Growth of Calcutta's Business District Meera Guha

This article examines briefly the historical developments leading to the displacement of the Bengali popula­tion from large commercial enterprise in Calcutta by trading castes from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat and the spatial changes which have followed this.

THE chief commercial concentra-tion of Calcutta Is located in an

area lying along the Hoogly River, covering wards 17, 19, 24 and 26. In the immediate neighbourhood, where commercial functions are also present to a lesser degree, the density of po­pulation rises as high as 761 (ward 25) and 586 (ward 20) per acre. The tradition in the region which has always been one of trade and com­merce has attracted various communi­ties of differing origins and composi­tion. The geographical character of the area formed one of the bases of this tradition In a marshy deltaic setting, the high levee hanks of the river formed the site of several vil­lages, while the river itself provided an easy means of communication. Some of these villages were religious centres or centres of Brahmanical learning, while some were centres of trade or of manufacture by artisan castes. Upon one portion of this levee, Sutanuti, a reputed cotton yarn mar­ket of the 17th century was located. This place became the famous 'mid­

day halt' of Jub Charnock, and later developed into the city of Calcutta.

It was around this nucleus that the central commercial functions of the city evolved. In the north lay the old village site of Sutanuti, later known as Hatkhola and Bcniatola (ward 17); while to the south were Jorabagan-Pathuriaghata (ward 19 and 24), and Burrabazar (ward 26). At the time of Plassey in 1757, Jorabagan-Pathuria-ghata lay between the villages of Su­tanuti in the north, and Kalikata to the south. The latter was the site of the English settlement, which lay to the south and west of the Dalhousie square of present times. There was a bazaar north of Kalikata, known as Burabazar (Bura is said to be the pet name of Siva). The old name of Pa-thuriaghata came from a jetty or wharf (ghaut), where building stones and fodder for draught-horses were unloaded. Originally residential in character, these together were known as the 'native quarter' in the 18th century.

The resident population in Haikhu-

la-Beniatola was composed chielty of the trading and artisan castes of Su-barnabanik (banker), Candhabanik (spice merchant), and Tantubanik (weaver), who followed their tradi­tional hereditary callings. Most of these people had migrated from Hoogh-ly, in the north, to Calcutta, in the 18th century. This was when, because of silting in the river, Saraswati the famous port of Saptagram was on the decline, and the new centre at Suta­nuti offered fresh opportunities of trade and commerce under British patronage.

Southwards, in Jorabagan, Pathuria-ghata and Burrabazar, the original re­sident population was defined in se­parate wards belonging to castes like Kayastha (scribe), Brahman (priest), Suri (distiller), Subarnabanik and Tanlubanik. Several of them are said to have been residenls of the village of Govindapore, from where they were displaced during the construction of Port William in 1757, and were given compensatory land by the Companv to the north of the English settlement.

T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y November 13, 1965

Several members of these groups be­gan to participate in commercial acti­vities with the East India Company, as agents or 'banians'.

By the 18th century, fresh nisturi-cal developments took place which led to a number of significant social cnan-ges. Revenue collection in Bengal under the Mughals was made through indigenous zemindars in charge of spe­cified districts. When the East India Company came into power in the 18th century, proprietory rights were given to these zemindars by the Permanent Settlement Act of 1793, and the reve­nue demands of the landlords' assets were fixed in perpetuity. But in order to ensure immediate payment, the Sunset l a w was adopted. By this, the lands of the estates were sold to meet arrears if the revenues were unpaid by sunset on a fixed date, the 30th of Asvina of the Bengali year. Several of the old zemindar families became de­faulters through the operation of this law, and the new citizens of Calcutta, already engaged in trade, began to buy up these estates when they were offered for salo. Moreover, ar the peace under British rule helped in the extension of agriculture, hitherto neg­lected in an unsettled atmosphere investment in zemindari became a highly profitable enterprise. Thus the group of absentee landlords resident

in Calcutta emerged as a new class altogether. Such were Butto Kristo Paul (Gandhabanik), Brindaban Chan­dra Basak (Tantubanik), Baisnav Cha-ran Sett. (Tantubanik), Sovaram Basak (Tantubanik), Lakshmikanta Dhar (Su-barnabanik), Ramlochan Ghosh (Kay-astha), Darpanarayan Tagore (Brah­man), who were residents of the area under discussion.

The Bengali landlords, once divert­ed from trade, began to seek oppor­tunities in other avenues of occupa­tion: They had already taken readily to western education by the beginning of the 19th century, and their fami­liarity with the English language made it easy for them to move into the services in European mercantile firms as well as under the administration. Many families consequently left the field of commerce to which their grandfathers had been attracted. This change took place more rapidly among the Kayastha and Brahman families. For we find that among the other castes, the Subarnabaniks have til l to­day, maintained their original banking occupation besides making new invest­ments in shipping, textiles, jute and coal industries. Only a very small frac­tion of these caste groups has moved into the bureaucratic and learned pro­

fessions. Thus the field of large commercial

enterprise was left open to a new group which gradually moved in. These were the trading castes from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. This transfer received further incen­tive by the construction of railways, when the north-western provinces of India were brought within the trading range of Calcutta. To-day the non-Bengali population is a dominant group in the economic life of Calcutta.

Spatial changes also have been ini­tiated by this replacement. The new commercial groups who have concen­trated in the Burrabazar area are gradually spreading out in a distinct pattern all over the city. Whenever old localities are redeveloped, the rich non-Bengali businessmen purchase land along the new traffic arteries and build many storeyed structures. The original resident Bengali families are moving out to give place to the new settlers; so much so, that, as in the case of the central business district, only a small fraction of the original core remains, maintaining an oyster-like existence. In consequence, to-day, Burrabazar is populated mainly by non-Bengali bu­sinessmen from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Jorabagan-Pathuria-ghata, lying between this area and the northern Bengali locality of Hatkbola-Beniatola, has a mixed population of both Bengali and non-Bengali popula-

November 13, 1965 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

tion. Thus certain social peculiarities are noticeable in the region described above. Here, in spite of the predomin­ance of commercial activity, the differ­ent communities maintain discrete con­centrations. They are apparently mark­ed off from one another by differences of language, dress, living habits and occupations.

There has also been an invasion of commercial functions in a once predo­minantly residential area. Occasionally abandoned palatial residences have been converted into ware-houses. This is greatly in evidence on the northern fringes of Jorabagan and in Beniatola. The market functions of Burrabazar have extended along the Hooghly bank on its inner side, and also eastwards. This is of wholesale trade in non-pe­rishable foodstuffs and other commo­dities. Consequently, heavy motor tra­ffic has encroached upon the area, giving rise to car-repairing and motor ancillary trades. The wholesale com­merce of Burrabazar has also brought in a floating population of coolie la­bour, which finds refuge on the pave­ments every night, while a few rooms in bustees are collectively rented by them for storage of personal belong­ings. The river front is in addition lined with timber depots.

There has been a decline of resi­dences in those localities where the ad­vancing commercial functions make demands upon space. Prosperous resi­dences as a result are being replaced by others of a poorer quality, while land values have arisen tremendously. The table on page 1695 bears out some of these features of change be­tween the years 1911 and 1961.

We find that although there has been an increase in total land use, in the nucleus of wards 26, 37 and 39, the increase of commercial functions is considerably larger than that of re­sidential ones. Thus it is possible to define a zonal arrangement of func­tions lying around the core of Bur­rabazar. The latter is extending out­wards into a zone which now forms the transition between advancing com­merce and retreating residence. Still farther away is an area which is still mainly residential in character.

What is more striking is the almost total absence of those functions which are associated with residence, namely educational amenities, clubs and pub­lic parks. This is also substantiated by a study of the voluntary communal in­stitutions of the area. Interest in high­er education is lacking among the re­sidential commercial population. Ex­cept for one or two schools which ca­ter to pupils from outside the region, all the schools are primary, either run by schoolmasters mainly as a means of

livelihood or free schools run by the Calcutta Corporation,

The changing spatial forms have re­sulted in a state of fluidity, so that social integration is feeble with relax­ed social responsibilities. In many cases, where old recreation clubs, run by Bengalis, existed, they are now practically defunct. Similarly, social service organizations do not function properly. The only exceptions in this connection are those non-Bengali com­munity organizations which function for the benefit of their caste groups spread over the whole of Calcutta. Such institutions are well organized and are founded in Trusts. Examples

are: Marwari Relief Society, Mahesh-wari Sava, Sri Kashi Visvanath Sami-t i , Svetambar Tarapanthi Sava, Pun­jabi Seva Samiti, Gujarati Seva Samaj. On the other hand, a different set of organizations cuts through these inter-communal differences. They are a number of trades associations like the Federation of Mercantile Employees Union, Bengal Bank Association, India Bank Employees Association and so on. But these have countrywide affi­liations. It seems, therefore, that the social scene is characterized by an un-integrated group of distinctive com­munities, whose ties arc extremely temporary.