of Indian scenario and the development of a party programme. This difference in opinion was also a reflection of a difference at international level on ideology between the Soviet and Chinese parties. The alleged right wing inside the party followed the Soviet path, whereas the faction of CPI which later became CPI referred to this as a revisionist approach of class collaboration. It was this ideological difference which later intensified, coupled with the Soviet-Chinese split at the international level, hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese, were imprisoned. Thousands of Communists were detained without trial and those targeted by the state accused the pro-Soviet leadership of the CPI of conspiring with the Congress government to ensure their own hegemony over the control of the party. In 1962 Ajoy Ghosh, the secretary of the CPI. After his death, S. A. Dange was installed as the party chairman and this was an attempt to achieve a compromise
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Taltala High School
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Taltala High School is a Bengali co-ed high school. It was established in the year 1910 by the Government of West Bengal, the school enrolls over 700 children, aged 4 to 18. It is located in the Entally neighborhood of the city of Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal, the school consists of two buildings and is equipped with a laboratory. The school is open for boys and girls in two separate shifts
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Sukanta Chaudhuri
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Sukanta Chaudhuri is an internationally renowned Bengali Indian scholar of English literature of the Renaissance period. He was educated at Presidency College, Kolkata and the University of Oxford and he taught at Presidency College from January 1973 to December 1991 and at Jadavpur University from December 1991 till his retirement in June 2010. He also held the post of Professor Emeritus at Jadavpur University, Sukanta Chaudhuri works in the fields of European Renaissance studies, translation, and textual studies. His first major monograph Infirm Glory, Shakespeare and the Renaissance Image of Man was republished in 2006 by DC Publishers and he has also worked on the links and parallels between the European and the Bengal Renaissances, to examine the possibility of a common model of a ‘Renaissance’. Currently, he is preparing the third Arden Shakespeare edition of A Midsummer Nights Dream and he is General Editor of the Oxford Tagore Translations. He has also authored Translation and Understanding, over the last few years, he has researched, lectured and written widely on textual studies and editorial theory. His book The Metaphysics of Text combines the insights of traditional bibliography and textual criticism with recent editorial theory and he is also involved with new areas of activity in recording, editing and analyzing Indian texts and records. At Jadavpur University, he was among the founders of the School of Cultural Texts and Records. Chaudhuri is interested in urban studies and he edited the major two-volume compilation Calcutta, The Living City. He writes and campaigns extensively on issues, especially concerning his native city. In early 2007 Chaudhuris Bengali play Jaha Chai was performed in Calcutta by the Nandikar theatre group under the direction of Rudra Prasad Sengupta and this was part of a project on cultural mobility carried out by the scholar Stephen Greenblatt and the off-Broadway dramatist Charles L. Mee. Chaudhuri Indianised the idea and set the story in modern Bengal, with Bengali and Adivasi characters and he is married to Supriya Chaudhuri who also taught at the Department of English, Jadavpur University. Works by or about Sukanta Chaudhuri in libraries
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Alipore
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Alipore is the headquarters of South 24 Parganas district and a neighbourhood in South Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area is the most posh and costliest locality in Kolkata, the postal code of Alipore is Kolkata 700027. One of the most historical, eventful and elite localities of the city of Kolkata and it was in the middle parts of the 18th century that the British began exploring the areas outside their settlements of Fort William and the Dalhousie Square area beyond the Race Course. The Belvedere Estate was one of the oldest establishments in Alipore, the then Governor General Warren Hastings built it for himself and it became the Governors residence until the Government House came up later. It was about this period of time that Alipore started attracting more and more British settlers who built their mansions and bungalows with gardens. In 1820, William Carey built the Agri Horticultural Gardens behind the Belvedere Estate, also, the Alipore Zoological Gardens was thrown open to the public in 1875. The locality was also witness to the Alipore bomb case and a spectator to the struggle of the Indian revolutionaries. Post independence of India, Alipore became popular among the elite of the city. The Pauls, the Birlas, the Goenkas, the Dalmiyas, the Jalans, the Kotharis, in 1952, the Imperial Library shifted to its present premises on Belvedere Estate. The Alipore Mint was also inaugurated the same year, several consulates like those of Russia, Germany, France, Italy and residences of Hon. Consul General of Canada, Denmark, Greece, Peru, etc. are located in Alipore, by the late eighties and nineties other places like New Alipore and Ballygunge competed with Alipore as the most elite areas of Kolkata. Alipore is located at 22. 53°N88. 33°E /22.53,88.33 and it has an average elevation of 14 metres. Alipore area is bordered by the following roads - AJC Bose Road to the north, D L Khan Road to the East, Diamond Harbour Road to the West, Alipore is connected to all parts of the city by extensive bus services. Alipore is served by the Majherhat and New Alipore railway stations on the Budge Budge section of Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kalighat metro station of the Kolkata Metro as well as the Jatin Das Park station is close to Alipore. Some of the best healthcare options in the city are located in Alipore Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, Alipore Road CMRI, Diamond Harbour Road B. M
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B. B. D. Bagh
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Bagh, formerly called Dalhousie Square, is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh. It is the seat of power of the government, as well as the central business district in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. Stands for three young Indian independence freedom fighters — Benoy, Badal and Dinesh — who on 8 December 1930 shot dead the Inspector General of Prisons, simpson, in the balconies of the Writers Building of the then Dalhousie Square. The square had been named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856, at different times it has been called ‘The Green before the Fort’ or Tank Square. Bagh area is near the Hooghly River in the part of central Kolkata and is a square built around the old Lal Dighi tank. The old fort built by the British was near where the General Post Office now is, the area was in the heart of Kalikata or the White Town in old Calcutta. Bagh was created as the center of the British East India Companys trading post along the banks of the Hooghly River, between the river and the tank, lay the original Fort William. In the summer of 1756, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah of Bengal, Bihar, the survivors of the attack were sent to a garrison within the fort which spurred an incident infamously known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. The British soon retook the city after the Nawab retreated from the forces of Robert Clive, within a year, the British East India Companys forces had taken all of Bengal and Calcutta, along with the square, was established as the commercial and political center of British India. Over the next one and a half centuries, the square grew in importance and influence and it was named after Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India. After the fall of company rule in India, the Writers Building became the secretariat of the Viceroy of India, a number of corporations and institutions opened offices and headquarters in and around the square, giving it its role as the central business district of the city. In 1912, the capital of British India was officially moved to New Delhi, during the first half of the 20th century, the Indian Independence Movement began to reach its peak and took a violent turn in Bengal. On the eighth of December 1930, three revolutionaries, Benoy, Badal, and Dinesh, stormed the building and fatally shot the Inspector General of Prisons, the three committed suicide and the square was renamed B. B. D. Bagh in their honor after Indian independence, in 1947, the political establishments were officially handed over to the government of India and the government of the newly formed state of West Bengal. Over the next few decades, Calcutta would go through rapid economic decline, Bagh would remain the heart of East India. Bagh is still the commercial and political center of all of East India and many of the business, the centerpiece is the Writers Building which is the secretariat of the Government of the State of West Bengal and houses the office of the Chief Minister of West Bengal. The native name of the area is Office Para, to the north lie the Royal Exchange Building which houses the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Calcutta Stock Exchange, the Standard Chartered Building, and many financial establishments. The eastern end also houses a number of offices till Chittaranjan Avenue, the area south of the square is home to the Raj Bhavan, which is now the residence of the governor and the former residence of the viceroy and governor-general of India
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Bagbazar
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Bagbazar is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar, Bagbazar has played an active role in growth and development of Kolkata. The name, Bagbazar, is derived from two words put together from old Bengali literature, bagh meaning garden and bazaar meaning market. So it refers to a place where flowers are abundant, as Kalikata became settled, Sutanuti was gradually abandoned by the English as a place of residence. However, it was frequented from around 1746 and by 1752 was sold for Rs.25,000. Captain Perin was owner of several ships, scott began manufacturing gunpowder at the garden. We can divide this glorious history in two very distinguished parts, the first period is from 1919 to 1930 and 1930 onwards and this was the first Puja of Calcutta organised by people communally and not inside a Zamindar home. Members of the Public contributed money and continued the Puja and it was named as Lebubagan Baroyari Durga-puja and it was continued in that very place for more three more years before being shifted in 1924 to the junction of Bagbazar Street and Pashupati Bose Lane. Next year it was placed at Kantapukur and in 1927 it tookplace in the Bagbazar Kali-temple and he is also the person who gave the name of the organization and set up the structure for a communal durga puja which was emulated by hundreds of other groups around the city thereafter. In 1929 for the occasion of the puja an exhibition took place, for the required space to organize the exhibition he selected this very place where the Durganagar of today is situated. This place was known as Metal-Yard formerly, and it used to the storage of Calcutta Corporations road-repair department, durgacharan Bandyopadhyay requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then to requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then for the due permission. Mr. Bose approved his request and agreed for a joint exhibition with the participation of Corporation. He also donated five hundred rupees to this organization, from 1930 itself the inaugural and closing ceremony of the occasion over here is a very integral and important part and an innumerable fellow persona had their presence in these occasion. The inauguration takes place on the shukla-panchami of the month of Ashwina whereas the closing ceremony takes place on the day of the sublimation of Goddess Laxmi. Basu, Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose, Acharya Prafulla Ch. Roy, Sir Harishankar Pal, in 1938-1939 this organization was privileged by the active participation of Netaji Subhash Ch Bose as the president. Patriot Pulin Das the renowned member of Anusulan Samity used to be present in the occasion of Birastami until when he was unable to join it. From the late 1990s the organization tried to move the higher authority for converting the yard to a permanent park under the control of this organization. We are hopeful to have all the charge of this park soon and this street is one of the most old and famous streets of Bagbazar, where the main Bagbazar Post Office is also located
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Baishnabghata Patuli Township
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Baishnabghata Patuli is a township located in the southern part of east Kolkata in West Bengal, India. It constitutes a portion of Garia. Baishnaghata Patuli Township is a World Bank–funded project on the fringes of EM Bypass. Small sweet shops like Nnoni, Giriraj, Palace of Sweets, Madhumalancha, besides there is a cafeteria opposite the State Bank ATM called Muzik Cafe which is a rather good proxy for Coffee House. A Mio Amore outlet is located just beside the State Bank ATM which is a high functioning food shop. There is a park juxtaposed to Ashabari Housing Complex called Satyajit Ray Park where wedding, cultural or any type of social ceremonies can be held
India
