Hugli-Chuchura

Hooghly-Chuchura
Hooghly-Chinsurah
Kolkata Metropolitan Region
Hooghly-Chuchura
Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39
Country  India
State West Bengal
District Hooghly
Region Greater Kolkata
Population (2001)
 • Total 170,201
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 712101 712102 712103 712105 712106
Telephone code 033
Lok Sabha constituency Hooghly
Vidhan Sabha constituency Chunchura
Website hooghly.nic.in

Chinsurah (also known as Hooghly-Chinsura or Hooghly) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies on the Hooghly River, 35 km north of Kolkata (Calcutta). It is located in the district of Hugli and is home to the district headquarters. Chuchura houses the Commissioner of the Burdwan Range. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).[1] The District Court building of Chinsurah is the longest building in West Bengal.

Etymology

Hooghly-Chuchura was a municipality formed by the merging of two towns, Hugli and Chinsura, in 1865. The names are spelled in other ways including Hooghly, Hugli, Hughli, Ugulim (in Portuguese), Chinsura, Chunchura, Chuchro and Chinsurah.

The Grand Trunk Road (G.T.Road)passes through the town. Chuchura and Hugli are historic stations on the Howrah-Burdwan main line of the Eastern Railway. Ferry services on the River Hugli serves as a link with the district of North 24 Parganas.

Geography

Cities and towns in the Chinsurah subdivision (except Polba Dadpur and Dhaniakhali CD Blocks) in Hooghly district
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre,
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

Location

Hugli-Chuchura is located at 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39.[2][3]

The area is composed of flat alluvial plains that forms part of the Gangetic Delta. The high west bank of the tidal Hooghly River is highly industrialised.[4]

Keota, Manushpur, Naldanga, Kodalia, Kulihanda, Dharmapur and Simla form a cluster of census towns on the eastern side of Hugli-Chuchura.[3]

Urbanisation

There are 13 statutory towns and 64 census towns in Hooghly district. The right bank of the Hooghly River has been industrialised over a long period. With foreigners dominating the area’s industry, trade and commerce for over two centuries, it is amongst the leading industrialised districts in the state. At the same time the land is fertile and agricultural production is significant.[5]

In Chinsurah subdivision 68.63% of the population is rural and the urban population is 31.37%. It has 2 statutory and 23 census towns.[6]In Chinsurah Mogra CD Block 64.87% of the population is urban and 35.13% is rural. Amongst the four remaining CD Blocks in the subdivision two were overwhelmingly rural and two were wholly rural.[7]

The map alongside shows a portion of Chinsurah subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

History

A View of Chinsura the Dutch settlement in Bengal

The Portuguese founded the town of Hooghly-Chuchura in 1579, but the district has thousands of years of heritage in the form of the great kingdom of Bhurshut. The city flourished as a trading port and some religious structures were built. One such structure is a Christian church dedicated to a statue of Mary, brought by the Portuguese.

In the 17th century, political disorder struck the city and the Mughal governor of Bengal expelled the Portuguese. The fleeing Portuguese lost the statue in the river, but local people later found it on the river bank. The arrested Portuguese were taken to Delhi, where a death sentence of trampling by elephants was decreed. When the emperor Shah Jahan heard this he ordered the priests released and granted a piece of land on the bank of the river Hooghly, where the statue of Mary was reestablished. There the Portuguese constructed a church to house the statue, which still receives pilgrims today. The church was renovated in the 1980s and has been declared as a basilica by the authority of Rome.

In 1656 the Dutch erected a factory on the site of the town.[8] At that time Calcutta was the principal settlement in Dutch Bengal, who used it as a base for the Dutch intra-Asian opium trade.

In 1759 the garrison of Chinsura, on its march to Chandernagore, attacked a British force under Colonel Forde.[8] The Battle of Chinsurah lasted less than half an hour and ended with the rout of the Dutch attackers.[8] In 1795, during the Napoleonic wars, a British garrison occupied the settlement.[8] The peace of 1814 restored Hughli to the Dutch. However, in 1825, the Dutch ceded many of their possession in India to the British, in exchange for the British possessions in Sumatra.[8]

Both Chinsurah and Hooghly played a role in the Bengal renaissance and the Indian independence movement. "Vande Mataram", India's national song, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Joraghat in Chinsurah, who had been an alumnus of the Hooghly Collegiate School . Nazrul Islam's revolutionary songs were penned while he was imprisoned by the British in Hooghly Jail.

Chinsurah N.S Road

Transportation

Hugli Chinsurah has three railway stations- Chinsurah (CNS) and Hooghly on the Howrah railway-line and Hooghly Ghat (HYG) on the Sealdah railway line. The Chinsurah railway station is well connected to Howrah, Bandel, Burdwan, and other cities. A few passenger and express trains stop at the Chinsurah station. The Hooghly Ghat station is situated just beside the Jubilee bridge, which plays as a connector between the eastern and the western side of the Ganges.

Transportation within Chinsurah is mainly by bus, auto and rickshaw. Buses from the stand go to towns such as Memari, Tarakeswar, Serampore, Chandannagar, Arambagh, Bankura, Digha. Apart from being connected by railway services, Chinsurah is well-connected to Naihati by ferry services, which is a delightful experience.

Demographics

As per 2011 Census of India Hugli-Chinsurah had a total population of 179,931 of which 90,217 (50%) were males and 89,714 (50%) were females. Population below 6 years was 12,604. The total number of literates in Hugli-Chinsurah was 152,333 (91.04% of the population over 6 years).[9]

The following Municipalities and Census Towns in Hooghly district were part of Kolkata Urban Agglomeration in 2011 census: Bansberia (M), Hugli-Chinsurah (M), Bara Khejuria (Out Growth), Shankhanagar (CT), Amodghata (CT), Chak Bansberia (CT), Naldanga (CT), Kodalia (CT), Kulihanda (CT), Simla (CT), Dharmapur (CT), Bhadreswar (M), Champdani (M), Chandannagar (M Corp.), Baidyabati (M), Serampore (M), Rishra (M), Rishra (CT), Bamunari (CT), Dakshin Rajyadharpur (CT), Nabagram Colony (CT), Konnagar (M), Uttarpara Kotrung (M), Raghunathpur (PS-Dankuni) (CT), Kanaipur (CT) and Keota (CT).[10]

As of 2001 India census, Hugli-Chinsurah had a population of 170,201. Males constitute 51.06% of the population and females 48.94%. Hugli-Chinsurah has an average literacy rate of 82.55%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 87.93%, and female literacy is 76.95%.[11]

Temples, churches, and attractions

The basilica of the Holy-Rosary, Bandel
Hooghly Imambara
Jubilee Bridge on the Hooghly River between Naihati and Bandel
  • Bandel Church (bacillica ground)
  • Hooghly Imambara
  • Ghorir More (Edwardian clock tower)
  • Hooghly Collegiate School (Estd.1812), a heritage building.
  • Temple of Shandeshwar
  • Diocese church
  • Dutch cemetery
  • Chinsurah Maidan (maath ground)
  • Rup Nagar (maath)
  • Temple of Mahishmardini
  • District Court building
  • Ghats on the Ganges (130)
  • Anna Maria Sulivan Monument (ground fad centre)
  • Kazi Nazrul Karagar (jail)
  • Jail khana maath (maath dual ground)
  • Hooghly Mohosin College
  • Hooghly Branch School
  • Armenian Church
  • Bankim Bhawan (Jora Ghat)
  • Grihigita sangha(Chincurah Station Road)

The famous Chinsurah Court building is known to be the longest building in West Bengal.

Festivals

Durga Puja, Eid, Jagadhatri Puja, Maharam, Kartick Puja, Kali Puja & Deepawali, Saraswati Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Navabarsho (Bengali New Year), Basanti Puja, Manasa Puja, Christmas et cetera are the main festivals celebrated here.

Banks

Notable residents

The town was home to Jyotish Chandra Ghosh (Mastar mashay), hailed as a guru by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Notable figures associated with the town include Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Shashi Bhusan Chatterjee, Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, Akshay Chandra Sarkar, Dr. Murarimohan Mukherjee and mathematician Narayan Chandra Ghosh.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Base Map of Kolkata Metropolitan area". Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Archived from the original on 7 March 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
  2. ↑ "Yahoo maps location of Hugli-Chuchura". Yahoo maps. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  3. 1 2 "Census of India 2011, West Bengal: District Census Handbook, Hooghly" (PDF). Map of Chinsurah-Magra CD Block, page 469. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "District Census Handbook: Hugli, Series-20, Part XIIA" (PDF). Physiography, Page 17-24. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal, 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "District Census Handbook: Hugli, Series-20, Part XIIA" (PDF). Physical features: pages 20, 24. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal, 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "District Statistical Handbook 2014 Hooghly". Table 2.1, 2.2, 2.4(a). Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "C.D. Block Wise Primary Census Abstract Data(PCA)". 2011 census: West Bengal – District-wise CD Blocks. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chinsura". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 235.
  9. ↑ "2011 Census – Primary Census Abstract Data Tables". West Bengal – District-wise. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011" (PDF). Constituents of Urban Agglomeration Having Population Above 1 Lakh. Census of India 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  12. ↑ "Official website of Hooghly Collegiate School". Hooghly Collegiate School.

References

  • Chinsurah.com
  • Akhtaruzzaman, Md (2012). "Hughli, City". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  • Chakrabarti, Prafulla (2012). "Chinsura". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  • Hooghly-Chinsurah Information
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