Mapping Calcutta The Collection of Maps at the Visual Archives of the CSSS 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
wmwr, by the l o b Major J.ASrholch for the use the lottery Committee and mnmbing oil the&

~~~~k with (1dditi666 fmm the Suwyar Unwolk

Office ond fmm Recent S u mP by Captain T hinrep. Engra,red

by LDLaCombe.

emphasis was on the former. There exists in different libraries and archives several versions of this map, at different scales. There is a reproduction of this survey at the Centre's Archives as well.

TheCalcuttaImprovement Tnrst1912 Almost a century later, with thesetting up ofthe Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) municipal improvement once again became a central issue in the city's administration. With a very

There were several surveys undertaken

broad agenda

following Schalch's, which in some form or

areasto road building, from the constructionof

anotherreflectedplanningobjectives.

tramways to the building of markets, the work

- from opening up peripheral

of the CJ.T. was reflected in several official

the planning for drainage and sanitary

documents, including a Report by R~chardsin

improvement of areas contiguous to the British

1914'. This Report contained many valuable

settled zoner, it also helps trace the

maps on the varied schemes of the CJ.T It is

transformations in the socio-spatial

difficult to access these plans. There is in the

organization of a neighbourhood that was t o

Centre's collection, a representative exampleof

gain significance in the city's evolution in the

one of C.LTs plam on the city.

not so distant futu~e."

Mapping an Indian

Am Emigration Depotin 1861

Neighbourhood: Two Maps of

Calcutta, since the second half of the nineteenth century, ifnot earlier, had evolved

A Manuscript Map of 1796

as an important link in the emigration of plantabon labourers from states h eastern and

Most off~cialsurveys on colonial Calcutta were restricted within the administrative limits of the city proper. Yet we do come across interesting cartographicventures that facued beyondthe tlty limits, to the outlying fringes, the suburbs. In ourcollectionthere isonesuch rareexample, a manuscript map of the southern

neighbourhood ofBhabanipur,which has had a long and interesting h~story,predating the ~olonialbeginnings of Calcutta.

central India, not only for destinations in India, such as the tea plantations of Assam, but also overseas. Large-scale ernigrat~onto the sugar plantationsof Maur~tius, the Caribbean islands, and other overseas destinations necessitated thesetting upof em~grat~on depots in Calcutta, w ~ t hlabourers being sent out through the Calcutta port In the words of Hugh Tinker, 'the number of emigrationagencies mult~plieduntil there were ten a g e n c i ~at Calcutta at one

At a period when the city was being surveyed

time.'" These depots were generally ordered

with a major focus on the Brit~shsettled areas,

according to the destinations of the labourers.

He come across a hand drawn map of 1796,

The Plan of the Mauritius Emigration Depot,

unsuthored, of the southern suburbs of

Ehowonipare, 1861, illustratesthe details of the

Bhabanipur, inhabited primarily by a local

layout or a Depot for emigration to Mauritius

populace. Itstitle read: 'A Surueycftheground

located in Bhowanipore, adjacent to the Tolly's

tb the Southward of Chowringhy and the

Nullah.

Gdheral Hospital including the whole of rmedin October; Novembe~" @isthe only map in our collection as early as

Other Important S u ~ e y sin the Nineteenth Century

eeighteenth century, and possibly one of the

'There was no end to the survey and re-survey

f;euv maps on Calcutta, where the namesofeach

of aflourishing city such as Calcutta', remarked

d every person residing in a non-British

Phillimore," the h~storianofthesurvey ofIndia,

d against their residences.

writing on an important phase in Calcutta's

rt from Illustrating colonial endeavours in

cartographic history

- 1845-54.This was a

the Lottery Committee was considered to have

The suburbs were surveyed by Major H.L.

called for a

Thuiller and Captain R.Smyth. This resulted in

become

out of dater,

meticulous survey of the city and its environs.

the Plan of Calcutta from Actual Sum% 184749. This largescalesurvey, produced lnitlally on

Frederick Walter Simms, brought to India as a

a scale of 14 Inches to a mile has been reduced

consulting englneer for railway construction,

several t~mes.We have in our collection a

'offered to carry out a new survey of Calcutta

smallervenionofSimms' Plan.

Pbn of the Movnhur EmB* D44 BhWMVWe I86L rspmduced m Hugh Tinkr, A N w System of S h e y Tha F x p d of bdwn lobovr OVCVCBO~ 1830 - 1920, OUi! 1974, ,236

The Mauririua Coolie Depot at Cdmm

I

libwing this major survey on the city,

The l842 map of Calcutta i s known to have

ail the improvements up to a lste

expressed The power of the maps to make a

ate', another significant cartographic

working classviewerderivea sense of prideand

aduction was a detailed survey of the

satisfactim in being Firitish' Lesser known

aviwns of the city in The City and Environs of

among the cartographic productions on the

lc~~tto including the Government Estote of

city, th~smap has a different hisrory of

chunnogrom with AUipooc Khiderpoor,

ac~uisitioh vis-$-vis other maps in our

k&g

Reach, Seebpour; Howmh and Suku,

collea~on. A print was acquired from an

ro 1856, by L t Col. Thuiller, Deputy

antique map shop in Amsterdam, a couple of

eyor General of India, published in 1861.

1s one of the series of surveys around the Cmeteenth century that focused beyond

years ago.

Survey of India and a NineteenthCenturyMapof Calcutta

gitylimitsto areasof fututeexpanrion. Under the aegis of the Survey of India,

Mngthe Working Claw with Subjectof Geography f%e Society for the Diffusion of

numerous maps of the city were published throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Either as maps of the city, parts thereotorthe city in its broadercontext Ofthe detailed surveys on the growing metropolis

fact that there were unique variants st British ventures in cartographic

undertaken by the Survey of India, of much significance was a survey w r i e d on between

tion on the colonies is borne out by a

1887 and 1894, covering intricate details of the

of Calcutta published in 1842 by the

city. Seveml versions of this map are known to

+or the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. qphas a different storytotell.

exist, varying in scale and colour. An orig~nal version, a small-scale coloured pr~ntacquired

the administration and planning of

from a private collector, as well as photocopies

ial possessions was long accepted as the

of alargerversion,forms part of the CSSSCtmap

ry focus of most maps published

archives.

the late 18"and early 20"centurtes in there developed simultaneously in n an urge'to educate pooradultsandthe cla%$esin a variety of intellectual and

Addressing Municipal, Revenue, land Acquisition and Improvement Trust needs

Society for the Diffusion of Useful

Smart 3 Survey ofColcutta&its Suburbs in the early TwentiethCenfuty

dge in 1826, The map publication

The maps basedonthe 1887-94 surveys having

was begun t o attract working class

become out of date, a revision survey was

'to thesubject of geography, as awayto

ordered. Surveyed by Major R.B.Smart,

subjects' through the establishment

en? the Society's Librory of

Useful

appo~ntedAssistant Superintendent of Survey by the Bengal Government, under the

1

Cokoaa. Publ8shled under the Superintendence of the m e t y

for

me oiffusio,

Knowledge, 1842

of Useful

Superintendence of Major R.T.Critchton,

conducted between 1903 and 1914, in different

Superintendent of the Survey of India,

phases, on a scale of SO feet to an inch. It is

appointed Superintendent of Survey under

possibly the most noteworthy of all the surveys

Calcutta Survey Act I of 1887, this survey,

made on the city till date. The several sheets of

popularly referred to as 'Smart's Survey', was

the original prlnted maps of th~sSurvey of

Calcutta & its Suburbs form a valuable

the last onedecade to digitizeand upgradethe

inclusion in the map collection of the CSSSC

information basetoservecontemporaryneeds

#Archives. Showing each and every holding,

of municipal governance. Like many of the

lbuildings with number of Storeys, streets and

other maps of the city, Smarts' sheets are

iknes, well-known institutions, lamp posts and

restrictedfor use.

@veveral other elements of the cityscape, these irnaprconstituteimportant sources in the study

Indigenous Endeavours in

mf.Calcutta's built form.

Cartographic Production

@f the total number of printed sheets

Amongst the vast array of indigenous

@:!.blished

cartographic productions on India known from

from this survey, numbering o v e the CSSSC archives has been

the works of Joseph Schwartzberg, Susan Gole

to procure 941, even though time has

and afew others,verysurprisingly we have been

lvey has formed the basis of revenue

Since the third decade of the nineteenth

ssment in the city in the absence of any

entury, calcutta witnessedthepublication ofa

n hundred:

I

i'

,,,,,dthemapco-

*rwrr

Im7

- 1894 PYblisheU under +he e h a i i n d Majw General C.

have thus been made by the municipal

publications that catered to a Bengali

ties along with otherorganizationssince

readership. In their system of classification and

India, ~ a 1897. y

the selectivity of contents, these directories

Noteworthy in this series was a production,

provided an alternative view of envisaging a

whichcame toconstitutea uniqueaddition to

city which had both indigenous and European

the above in the way the text and the maps

elements not only amongst its residents, but also in the varied functions and uses of land."

Section fmm Suburbr of

Colanm, Yleet No U7. Surveyed by Major RBSmart Asiltant Supnntendent of Survey. Bengal Government

Calcutta. 1903 to 1907

were used interactively to give meanlng to

There were others that were guidebooks in

the cartographic production. Called Kalikatar

literary form, and provided graphic, almost

Manachitra, it incorporatedthe elements of a

cartographicdescriptionsofthe city.'"

city guidewith anaccompanyingmap.

AVernacuIar Map of the City I Romanwth Dass'sKalikatar Naksha Kolikafaf Manchifm,"

a map-cum-guidebook

in the Bengali language published b y

and lower courts, residences of "affluent people:

European and Indian shops,

hotels, presses, police stations, bazars, hats, ponds, as well as locat~onofseveral other places

Romanauth Dass in the year 1884, is a distinctive as well as pioneering venture in the product~onof a directory along with a map, o n the city o f Calcutta. Compared with

:

Century

the English maps and directories of the city

An interesting Bangla map exists of the

In the same period, it stands out because of

religious nucleus of Kalighat, one of the oldest

its a t t e m p t t o d e v e l o p a different

settlements o f the city that evolved around the

cartography and a different classification

temple of the Goddess Kali, with a gradually

and listing of information. It provides us

spreading settlement of priests around it The

with an interesting source i n analysing the iole of cartography i n the urban culture of

map, Kalighat. Boibaranik Monchitra (A

I I Bengal.

descriptive map of Kal~ghat),forms part of a late nineteenth century text on Kalighat."

Published by Romanauth Dass of Beniapukur,

The two vernacular cartographic ventures on

Calcutta, and accompanied by a map, Kolrkotar

the city are representative of interesting

Naksha, lithographed by Romanauth at the

variants vis-&-v~sthe large body of maps

Calcutta Art Studio, the first e d ~ t i o nwas

produced by the British in very interesting

dated 1884.

ways. If one could make generalizations,

Although the map cum

directory is in Bangla, the title is first given in English, followed b y Bangla. The aim of the 8

Representing Kalighat: A Bengali Neighbourhood in the Late Eighteenth

publication 1s stated b y Romanauth i n the Introductory note:

themes represented in the former were in no way bound by constraints of an official authority, but more by individual imagination, and a local/~ndigenous perspective. Second,

For the useof theg'commonpeople" a book

the use of the nelghbourhood or porn as sites

ent~tled Kalikatar Manachltra (Bengali

of representation addressed a readership that

Hand Map), along with a map of the sty,

was markedly different.

h a s been wr~tten i n the Bengali

language.

The names and slgns

MappingInstitutionally

provlded In the book, along with the

Official Endeavours in the 1930s and

zlgns given in the map will enable one to

1940s

locate all places, roads, lanes, galls, offices of the company, banks, courts, work places, European and Indlan medical stores, schools, doctors, kabiroj,

The Imperial Gazetter of India published an Atlas volume'9 to accompany the serles Along wlth several reg~onalmaps were published

Medical College, main concentration of

maps of the major cities in the subcontinent: Delhi, Madras, Calcutta, etc. The small-scale coloured map of Calcutta illustrates the built-

th~ngssold, traders, lawyers of the hlgh

u p area and the major landmark in the city.

midwiveswho have passed out from the

Throughout the twentieth century, the Survey

published under the direction of Brigadier Sir.

of India published maps of Calcutta and its

E.O.Wheeler, Surveyor General of India, in 1944.

surrounding areas at regular intervals. Though small scale surveys, much detail of the built space was illustrated through these surveys In

Post-independence Corfogrophic Ventures

our collectionwe haveone suchoriginal mapof

The collection of Calcutta maps at the CSSSC

the city, Calcutta and Howrah Guide Map,

Visual Archives primary belong to the colonial

Koltqhat Ba#haronkManrhltro

horn Hanpada Bhawmlk Ed).

Suva Kvmar Chattopadhyaya, K0l*herm D ~ k 0Calcutta , 1891, Reprinted Calcutta 1986

phaseof cartographicproduction.Thereare,of

survey operations and map production at the

course, a few representative examples of the

institutional level. Another institution - the

post-independence per~od.

National Atlas and Thematic Mapping

One could mark a clear difference bemeen

Organisation (NATMO) is also involved in the

maps of the colonial and post-colonial penod.

production of maps on various themes, the

The Survey of India still retains the authority in

main focus being on the national scale, rather

than on regions and cities. There is a marked

maps illustrate the details of topography and

difference in the agenda of both these

also mark out the built space. We also have in

institutionsofthecentralgovernment.

thiscollectiona number of important mapsand book, on maps produced by NATMO in the

We have in the map

maps

Imperial Gareht

llume xXvr ~ t l a r

Of

the CSSSC

the Survey

recent past. These are the Land-use maps of India Kolkata and the Kolkata MetropolitanArea, and

showing Calcutta and its surrounding area

a Chronometric Sketch of the Eastern

published in 1965 and 1973, respectively.These

Metropolitan Bypass

Two important publications of NATMO are

abstract guide or representation of the city is

noteworthy. First the Atlas of the City of

more closely aligned to the production of

Colcutta and its Environs? a compilation of

subjective experience than many would

small scale reproductions of eight important

imagine!n

surveys in the city carried on between 1784-85

Maps are becoming more and more integral in

and 1856, together with a text on the growth of

the everyday lives of cities like Calcutta.

the city and a list of Appendices on the demography and other related information on

Themes that were never part of cartographic productions are getting focused - in books, in newspaper advertisements, efc. The city public

Second, theAtlasofKokat8 is the outcome of

a land use survey conducted by NATMO for all the wards in Kolkata. Published in 2006 in the modelof the LondonA-2, or the Eicherguideto Delhi, it is a guide to the city, illustrating minute details of the built form, for example roads, lanes, institutions, residential build~ngs, c~rmmercial establishments, religious and other cultural institutions, parks, open spaces,

isgetting mouldedintothinkingcartogaphically'. For cities like Calcutta, where the annual Durgo Pu/o celebrations call for a restructuring of city

space for the four days of festivity, guide maps brought out bythe city police with sponsorship of a public sector oil company, annually, in both English and Bangla, direct the citizen through the labyrinth of streets to selected puja sites. The city in this context acquires a new meaning forthevisitor.

Of the maps published on Calcutta (and later ~Kolkata) in the post-independence period, noteworthy are the maps prepared by the planning bodies in Calcutta, the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organisation (CMPO) $hd the Calcutta (later Kolkata) Metropolitan Bevelopment Authority. RepreSentatnte maps illustrating the planning visions for Greater Wcutta/ Kolkata Metropolitan Area can be

Yet another genre fast creating a strong presence in city dailies are the promotional maps advertising new developments in city space

-

housing, commercial complexes,

tourist guides, or the new generation educational establishments. Marked shifts are thus being witnessed in the cartographic history of cities like Kolkata from maps produced for colonialist objectives to those

ifmentionedin this context

catering to a varied citizenry. The list multiplies

Lives of the

almost daily. The boundary of the city and the focus of attentiongets altered continuosly.

aps, guidebooks and advertisements make

Using maps to find their way around was not

p the myriad range of cultural productions

something a Bengali did habitually. With the

represented and still represent the c~tyof

exception of the age-old folded tourist maps

alcutta. In the words of John Hutnyk, writing

that one found selling on the footpaths along

the var~ed forms of cartographic

major highways, or at local bookshops, it was

presentation of Calcutta, 'a seemingly

rare to find cartographic representations in any

media. Contemporary Kolkata, with its new

be interpreted in their context. The rule applies

developments in the last two or three decades

equally to maps."' Cartography belongs to the

gives us a different picture. We find a spurt in

terrain of the social world in which it 1s

the representations of various aspects of the

produced. The function of maps as tools of

citythrough cartographicimages.

power, to legitimize the reality of conquest and empire, is a theme well researched today,

Maps as Representation Among the different genres of sources regularly used by historians, 'maps are well

Sebion from A#os National Atlas and

memafic mapping Organiratio~

Government of inalia. Caicutg, 2%

though notasmuch intheIndiancontext.

As subjects representative of the way in which power structures particular sets of social

known, but less well understood! Harley, the

relations, the colonial city has been the focus of

well-known scholar on the history of

academ~cenquiry for a considerable period of

cartography, who redefined the way maps

time. It is in this context that the changing

ought to be read, wrote that 'The basic rule of

organization of space in Calcutta has been an

historical method is that documents can only

important area of enquiry. The existence of

Sectlon from Kolkata

Pal~ce-lndran 011Pula

Guide 2008

..-

.olonial settlement nodes, the gradual

markedly different. One could markan absence

changes that have resulted from colonial

of intricate large-scale surveys of the likes of

penetration being reflected in its spatial segregation along racial lines, not only in the

Smart's survey. With the publication of the Atlas of Calcutta by NATMO, meant primarily for

residences, but also in the activities, the multiplicity of functions, and the increasing dominance of the institutions of governance

tourists, this lacuna has been partially addressed. The digitized updating of Smart's

are features thathavecharacterised thecolonial

maps by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation

urban centretheworld over. These are elements

with other government institutions would be a

of city structure that have been interrogated

significantendeavour in thisdireaion.

through the use of sources that have been .diversein nature.Yet littleuse has been madeof

Restrictive Policies in the Use of

cartographicevidence,which sheds light on the

Maps

.ways in which space has been perceived and

There is still extant a government policy that

represented through centuries to serve colonial

I 'interests.

I

1I

restricts the use of maps in India that fall within specifically mentioned categories, such as

Cartographic production on thecity in the post-

thoseshowingforts orany military outfit, dams,

~ndependenceper~odon the other hand, if one

etc. The rationale behind restricting the use of

could generalize, constitute a genre that 1s

most maps of Calcutta in the institutional

collections of the archives and libraries is the

modest beginningat buildingupa map archive

location of the fort atthe centre of the city. This

on the city of Calcutta. As far as we are aware,

appliesto most cartographic productions, even

there is as yet no repository of historical maps

historical, manuscript or printed maps, maps in

of the city of Calcutta centralized in a single

books, or in documents. This has constrained

collection. These are scattered in libraries,

our efforts to build up this collection of maps

archives, museums, government institutions,

on the city.

and in private collections inIndia and abroad.It

In spite of such constraints, our search for rare,

is important, we feel, to build up such a

interesting maps of Calcutta continues. As is

repository in Kolkata. Our aim is to gradually

evident from the brief description of maps in

add to this collection maps and plans produced

the present collection, our aim is also to search

on the city by various agencies, official or

for spatial representations that may not

private, on varied themes, thus recovering

conform to the known definition of scientific

Calcutta's history through its cartographic

cartography. The collection at CSSSC is a

re~resentations.

NOTES

1.

Itshould be noted that 'Kolkata' replaced 'Calcutta' in the year2001. Since the major part of the collection has been on Calcutta, we refer to the city in that nomenclature, unless otherwise stated.

2.

Susan Gole, lndian Mops and Plans from Earliest Times to the Advent of European Surveys. Manohar, New Delhi, 1989.

3.

David Buisseret (ed), Envisioning the City: Siw Studies in Urban Cartography, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1998,122.

4.

C.R.Wilson, Old Fort Williom in Bengal: A Selection of Official Documents Dealing with its History,VolumeII, PublishedfortheGovernmentofIndia,John Murray, London, 1906.

5.

Jean-Marie Lafont, Chitra: Cities and Monuments of Eighteenth Century lndia from French Archives, Oxford UniversityPress, New Delhi, 2001.

6.

Accessed from the Columbia University website. www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac /pritchett/OOmaplinks/colonial/calcuttamaps/rouardl839/rouard1839html-

Source:

Bought by FWPfromAlfred Eriksson,September2004, Scan by FWP,February 2006. 7.

R.H.Phillimore, Historical Records of the Survey of lndia, Survey of India, Dehradun, 1945, Volume1,Bibliographical Notes.394.

8.

E.P.Richards, Colcutta lmprovementTrust, Report on the Trust on the Condition, lmprovement andTownPlanningandContiguousAreos,Hertfordshire, England, 1914.

9.

We could possibly surmise that this survey was undertaken by Ensign Blunt. For details, R.H.Phillimore, HistoricalRecordsoftheSurveyoflndia,VolumeI, 65.

10.

For details, Keya Dasgupta, 'The Genesis of a Neighbourhood: The Mapping of Bhabanipur', Ocassional Paper No. 175, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. March 2003.

1

Hugh Tinker. A New System of Slavery: The kport of lndian Lobour Overseos, 1830-1920, Oxford UniversityPress, London, NewYork, Bombay, 1974,137.

12.

R.H.Phillimore, HistoricalRecordsoftheSurveyoflndia, VolumeV, Survey ofIndia, Dehradun, 1968,181.

13. Appendix& List and IndexMap, fordetails. Major F.C.Hirst, A Brief History of the Large Scale Surveys of Calcutta ond its Neighbourhood, 1903-1914 and1926-27, Super intendent, Government Printing, Bengal Government Press, Alipore, Bengal, 1939.

15.

Representative examples were The Vernacular Literature Almanac, N.L. Seal's Directory, B. R Day's Directory, etc.

16.

For example, Upendranath Mukhopadhyay,Kafikata Dasrshak, Kolkata, 1890.

17.

Bengali Hand Map of Calcutta for General Use, by Romanauth Dass, Kalikator Manochitra, First Edition, Calcutta, 1884.This map titled KalikatarNaksho has been discussed in details in Keya Dasgupta, 'ACity Away from Home: The Mapping of Calcutta', in Partha Chatterjee (ed) Texts of Power: Emerging Disciplines in Colonial Bengol, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis and London, 1995,145-163.

18.

Haripada Bhowmik (ed), Surya Kumar Chattopadhyaya, Kalikhetra Dipika (In Bangla), Calcutta 1891, Reprinted, Calcutta, 1986.

19.

Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume XXVI, Atlas, New Revised Edition. Publ~shedunder the Authority ofthe Government oflnd~a,Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1931.

20.

Anil Kumar Kundu and Prithvish Nag. Atlas of the City of Calcutta and its Environs, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, Calcutta, Reprinted 1996.

21.

AtlasafKalkata, National Atlas andThematic Mapping Organisation, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government ofIndia, Calcutta, 2006.

22.

John Hutnyk, 'Cartographic Calcutta: Amazement', in The Rumour of Calcutta: Tourism, Charityand the Poverty ofRepresentation, Zed Books, London, 117.

23.

J.B.Harley, The New Nature ofMaps: Essays in the History of Cartography, The Johns Hopkins University Press. Balitimoreand London,2001,37.

VDlX

List of Maps on Calcutta in the collection of the 1 Visual Archives of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

From Ome MSS.

Swafmn's Rnof C a l m a

Described in Onne'd

Plan of the Tenitory of C a l m as markd out in the year 1742: exhibiingl h s e the MiIPry

Caicufta h 175667

Territory ofCalcum

Noir eta= environs en 1779, aux Anglais. Cakum (Re" of hnW l i i m and me Black Town and ts aunaund'ngs in 1779.

t&obareah.

1780-84

U m . Colonel Mark Wwd in me years1784 61785.

mk Memorial. C a l c m

.Ma* Lafont, Chitis: sand Monmnts of

Map of Calcutta andifs EnvIrons from an accuratn s w t a k e n in theyam 1792 and 1793

ASUNW of the ground tothe Southward af Chovvinghy and the General Hospital includingthewhole of Bowanipoor, psriormed in October. November. 1796

Bnuanpoor. Guniah HsthhBabogunj

lnmmplele hand dawn map

S U Mby Francis Seilon White

N6iwal ArchiYeS of lndla. New Delhl

J.P.lnsty, Gakutta: C2yofPalaces.the British L i h q London. 1990

National Lbrw, Caluma

Plan af me City af Galcvtts and b Envimnswrveyed by the Late Mqor J.A.Sohalch forthe use of Lottery Cammitea and comaining alltheirimvwemwls wim add'ims from the Suweyoi General's Mfica and from recent su~eysby CaptainZ Rhsw

Mw

Repmducedfmmh tm bacX cover oi the book

o'me C i . *no en.?ro;ls or

Cama conmctelJ?h~eAy'~o~ Maor Scna.rhs mao ano Lam

~aitabnhnrep'ss&eys oftb suburbs mth the laest lmpmvemems and topogaphrcal detalis !qJ B T m m

Captaw Thompson's Plan far Dramage Caicum Rmted by TBlack

Captain Thompson

Few Hospital Commiaea Relmrt. 1838. National Libraw, Calcutta

Credited to Dufowan~ Benard, published bv Rouard

h n c h map

hedetic Walt* Sirnm

h 4 sheets

Published by the Society for the Oilsion of U m l Knawledge. London

4cwiledfmm anantique nap shop.Amsterdwn. 2W6 2ollact1onof Keys Oasgupte

Cdoursd pnnt

The city and envimns of Calcutta including the Governmm EST& d Pen~hlmn~gmm wilh AlIpoor, Khiderpwr. Gsrden-Reach. Seebpwr, Howiah and Sulkea. 1852 to 56.

Map ofthe Country 10 Mlles Round CaiNtta Copled lo the S u q o r Gene& Mlice fiomlhe Dnglnal Campllm

c

Nahonal lrbrary, CalcuIta

Deputy Su~eyor Geneal of lndia [signature illeglbiei

1852-1856

Drawn bv

31nl Januaq.1853 Naumal Archm oflndm Naw D&

A b h Sabhan

in 4 parts Comp~btrnn fmm dtleient surveys camedon betweenl&P7and1856

BlackBwhlte wrnduct~on d minured map

PLan of Calcutta showing the latest impr61ementsas e x i s ~ in g 1854 wah pat dthe envimns publiahedby Samuel SmWi 6Co. for the New Bengal Dimtory

Map of Calcutta. Shewn9 lheLamnl lmprovsmenlsas existing in 1656, Ded'catedto The Hon'ble Henry Rickellits. Member dThe Supreme Council of India. By hisfaiilh abiiged Selvant. W. Heysham

Swmd by W. Hp(sham. PuMished by R.C.Lepage6 Co.. London, B B N ! library, Cab&

R~pmducedm Hughmnker.

Ran of the Maurmus Em@mIrn Depot. Bhowanlpore. 1681.

A New system of S k e w The Exponof lndw Labour Ovsams l@301920, DUFle74

Rspmduced from lkwgali Hand Map of Calcm in meraiuse) by Rom& Dass WEdition W ? m r Menchihal pint& byB.M. Chakmvarti at the B.M. P m Calcutta, 1884, at the BritiJh MUSBU~. Collectionof Keys Dasgupe

RomaMutt Dass

Calcutta ~m2yedowing the vean 1887-1894

PlhliJheY undErtt@ llrecuon of Malor General Cmhan. Su-r General of lndta

Published under the brecbon dMajor GensralC Strahan. Smeyoi General of LIdls. Indi DBice of the Sweqor6ensral. 1805

1885

Acquired han IndranathMajumdar. Collscbon of Keyd Oan~upts

On@natcoM p h t

Acquired holn

Calcutta. Suburbs of C a l W a n d Adjoln~ngMunlc8pafittes Suweyed under the superintendence of Major Cnchton. Superlntendent ofsurvey and MrR B Smart Assistant

Superintendent of Survey

Calcutta and Howrah Guide Map

Suweyed under the Superlntendenceof MalorCnchton. Superlntendent of Survey and MrR B Smart. Assstant Super~ntendentof survey

Directorateof Suivey and Settlement. Government Of West Bengal, Calcutta

Indm. Offfm of the Surveyor General, Calcuha

Nauonal !.ihm.i. Calcutta

Published under the

4cqulred from lndranath Vlawmdar, Collection of Keya Oasgupta

d~rectionof Brlgadler SnEO Wheeler. Suweyor Genen oi ndla

7bponrapincalsheets an CaIcutta

%wey of lndla. Calcutta

Nos 79816 7980

OIstr~ctPlann~ngMap Ser~esKolkata, West Bengal

Uational Atlas and lhamatic Mapping lrganisation, INATMI dinistry ol Science a lechnology Governmt 2f indla. Calcutta

UATMO. Calcutta

Land usemap

UTMO. Catutta

Koikata. Health Care and Environment.

'003

IATMO, Calcutta

Atlasofthe CityofCalcuttaand

BOO

IATMO, Calcutta

Its Envlrow

Atlas of K a l M

IATMO. Calcutta

Koikta. Eastern M e m p o h n Bypass. Chionometnc Sketch

IATMO, Calcutta

d m Police and 1hn01l

>Ollection of hlstor~cal naps of Calcm, wnh text

List of Maps of Calcutta, Suburbs of Calcutta!and Adj~~&ng:M.umEcipalities Surveyed under the superin~endenccaf ~aj!oi~ri.cktafi~.$uperifi~tendent of Survey and Mr.R.B.Smart, Assistant S~p~rintendentofS~wq 1903-1907

MUNlClPAUiES AROUND cALCU1TA

SUBURBSOFCALCUlTA

MADDED AREA

Source: Victorare d

I

m a d SeMmrit. Government of W Bsngsl. CaWa.

Note : index Map on Page W

'dew aq1 u] umoqs

IOU WJB

su!61ew sql m u s~ssqsme,

Q

.1su16!loeqa

UMJJ

pa8npOJdaJ uaaq seq dew xepul e y l : a3oN I

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CE &,krgwUDIES

v-', .

IN SOCIAL SCIENCES, CALC4