Maidan (Kolkata): Difference between revisions

{{EngvarB|date=March 2016}}  

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}

==History==

In 1758, one year after their decisive win in Battle of Plassey, the British East India Company commenced construction of the new [[Fort William, India|Fort William]] in the center of the village [[Gobindapur, Kolkata|Gobindapur]]. The inhabitants of the village were compensated and provided with land in Taltala, Kumartuli and Shovabazar. The fort was completed in 1773.{{quote|The tiger-haunted jungle which cut off the village of [[Chowringhee]] from the river was cleared, and gave way to the wide grassy stretch of the Maidan of which Calcutta is so proud. The formation of this airy expanse and the filling up of the creek which had cut off the settlement in the south, led the European inhabitants to gradually forsake the narrow limits of the old palisades. The movement towards Chowringhee had already been noticeable as early as 1746.<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., ''Calcutta Old and New'', 1909/1980, p.&nbsp;72, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.</ref>}}

In 1883–1884 the Maidan, along with grounds of the Indian Museum, hosted the [[Calcutta International Exhibition]].<ref name="photobookfound">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1131202/jsp/calcutta/story_17607534.jsp#.WGzIWVwiV8E|access-date=4 January 2017|title=Retro look: unseen shots of 1883}}</ref>

In 1909, H.E.A. Cotton wrote,{{quote|The great Maidan presents a most refreshing appearance to the eye, the heavy night dew, even in the hot season, keeping the grass green. Many of the fine trees with which it was once studded were blown down in the cyclone of 1864. But they have not been allowed to remain without successors, and the handsome avenues across the Maidan still constitute the chief glory of Calcutta. Dotting the wide expanse are a number of fine tanks, from which the inhabitants were content in former days to obtain their water-supply.<ref name = "Cotton220">Cotton, H.E.A.,  pp. 220–221.</ref>}}

In Bengali, the maidan is called 'Garh-er maath'. 'Garh', in Bengali, means fort and its meaning literally translates to the 'fort's ground'.

==Around the Maidan==

[[Raj Bhavan, Kolkata|Government House]] was built in 1803, the {{convert|48|m|adj=on}} high [[Shaheed Minar, Kolkata|Octerlony Monument]] in 1848,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.kolkatainformation.com/calhert/sahid_minar.htm | title =  Shahid Minar (Ochterlony Monument)| access-date =  2007-05-04 | publisher =  kolkatainformation.com}}</ref> the museum was started in the [[Asiatic Society]] in 1814 but shifted to the present site as the [[Indian Museum]] in 1887,<ref>{{cite web | url =  http://www.indianmuseumkolkata.org/history.html | title =  Indian Museum Kolkata | access-date =  2007-05-04 | work =  The Official Website | publisher =  indianmuseumkolkata.com | url-status =  dead | archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20061123151815/http://www.indianmuseumkolkata.org/history.html | archive-date =  23 November 2006 | df =  dmy-all }}</ref> [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata|St. Paul's Cathedral]] was built between 1839 and 1847, it was consecrated in 1874,<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.indiatravelite.com/calcutta/calsightseeing.htm | title =Calcutta Sight Seeing | access-date =2007-05-04 | publisher =indiatravelite.com | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070307010108/http://www.indiatravelite.com/calcutta/calsightseeing.htm | archive-date =7 March 2007 | url-status =dead }}</ref> and the [[Victoria Memorial (India)|Victoria Memorial]] was erected in 1921.<ref>{{cite web | url =  http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/index2.html | title =  The Official website of Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta | access-date =  2007-05-04 | work =  The Official Website | publisher =  victoriamemorial.com | url-status =  dead | archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20070519085614/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/index2.html | archive-date =  19 May 2007 | df =  dmy-all }}</ref> On Council House Street, at one corner of the Maidan, was the long-defunct [[Fort William College]],<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., p. 271</ref> which played a pioneering role in the development of many of the Indian languages, particularly Bengali.

==Statues==

The Maidan was dotted with statues of British governor generals and other eminent personalities of the British Raj, including [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]], [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Kitchener]], [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Roberts]], [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|Minto]], [[Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook|Northbrook]], [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|Canning]] and others who had known Kolkata well. Two or three of them were erected in the first few years of Indian independence in 1947; it was not until 1983 that the last 16 were removed.<ref>Moorhouse, Geoffrey, ''Calcutta, the City Revealed'', first published 1971, Penguin Books 1986 edition, p. 227, {{ISBN|0-14-009557-8}}</ref>