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3.4
these merchants may have been to some extent responsible for Charnock's choice of the site. By
1696, when a rebellion broke out in the nearby district of Burdwan, the Mughal provincial
administration had become friendly to the growing settlement. The servants of the company, who
asked for permission to fortify their trading post, or factory, were given permission in general terms to
defend themselves. The rebels were easily crushed by the Mughal government, but the settlers'
defensive structure of brick and mud remained and in 1700 came to be known as Fort William. In
1698 the English obtained letters patent that granted them the privilege of purchasing the zamindari
right (the right of revenue collection; in effect, the ownership) of the three villages.
Although Job Charnock initiated the installation of the Kuthighat on the river, it was his son who
brought the Zemindary rights of the fledgling city, six years after the death of his father. In 1757, the
area was 5076 Bighas and 18 3/4 Katthas. The area was bounded by the Chitpur Creek on the north,
present day Lalbazar and the Chittaranjan Avenuae on the east, the Maidan and the Fort William on
the south and the Hooghly river on the west. In 1794, Lord Cornwallis first defined the boundaries of
the city. However it was in 1840, when for the first time the city limits were legally determined. These
were the Marhatta ditch on the north, Circular road on the east, and the Lower Circular road,
Kidderpur bridge, the Tolly's Nala up to the Hooghly river, which of course formed the boundary. In
1840, the city limits were extended to include Entally, Bebiapukur, Ballyganj, Bhowanipur and
northern part of Tollyganj. In this way the city went on to expand through inclusion of fresh suburban
areas by stages in 1931, 1951 and 1984. Present area of the city is 187.33 sq. km. (72.33 sq miles).
It may be noted that the Salt Lake area has now been brought under a separate municipality, called
the Bidhan Nagar Municipality. The increase in population with time can be gauged from the Table 7:
Table 3-1. Year wise Area and Population of Kolkata
Year Area of the city Population Source and authorities
1698 5076 bighas and 18 3/4 cottah
(1861 acres)
Wilson, Early, Annals I. p 286
1746 5472 bighas and 1/2 cottah Holwell, Tracts, 3rd. Edition, p 209
1762 6057 bighas and 13 cottahs Long, selections, no. 581
1794 4997 acres/ 20.31 sq. km. A.K. Ray, A Short History of Calcutta
l821 -do- 1,79,917 Assesor's estimate
1831 -do- 1,87,081 Captain Steele's estimate
1837 -do- 2,29,714 Captain Birch's estimate