Calcutta
Presidency capital, 1690–1947
কলকাতাকলিকাতা
Today Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Same place, renamed.
Key facts
- Historical name
- Calcutta
- Type
- Presidency capital
- Coordinates
- 22.5675° N, 88.3700° E(seed dataset)
- Governance
- Directly administered
- Record confidence
- High confidence
- Identifiers
- Q1348
Directly administered by the Governor-General of India, and therefore part of British India in the statutory sense of the Interpretation Act 1889, s.18.
Location
Pin placed at the coordinates recorded for this place. Colonial-era boundaries are not drawn.
Description
Capital of the Bengal Presidency and of British India until 1911, and the subcontinent's leading port and commercial centre.
Historical notes
Founded as an East India Company settlement on the Hooghly in 1690; seat of the Governor-General from 1774 and of the Government of India until the capital was transferred to Delhi in 1911. Renamed Kolkata officially in 2001.
Administrative history
Administrative parenthood changed over time. Each row states the years it is recorded for, and the source it comes from.
| Years | Relation | Unit | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| from 1901 | Part of | Bengal PresidencyPresidency · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | High confidencesource |
| from 1901 | Part of | Twenty-four ParganasDistrict · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | High confidencesource |
Recorded names
Every documented spelling and transliteration held for this place. The historical name is canonical; modern names redirect to it.
| Name | Script | Type | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcutta | Latin | Historical English | — |
| Cal | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| City of Joy | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| City of Palaces | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| City of Processions | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| Kol | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| Kolkata | Latin | Modern English | — |
| কলকাতা | Bengali | Indigenous | — |
| কলিকাতা | Bengali | Indigenous | — |
Records and references
- Imperial Gazetteer of India
- Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31), Vol. IX (9)
- Census of India
- Census of India, 1901, Vol. VI (6): Bengal
Sources
- Encyclopedia· generalCC BY-SA
Wikipedia: Kolkata, Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Database· identityCC0
Wikidata (Q1348), Wikimedia Foundation
Wikidata, CC0 1.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Gazetteer· administrativeLicence unverified
Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago — the 1908–31 text is public domain, but DSAL's digital presentation states no licence; link-out only
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Archive· descriptionPublic domain
Internet Archive scan: in.gov.ignca.30990, Internet Archive
Scanned volume of a pre-1929 publication (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908–31 / Census of India 1901); public domain. Digitisation courtesy of the Internet Archive.
Retrieved 2026-08-29
Sources tagged “Licence unverified” are linked to rather than reproduced. Scans and images are only displayed inline where the licence is confirmed permissive.