Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2247

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume(s)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Calcutta photograph album, 1910-1911, Ms. Codex 2247, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1910-1911 (inclusive)

Form:

Photograph albums and Travel photography

Abstract:

This photograph album contains 28 black and white photographs taken in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India in 1910 and 1911 by an unidentified photographer.

This photograph album mostly depicts sites and landmarks relating to British imperialism in Calcutta, India in 1910 and 1911. Calcutta, which is now called Kolkata, is the capital of West Bengal and was the capital of British India from 1772 to 1911.

British presence in Calcutta started in 1690 with the establishment of a trading post by Jacob Charnock, who was an agent of the East India Company. By 1698, local conflicts resulted in the British being granted the ability to purchase zamindari rights, or essential ownership, of the villages around Fort William that would form Calcutta. Between 1726 and 1821, Calcutta's population rose from around 10,000 to 180,000 people and distinct British and Indian areas formed within the city.

In the 19th century, Calcutta was both an industrial and intellectual hub for the British in India. Also in the 19th century, however, was a growing push towards Indian nationalism and home rule that intensified after the first World War. British occupation of India ended in 1947 with their abrupt departure and the subsequent partition of British India into India and Pakistan.

Red Road, which is pictured in this album, was a road in Calcutta, India built in 1820 that runs from the Eden Gardens to Fort William West Gate.

The Botanical Gardens in Calcutta, which are also pictured in this album, were founded by Colonel Robert Kyd with the East India Company in 1787. Kyd intended these gardens to serve as a nursery cultivating "stock for disseminating such articles as may prove beneficial to the inhabitants, as well as to the natives of Great Britain, and which ultimately may tend to the extension of the national commerce and riches." (Desmond)

Sources: Desmond, Ray. "Kyd, Robert (1746–1793), botanist and army officer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 23, 2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 7 Jan. 2025

"Kolkata." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 31 Jan. 2025, www.britannica.com/place/Kolkata.

This photograph album contains 28 black and white photographs taken in Calcutta, India in 1910 and 1911 by an unidentified photographer.

The photographs largely show British landmarks, architecture, and landscapes. There are limited photographs of people.

Named landmarks include Red Road (p. 3v), Colonel Kyd Monument at the Botanical Gardens (p. 4v), the Bayan tree at the Botanical Gardens (p. 5v), Eden Gardens (p. 6v, 8v, 9v), Lord Roberts monument (p. 14v), Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co. (p. 15v), Outram monument (p. 18v), Kidderspore docks (p. 20v, 21v), Jain Temple (p. 22v, 24v), and the Zoological Gardens (p. 29v).

The photographer and creator of this album are unknown and the only identified individual in the photographs is an "A. Sullivan" (p. 11v).