Birth of a History

Thus the midday halt of Charnock – more’s the pity! -
Grew a City
As the fungus sprouts chaotic from its bed
So it spread
Chance-directed, chance-erected, laid and built
On the silt
Palace, byre, hovel – poverty and pride
Side by side
And above the packed and pestilential town
Death looked down.

Rudyard Kipling


Once upon a time, there were three small villages beside the Ganga. Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata. Company agent Job charnok was searching a suitable-secured place like that. How the place became known as "Kolikata" is a little known. However, there are certain theories regarding the naming. According to many scholars, the name "Kolikata" comes from the (Hindu) Gooddess Kali and the city was first called as Kalikshetra, "the place of Kali". There are other stories like

• The name comes from the location of the original settlement beside a khal ("canal" in Bengali)
• The place was known for the manufacture of shell-lime, the name deriving from kali ""lime") and kata ("burnt shell")
• The name is derived from the Bengali kilkila ("flat area"), which is mentioned in the old literature.

The boundaries of the three villages (Sutanuti-Gobindapur-Kalikata) gradually became less distinct, and before the battle of Plassey, the city could be divided into four different sub-areas: European Kolkata (Dihi Kolkata); a residential village with some sacred spots (Gobindapur); a traditional Indian market (Bazar Kalikata or Burrabazar); and a riverine mart concentrating on cloth trade (Sutanati). After the battle of Plassey in 1757, the British started rebuilding the city with the idea of making it the capital for their empire.

The three villages, in particular Kalikata, where Calcutta is located, came into the possession of the British East India Company in 1690 and some scholars like to date its beginnings as a major city from the construction of Fort William by the British in 1698, though this is debated. From 1858 to 1912, Calcutta was the capital of British India. From 1912 to India's Independence in 1947, it was the capital of all of Bengal. After Independence, Calcutta remained the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal.