CALCUTTA PASTAND PRESENT 1 ^Y-l: KBLECHYNDEN l^WS^ i CALCUTTA: PAST AND PRESENT fll ' J 'ittfifi^ihOr^^''''' >iinV^Hfl^MnflvfiH|r^Mi^ii^ri J CALCUTTA PAST AND PRESENT By KATHLEEN BLECHYNDEN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND ENGRAVINGS, AND A COLOURED FRONTISPIECE LONDON W. THACKER & CO., 2, CREED LANE, E.C. THACKER, SPINK & CO., CALCUTTA AND SIMLA 1 90s All rights reserved PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. stack Annex 5^ PREFACE In a field of research which has known the learned labours of Sir Henry Yule, Mr. J. Talboys Wheeler, the Record Commission, and Mr. H. Beveridge, followed by Dr. Busteed, the Rev, H. B. Hyde, and the late Mr. C. R. Wilson, it might have been thought that there was little room for other workers yet, where the ; harvest is so abundant, a simple gleaner may venture to follow in the wake of these stalwart reapers, and bring her modest sheaf to the great storehouse of history. Such a thought has encouraged me to put forward this little book. My aim has not been to give any account of the great deeds by which the men of old Calcutta laid the foundations of the British Empire in the East, but rather to try and depict the lives they led, their daily cares and amusements, the wives and daughters who lightened their exile, the houses in which they dwelt, the servants who waited on them, the food they ate, the wines they drank, the scenes I4967I6 PREFACE amid which they moved, the graves in which they laid their loved ones or sank themselves to rest. In gathering material for these pages I Jiave had the great advantage of a family connection with Calcutta, extending over many years, which has placed at my disposal old diaries and other personal records, besides maps of the town on which changes and improvements were recorded as they were made. These, together with an intimate knowledge of the city, gained during several years' residence in it, have enabled me to construct a mental picture of the life of old Calcutta, which is so vivid as to leave an impres- sion of having really borne a part in it myself. It is this picture, this sense of reality, which I have tried—inadequate as I feel the effort has been—to convey to my readers. For the illustrations I am greatly indebted to the publishers, who have spared neither trouble nor expense in reproducing old portraits and engravings, as well as modern photographs. They will be found to be, some of them unique, and all, we believe, of great interest, and such as are not readily available to the larger number of those who are interested in the subject. In conclusion, I may say that, wherever I have taken information or quoted from the vi PREFACE published writings of others, I have been careful to acknowledge my authority. And if the book as a whole owes its inspiration to the labours of others, it is so in every department of human effort ; for each fresh toiler must ever hear, echoing out of the past, the message that came to Kipling's builder from the wreckage of a former builder's plan, " Tell him, I too, have known." K. B. 1905. vii — CONTENTS CHAPTER I EARLY YEARS PAGE Founding of Calcutta by Charnock in 1690—The three villages and their situation—Charnock's grave, and its opening in 1892 —The 1715 embassy to Delhi—Surgeon Hamilton, his services, death, and epitaph—The building of the old fort—The church—The park—Social conditions . i CHAPTER n THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE The Mahratta Ditch—Aliverdi Khan, and Suraj-ud-Dowlah The siege and capture of Calcutta—The Black Hole, and Monument—Holwell and companions at Murshedabad, and their release 31 CHAPTER HI RECOVERY AND AFTER The refugees at Fulta—Warren Hastings' first marriage The recovery of Calcutta—The condition of the town and different buildings—The nawab's army— The last Battle of Calcutta—The taking of Chandernagore " " Billy Speke— Plassey—The fate of Suraj-ud-Dowlah . 49 ix —— CONTENTS CHAPTER IV PUBLIC BUILDINGS PAGE Calcutta buildings in the eighteenth century—Government House—The Council House— Court House— Hospital Burying-ground—Old Church and the Rev. Kiernander —The New Fort and Hastings 68 CHAPTER V IN HASTINGS' DAY Jaffir Ali's deposition, and residence at Alipore— Hastings' connection with Alipore ; his second wife—Mrs. Hastings' town house— Mrs. Fay and her house— Francis and his houses—The site of the duel— Major Tolly and " Belve- dere," and Tolly's Nullah CHAPTER VI SOCIAL LIFE Social manners and customs—Servants—Food—Wines Hookahs— Carriages—Government House festivities Rejoicings after Seringapatam—Clive's " bill " for earlier rejoicings, 1766—Court House gaieties—Balls . 107 CHAPTER VII THE CHURCHES St. John's Church — Fashions at Church — Palanquins Carriages— St. Paul's Cathedral—Zoffany's picture at St. John's and at Brentford—Begum Johnson, and her history i: X — — CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII TOLD BY THE TOMBS PAGE Burying Ground Road (Park Street)—The Cemeteries- Tomb of Sir W. Jones, with contemporary account of his death and funeral— Col. Kyd, his will, details of his funeral, and site of his grave—Tombs connected with English literature : Richmond Thackeray, Col. Kirk- patrick, Rose Aylmer— Chambers' child, with some account of the loss of the Grosvenor East Indiaman . 150 CHAPTER IX STREETS AND HOUSES Old maps—Names of streets—Docks—The main drain The Creek—Government House grounds—The militia and their parade-ground—Street scenes— Executions Old houses—Sudder Street— Park Street—Boitakhana tree CHAPTER X NEAR AND FAR Hughly—The Portuguese— Introduction of tobacco—Chin- surah—Serarapore—The Serampore missionaries—River scenes Suttie—Barrackpore—Dum Dum . .214 XI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS General View of Calcutta, 1794 . Frontispiece From a coloured engraving, one of a series published by Baillie in 1794. The view is taken from Fort point, and shows the Supreme Court on the site of the present High Court. The stern of a vessel on the stocks can be seen on the strand at Cutchagoody Ghat, on the bank of the old creek, the site now occupied by the Bank of Bengal, The Charnock Mausoleum 10 From an original photograph. The pavement round the mausoleum is formed of old tombstones. Many of the epitaphs are in raised lettering, and nearly all are legible. Plan of Calcutta, 1742 32 Reduced from the inset map in Upjohn's map of Calcutta, 1794. Several landmarks of modern Calcutta may be readily recognized, notably the great tank in Dalhousie Square ; the old pilgrim route along Chitpore Road, Bentinck Street, and " Chowringhee ; and The Avenue," now Bow Bazar. The Kyd Street tank can also be identified at the southern end of the settlement, and near it, just on the southern boundary, a house with extensive grounds, known later as Sir Elijah Impey's Park, from which Park Street took its name. The plan also shows the batteries and palisades hurriedly con- structed to defend the town against Suraj-ud-Dowlah in 1756, and the earlier works of 1742, when Mahratta raids were feared. There is also marked on it the line of Clive's march through the fog and darkness of the early morning hours of the 5th February, 1757, when he drove the Nawab and his great army to a hasty retreat. The Holwell Monument and Bengal Secretariat 1905 44 From a photograph by Messrs. Bourne and Shepherd, Calcutta, The monument here shown is a replica in white marble of the xiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE brick-built monument which Holwell erected to mark the common grave of his fellow-sufferers in the Black Hole prison. The replica, erected by Lord Curzon in 1902, and by him pre- sented to the city as a personal gift, is slightly taller than the original, to be in keeping with the modern fa9ade and lofty domes which mask the old Writers' Buildings, now the Bengal Secretariat. Plan and Elevation of the Holwell Monument 48 Reduced from an old print. Lord Clive 57 Robert Clive, First Baron Clive of Plassey. From a portrait in the British Museum. Painted by Nathaniel Dance, engraved by Bartolozzi, 1 788. Admiral Charles Watson 65 Vice-Admiral of the White, Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in the East Indies. From a portrait in the British Museum. Painted by F. Hudson, engraved by E, Fisher. Government House and Council House, Calcutta, 1794 73 From an engraving by Baillie. The Old Court House, about 1784 .... 85 From a photograph of a painting by Lieut. -Colonel Mark Wood, published by Orme, 1805. Lieut. -Colonel Mark Wood sur- veyed the town of Calcutta for the Commissioners of Police in the years 1784-85, and it may be safely conjectured that it was about this period that he painted the view of the old Court House, which a few years later fell into decay, and was taken down in 1792. Warren Hastings 91 Governor-General of Bengal. From a portrait in the British Museum. Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, engraved by T. Knight. Hastings House 95 From original photographs, 1895. Mrs. Fay's House and Kidderpore House ... 98 Mrs. Fay's House from an original photograph, 1895 ; Kidder- pore House from an engraving by Baillie, 1794. xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Sir Philip Francis io6 From a portrait in the British Museum after J. Lonsdale, engraved by Freeman. Council House and Esplanade, 1792 . .114 From an engraving by the Brothers DanielL Chowringhee from the Maidan, 1792 . .126 From an engraving by the Brothers Daniell.