Anindita Chowdhury
A long time ago, to be precise, some three hundred and twenty three years ago, Job Charnock, an official of the East India Company found the marshy land of Sutanuti-a trading village by the River Hooghly, suitable for establishing a trading post for the East India Company in Bengal. It was more of a compulsion since the British were driven out of Hooghly by Shaista Khan, the Mughal Subedar of Bengal and their attempts to capture Chattagram (Chittagong) also proved to be abortive.
Charnock landed in Sutanuti in 1690 but did precisely little about the development of Calcutta because he died just three years later. It was only in 1698 that the British acquired the zamindari rights of the three villages - Sutanuti, Kalikata and then Gobindapur from the Sabarna Raychowdhuri family of Barisha-Behala through Charles Eyre, the son-in-law and successor of Charnock. The small settlement gradually developed into Calcutta-the second city of the Empire, only next to London. Unfortunately, it was not a planned city and town planning was an issue taken up much later by the Colonial masters.
Charnock had already begun the task of encouraging people to settle at the site of the new town. The first to respond were the Armenians and they initially settled around what is known as Armanitola - the site around the present Armenian Church. It gradually became the buffer area - the grey zone between the white town and black or native settlement. Beside Armanitola was Murgihata, named so because of the descendants of the Portuguese who kept fowls (Remember the Hindus did not keep fowls).
Though Charnock had landed in Sutanuti and the early British settlement was in this area and around the old fort (at the site of present GPO) there were monumental changes following the attack on Calcutta by Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula in 1756. The British rebuilt their new fort- Fort William at Gobindapur and gave compensation to the natives who had plots there to shift to areas in Sutanuti.
Chitpur was definitely the oldest part of the city and was named after either Goddess Chitteshwari whose temple stood in the area or the notorious dacoit, Chitu who embarked upon his marauding acts after making human sacrifices at the altar of the goddess. The area was indeed infested by similar notorious elements who robbed the pilgrims going to Kalighat through the only broad street in the settlement - till then known as the Pilgrim's Path but today we know it as Chitpur Road or by its more contemporary name - Rabindra Sarani. As the trading post flourished, settlers came, particularly the business class from Saptagram in Hooghly, which was steadily losing importance and settled down in Calcutta. The name "Baag Buzar" was derived from the Perrin's Garden, a pleasure resort, frequented by the Company's covenanted servants with their ladies for an evening stroll or moonlight fete. While the English left Sutanuti for Gobindapore the native, wealthy Bengalis settled in this part of the town, by the Holy Ganges. Demographically, Bagbazar was primarily a neighbourhood of upper-caste Hindus and hence, we find the locality names like Mukhujjyapara,Gosainpara, Bosepara, Rajballavpara instead of Sankibhanga, Kasaitola or Murgihata as was the case in the grey town which had mixed population.
Meanwhile, in 1752, faced with haphazard settlement the directors of the company ordered that the natives would not be allowed to construct houses just anywhere but must reside according to their caste-vocation. As a result we had kolus (oil-pressers), kumhors (potters), jele (fishermen) settling according to their hereditary profession, somewhat like the guild system prevalent in England but strictly on caste-basis. This led to establishment of Suriparah (place of wine-sellers), Maidaputty (flour market), Colootollah (oil-sellers), Chuttarparah (for carpenters), Molunga (place of salt works), Aheeritollah (cowherd's quarters), Kumortuli (potter's quarters), Khalasitolla (for dockyard workers), Kansaripara (for bell-metal workers) and Shakharitolla (for conch makers). 'Tolla' refers to para or locality while 'tuli' means a smaller sized one. Kumartuli located at the western part of Bagbazar, was actually a part of it.
Keranibagan was for clerks in the service of the Company. Today with the bell metal utensils or conch bangles losing popularity there are no Kansaris or Shakharis left in these neighbourhoods.
Often physical or geographical features also determined the nomenclature of localities. For instance Guabagan had clusters of betel nut trees, Hogolkuria had hogla or elephant grass growing, Kankurgachi owes its name to the kankurs (a species of melon) and Shimla apparently had many Simul (cotton) trees growing in the area. The last neighbourhood was quite well-known for its fine dhotis. Bat-tala derived its name from the twin Banyan trees which stood by a pond, located in Chitpur area near the crossing of Rabindra Sarani and Beadon Street. It was the birthplace of Bengali popular literature before being usurped by the boi-para at College Street. Then there were innumerable ponds lending names to localities like Jhamapukur, Shyampukur, Padmapukur and so on.
In early days there were two canals flowing through the city. The creek between Sutanuti and Kalikata flowed through Pathuriaghata, Jorasanko, Thanthan-e, to Sealdah and Beleghata and finally to the Salt Lakes. The creek between Kalikata and Gobindapur flowed from Chandpal Ghat through the present day Creek Row till Moulali. The presence of two wooden bridges across the first one (Elliot Creek) led to the name Jorasanko. Jorabagan got its name from the twin gardens. Rambagan was named after Ram Ray who also owned a bazar. Chorbagan harks back to those days when the city was actually a thick jungle, sheltering thieves. Pataldanga - perhaps came from bumper cultivation of the vegetable while nearby Thanthan-e seems to be actually an onomatopoeia for a dry (as opposed to marshy) plot of land. Posta's origin might be Persian, referring to a place by the river for unloading goods. While Shyambazar, earlier called Charlesbazar was apparently named after Shyamcharan Mukhopadhyay, a local zemindar. Sobhabazar came to be known after Sobharam Bysack, another prominent native settler. Tirettabazar was named after owner, Edward Tiretta, while Lalbazar located beside Laldighi owed its name to the water body. The pond was located inside the Kuthibari of the local zemindar whose family idol was Shyamrai. During Holi the water would turn red, leading it to be named as Lal Dighi. Another version is that the red bricks of the old fort were reflected in the waters of Laldighi. The idol of Radha was usually kept on the other end of the pond during the ceremony leading to the name, Radhabazar. Barabazar was already an important market place in the mid 18 Century and owed its name to Shiva, often affectionately referred to as "Buro" by his devotees. However, the upcountry merchants changed it to Barabazar or Burrabazar-the great market. When Nawab's troops attacked Calcutta in 1756, Barabazar was set on fire.
Later on the British also lend their names like Ballygunge (after the Bailey Guard guarding the Fort William) Tollygunge (after Colonel Tolly who excavated the the Tolly Nullah) and Watgunge (after Colonel Watson). Alipur, today a posh locality owes its origin to Alinagar. Calcutta was christened Alinagar by Siraj-ud-Daula after his grandfather Alivardi Khan, when he occupied the city.
The list is no way exhaustive and historians, researchers and chroniclers are often at loggerheads over the etymological origin of the names. For instance Hatibagan was thought to be named so because the Nawab's elephants were kept there during the siege but it has been pointed out that the animals were actually kept near Entally.
But it is interesting to note that in the old days even those from the lowest strata of the society found a mention in the names of neighbourhoods though when it came to naming of thoroughfares and roads, the trend disappeared gradually and then completely. Initially, there were Karim Bux or Ramjan Ostagor lanes in the black town but even these were wiped out in days to come as municipal commissioners started rechristening the roads with zeal after either the British officials or wealthy Babus. Some like Chaku Khansama Lane survived the onslaught of time but these were few and far between. Eventually, even the locality names were wiped out by the thoroughfares running through them. Nobody recognises Cossaitollah or Pataldanga anymore. Unfortunately, these delightful names of the localities have long been usurped by the mundane-sounding 'Bentinck Street' and 'College Street'.