Little Europe is about the history of the European traders and their settlements on the banks of River Hooghly in
West Bengal. It describes the rise and fall of the European powers beginning with the Portuguese, followed by
the Dutch, the French and the Germans who were finally overpowered by the British in the middle of the eighteenth
century.
Truly European Hooghly is the silent spectator and witness of many ups and downs, upheavals through the river bank and
settlements for trade and power. It may be said historically Hooghly is one of the most interesting districts in the
province of Bengal, indeed in the whole of India. But this interest is entirely correlated to matters in the last four
centuries and is almost wholly European. Here within the space of a few miles of river bank, Portuguese, English,
Dutch, French, Danes and Flemings struggled with each other, formed settlements. The battle for trade and power
were fought on this river Hooghly by most of the European nations and converted the swampy little known corner
of the country into a center of all attentions. The Portuguese at Bandel, the Dutch at Chinsurah, the French at
Chandernagor, the Danes at Sreerampore and the English at Calcutta left their physical mark in these settlements.
It's like a little Europe that is still to be discovered in these places.
Hooghly & Bandel: The Portuguese SettlementThe Portuguese were the first European nations to visit and settle in India. They were also the first to come to Bengal.
The arrival of Vasco Da Gama at Calicut on 26th August 1498 was followed a couple of decades later by the arrival of
Portuguese in Bengal.
The Portuguese explorer to visit Bengal was Joao da Silveira in 1518. Portuguese traders began to frequent Bengal
about 1530. In 1534, the Viceroy of Goa sent a fleet of nine ships to aid the reigning Nawab of Bengal against an
invader, Sher Khan. In 1538, a number of Portuguese entered the services of the King of Gaur as military adventurers.
It was during the reign of Akbar that the Portuguese regularly settled at Hooghly. A Portuguese captain Tavarez went
up to Agra who was favourably received by Akbar and granted permission to choose any spot he liked near the
Hooghly to erect a town and to build a Church. In 1599, it would seem, they built their fort and church. At low tide the
foundations of two walls of the old Portuguese Fort may be seen jutting out from the river bank immediately in front of
the present Hooghly Jail.
BandelBandel – means nothing more than wharf. About half a mile beyond the Church is the Circuit House which approximately
marks the northern boundary, as the present Hooghly jail does the Southern of the old Portuguese settlement.
From the early sixteenth century, both private Portuguese merchants as well the official Portuguese representatives
had begun to come to Bengal regularly, which often led to violent conflicts between them.
There was no Portuguese settlement at Hooghly prior to 1565, since the Portuguese used to transfer the goods from
Bettore (opposite Howrah) by smaller boats to Satgaon. Satgaon known as Saptagram in ancient times was an
important port town in medieval Bengal. It was a seat of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain culture in the pre-Muslim period.
Saptagram is now in ruins but the survival of the traditional boat making centre at the neighbouring Balagarh is
reminiscent of the thriving riverine trade in which boat builders had an important role.
Permanent Settlement at Hooghly In Hamilton's time it stated – "The town of Hooghly drives a great trade, because all foreign goods are brought …. and all goods of the product of
the Bengal are brought hither for exportation and the Mogul's furze or custom house is at this place. ……".
In 1632, the Mughals appeared before Hooghly to drive the Portuguese away from the Hooghly River. During this time
the Portuguese settlement flowed into two directions. One that flourished in Bandel and Ugolim (as port town of
Hooghly was known then) after getting the imperial fireman and the other that clustered around the mangrove forest
in Sunderbans. The second group comprised outlaws, banished from the mother country and lived solely on piracy.
In fact it was the plunder of the pirates that drove Shah Jahan to prosecute the ‘'rouge Europeans''. He stopped
though, probably because of misinformation, targeting his wrath at the Portuguese of Bandel rather than those
who lived by the mouth of the sea.
Ten thousands Portuguese were killed in the siege. The Mughals captured Hooghly on 13th September 1632.
Some Portuguese escaped to Sagar Island. Later English and Dutch documents speak of the return of the Portuguese
to Hooghly. European documents of the late 18th and early 19th century refer to a fireman of Shahjahan giving 777
bighas of land to the Portuguese at Hooghly.
With the growth of French commerce the Portuguese merchants had moved from Hooghly to Chandernagor under
the French. Yet Hooghly was not abandoned as we find the arrival of a Portuguese ship there in 1740. By then the
Portuguese had lost their ambition and resources to dabble in politics. However, in the field of culture, that the
Portuguese left a lasting impression.
The Portuguese brought exotic fruits, flowers and plants which became part of Bengali civilization and culture.
From the early days of their arrival the Portuguese did not object to marrying local women although the top jobs
were reserved for white Portuguese men from Portugal. As a result many Portuguese words like chabi, balti, perek,
alpin have come into the Bengali vocabulary. 
Bandel Church They call her Our Lady of Happy Voyage. The presiding deity of Bandel Church continues to be revered ever since
that stormy night over 300 years ago. A Portuguese merchant ship ran up against turbulent weather and was about
to sink. However its devout occupants kept on hailing Mary till some hidden power tugged them to safety to the river
mouth of the Sagar islands. It nudged the vessel further into the Hooghly till it reached Bandel. In sheer gratitude the
captain of the ship presented his ship's mast to the local church. The 40 feet wooden pillar testifies his faith as one
enters the imposing structure.
Constructed in 1599, the second oldest church in the East dominates the landscape in all directions and stands sole
witness – apart from the river some 100 yards away to the rise and fall of the Portuguese in Bengal.
The power and influence of the Portuguese at Bandel was almost extinct by the end of the 18th century. Today you
just get to see steamboats ferrying cargo upstream. 
Barrackpore The English Settlement Barrackpore, situated on the River Hooghly about 20 kms north of Kolkata was a cantonment and the country residence
or suburban weekend retreat of His Excellency, the Viceroy of Bengal. The place acquired its name as Barrackpore in
1772 as the first military troops were stationed here.
The country residence is situated in a noble park about 250 acres in extent, artistically designed finely wooded with
stately and laid out in English style. The mansion commenced in 1812 by the earl of Minto, Governor-General and
enlarged to its present size by his successor, the marquis of Hastings. As early as the days of Macpherson and Cornwallis,
it was the country seat of the governor general.
Barrackpore Park The Park in which the House stands was designed and created by Lord Wellesley. Surrounding the house are charming
gardens with English flowering annuals during the cold season and roses all the year round.
The principal objects of interest in the Park are Lady Canning's Tomb and a Memorial hall erected by Lord Minto in
1813 ‘'to the memory of the brave''. It contains tablets commemorating the officers who fell at the conquest of the Isle
of France (Mauritius) in 1810 and of Java in 1811. 
The Memorial Hall About 100 yards to the north of the house is a pure white building – a Memorial hall – in Corinthian style of architecture
, built by the earl of Minto in 1813. The platform is ascended by twelve steps; the hall has colonnade of Corinthian
columns on its four sides and resembles the Temple of Segesta in Sicily. Over the outside entrance is a black slab
inscribed – TO THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE.
Tomb of Lady Canning A spot of melancholy is about 300 yards to the south of the house. Here on the bank of the river, under a beautiful spread
tamarind tree, is the tomb of lady Canning, who died at Calcutta in 1861, of fever caught in the Tarai on the way from
Darjeeling. The tomb is of white unpolished marble, surmounted by a St. Andrew's cross. The tomb was surrounded
by a polygonal stone base enclosure mounted with a bronze railing showing Lady Canning's initials. The original
monument now stands at St John's cathedral in Dalhousie Square, Kolkata as it was suffering due to exposure to
the weather. 
The Parade Ground The parade ground of Barrackpore has been the scene of two mutinies of native troops. In 1824 when the 47th
B.N.I refused to serve ‘'across the black water'', in the first Burmese War and in 1857, when Mangal Pandey, after
defying a score of English officers was arrested by ‘'the Chief'', Lied. General Sir John Hearsay. In the station cemetery
is the last resting place of Hearsay's third son, subaltern of Hussars, who was arrested here six years later. 
Chinsurah The Dutch Settlement The Dutch formed their East India Company (V.O.C -- Vereenigde Ostindische Compagnie)
around 1602 two years after the East India Company of the English. This was merely the result of an act of union
among some smaller joint stock companies founded by the Dutch maritime interests during the 1590's. 
The Dutch in West Bengal Bengal was the important area for sugar, saltpetre, indigo and textiles. With the collapsing of the Portuguese and
the fall of the port at Saptagram, migration of small traders and peasant communities slowly followed at Chinsurah,
the Dutch got an entry to carry on trade here.
In 1638 the emperor Sahajahan issued a warrant to the Dutch to build ‘'Kothee'' a factory to start business. The
English started a factory at Hooghly in 1632 and the Dutch flowed as neighbours. Then Hooghly and Chinsurah
were a truly invisible whole. They were twin towns.
The Fort Gustavas, the first Dutch factory adjoining the English one at Hooghly was swept away by floods. The Dutch
then built a new factory lower down the river at Chinsurah, where they also constructed a large fort called Fort Gustavus,
reportedly in 1656.
Besides Fort Gustavus at Chinsurah and silk factory at Cassimbazar, the Dutch had on the Hooghly River, a garden
just south of Chandernagor, a factory for salting pork at Baranagar.
The description in the old Dutch records and historic maps indicate that Chinsurah was a very prosperous city during
the 17th century at the time the VOC built fort Gustavus.
The Dutch ruled here till May 1825 when by the Treaty of London dated 17th March 1824, Chinsurah was finally ceded
to the English. 
English Military barracks After the acquisition by the British it became a major military centre for the east India Company and a reception area
for troops newly arriving from England. In 1871 the military station was given up but large blocks of early 19th century
barracks and quarters remained. Fort Gustovas, the grand relic of the Hollanders, was thoroughly demolished along
with their Governor's House to make room for the extensive barracks, now used as the Court Building. 
Chandernagor The French Settlement Chandernagor, locally called Chandannagar, is believed to have acquired its name from the word Chandra or the
moon due to its geographical location on the river Bhagirathi where the river turns like a crescent moon. There are
other opinions too on the origin of the name.
Chandannagar grew up during the French regime covering mainly three villages – Borokishanpur, Khalisani and
Gondalpara. It is famous for its handloom products. Hindus of different castes, Muslims, Europeans and Armenians
inhabited it. 
Early History of Chandernagor The importance of Chandernagor in pre-colonial history lies in its strategic location on the river Saraswati. What is now
a narrow stream was a swift river in mid 16th century and was a preferred route by colonial traders.
Arrival of the French The first French settler in Chandernagor was Duplessis who first landed here in 1673. He built a warehouse and stayed
up to 1676 but could not prosper. Then the first French factory came up at Gourhati in 1688. Chandernagar was
occupied in 1690 but officially founded only on 23rd January 1693 through a fireman of Ibrahim Khan the Mughal
Governor of Bengal. It authorized the French to settle their open loges (warehouses) wherever necessary in the
kingdom of Bengal and Orissa and province of Bihar. The Loges of Chandernagar with its round baroque pediment
in early Louis XV style was probably the first monumental building of the French in India.
In 1701 Chandernagar was made subordinate to Pondicherry. But little was done in the trade either by French or by the
Danes, who shared the French settlement up to 1755. But by 1744, Chandernagar had risen to highest pitch of prosperity
and was a greater centre of trade than Kolkata.
Dupleix and rapid Urbanisation Joseph Francois Dupliex was the son of the Director of the French Company of the Indies. He first went on a voyage
to India in 1714 at the age of 17. On his return to France he was appointed Second in Council at Pondicherry in 1720.
The process of urbanization accelerated in the early years of the 18th century under Dupliex.
Chadernagar in Early 20th Century The city was administered by a council, consisting of a governor-director and 5 members, besides 115 traders, 2
doctors, 1 artisan, 2 clergymen and 103 soldiers of whom 20 were Indians. In 1909 there were 2000 brick-built houses
and a population of 26,831. The European area had a convent, the fort, the river-port, the residence of the governor,
the Thistle Hotel, the church of St Louis built in 1726, a beautiful palace at Gourhati and a strand along the river.
During the tenure of Duplex from 1731 to 1741 French trade developed enormously in Bengal. Chandannagar
continued as the commercial centre but completely banking on the local businessmen. Among them Indranarayan
Chowdhury was the most prominent figure. In the year 1730 he was appointed the courtier of the Company. He received
a gold medal from Louis XV, the king of France.
French English War When the city of Madras capitulated to the French in 1746, Dupleix opposed the restoration of the town to the British,
thus violating the treaty signed by La Bourdonnais. The conflicts between the French and the British in India continued
till 1754 when the French government anxious to make peace sent a special commissioner to India.
The Battle of Chandernagor Nawab Siraj snatched Calcutta from the hands of the English on June 20 in 1756. The English were then busy lessening
the French suzerainty in the Deccan.
The English again snatched Calcutta from the Nawab on January 2, 1757. The English understood that in case of the
French joining the Nawab, the reversal of fortune for the English was inevitable. The English plundered Hooghly to
terrorise the French and the Nawab. Renault, the French Commander saw through the devilry of the English. The
fall of Chandarnagar would mean the fall of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah which simply would mean the conquest of
Bengal by the English. On March 9, 1757, Clive's army of marauders came to the north of Belur. Clive's army set
up their tents at Serampur on March 9. Shrewd Clive did not make haste. He was waiting for Watson. The naval might
of Watson and the land power of Clive – these influenced the plan of Chandernagor battle. Armstrong and 150 soldiers
joined Clive's tent on March 11. On March 23, 1757, the Fort of Orleans fell at 4 pm and Renault surrendered.
Chandernagor never recovered from its destructions in 1757. In 1812 a new and lovely residence was constructed for
the Administrator General. This imposing, yet gracious building is today the Institute de Chandernagor and is under
west Bengal government
Mimic French Revolution on Hooghly In 1789 the great French Revolution took place and its effects gradually spread to the French settlements in India.
The Traite de cession was signed in Paris in 1951 and the "transfert de jure" took place on 9 June 1951. Chandernagor
thus got its independence earlier than the four other French settlements in India. The territory was merged with West
Bengal.
Modern Chandernagor Modern Chandernagor is a very neat and well-kept little town as far as the European quarter goes. There is a fine
promenade or strand along the riverbank, on the landward side of which stand the chief buildings of the town, the
residence of the administrator, the Convent, the Jail, the Church of St Louis built in 1726. The strand was known as
the Quai Dupliex.
Jagaddhatri Puja The ancient history of Jaddhatri Puja in Chandernagor is unknown even today. The beginning of this probably
dates back earlier than 1750. Indranarayan performed the Jagaddhatri Puja at his own house in Chandernagor.
The fourhanded goddess is carried by the lion while an elephant lies at the feet of the lion. The wonder of illumination
is a primeval glory of Chandernagor.
Serampur The Danish Settlement The Danish East India Company was founded by King Christian IV of Denmark in 1612 chiefly on hopes that had
been aroused by the enormous revenues produced by the initial ventures of the British and Dutch companies.
The Danes first settled on the banks of the Hooghly at the same time as the French in about 1676. The Danes
first settled near Hooghly in 1698. Their first settlement was at Gondalpara, the south east corner of the French
territory of Chandernagor, the spot to this day known as Danemardanga.
The Danish settlement does not figure in the history at all during the first half of the 18th century. In the year 1755
they obtained the permission from Alivardi Khan, the then Viceroy of Bengal to settle and erect a factory at Serampore.
The chief of the Danish factory, who took over Serampore, was named as Scotsman. The Danish east India Company
built warehouses, paved the banks of the river, appointed native dewans and gomosta and conferred trading rights
to both Native and foreign merchants to spread business on a wide scale.
During the war that ensued from 1757 to 1763, between France and England, the Danes took no active part, but
their sympathies were naturally with the French, who had given them houseroom for so long in their own settlement
at Chandernagor. Meanwhile in 1778 Serampur came under the direct administration of the King of Denmark. Colonel
Ole Bie was appointed as the first Governor of Serampore who took charge of the Judiciary as well.
The Golden days A few years later came the golden days of Serampur trade during the American War in 1780. England was at war
with three great maritime nations – France, Holland and America. English vessels were exposed to the attacks of
privateers who captured large number of Indiamen and rates of insurance were very heavy. During the war period
the ships loaded with cargo under the Danish flag were found safe on sea due to the impartial and non aligned
foreign policy adopted by Denmark. Goods shipped from Serampore went in neutral bottoms and naturally the
Danish ships easily got valuable freights at high rates. The Danish East India Company made large profits.
Towards the end of the 18th century the Danish administrators could turn Serampur into an elegant and protected town
and an attractive tourist resort with its magnificent palaces, widely built Strand Road along the river, Serampur was a
charming town which drew the attention of foreign travellers.
The close of the 18th century ushered in a memorable era with the arrival of the missionaries in Serampur. The
Serampur Mission, Serampur Mission Press and the Serampur College had a far reaching effect on the social,
religious and cultural life of Bengal. 
Calcutta The English Settlement The history of Kolkata as a British settlement, known to the British as Calcutta, dates from the establishment of a trading
post there by Job Charnock, an agent of the English East India Company, in 1690. Charnock had previously had
disputes with officials of the Mughal Empire at the river port of Hooghly and had been obliged to leave, after which
he attempted unsuccessfully to establish himself at other places down the river. When the Mughal officials, not
wishing to lose what they had gained from the English company's commerce, permitted Charnock to return once
more, he chose Calcutta as the seat of his operations. The site was apparently carefully selected, being protected
by the river on the west, a creek to the north, and salt lakes to the east. Rival Dutch, French, and other European
settlements were higher up the river on the west bank, so that access from the sea was not threatened, as it was at
the port of Hugli. The river at this point was also wide and deep; the only disadvantage was that the marshes to the
east and swamps within the area made the spot unhealthy. Moreover, before the coming of the English, three local
villages—Sutanati, Kalikata, and Gobindapore, which were later to become parts of Calcutta—had been chosen
as places to settle by Indian merchants who had migrated from the silted-up port of Satgaon. The presence of these
merchants may have been to some extent responsible for Charnock's choice of the site. This area around Fort William—Calcutta—became the seat of the British province known as the Bengal Presidency.
Growth of the city In 1717 the Mughal emperor Farrukh-Siyar granted the East India Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly
payment of 3,000 rupees; this arrangement gave a great impetus to the growth of Calcutta. A large number of Indian
merchants flocked to the city. In 1756 Siraj-ud-Daula captured the fort. A number of Europeans were imprisoned in a
small lockup popularly known as the Black Hole of Calcutta, and many died. Calcutta was recaptured in January 1757
by Robert Clive, one of the founders of British power in India, and by the British admiral Charles Watson. The nawab
was defeated shortly afterward at Plassey (June 1757), after which British rule in Bengal was assured. Gobindapore
was cleared of its forests, and the new Fort William was built on its present site, overlooking the Hooghly at Calcutta,
where it became the symbol of British military ascendancy. 
Capital of British India Calcutta did not become the capital of British India until 1772, when the first governor-general, Warren Hastings,
transferred all important offices to the city from Murshidabad, the provincial Mughal capital. In 1773 Bombay (now
Mumbai) and Madras (now Chennai) became subordinate to the government at Fort William. In 1706 the population
of Calcutta was roughly between 10,000 and 12,000. It increased to nearly 120,000 by 1752 and to 180,000 by 1821.
The White (British) Town was built on ground that had been raised and drained. There were so many palaces in the
British sector of the city that it was named the "city of palaces." Outside the British town were built the mansions of
the newly rich, as well as clusters of huts. The names of different quarters of the city—such as Kumartuli (the potters'
district) and Sankaripara (the conch-shell workers' district)—still indicate the various occupational castes of the
people who became residents of the growing metropolis. Two distinct areas—one British, one Indian—came to
coexist in Calcutta.
By successive stages, as British power extended over the subcontinent, the whole of northern India became a
hinterland for the port of Calcutta. The abolition of inland customs duties in 1835 created an open market, and
the construction of railways (beginning in 1854) further quickened the development of business and industry. It
was at this time that the Grand Trunk Road from Calcutta to Peshawar (now in Pakistan) was completed. British
mercantile, banking, and insurance interests flourished. The Indian sector of Calcutta also became a busy hub of
commerce and was thronged with people from throughout India and many other parts of Asia. Calcutta became the
intellectual centre of the subcontinent
Click here to view photos of Little Europe.
Serampore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Geography[edit]
History[edit]
The town is several centuries old and has witnessed both the growth and decline of the feudal system, the coming of the Danes and their settlement and then a cultural renaissance (known as the Bengal Renaissance) initiated by the British following the construction of the east Indian railway, along with subsequent industrial development.
There were three main phases in the process of urbanisation of Serampore:
- The Pre-urbanisation phase (the period before 1755);
- The Urbanisation phase (from 1755 to 1854); and
- The Industrialisation phase (1854 to 1947).
Before the Mughal era, the region between the Saraswati and Hoogli rivers was a thriving local community. Various ruins of Hindu temples are still found in Serampore, such as:
- Henry Martin's Pagoda,
- The temple of Radhaballabhjeu in Ballabhpur (18th century),
- The Ram-Sita temple in Sripur and
- Gauranga in Chatra dating back to the 16th century.
- Hari Sabha (Buttala)
- Sashan Kali Mandir
- Satimata Mandir, in B. P. Dey Street.
The Jagannath temple of Mahesh is dated to 1755. When Bengal came under the command of Sri Chaitanya's Vaisnavism in the fifteenth century, these places became pre-eminent as a Hindu pilgrim centre.
Raja Manohar Roy Zaminder of Sheoraphuli built the temple of Ram-Sita in Sripur in 1753, and his son Ram Chandra Roy then later dedicated the villages of Sripur, Gopinathpur and Manoharpur as devottara land in the service of the deity. Since then the temple was taken care by Raja Nirmal Chandra Ghosh and the ' Saraphuli Raj Debuttar Estate'. In present times, the temple and its premises fall under the surveillance of the ' Sheoraphuli Rajbari'.
It is probable that the name 'Srirampur' originated either from 'Sripur', 'Sri Ram' or both, or it could originate from 'Seetarampore' as there was a very famous 'Ram-Seeta' temple. Here some aristocratic localities came up, namely Goswamipara, Lahiripara, Mukherjeepara, Bhattacharyapara, Chakravartipara, Beniapara etc., whose inhabitants were Brahmins of different groups and sects.
After this there arose the need for local artisana along with "service class" people who came from the neighbouring villages and settled on granted land. In this way, several colonies such as Patuapara, Kumarpara, Dhulipara, Goalpara, Dutta Bagan, Khash Bagan etc. were formed. This along with the fact that Sheoraphuli was a collecting centre for local marketable goods produced in different parts of Hughli, induced many families - the Barujibis, Duttas, Deys, Das etc. - to come to settle here before 1755.
The cultivating classes settled in such places as Sadgoppara, Mannapara, Lankabaganpara. The Jele- Kaibarta and 'Sani' Muchi, were already in the locality from the beginning, and had their own areasa. The local Sunni Muslims, descendants of Mughal soldiers, traders and artisans, lived in Mullickpara, Mussalman Para and here a mosque still bears witness to their existence.
During the Mughal period, Akna [Now called Akra Bati Lane] and Mahesh were heavily populated. The hot humid climate of the area was congenial for the textile industry and the local land was well known for its cotton and silk weaving. The Hindu weavers used to manufacture fine cotton pieces, while the Muslim weavers monopolised silk manufacture. In the fertile land, paddy, jute and betel-leaf were grown in abundance. The Kaibartta used the marshy land for fishing.
In pre-urbanisation age, communication was mainly by way of the river. Besides this, there was the 'Badshahi Sadak' or the grand trunk road. Before Danes arrived in this region, the Sheoraphuli Hat was the main internal trade centre and had close commercial links with Barisal, Khulna, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and other districts of East Bengal (now Bangladesh).
Between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries, many foreign merchants, such as the French, Portuguese and Dutch - established their trading outposts, or "Kuthis" here and were involved in trade and commerce.
During the Muslim period, the villagers on the bank of the Hooghly and Saraswati were included in the zamindaries of Sheoraphuli; these feudal lords not only collected rent but also dispensed justice.
Danish rule[edit]

Portrait of Johannes Søbøtker Hohlenberg, leader of the Danish trade mission in Serampore, painted by Christian Albrecht Jensen in 1826
The urbanization phase began with the acquisition of land in the area by the Danes in the early eighteenth century, as part of the Danish colonial empire. In 1755, the Danish East India Company sent a representative from its Tranquebar office to the Nawab of Bengal. Their intention was to secure a Parwana (district jurisdiction) allowing them the right to do business in Bengal. They obtained the parwana by paying fifty thousand rupees in cash to Nawab Alivardi Khan, along with many gifts, acquiring three bighas of land at Sripur on the riverfront and then another fifty-seven bighas at Akna for the building of a new factory and port, which the Danes governed from Tranquebar. Subsequently, the Danes acquired the Serampore, Akna and Pearapur mahals by paying an annual rent of 1601 rupees to the zamindar (tax farmer) of Sheoraphuli. By 1770 the Danish merchants were beginning to make significant progress in trade and commerce in the area. Danish prosperity was assisted by the able administrative performance of Colonel Ole Bie, who was appointed the first Crown regent of Serampore in 1776.
The Danes also established a bazaar (the present Tin Bazaar) and allowed private godowns, or warehouses to be maintained. Gradually, the town developed and became elegant and prosperous, and merchants of both foreign and indigenous origin began to arrive and live there.
Initially the Danes were dependent on their factors for obtaining commodities (primarily silk and cotton fabrics), but they later got involved in collection of merchandise directly from the producers, and offered incentives to the artisans in the form of earnest money for making high quality products. They also created a class of trading middlemen, such as agents, banias, mutsuddis, and stevedores.
As a sop to the weavers of Akna and Mohanpur villages, the Danes gave advances for both cotton and fine silk products. The merchants also established their own factory to produce fine cloths. They collected 'Hammer' and 'Luckline' ropes for ships, various other kinds of ropes and agricultural produce. They inspired the cultivators of Pearapur to cultivate indigo in addition to paddy rice. Mr. Princep was their indigo agent.
Another notable source of their income was the Hoondi business. Colonel Ole Bie was also interested in making Serampore a charming, elegant, attractive tourist resort. It became a well-protected town and the maintenance of law and order was well developed. To facilitate municipal administrative and judicial work, a new Court House was built and a metalled road was laid on the river bank and magnificent palatial buildings.
The local civil administration, however was carried out by a prototype of a municipality known as the 'Village Committee', with Ole Bie was its Governor.

Boat people paddle between Barrackporeand Serampore on the Hooghly river.
Marshman and Carey[edit]
The beginning of the nineteenth century can be considered the most significant period in the history of Serampore, with the arrival of four English missionaries - Joshua Marshman, Hannah Marshman, William Carey, and Willam Ward - who between them were the architects of the Serampore renaissance. Although they came chiefly for the purpose of preaching Christianity, they dedicated themselves to the service of ailing and distressed people in and around the town, spreading education, social reforms and social reconstruction.
They established more than a hundred 'monitorial' schools in the region. Hannah Marshman established the first Girls' School at Serampore, which received much public approval. Carey made an outstanding contribution by founding the Serampore Mission Press in 1800 where the wooden Bengali types made by Panchanan Karmakar were installed.
Perhaps the crowning work of Carey and his two associates was the establishment of the Serampore College in 1818 which acts both as a university through the Senate of Serampore College (University) and as an individual college, Serampore College. The founders had to spend their last farthing on the construction of its magnificent buildings. It was also the first college in Asia to award a degree.
At the same time, the Serampore Mission Press brought out the English daily, A Friend of India (precursor to The Statesman). Another outstanding contribution of the missionaries was the installation of India's first paper mill, in Bot Tala, set up by John Clark Marshman (the son of Joshua and Hannah Marshman) which was powered by a steam engine.
Between 1801 and 1832 the Serampore Mission Press printed 212,000 copies of books in 40 different languages. In this cultural development, the local inhabitants had only a passive role. Only a few among the affluent, comprising absentee landlords and businessmen, seized the opportunity for higher education by sending their children to the academic institutions of the missionaries. On the other hand, people belonging to the lower economic stratum sent their children to the monitorial schools, which provided a basic education. In the process, there emerged a class of local gentry, who had a favourable attitude towards the missionaries.
Later years[edit]

Boatmen tying their boats after returning from fishing.
Between 1801 and 1839 Danish trade and commerce as well as the civic life of Serampore experienced a severe decline. While in 1803, 113 European ships were loaded and unloaded at Serampore port, there was only 1 in 1815. The aggressive attitude of the British merchants located in Calcutta and their continuous harassment of the Danes in Serampore hit the company severely. The situation became so critical that the Danish Governor, Pater Hansen, was constrained to sell off the entire property to the English for a paltry sum of 1.2 million rupees on 11 October 1845.
During the last days of Danish rule in Serampore, the entire civic administration was completely disrupted.
British rule[edit]
On 11 October 1845, it was sold to Britain, which integrated it in British India and officially restored the Bengali name.
After taking possession of the town, the British began to look after its civic amenities and the earlier 'Village Committee' was transformed into the Serampore Municipality in 1865. Rishra and Konnagar were also included in it.
At that time, the affluent high caste section of the Serampore population displayed no sign of modernisation, nor did they subscribe to an urban ethos. The Indian economy during the period was passing through a severe recession. There was continuous migration of rural people to the urban centres. Landless labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa came to Serampore in search of employment. When the second Jute Mill was opened in 1866 in Serampore (the first one was set up in Rishra in 1855) the town began to grow as an industrial town. Along with the Jute mills, many other subsidiary factories came up in the erstwhile rural areas within or on the fringes of the town.
Thus, with the capital investment of the British the commercial town of Serampore was transformed into an industrial one. The deciding force behind the process was the laying of the railway line from Howrah to Burdwan in 1854. It ushered in a great change in the social composition of the town. Between 1866 and 1915, six more jute mills were established in Rishra, Serampore and Gondolpara. The local landlords, thikadars and mill-owners made arrangements for the habitation of the labour force around the factories. Thus at Mahesh, Akna, and Tarapukur mouzas adjacent to the Ganges, workers' colonies like Oriyabasti, Gayaparabasti, Chhapra basti and Telengipara basti were established. Because of the arrival of these migrant workers, the population in Serampore increased from 24,440 to 44,451 between 1872 and 1901. These habitations of labourers were mere unhygienic, overcrowded slums full of stench. There was no provision for even a minimum of civic amenities in their dwellings.
In 1914, an arrangement was made to supply filtered potable water from the Municipality. The Town Hall was established in memory of Kishori Lal Goswami in 1927. At the initiative of the Government, the weaving school was founded during the thirties, and later on it was raised to the status of a Textile College. The municipality began to provide electricity in 1938. After fifty years of British possession, Serampore was swept by the waves of a Bengali cultural and nationalist movement. The spirit of nationalism influenced many youths from middle-class families. It resulted in the decline of foreign investment in industries. But there was an increase in indigenous investment. The Bangalakshmi Cotton Mill was founded out of the swadeshi spirit. From the beginning of the twentieth century, many primary schools and educational institutions were set up at Serampore. The descendants of some of the older aristocratic families donated their residential buildings for benevolent purposes.
Post 1947[edit]
Since 1947, Serampore has become a satellite of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and as such its process of urbanisation and change is as yet still incomplete. Now Serampore is one of the most developed towns in the main line region of Howrah.
Demographics[edit]
As of 2001 India census, [4] Serampore had a population of 197,955. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Serampore has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Serampore, 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.
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Famous University/Board/College[edit]
- Serampore College
- Serampore Textile Engineering College
- Suro Bharati Sangeet Kala Kendra (All India Board of music and fine arts Education)
- Serampore Girls' College
Famous spots[edit]
There are some famous spots in the city. They are:
- Radhaballav Temple
- Jagannatha Bari
- Mahesh Rath Jatra
- Serampore Rajbari
- Soshan Kali Temple
- Taramar Bari (Ashok kumar Mukhopadhyay Sevakendra Trust)
- Srirampur Mahaprovu Bati
- Ganga ghat
- Bot tala-a busy bus stop.(The area features a huge Banyan Tree,almost 100 years old]
- Sheoraphuli Raj Debuttar Estate
- Chatra Shitalatala - for Shitala Mandir and bazaar
- Chatra Doltala - Sri Chaitanya Mahapravu came here
- Serampore College
- Serampore Jute Mi
- Danish cemlletery
- Satimata Mandir, in B. P. Dey Street
- B. P. Dey Street market area, near Railway Station
- Madan Mohan temple,choudhuri para lane[ near jalkal]
See also[edit]
For more information on the early Serampore missionaries, see:
References[edit]
- Jump up^ "Base Map of Kolkata Metroploitan area". Kolkata Metroploitan Development Authority. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
- Jump up^ "HOME Sitemap Serampore Municipality". JNNURM, West Bengal. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- Jump up^ "From Chairman's Desk". Serampore Municipality. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- Jump up^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
External links[edit]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serampore
It is a pre-colonial town on the west bank of the Hooghly River. ... many foreign merchants, such as the French, Portuguese and Dutch - established their ... In 1755, the Danish East India Company sent a representative from its Tranquebar ... Subsequently, the Danes acquired the Serampore, Akna and Pearapur mahals by ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugli-Chuchura
... of West Bengal, India. It lies on the Hooghly River, 35 km north of Kolkata (Calcutta). .... Techno India Group Public School, co-ed, English. Abbot Shishu Hall ...
www.westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/little-europe
Barrackpore, situated on the River Hooghly about 20 kms north of Kolkata was a ... The place acquired its name as Barrackpore in 1772 as the first military troops ... TheDutch Settlement The Dutch formed their East India Company (V.O.C ...
https://rangandatta.wordpress.com/.../europe-along-the-hooghly-sreramp...
Jan 14, 2015 - Serampore (Danish), Chandannagar (French), Chinsurah (Dutch) and ... Danish Governor decided to sell it to the British East India Company.
calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/hooghly.htm
Sep 9, 2013 - At that time Kolkata was the principal Dutch settlement in Bengal, used ... Colonel Robert Clive of British East India Company Limited and .... Hooghly are running in the Court building owned by P.W.D., Govt. of West Bengal.
indiaheritage.org/history/history_of_europeans.htm
Before Chinsurah became a Dutch colony, it was already home to Calcutta's ... The Armenians funded the British East India Company to develop the city of Calcutta. ... In 1777, after the Danish company went bankrupt, Serampore became a ...
cityofpalaces.tripod.com/history1.htm
In 1580, they moved to a new settlement called Bandel de Hooghly. ... The flag of theDutch East India Company that once flew over Chinsurah and Baranagore. ... indicates that Calcutta had taken over Chandernagor as the center for trade with ... In 1777, after the Danish company went bankrupt, Serampore became a ...
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=j1QoAAAAYAAJ
... miles of each other, viz. at Hooghly, Chinsurah, Chandernagore, and Serampore. The East India Company subsequently formed factories at Cossim- buzar on ...
natmus.dk/fileadmin/.../Serampore/Serampore_report_2010_web.pdf
tablish a trading post at Serampore (Srirampur) at the Hooghly. River in West Bengal, ... companies, especially the Dutch East India Company, the Danish. East India ... had acquired land and established separate posts or factories. (meaning ...
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1741790956
2007 - Travel
On the Hooghly River, 25km north of Kolkata, Serampore was a Danish trading centre until Denmark's holdings in India were transferred to the East India Company in ... Only 1km south of Hooghly, Chinsura was exchanged by the Dutch for the ...
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