Hooghly District - History

History

The district of Hooghly derived its name from the town of Hooghly situated on the west bank of Hooghly River about 40 km north of Kolkata. This town was a river port in the fifteenth century. But, the district has thousands of years of rich heritage in the form of the great Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut. The first European to reach this area was the Portuguese sailor Vasco-Da-Gama. In 1536 Portuguese traders obtained a permit from Sultan Mahmud Shah to trade in this area. In those days the Hooghly River was the main route for transportation and Hooghly served as an excellent trading port. Within a few decades the town of Hooghly turned into a major commercial center and the largest port in Bengal. Later in 1579-80 Emperor Akbar gave permission to a Portuguese captain Pedro Tavares to establish a city anywhere in the Bengal province. They normally chose Hooghly and thus Hooghly became the first European settlement in Bengal. In 1599 the Portuguese traders built a convent and a church in Bandel. This is the first Christian church in Bengal known as ‘Bandel Church’ today.

But the Portuguese traders started misusing their powers. They started slave-trading, robbery and converting natives into Christians by pressure. At one of point of time they even stopped paying taxes to the Mughal Empire. As a result Emperor Shah Jahan ordered the then ruler of Bengal province, Qasim Khan Juvayni to block the city of Hooghly. This eventually led to a war in which the Portuguese were defeated comprehensively.

Among other European powers that came to Hooghly were the Dutch, the Danish, the British, the French, the Belgians and the Germans. Dutch traders centered their activities in the town Chuchura which is just south to Hooghly. Chandannagar became the base of the French and the city remained under their control from 1816 to 1950. Similarly, the Danish establishment in settlement in Srirampur. All these towns are situated on the west bank of the Hooghly River and served as ports. But among these European countries, the British ultimately became most powerful.

Initially the British were based in and around the city of Hooghly like traders from other countries but in 1690 Job Charnock decided to shift the British trading center from Hooghly-Chinsura to Calcutta. The reason behind this decision was the strategically safe location of Calcutta and its proximity to the Bay of Bengal. As a result the center of gravity of trade and commerce in the Bengal province shifted from the town of Hooghly to Calcutta and Hooghly subsequently lost its importance as Calcutta prospered. After the Battle of Buxar this region was brought under direct British rule until India’s independence in 1947. After independence this district merged into the state of West Bengal.

Though the city of Hooghly is more than 500 years old; the district of Hooghly was formed in 1795 with the city of Hooghly as its headquarters. Later the headquarters shifted to the town of Chuchura. In 1843 the Howrah district was created from the southern portion of this district. And in 1872, the south-west portion of this district was merged into the Medinipur district. The last change in area occurred in 1966.

Antpur is a tourist spot in this district.

• Hangseshwari temple, in Banshberia

• Antpur Radhagovindjiu Temple

• Hooghly Imambara

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  Hooghly Imambara