Calcutta as an English Company Settlement

The English East India Company established its foothold in Bengal during the late seventeenth century. Job Charnock, an agent of the Company, selected Sutanuti on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River on August 24, 1690. Sutanuti provided natural defense options. The river lay to the west, while swamps and marshes protected the southern and eastern boundaries. This geographical placement offered safety against land attacks and allowed access for naval vessels. Prior to Sutanuti, the Company operated trading posts at Hugli, Balasore, and Kasimbazar. Conflict with Mughal Governor Shaista Khan forced the English to evacuate Hugli in 1686. The settlement at Sutanuti marked the permanent return of the English to Bengal under the leadership of Job Charnock.

Purchase of Zamindari Rights (1698)

In November 1698, Charles Eyre, the son-in-law and successor of Job Charnock, secured the Zamindari rights of three contiguous villages along the Hooghly River. These villages were Sutanuti, Kalikata, and Gobindapur.

Key Features of the 1698 Grant

• The Company purchased the Zamindari rights from the local landlords, the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of Barisha.
• Prince Azim-us-Shan, the Mughal Viceroy of Bengal and grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb, granted formal permission for this transfer.
• The Company paid an annual revenue payment to the Mughal court along with an initial payment of 1,200 rupees to the landlords.
• The purchase granted the English Company legal authority to collect land revenue, administer justice, and maintain order over local inhabitants.

Fortification and Early Administration

In 1696, a rebellion led by local landlord Subha Singh and Afghan chief Rahim Khan provided the English with an opportunity to fortify their factory. The Mughal authorities permitted European merchants to build protective structures around their settlements.

Development of Fort William

• Construction of the original Fort William began near the present-day General Post Office site in 1696.
• The English named the structure Fort William in 1700 in honor of King William III of England.
• Sir Charles Eyre became the first President and Governor of the Fort William Presidency in 1700.
• The settlement was divided into administrative areas, creating a “White Town” around the fort for European residents and a “Black Town” for Indian merchants, artisans, and laborers.

Revenue and Commercial Grants

Comparison of Key Grants to the East India Company in Bengal

Royal Farman of 1717 and Commercial Expansion

A diplomatic mission led by John Surman secured a royal Farman from Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1717. William Hamilton, a surgeon with the embassy, cured the Emperor of a physical ailment, which helped negotiations.

Key Provisions of the 1717 Farman

• The East India Company received freedom to trade in Bengal without paying customs duties, subject to an annual fixed payment of 3,000 rupees.
• The Company obtained permission to issue trade passes, known as Dastaks, for transporting commercial goods.
• The Company received the right to rent 38 additional villages adjacent to Calcutta.
• The mint of the Mughal government at Murshidabad opened to Company bullion on specified days.

Political Transformations and Capital Status

The rapid fortification and commercial growth of Calcutta created friction with the Nawabs of Bengal. In June 1756, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah attacked and captured Fort William. The event led to the temporary loss of the settlement and the Black Hole incident. Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson led a British force from Madras to recapture Calcutta in January 1757. The subsequent Treaty of Alinagar restored the Company’s privileges. The victory at the Battle of Plassey in June 1757 established English political supremacy over Bengal. Following the defeat of Siraj-ud-Daulah, construction of a new, larger Fort William began in 1758 at the site of Gobindapur village. In 1772, Governor Warren Hastings shifted the central treasury and appellate courts from Murshidabad to Calcutta. Under the Regulating Act of 1773, Calcutta became the official seat of the Supreme Government and the capital of British India.

Essential Facts and Historical Trivia

The name Kalikata appears in medieval literature and Mughal administrative records. Abul Fazl mentioned Kalkata as a district under Sarkar Satgaon in the sixteenth-century text Ain-i-Akbari. Sutanuti operated as a center for the cotton textile trade prior to English arrival. Local merchant families, such as the Seths and Basaks, had already developed trading networks in the region before Job Charnock landed. Gobindapur was completely cleared and its native population relocated to make space for the construction of the second Fort William after 1757. In 1720, the East India Company established a formal civil and criminal court structure in Calcutta. An Indian official known as the Black Zamindar assisted the European magistrate in revenue collection and local policing. The Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that Job Charnock should not be officially designated as the founder of the city. The court stated that Calcutta developed naturally through a process of rural agglomeration.