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Introduction
Calcutta (Kolkata) in West Bengal was the capital of British India from the start of the Raj in 1857 to 1911, when King George V announced a move to Delhi. Calcutta was not the first choice location for British commercial activity in Bengal, but it proved to be the best, and that was to the credit of one man, Job Charnock.
THE East India Company’s muslin, silk and saltpetre factories in Dacca and Hooghly were reluctantly closed down in 1685, owing to burdensome regulations laid upon non-Muslims by the Nawab of Bengal, and its agents withdrew to Madras.*
The Company returned to Hooghly when conditions eased, but was once again driven out in 1686, after a foolish attempt by Sir John Child to overthrow the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb.* Job Charnock, the Company’s agent, stopped the Mughal army’s advance at Sutanuti near the mouth of the River Hooghly, but instead of fortifying Sutanuti as Job recommended, the Company made another ill-advised military manoeuvre, trying and failing to take Chittagong by force.*
Aurangzeb was wiser. Seeing his tax revenue fall without the Company’s commercial activity, he extracted an apology and then granted them Sutanuti and two neighbouring villages, Govindpur and Kalikat, as a base of operations. A delighted Job Charnock arrived there on August 24th, 1690, and immediately set about erecting a warehouse and some housing.
Bengal’s colonial merchants were not just British: At this time, Hooghly was primarily Portuguese and Dutch.
This sudden militarism was the result of the accession of King James II in 1685. The former Duke of York was a major shareholder in the Company, and turned it into a state-backed military power to protect his investment.
From Kalikat we derive Calcutta and now Kolkata; Sutanuti is now a central suburb of Calcutta; Govindpur a little higher up the river was where Fort William was erected in 1696. The three villages were held by the Sabarna Ray Chaudhury family on behalf of the Mughal Emperors; on November 10th 1698 the land was leased instead to the East India Company.
Précis
In the 1680s, the East India Company’s attempt to establish a presence in Bengal was frustrated by a mixture of the Nawab’s over-regulation and their own belligerence. Happily, Emperor Aurangzeb invited them to take possession of three small villages on the River Hooghly, a dream come true for their top agent, Job Charnock. (53 / 60 words)
In the 1680s, the East India Company’s attempt to establish a presence in Bengal was frustrated by a mixture of the Nawab’s over-regulation and their own belligerence. Happily, Emperor Aurangzeb invited them to take possession of three small villages on the River Hooghly, a dream come true for their top agent, Job Charnock.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, despite, just, must, not, ought, until.
Word Games
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