Auckland Circus Gardens

Hello friends. I don't know how many of you are watching, but a very good test series between India and Australia is going on. I believe India has a great opportunity to win a test series in Australia for the first time. This cricketing nation Australia has a great relationship with kolkata and with it's Auckland Circus Gardens. Some memories are sweet and some are not. But, wait you probably thinking: Where is this place called Auckland Circus Gardens in Kolkata? Well then brace yourself for a story which I always cherish whenever I go to this place. For that you need to know something about a painting by a very famous British painter Elizabeth Thompson.

In the right side of the painting you can see a soilder. Exhausted from war, even his horse is not looks very well. There is not much energy left in him. In the left side you can see a fort and some charioteers are rushing towords that soilder. This painting is called "Remnants of an Army". The fort is Jalalabad Fort and the soilder was William Briden. In 1839, 16000 soilders of British Army attacked Afganistan. After 3 years in 1842, only one came back. But what is the connection between this painting and Kolkata? Well you need to know about that person for whom Briden faced this situation. He was the Governor General of India at that time, Lord Auckland. British Government made a huge mistake by appointing him as the Governor General of India. It is because he had no interest in this country and in it's culture. When a terrible famine broke out in the country he was enjoying Shakespeare with his two sisters Emily and Fanny in Shimla. At that time through out central Asia a great political warfare was going on which we know as "The Great Game". Russia and England were expanding their territories and a chance of clash between this two great nations in Afghanistan is just a matter of time. British wants to takedown King of Afganistan, Dost Mohammad and put Sah Suja instead of him, so that they can use Afganistan as a buffer. Both the nations deployed their spys in Afghanistan. One of the greatest British spy, Alexander Burns was writing reports constantly to Kolkata that there is no need of war because Dost Mohammad wants to become friend (Dost in hindi) with the British. But who cares about what Burns is saying. Lord Auckland said war and there was war. The British were soundly defeated by the Afgans. So this is the connection with Kolkata. But Auckland Circus Gardens? Well Lord Auckland used to live at today's Raj Bhavan. There was a big ground beside it which was decorated under the authority of Emily and Fanny. They named it "Auckland Circus Gardens". But after some years they gave it to Kolkata cricket club and they changed the name. It is because Lord Auckland's actual name was George Eden and that's why the ground later named "Eden Gardens". 

Whether it is 1987 WorldCup final or India vs Australia historical test match in 2001. Whether it is 199th test match of great Sachin Tendulkar or the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup final, doesn't matter. Believe me, Eden Gardens always surprises us and we are being mesmerized by it, like it's own story.

The first three storeyed building of Kolkata.

After a long absence I am back again. When I was a child my father told me that Kolkata is a city of palaces. The reason is simple. In Chowringhee we had plenty of houses which was like palaces. But do you know about the firtsfthree storeyed building of Kolkata? Perhaps not. For that we need to go back to 1756.

In 1756, when Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doulah attacked Kolkata. In that attack the 1st Anglican Church and St. Anne Church had been demolished . This St. Anne's Church was in the northern side of Lal Dighi. After the war, no church was founded there in the place of St Anne's Church . Instead of it East India Company decided to build a building for living for their junior clerks, who were called 'Writers'. East India Company was so much niggard that they gave less amount of salary to this clerks that can't afford to ear if they had to rent an appartement. Ok, a building had to be founded. But who will found it? A mysterious person. I am calling him mysterious because I don't have much information about this man. But I can tell you this , he was not  wel known for his architecture. Infact he came to India to train Indian carpenters so they can produce furniture of European style. His name is Tomas Lyon. He founded a building without any architectural significance. That was actually EIC saying through him to It's junoir clerks ," You boys are lucky that we provided you somewhere to live in. Now don't complain whether it is well decorated or not". Well as you know it's  EIC. Now I have to fast forward a bit . In 1800 , college of Fort Williams moved in Writers to teach the students some notion of Farsi language. For that they  built a hostel and an exam hall. After 30 years college desserted the building and then it became a warehouse, imagine. After 40 years the British Government decided to consolidate all the offices of Bengal Secretaris at  Sadar St, within Writers. This work was finally done in 1882. To expand the size of the building they put 13 new blocks  and also gave the well known look of the building. Like the pillars infront or the statue on the roof . Today also the Roman Goddess Minarva is standing infront of the gate. In 1930, 8th of December Writer's Building was being attacked by Binay Bosu, Badal Bosu and Dinesh Gupta. Their target was the Inspector General of Police col. N.S.Simson. After executing him in the corridor of Writer's Building they fought valientlv and bravely. To show respect to their sacrifice Dalhousie Square is nowadays B.B.D.BAG. Although the name of Tomas Lyon isn't just vanished at all. The road behind the building is named as "Lyon's range". You can go there on a Sunday morning and can taste Malai toast, Corn toast etc. I have heard that in Writers one can see SAHEB ghost . Although it doesn't seem to me as a hounted place. I have also heard that in the building we will have a swimming pool . But I have great doubts what will be the reactions of the SAHEB ghosts when they see Indians( native in their eyes) swimming near by.

Ochterlony Monument

Hello friends. Sorry for too much delay but I have been really busy these days. But, here I am with another tale of my favorite city, Kolkata. Nowadays, people are trying to claim Kolkata as London. But under the rule of the British, this city of mine was really called ' London of the east'. The second city of the British Empire. So, as expected the monuments established by the British in this city would be in a memory of some British. But, do you know that one of the famous monuments of this city was build in a memory of an American? well, for that we have to rewind a little bit. 1758, 12th of February, in the state of Massachusetts in the city of Boston,  

a boy was born to Kathrine Tyler and David. He lost his father at a very early age. After 7 years the American revolution started. Like us, the Americans are also a British colony. So, they started fighting in full force. The family of this boy was a loyalist or you can say Pro- British. So they have run away from America. First they rich Canada and from there to England. In England this boy whose name was just like his father, David joined the army. David came here to India in 1777, the year when Writer's Building was established. In India, his promotion took a hop skip and jump. In 1778 he became a Leftenant, then Lt. Colonel, then Colonel, then Major General and finally in 1815 he got Night Hood. But he became popular for a different matter. In that time East India Company was interested to loot the whole India. Sir David didn't give a damn. He wants a lifestyle like a king of India. East India Company gave him a resident in Delhi, Mughal Samrat named him with the title 'Nashir- Uh- Doulah'. So he decided to build a 'Haram' just like a king of India. He, I would say collected 13 wives and gave each of them an elephant, well decorated. This procession of 14 Elephants marched daily from just beside the Red Fort. In a young age, he was very hard working and have a very good mind for strategy. He won a lot of battles for East India Company. But, When the British asked him when will he go back to England, he simply refused. Well, Where else he could live like a king? So, in the memory of this American a monument was built by the British in 1828, is like him. Half -American and Half-Indian. Can't guess the name of the monument? Oh! I am so sorry. I didn't tell you the full name of Sir David. His full name was Sir David Ochterlony. It is named as Ochterlony Monument or today's Sahid Minar.

Tollygunge

Hello, friends. After couple of days I am back again with another story of this City of Joy. I said it quite often that name doesn't come at random. So, today we are going to unfold the name 'Tollygunge'. Obviously this is not the only name which Tollygunge ever have. The first name of this place was 'Rasha Pagla'. Sounds weird isn't it? Well, behind this name we have two theories. The first one is - It was believed that in this place there was a village which was named after a Sadhu called 'Rasha Pagla'. Somewhat like Vabha Pagla. The second theory is quite weird. Before 1847 we have only one mental asylam which was in Rasha road means in today's Deshopran Sashmal road. After some time it was shifted to Hastings and the new building of the mental asylam is now known as PTS- Police training school. From mental asylam or in bengali 'Paglagarod' to 'Rasha Pagla'. Well, this is obviously the old name but what about the new one.

Well, through our city flows the Adi Ganga( not nowadays). Around 16th century the changed it's course and the Adi Ganga became a small ditch which was known as Govinda Pure er Khari. This name changed to Surman's Canal when East India Company's Jon Surman started to live beside it. This guy, Jon Surman went to Delhi in 1715 and received a 'Farman' from Samrat Farookh Siyar that East India Company will not pay any taxes for their business here. At Dalhousie, just beside the tomb of Job Charnock there is a tomb of Dr. Willia Hamilton. He also went to Delhi with Jon Surman in 1715. Cut to 50 years later. Army Engineer Captain William Tolly started to live here. In 1775, he gave a proposal to East India Company as a Major that he wants to wide up the Surman's Canal so that all the big ships can carry their loads upto Garia. East India Company accepted this proposal and Surman's Canal became 'Tolly Canal'. The whole area started to develop. William Tolly set up a  market their and the name of that market, yes today's Tollygunge. William Tolly also purchased a house from Hastings and the name of that house is 'Belvedere'. Today's National Library.

Walking through Biswakosh Lane

As a Game of Thrones fan I can say in this month of September that 'Winter is coming'. We all know in winter in Kolkata lots of fairs take place. But among them my favourite is Kolkata Book Fair. We have world's largest open air book fair and we should be very proud of that. I found the history of bengali books is very interesting and also important for us to remember. The first bengali newspaper was published from Srirampur and it was published by the two of the famous Srirampur trio - William Kerry and William Word. The newspaper was 'Samachar Darpan'. But, wait why I am telling story about Srirampur. Well, today I am going to tell you about a person who's ancestors used to live in Srirampur in a place called Mahesh. The second oldest RathaYatra is held here at Mahesh. The oldest obviously Puri. His ancestors settled here in our Kolkata near SyamBazar. I spent my college life there. So, while roaming around  I found this great story about this man, Nagendra Nath Basu.

He was born on 6th of July in 1866. He was a brilliant student and later found a membership in Asiatic Society. He edited an English to Bengali dictionary name 'Sobdendu Mohakosh'. He was just 18 years old then. But, the main reason we should remember him is an editor of 1st Bengali Encyclopedia. This work of Bengali Encyclopedia was started by Rongolal Basu and Troilokyonath Mukherjee in 1885. After three years at the age of 22 Nagendra Nath Basu started editing it. After 22 years of hard work in 1911 he finally finished the work. In 1933 he started to edit the second edition of Bengali Encyclopedia but after finishing the 4th volume( the 1st edition contained 22 volumes) in 1938 he passed away. 17th March 1915 to honour a great work of dedication of a great Bengali, Kolkata Corporation decided to change the name of the lane where Nagendra Nath Basu used to live. The previous name of that road was Kata Pukur By Lane. In 1915 it changed into 'Biswakosh Lane'. Even now in that road lives Sambhu Nath Basu, the Grand son of Nagendra Nath Basu. But, this is not the only road in Kolkata which is named after a Book. At the Hazra - Lansdowne crossing there is road called ' Swarnalata St', Which is named after the novel of Tarak Nath Ganguly. As I said earlier, We have world's largest open air book fair in our city. It is obvious here isn't it???

Borgi Elo Deshe

When I was a child my mother used to sing a song to put me into bed. I was very charmed by her singing and the way of singing. The song she used was ' খোকা ঘুমালো পাড়া জুড়ালো বরগি এল দেশে'. Well at that time I didn't know the what is the meaning of the song. But, after sometime i wondered who are these বরগি ? Did they come here ? Well, I am going to tell you the most fascinating story about our Bengal and the city of joy. For that we have to take a ride in a time machine and go back to 1550. In the African continent there is a country name Ethiopia. In that country in a small village near Harar a son was born to a very poor family. His parents were so poor that they sold their son as a slave. That son , after serving a lot of masters for many years finally came to Baghdad. In Baghdad , his new master Mir Kasim Al Baghdadi noticed that this boy is not like the others. He named that boy Ambar and educated him. Ambar after serving in Baghdad came to our India. In India Ambar was very Surprised to see that his new master is not an Indian, he is like him an African. Well, at that time it was pretty common here in our country slave to master and master to King. Ambar gathered some great fighters and started fighting for several Kings. By doing that he became a King maker. At that time Mughals were become a headache for the King of Ahmed nagar. Samrat Akbar was flourishing his kingdom. While fighting with the Mughals Ambar realized that in a combat in an open field it is very difficult to beat this Mughals. So , he invented a new tactics of war. Very few men riding in their horses will come like a thunder bolt and attack all the tents of Mughals, burn and loot them and before anybody realize what is happening they will vanish. Ambar named this new tactics of war as Bargirgiri. Ambar, where he was fighting is today's Maharashtra. So, some martha leaders also fight with him. Among them one Maratha sardar learned this tactics very minutely and then passed it to his son. The name of this Maratha leader was Sahuji Bhosle and his son is known as Chatrapatti Shivaji.

In, 1741 , in Bengal the grand father of Siraj-Ud-Doulah, Ali bardhi Kha was the Nawab. Well, he came into power not in good way. He killed his previous king Sarfaraz Khan and became Nawab. The brother-in- law of Sarfaraz Khan was Rustam Jang , who was the Nayeb of Orissa at that time. Ali Bardhi Kha defeated him as well and captured Orissa. Now, this Rustam Jang went to Nagpur and complained to the Marathas. Maratha Army general Raghuji Bhosle sent an army under Bhaskar Pandit. If they only give the Orissa back to Rustam Jang, then there will be no problem. But when they saw the Sonar Bangla they couldn't ressist themselves. 1741, this Martha Army , trained by Sahuji Bhosle used the tactics of Ambar which is called Bargirgiri. The people of Bengal named them বরগি . From 1741 to 1751 they looted, killed, demolished this Sonar Bangla. Around 4 lakh bengalees died. With these constant attacks East India Company was very worried aboout their Calcutta. To save a city you can only do two things - Go up or Go down. Go up means to build a wall all over Calcutta, but in order to do so the company will become penniless .So, they decided to dig up a ditch. Which is called the Maratha Ditch. The ditch was to long on paper. Syambazar, Entally, Camak st, Park st evertything came under this. But as I said it was on paper. In first 6 monthes only 3miles of the 6 miles ditch was digged up. Ali Bardhi Kha then made a peace tretty with the Marathas and the attack was stopped. As a result it left a 3miles long ditch. The people of Calcutta started to throw their garbages there and the ditch became dirty and started to spread obnoxoius smell. Seeing there is no way out Lord Wellesley ordered to close it immedietly. Do you know what that ditch has became today. Lower and Upper Circular Road. Yes, AJC and APC . Only in BagBazar there is road is named as Maratha Ditch Lane. The memory of that attack is still remembered in our songs and as landmarks in this City of Joy.

Bagbazar

Hello friends. Have you ever wondered why the names of some places in this city of joy are unique? Well, I have a belief that name doesn't come at random. Do you know the story behind the name 'BagBazar'? When I was a child  I thought that maybe the people of that area sell tigers or 'Bagh'[ in bengalli]. But it is BagBazar, not BaghBazar. So, are you ready to hear the story?

Well, the main character of this story was Captain Charles Perin. He was a businessman and was a very wealthy person. In 1707, he established a huge BaganBari near the river Ganges. One side of that was Haralal Mitra St, and on the other side was Chitpur Road, today's Rabindra Sarani. But sadly he died in 1708. After his death, his BaganBari was sold in an auction. After some time it was bought by British East India Company and they built an Ordnance factory there. They also built a small fort in the North-Western corner of the house, Which was called 'Perin's Readout'. It was more likely a military base camp to prevent any kind of attack from this side. So, when Siraj attacked in 1756, the army suffered a great resistance from Perin's Readout. After sometime when the army of the Nawab noticed there is no way out they crossed a ditch to enter Kolkata. British lost the battle. But after that nobody attacked Kolkata in that fashion. So, the use of Perin's readout became less. Everyone forget about it. But, up to then, the BaganBari was surrounded by a big market. Perin Sahab Ka Bagicha[ Bagan] or 'Bag' and a market or 'Bazar' in the surrounding. So, the name must be 'BagBazar'. Interesting isn't it? But, Have you noticed I have told you that the army of the Nawab had to cross a 'Ditch'? Do you know the story of that? No, well, I believe you have also crossed the ditch several times. I will tell you the story but not today. Goodbye and love Kolkata. 

Maidan

Hello, friends. In my last blog, I promised that I will come back with Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doulah and his army. Well, here I am. Today, I am going to tell you the story of the lungs of Kolkata, Maidan. In winter, people of Kolkata visit this place in a bulk. Do any other city has a large open space like this? I doubt it. But, what is this Maidan doing in the center of a city? For that, we need to go back to 262 years.

1756, British East India Company was conducting their business from  Fort William at Dalhousie Square. Problem is the goods and stuff of Chandannagar or I can say the French East India Company. It appeared to the British that there will be a chance of fighting they started to garnish the old Fort William with more weapons. This news arrived at Murshidabad, where the last independent Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Doulah ruled. He sent an emissary and warned the British that-" In my rule, I will not tolerate any private wars by you. You should sue for peace." As a reply, Roger Drake, the Governor-General of Fort William at that time wrote," In the late war between our nation and the French, they had attacked and taken the city of Madras. We are under some apprehension that they will act the same in Bengal". Shortly I don't care about your rule, I will do whatever my heart desires. Well, you know you can't talk to a Nawab like that. As a result, Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doulah attacked Kolkata in 1756 with 50,000 soldiers. In Kolkata, the number of British were only around 300. Siraj demolished the British as the old Fort William had a very chaotic surrounding. After that 1757, Plassey, Mirjafar etc we all know the story. But the British realized their mistakes and now they want to build a new fort in an open space. So, they said to the villagers of Govindpura-"Leave". They built a new fort with open spaces in three sides at the bank of river Ganges. That is why even today also, Kolkata Maidan is a property of Military.  18553ccbb8d9136dd995534581541b7e7d826fdb21d003c5dc

Victoria Memorial

Hi, friends. Today I am going to tell you some interesting and unknown facts about the city of joy, Kolkata. If you are a Bengali, maybe you are proud of this city because it contains rich culture. But one of the main attractions of this city of Bengalese,[ I can say] was built by the British, this is not fare. But is it really? Yes, I am talking about Victoria Memorial. Ready to hear the story. So, we have to go back to 117 years. 1901, 22nd January at Osborn house at the age of 81 years Queen Victoria died.

The British Government announced to build small memorials all over India. But, the resistance came from Lord Curzon. He said, " Small memorials for queen and that too in the capital city, the question doesn't  arise." Build something which will be truly admired and appreciated all over the World and there is a matter of competition with the Taj Mahal as well. But there is a big problem. Money. Who will provide that? The East India Company sought help from the Indians. Indians and the British Who lived in Kolkata at that time gave money from the core of their heart. But who will build this mammoth architect? British Government handed over the responsibility to Martin and Co. and they did it pretty well. But this company is half British and half Bengali. One of the partners was Tomas Aquinas Martin, But the other was known as R.N. Mukherjee or  Rajendra Nath Mukherjee. We have a road in his memory at Kolkata which is R.N.Mukherjee Road. There is also a statue of him in the premises of Victoria Memorial.
I hope you enjoyed this. We will meet again soon with Nawab Siraj o Doulla and his army. Goodbye.

My first post

Hi, there. My name is Koushik and this is my first blog post. Get ready for exciting posts. I hope that you will love it.

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