When “The City Of Joy” Celebrates (Not) Its Birthday

Priyanka Rout

When “The City Of Joy” Celebrates (Not) Its Birthday

“Bengalis love to celebrate their language, their culture, their politics, their fierce attachment to a city that has been famously dying for more than a century. They resent with equal ferocity the reflex stereotyping that labels any civic dysfunction anywhere in the world ‘Another Calcutta.’” – Bharati Mukherjee

Of Joy And Culture: The City of Kolkata Welcomes You; Image Source: Pinterest

Have you ever visited the City of Joy? If you have, then you might as well have the liberty of discovering some more beautiful facts about ‘The City of Processions.’ You must have realised that Kolkata is not Kolkata for its friendly Bengalis or Rosogollas. It's still very much about Parar Adda and Tram er Nostalgia. Kolkatar manush still hum to the lines of Rabindra sangeet and that small tea shop on the roadside has certainly seen more adda than the fancy CCDs can ever see. The college streets have more stories embedded in them than any book can ever hold. Ganga r ghat still resonates with sweet nothings of bhalobasha.

With the chaos of people, hustle and bustle of Howrah and Sealdah junction, the noise of slums, blow of conch, and ring of bells, Kolkata is yet again ready to celebrate its birthday. But before taking part in their celebration, let’s have a look at the glorious past of Kolkatar shohor.

The origins of Kolkata can be traced back to the era of 15th century when a Bengali poet named Bipradas Pipilai mentioned Kolikata (the earliest name of Kolkata) in one of his poems. Fast-forwarding to the 16th century when India saw the emergence of Mughals, Akbar too mentioned Kolikata in the rent roll. With speculations attached to the formation of the city, even the name Kolkata has several theories. Though most people believe that the name Kolkata is derived from the name of the Hindu Goddess, Kali, some others think that this name was given by Job Charnock who is deemed to be the founder of this city.

Kolkata is an amalgamation of three villages which include Kalikata, Sutanuti, and Gobindapur. But as time passed, the boundaries of these villages became less distinct and were further divided into four different sub-areas which included Dihi Kolkata, Gobindapur, Burrabazar, and Sutanati. After the ferocious Battle of Plassey, the EIC brought the city to life with its reconstruction.

But even before the era of the 1700s, the EIC was mostly involved in trade and it was for this very purpose that Charnock landed in the city on August 24, 1690, that is, 330 years ago. It was accidental because after starting their sailing journey from Madras, they expected to reach Sutanuti which was their final destination. But destiny had some other plans for them since they landed at the village of Sankraul, which was located on the opposite bank of River Hooghly.

Describing this very day, Charnock said, “This day at Sankraul, ordered Capt. Brooke to come up with his Vessell to Chutanutte where we arrived about noon but found ye place in a deplorable condition, nothing is left for our present accommodation & ye Rains fallings day & night.”

The main purpose to come to the village of Sutanuti was to set up a fortified trading settlement that would be profitable for the East India Company. Slowly and steadily this city grew into the city of Kolkata and this was how Charnock was considered to be the founder.

There are many speculations about the ownership of Calcutta as well. Some people say that the villages were originally owned by a family of Indian patrons who today represent themselves as Sabarna Ray Choudhury Paribar Parishad. They claim that the land was given to them by their ancestors including the village of Sutanuti, Kalikata, and Gobindpur.

Recently, they had also challenged the popular belief about Charnock being the founder of Kolkata. They claimed that that the lands were given in lease to the Britishers and to prove this, they also produced some documents that showed their ownership over Kolkata along with the documents of lease that were given to Charnock’s son, Sir Charles Eyre.

Taking all these arguments into consideration, the High Court rolled out a judgment in 2003. It said that August 24 can no more be considered as Calcutta’s birthday. It also stated that the villages existed even before the arrival of Charnock and therefore, he was not the official founder of the city.

Despite the judgment, the people of Calcutta did not stop celebrating 24th August as the official birthday of the city. Even after ruling out the two major reasons for celebration, this date still has some emotional value as it gives the residents yet another reason to celebrate the birthday of the City of Joy. After all, what’s the ‘Cultural Capital of India’ without blowing the candles on its born day?