Sealdah Explained

Sealdah
Settlement Type:Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta)
Pushpin Map:India Kolkata
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Kolkata
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:West Bengal
Subdivision Type2:City
Subdivision Name2:Kolkata
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Kolkata
Subdivision Type4:Metro Station
Subdivision Name4:Sealdah (completed, the line from Sealdah to Esplanade metro station under construction)
Seat Type:Municipal Corporation
Seat:Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Parts Type:KMC wards
Parts:36, 37, 49, 50, 55
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population Total:For population see linked KMC ward page
Timezone:IST
Utc Offset:+5:30
Coordinates:22.5662°N 88.3686°W
Postal Code Type:PIN
Postal Code:700009, 700014
Area Code:+91 33
Blank1 Name Sec1:Lok Sabha constituency
Blank1 Info Sec1:Kolkata Uttar
Blank2 Name Sec1:Vidhan Sabha constituency
Blank2 Info Sec1:Beleghata, Jorasanko, Chowranghee and Entally

Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Etymology

Jackals (sheal in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata was a port in the Salt Lakes.[1]

History

The East India Company obtained from the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement. Of these 5 lay across the Hooghly in what is now Howrah district. The remaining 33 villages were on the Calcutta side. After the fall of Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, it purchased these villages in 1758 from Mir Jafar and reorganised them. These villages were known en-bloc as Dihi Panchannagram and Shealdah was one of them.[2] [3] [1]

Sealdah was described in 1757 as a "narrow causeway, several feet above the level of the country, leading from the east".[4]

In 1756, when Siraj-ud-daulah attacked the English at Calcutta, a major part of his troops and artillery crossed the Maratha Ditch in Sealdah.[5] There was hard fighting here with 39 English soldiers and 18 Indian sepoys killed on the spot. The English dragged their guns through the rice fields.[1]

Baithakkana was a resting place, where merchants formed and dispersed their caravans, sheltered by an old banyan tree (called a peepul tree by Cotton). Job Charnock is said to have chosen the site of Kolkata for a city, in consequence of the pleasure he found in sitting and smoking under the shade of a large tree.[4]

A present-day road stretching from Bepin Behari Ganguly Street to MG Road is called Baithakkhana Road,[6] as well as the market along the road at the southern (Bowbazar/ B.B. Ganguly Street) end is called Baithakkhana Bazar.

The Maratha Ditch was dug in 1742 and it was partly filled up in 1799 to create the Circular Road (now Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road).[1] The eighty-foot-wide Harrison Road (now MG Road), was built in from 1889 to 1892.[7]

The first list of thanas (police stations) in Calcutta was made in 1765 and Muchipara was not there in the list. Muchipara, named after muchis (cobblers and leather workers), possibly shot in to prominence in the early 19th century. In 1888, one of the 25 newly organized police section houses was located in Muchipara.[1]

The East Bengal Railway opened its track from Calcutta to Kushtia in 1862. At the Calcutta end there was a tin-roofed station room. Sealdah railway station had a proper station building in 1869.[8] The present Sealdah-Ranaghat line was a part of the Sealdah-Kushtia line and was subsequently extended to Goalundo Ghat.[9]

Geography

Police district

Muchipara police station is part of the Central division of Kolkata Police.[10]

Economy

Sealdah market, along with Hatibagan, Maniktala, Lake Market and Gariahat markets, is amongst the largest markets in Kolkata. Very similar to village weekly hats, Kolkata's markets thrive in a sprawling and makeshift environment.[11] Sealdah market is an agglomeration of various markets in the area. There is the Sealdah Area market spread for about a kilometre along both sides of MG Road from Purabi to Chhabighar cinema halls selling mainly vegetables and fruits. Sealdah Dimer Bazar, in Hayat Khan Lane and Panchu Khansama Lane, is an egg arat. Baitakkhna Market, spread across 2 acres at 15/16 Baithakkhana Road, sells vegetable, fruits, betel leaf, flower, fish, meat, egg, grocery etc. New Baithakkhana Market (also known as Chhagalkata Fish Market), spread across 5 acres at 155–158, B.B. Ganguly Street, is a fish market. Kolay Market, located near Sealdah Station, is the largest wholesale market in Kolkata, handling vegetables and other daily needs. It is open 24/7 and has not closed down even during strikes.[12] Bow Bazar market, stretching from Sealdah crossing to College Street crossing, is virtually an extension of Sealdah market zone.[13]

Baithakkhana is one of the largest paper markets in India. However, the letterpress business, once the largest printing process in the country and the pride of Bengal, has lost out to more modern systems. Some 10–15 letterpress printers are still there in Baithakkhana, struggling hard to retain a foothold in the tough competition.[14] MG Road, from Sealdah to College Street, is a big market for wedding and visiting cards.

Transport

Sealdah railway station handles in all around 20 lakh (2 million) passengers daily. A bulk of those using the station, around 12 lakhs, commute daily for work in 917 local trains. The East-West Metro line connects to a station at Sealdah and around 5 lakh passengers are likely to use the Metro station.[15] [16]

19th century Kolkata was a city of palanquins and horse-drawn carriages. The tramway was the first attempt at mass transport. The first horse-driven tramcar rolled out on 24 February 1873, running between Armenian Ghat and Sealdah via Bowbazar, as well as Dalhousie Square.[17]

Electric tramcars were introduced in Kolkata in 1902. Tram lines were laid along Harrison Road (now MG Road) in 1903 and up Rajabazar in 1910. Now Sealdah and Rajabazar are served by Kolkata tram route no. 18 (via MG Road-Surya Sen Street-APC Road).[18]

Sealdah is the junction of AJC Bose Road & APC Road with MG Road via Sealdah Hump Flyover (Vidyapati Setu). Parikshit Roy Lane (Beliaghata Main Road) also starts from here. Surya Sen Street connects MG Road with APC Road, avoiding Sealdah Flyover. A large number of private and governmental public buses ply along these roads.[19]

Sealdah Hump Flyover (Vidyapati Setu), constructed in the late 1970s, will have a ramp from the flyover to the station.[20] [21] Tram-tracks were removed and tram-service closed over Sealdah Flyover since 2019 due to excessive load on the bridge.[22]

Education

Healthcare

Notes and References

  1. Nair, P. Thankappan, The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol. I, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, pp. 12-19j, Oxford University Press, .
  2. Web site: District Census Handbook Kolkata, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A . Pages 6-10: The History . Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. 20 February 2018.
  3. Cotton, H.E.A., Calcutta Old and New, first published 1909/reprint 1980, pages 103-4 and 221, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
  4. Book: Cotton, H. E. A. . H. E. A. Cotton . Calcutta, Old and New: A Historical & Descriptive Handbook to the City . 1907 . Calcutta . W. Newman & Co. . 222 . 31 March 2018.
  5. Sinha, Pradip, Siraj’s Calcutta 1756-57, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol. I, p. 8.
  6. Map no. 31, Detail Maps of 141 Wards of Kolkata, D.R.Publication and Sales Concern, 66 College Street, Kolkata – 700073
  7. Chatterjee, Monideep, "Town Planning in Calcutta: Past, Present and Future", "Calcutta, The Living City" Vol II, Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Page 141, First published 1990, 2005 edition,
  8. Chaudhuri, Sukanta, The Railway Comes to Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol. I, p. 259.
  9. Web site: The Chronology of Railway development in Eastern Indian . https://web.archive.org/web/20080316015721/http://www.irfca.org/~mrinal/chronology.html . dead . 2008-03-16 . railindia . 2012-02-10 .
  10. Web site: Kolkata Police . Central Division . KP. 21 March 2018.
  11. Bandopadhyay, Raghab, Calcutta’s Markets, in Calcutta, The Living City Vol II, Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Page 118, First published 1990, 2005 edition,
  12. Web site: The Human Forklifts of Kolkata . Sugato. Mukherjee . The Diplomat, 6 February 2018. 5 April 2018.
  13. Web site: Primary Hats/ Markets of District . Markets in Brief - Kolkata . West Bengal State Marketing Board. 5 April 2018.
  14. Web site: Ltterpress – the pride of Bengal fading into oblivion . Beacon Kolkata. 5 April 2018.
  15. Web site: Sealdah traffic fine-tuning. https://web.archive.org/web/20180405025426/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170523/jsp/calcutta/story_153035.jsp. dead. 5 April 2018. Kaushik. Basu . The Telegraph, 23 May 2017 . 4 April 2018.
  16. Web site: Sealdah can't take more commuters . The Times of India, 7 March 2018. 4 April 2018.
  17. Web site: Calcutta Tramways . Basu . Raj Sekhar . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. 6 April 2018.
  18. Nair, P.Thankappan, Civic and Public Services in Old Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol. I, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, page 235, Oxford University Press, .
  19. Google maps
  20. Web site: About Sealdah Station . SCRIBD . 27 July 2018.
  21. Web site: Kolkata to get six flyovers in three years . The Times of India, 16 September 2017. 27 July 2018.
  22. Web site: Sealdah Flyover Repair.
  23. Web site: Surendranath College. SC. 5 April 2018.
  24. Web site: Surendranath College, Kolkata . College Admission . 5 April 2018.
  25. Web site: Surndranath Law College . SNLC. 5 April 2018.
  26. Web site: Surendranath Evening College . SNEC. 5 April 2018.
  27. Web site: Surendranath Evening College . College Admission. 5 April 2018.
  28. Web site: Surendranath College for Women . SNCW. 5 April 2018.
  29. Web site: Bangabasi College. BC. 5 April 2018.
  30. Web site: Bangabasi Morning College . BMC. 5 April 2018.
  31. Web site: Bangabasi Evening College . BEC. 5 April 2018.
  32. Web site: Acharya Girish Chandra Bose College . AGCBC. 5 April 2018.
  33. Web site: Loreto Day School, Sealdah, Kolkata . Loreto Sealdah . 5 April 2018.
  34. Web site: Loreto Day School, Sealdah . schools at collegeadmission.in. 5 April 2018.
  35. Web site: Mitra Institution (Main) . MIM. 11 April 2018.
  36. Web site: Mitra Institution (Main) School. ICBSE. 11 April 2018.
  37. Web site: Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital. College Admission. 4 April 2018.
  38. Web site: Health Statistics -> Hospital . District:Kolkata. Government of West Bengal . 4 April 2018.
  39. Nair, Thankappan, Civic and Public Services in Old Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol. I, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, page 239, Oxford University Press, .
  40. Web site: Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital . NRSMC. 4 April 2018.
  41. Web site: B.R.Singh Hospital . indiaheartbeat.com. 4 April 2018.
  42. Web site: Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College . CAREERINDIA . 5 April 2018.
  43. Web site: IDA - West Bengal History (Dr. Rafiuddin Ahmed . Indian Dental Association – West Bengal State Branch. 5 April 2018.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sealdah".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.