Kolkata

Kolkata

The former capital of British India, Kolkata is the capital of the state of West Bengal. It is one of the largest cities in India and one of its most important ports. The city lies on the eastern bank of the Hugli River, the former main distributary of the Ganges River, approximately 154 km upriver from the head of the Bay of Bengal, where the port city evolved as a point of transshipment from water to land and from river to sea. As a city of trade, transportation, and manufacturing, Kolkata is the leading metropolitan center of eastern India. Discovered and archaeologically studied, Chandraketugarh, located 35 km north of Kolkata, proves that the region where the city stands has been settled for more than two millennia. The arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trading operations in Bengal, in 1690 marked the beginning of the city's recorded history. Three villages comprised the area of the present city: Kalikata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishermen's village; Sutanuti was a village of weavers on the river bank; and Gobindapur was a commercial post for the Indian merchant princes. These villages used to belong to an estate which was owned by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury Zamindars. In 1698, the estate was sold to the East India Company. Kolkata is famous for its literary, artistic and revolutionary legacy; being the former capital of India, the city was the birthplace of the modern literary and artistic thought of India. Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs adorn many buildings in the city. A number of well-preserved large buildings from the colonial period have been declared structures of cultural heritage.