CALCUTTA, in lat. 22° 34' 2" N., long. 23' 59" E., at the cistern of the barometer at the Surveyor-General's office, is 18 feet (G. T. S.) above the sea. It is the capital of British India, built, on the left or eastern bank of the Iloogly river. It is a place of great trade, and has a mint, a cathedral, a governor's house, a fortress, a town ball, great hospitals, schools and colleges, a botanical garden, custom office, high court, and public monuments to Sir David Ouchterlony, Warren Hastings, Wellesley, Cornwallis, Outram, and others. The name is from Kalika (Kali, and 5t), to move, also said to be from Kali Kota, and it was the first concession to the British in that part of India. It was, when they obtained it, only a miserable village known also as Kali Ghat, of which also some believe its present name is a corruption. It is about 80 miles from the Bay of BeugaL On the 18th June 1756, it was taken by Suraj-ud Dowla. Messrs. Drake and Minchin had made their escape along with the women and children, but Mr. Holwell held out for forty-eight hours longer, and he and 146 of the people were then imprisoned in a small guard-room, about 20 feet square, and on the following morning only twenty-three issued alive. The guard-room was thenceforward known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. In January 1757 it was recovered by a detachment from Madras under Admirals Watson and Clive, and the treaty of Calcutta was agreed to on the 9th February 1757. The population greatly increased :— 1710, . . . . . . 10,000 to 12,000 1752. Mr. Holwell'a estimate, . . . 409,056 1814. By Sir E. Hyde East, . . . . 700,000 1821. By Town Assessors, . . . . 170,917 1821. By Calcutta Magistrates, . . . 230,552 1831. By Captain Steel, Superint. of Police, . 187,081 1837. By Captain F. W. Birch, do. do., . 229,714
1850. By Mr. Simms, Surveyor of Calcutta, . 361,369 1866. By the Justice of the Police, . . 377,924 1872. In the Census of Lower Bengal, . 429,535 1881, 634,653 In 1686 the English merchants quited Hugli and occupied the three river-side hamlets, SUM nati, Kalikata, and Govindpur, where in 1696 they erected the original Fort William, and in 1700 they formally purchased the site from prince Azim, son or grandson of Alamgir i. Between 1752 and 1773, the present fortress was constructed, at a cost of two kror, and the natives gathered around it. After the battle of Plessey, a mint was established, and the first coin was issued on the 19th August 1757. In 1797 it was declared a presidency. The town has a European and a 'native portion; and until the latter half of the 19th century, its insanatory condition was con scantly exposed. There are now several colleges, medical schools, and hospitals. In 1873 the death-rate was 25.82 per 1000. It has several times suffered from cyclones; those of 5th October 1864 and 2d. November 1867 caused great damage to the houses and to the shipping.
Calcutta municipality exercises jurisdiction over seven square miles. The Mahratta Ditch, around Calcutta, was excavated by the natives in the middle of the 18th century, as a protection against 3fahratta inroads. Calcutta has been the nurse of many able statesmen, learned men, and philoso phers,—Warren Hastings, Sir John Shore, Sir William Jones, Drs. John Borthwick Gilchrist, Horace Hayman Wilson, Francis Balfour, N. Wallich, Sir W. O'Shaughnessy, Buchanan, Lord Dalhousie, and Lord Canning, Mr. Carey, Mr. Marshman, and James Prinsep.—Imp. Gaz.