History
In the early nineteenth century Calcutta (Kolkata) was at the height of its golden age. Known as the City of palaces or St. Petersburg of the east, Calcutta was the richest, largest and the most elegant colonial cities of India. It was during this time one of Calcutta's finest colonial structure the Government House (later Raj Bhavan) was constructed.
Before 1799 the Governor General resided in a rented house, called Bukimham House, located in the same location. The land belonged to Mohammad Reza Khan, a Nawab of Chitpur. It was in 1799 the then Governor General of India, Lord Wellesley, took the initiative of building a palace, because he believed that India should be ruled form a palace and not from a country house. Wellesley wanted to make a statement to the imperial authority and power and so the building was done on a grand scale.
After 4 years construction was complete at a colossal cost of 63,291 pounds (about 3.8 million pounds in today’s estimate). Wellesley was charged for misusing of East India Company’s fund and was finally recalled back to England in 1805. Although Wellesley lost his job, he does have the credit of giving Kolkata one of its finest colonial mansions.
Read more about this topic: Raj Bhavan (West Bengal)
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