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MAPPING CALCUTTA The Collection of Maps at thevisual Archives of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta...
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MAPPING CALCUTTA The Collection of Maps at thevisual Archives of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
Keya Dasgupta
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MAPPING CALCUTTA The Collection of Maps at the Visual Archives o f the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta Keya Dasgupta September 2009
CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES, CALCUTTA
This publication is supported by a grant from Ford Foundation, India
poseibly the most detailed of the large-scale
ecollection of mapsonthe eityof~alcutta~at The Archives of the Centre for Stodies in Social
surveys undertaken on the city and its urban
,%iencesesCalcutta,
periphery. Over hundred yeas have p a d since this Survey, but such a venture has
has grown gradually over
-bhe yea*, not in a very planned manner, 'becaus of the very nature of the sources
-
rwideiy dispersed, and often
.
remained unreplicated, and still remains perhaps t h e m o s t important of all surveys
!wnknown. The collection is ppmsentatlve of the vast of maps and plans of a
on Calcutta. A map produced by the 'Soaety
nature, both In the
for the Diffusion of
wscript and printed
ns. Beginning in the
Useful Knowledge' in 1842, and two maps
yeighteenth century and
based on the surveys
ng a period ranging hly over two and a half
conducted under the aegis of the Survey of
rks8thesemeps exist in
India, the first b e w n
lib~aries, archives, and
188Tand 1894, the second in 1943 are also
&r institurional, as well as
part o f the original graphic sburces in India primarily 'cute institutional mllections baslcatly se these
were in the majority of cases
uced institutionally and have sewed in
r times certain institutional agenda. &ha1 pn*
and reproductions have been
wired frorh the National Archives of Indfa,
Delhi, the National Libraw, the Victoria orfal, the Direaorate of land Recotds, vernment ofWest Bengitl, the NationalAtlas Themattc Mapping Organisation a t
um, the British Museum, London, and
printed maps in the colledion. There are afso reproductions of original maps published between 1742 and 1914, reproduced in different forms: photocopies, scanned prints, micrafilms, etc. The Pew maps of the postindependence period are original printed versions such as topographical sheets of the Survey of India, maps published by the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, and other endeavours in thematiccartographyfor popular use. Town plans and maps have had an
m private coliectlohsandmap dealers.
uninterrupted histdry of growth since the
important part of the colfection constitutes
inception of colonialism in the Indian
jnai printed maps ~
~
are m a p produced for purposes af ue assessment in the eariy twentieth aury
- well known as Smart's survey,
hcnbdD w aq By MroBliged humbfe9ewmt 1R8nnel:hom 'An Pm*
ot
m a t and aabar, 178L cities becoming ~subcontinent, ~ with port~ ~ some fwiaw~n i ~ B P A I R ~ (ad) ~ ~ B ~ ? ~iL I1 MPP of the most mapped sltes. With the English M e 9 m ~ ~
establ~shing their foothold in the three presidencies of Bombay, Madrs and Calcutta,
afHWmmwfhe~ a h o l Eqwc o d M%wgd1Wa1, 1 7 a reprlnt€dm NV. VUbtiCauwr,Rtnai rs7s
CSSSC, we have consciously made an effort to Calcutta became?m@9~fljeF+apail!l&~es
collect historical maps of Calcutta, difficult to
of colonialIndia
access normally.This is reflected in thetext that
The majority of
: i @ ~ ~ ~ ~g@ite ~ @ @ jfollows.
Of the contemporary cartographic
expectedly, wel'e aW~ia[(g:s~#@g%4j~r@m$h~ productions, a few examples from the late eighteenth century,.with tee ~ . ~ ~ ~ i h collection ~ e i ~have t been touched upon, especially of the Survey of India, 'most sufvey and
the new genre of schematic representations
mapping operations got centialised. There
thatwe have come across in the recent past
were private endeavours as well, but far fewer
The range of maps on Calcutta/Kolkata
in comparison.
accessed at the CSSSC archives includes
The history of cartography of the city of
interesting binaries: between the indigenous
Calcutta is almost coterminous with the history
and the British/western, between colonial and
of British endeavours in mapping the city. This
post-colonial, betweenofficiallysponsoredand
history dates back to the year 1742, as faras we
private endeavours, between 'scientific'
have been able to trace, if one leaves out the
cartography and 'schematic' plans, and so on.
conjectural maps of the late seventeenth century that illustrated the three riverine
Wlth few exceptions, each representativeof the respechvegenresin cartographic production.
settlements of Sutanuti, Kalikata and
Interestingly, in spite of the prevalenceof a vast
Govindapur that were to constitute the future
reserve of indigenous/traditional cartographic
city of Calcutta. The first known British map of
ventures produced on several regions a5 well as
the city, Plan of Calcutta, was published in 1742
on urban centres in the Indian subcontinent,
Mapping continued for almost the next two
Calcutta finds almost no representationin spite
centuries, with the patrons of these
of the known intellectual traditions in Bengal.
cartographic ventures belonging primarily to
An exceptlon is a unique endeavour in
the various branches of the colonial
cartographic representation
administration. The productionof maps on the
Dass's Kalikatar Manchitra, a map-cum
city therefore very clearly coincides with the
guidebook produced inthevernawlar in 1884.
changing requirements of colonial power, the
Representative examples of cartographic
purposes of survey differing from one to the
ventures on the city, from the pre-colonial
other. Each survey is a reflection of either a
phase to the present would throw some light
particular historical event or a phase in urban
on thevaried array of maps and plans that have
planning. There were nevertheless a few
been perceived, surveyed and produced on the
exceptions.
growing metropolis.
Calcutta is still being map'ped. "Yt, one sees a
The selection of maps discussed below is
marked departure, quite uhderstgndably, both
representationalof distinct thematic categories
in the form and 'in the cQntet%t'between
of cartographic production. They do not
mappingventu@silq @?1w~gl@d@f;3fidfiie post-
necessarily conform to any chronological
independence pliasex. l ~ @ Map e &chives of
sequence.
-
Romanauth
than a century, till it was succeeded by the Fort
kippingthe Colonial City
William. to set off a period in which scientific
CartographicproductionsfocusingonCalcutta
uiry and technological practicewas pressed
made their appearance through a series of
the service of the state. The institutions
plansoftheold Fortandtheareaamundit.The
wing cartographic productions in
firstofthisseries,alsoknowntobethefirstmap
Warts of
of Calcutta is a Planof Calcutto in 1742,showing
1
were attaining greater
I field for the demarcation of frontiers,
Between 1742 and 1757, a series of officially sponsored plans were prepared on the Old Fort. Many of these plans form part of the
6lf
maps published on India,
b i n the pre-Survey of India phase
ellers. Maps and plans, mostly ronnaissances, mute sketches
il to assist or itlustrate military
;r were also reflective of this nrwem marked generally by the isn:ofregionalplans.
liistoricai urban cartography is
riiwg with central importance ification and the defence of
r purposes of defence and the
ofiisation marked by the
1 ~ image ; of the city for
more
pb* &Cotam ir
h - qMe Ywn
,,, c, ,,,,
collections of the various repositories of early
beyond which the Engl~sh residences,
maps of Calcutta ment~onedearlier, wh~lequite
institutions and other appendages were
a few of the plans of the Old Fort have been
gradually spreading, Fort William became the
collectively printed in C.R.Wilson's Old Fort
marker of the British settlement in Calcutta.
William in ~ e n g a ~The ' Fort and its immediate
This is evident in all maps published slnce.
environs formed the initlal nucleus of the
However, we come across a few maps that have
Brit~shsettlement on the western bank of of
taken the Fort as the mainfocus, as were found
River Hooghly . Apart from select information
in the plans prepared on the Old Fort
relating to military organization, a few maps
I
Semfton's Plan of C o l ~ n 4 . PlQte XI], reproduced in The Late CRW~lson(ed). Old Fort William m Bengol Vbl IC 1906
also depicted the names of British residents,
The French Mappingof Calcutta
the factory, godowns, churches and a burial
Interestingexceptionsinthemydadrangeofmaps
ground.
and plans produced under Briish patronage on
After itr completion, Fort W~lliambecame the
colonial Calcuttacan be located in maps produced
new nucleus in thecartographic representation
bythe French. We have in ourcollectiontwomaps
of colon~alCalcutta. Built adjacent to the River
of French authonhip. While we could trace the
Hooghly further downstream, in a completely
genesis of the fiQ a plan of Fort William in 1779.
different ambience from the Old Fort that
no informationso far is available for the second, a
preceded it surrounded by the Esplanade,
mapofCalcuttain 1839.
another survey followed soon after. Aaron Upjohn's Map of Calcutta and its Environsfrom an accurate survey taken in the years 1792 and
1793 was dedicated to 'The British Inhabitants of Bengal'. Upjohn, a draughtsman by profession, came to India 'in the humble capacity of a bassoon player in a ship's band', and took up this large scale survey of Calcutta as a commercial venture. The government
A section of the P10" of CalcmY~reduced by permirrion of the Commissionem of Police, fiDm Uie original one exeruted fur them by iieut Calmel Mark Wood in ihe yeorr 1784 a 1785,published in October 1792 by WmBaillie
Mapping for Town Improvement Planning as an objective for the survey and mapping can possibly be takenasan important genre in the cartographic history of Calcutta, from early nineteenth century to the present. One should, of course, make distinctions between such productions i n terms of objectives, sites,
patrons, cartographic
purchased40copiesofthis map, and was made
methodsltechn~ques,etc. Of the cartographic
Head Draughtsman at the Surveyor General's
ventures thatwere published under the official
Office7.The importance ofthis survey lies in the
patronage of the colonial government, this
fact that it illustrates in details forthe first time
category constituted a significant component,
the built up area of the city as well as its
and focused on endeavours that related
immediate environs.
primarilyto municipal improvement.
Banks of the Hugh& River extending from the
Mark Wood'sSurvey: 1784& 1785 The Plan of Calcutta reduced by permission of .the Commissioners of Police, from the original one executed for them by Lieut Colonel Work
Town of Calcutto to the villoge of Ooloobareah, 1780-84. This map, w i t h elaborate ornamentation, illustrates the country around
Wood in the Yeors 1784 & 1785, pubLished in
three mileson both banksofRiver Hooghly.
October1792 by Wm. Baillie, is one of the most
Surveys for the Lottery Committee
well known maps of Calcutta, referred to
OF
@produced in books and atlases on the city's he 'Convenience of the Health of the
The most well known among the surveys conducted for town planning were the maps published under the aegis of the Lottery Committee, which held office from 1817 and 1831, and was responsible for major
80 to survey the city. This map became well
improvement activities in the city, such as
awnas areas inhabited by E~~~~~~~~ were
drainage, sanitation, the construction of major
hljghted for the first time, as the
thoroughfares, etc. Under the supervision of
of the Town which are inhabited by
between 1820 and 1824, resulting inane of the
own to have been named for the first
one of the few ~ ~ i tcartogmphic i ~ h productions
C@YOW
in the colonial period that illustrated major
,
map produced from Wood's survey,
land-use categories, named residents, mainly
''~"O*hmah~
wh,istheSurveyoftheCountryonthe
British but also indigenous, even though the
.,,
" bbthe Hughiy Riw mending fmm
1780-84, by M d Wood.
h,,,,,
M-,,
Areeon
ofPhofdtem,
C.,I