KOLKATA TOURISM : : A TO Z TRAVELS , KOLKATA

In 1690, Job Charnok, an agent of the East India Company chose this place for a British trade settlement. The site was carefully selected, being protected by the Hooghly River on the west, a creek to the north, and by salt lakes about two and a half miles to the east. There were three large villages along the east bank of the river Ganges, named, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata. These three villages were bought by the British from local landlords. The Mughal emperor granted East India Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees.

What was Calcutta like before the British came ?

It was just a village; the capital city of Bengal was Murshidabad, around 60 miles north of Calcutta. In 1756, Siraj-ud-daullah, nawab of Bengal, attacked the city and captured the fort. Calcutta was recaptured in 1757 by Robert Clive when the British defeated Siraj-ud-daullah on the battlefield of Plassy. In 1772, Calcutta became the capital of British India, and the first Governor General Warren Hastings moved all-important offices from Murshidabad to Calcutta. Till 1912, Calcutta was the capital of India, when the British moved the capital city to Delhi. In 1947, when India gained freedom and the country got partitioned between India and Pakistan, Calcutta was included in the Indian part of Bengal, West Bengal. Calcutta became the capital city of the state of West Bengal.

Getting to Kolkata :
Kolkata has fabulous rail, road and air links to all parts of India and abroad. It has both the international and domestic airports at Dumdum, about 17 km northeast of city centre. It is linked by regular flights to all important cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Patna, Lucknow etc. The city is easily accessible with its two railway stations- Howrah and Sealdah, with trains running to all the major cities. Being the capital city it also has an excellent network of good roads providing excellent connectivity.

» Area	Calcutta City Area 187.33 sq km. and Calcutta Metropolitan District Area 1380.12 sq km (532.87 sq miles).
» Population	13.5 million (CMD) .
» Language	Bengali,English,hindi.
»Prime Attractions	Belur Math, Howrah Bridge, Victoria Memorial, Birla Planetarium, Eden Gardens .Etc.....