Kolkata

When the British grew tired of the charms of the trading town of Hooghly in 1686, they moved downstream to three villages - Kolikata, Sutanuti and Gobindapur. Led by Job Charnock, an English merchant, the established a factory at Sutanuti on August 24, 1690, the date accepted as the foundation day of modern Calcutta. The British then went on to build a single post out of the three villages. Ten years later, a fort was built near what is today known as BBD Bag and the consolidated city of Calcutta was set up.

In 1707, Calcutta became a separate presidency under the control of the directors of The East India Company. In 1717, Mughal emperor Aurangazeb's grandson Farrukh Siyar gave the Company duty-free trading rights in Bengal for a yearly payment of Rs 3,000. Calcutta became an important port and trading centre.

The rapid growth of Kolkata attracted the attention of the nawab of Murshidabad, Siraj-ufd-Daulah, who attacked it in 1756 and won the city from the British. Most of the British inhabitants escaped, but nearly 146 of them were captured and imprisoned in a narrow cell. Only 26 survived the incident which went down in history as the Black Hole tragedy. A year later, in 1757, Calcutta was recaptured by Robert Clive, who also captured the French settlement of Chandernagore. He tempted Siraj's uncle Mir Jafar to ally with him. Betrayed by his own men in the Battle of Plassey, Siraj-ud-Daulah was assassinated in Murshidabad.

In 1760, Mir Jafar's son-in-law Mir Qasim succeeded him. Four years later, he enlisted the help of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and Nawab Shuja Ud Daulah of Oudh to recover Bengal from the British. But their troops were defeated in the Battle of Buxar.

In the late 18th century, Calcutta turned into a prime trading centre and opened up to better infrastructure and advanced education. Calcutta became the centre of what would develop into the Bengal Renaissance, spawning many of India's reform movements. With resentment towards the East India Company growing, it was only a matter of time before the first strains of rebellion broke out. In 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy with the Indian troops, shot his senior officer at Barrackpore near Calcutta, in an event that was to soon develop into the Sepoy Mutiny. The revolt spread through the country, but was quelled by the British who then assumed complete control of India and declared Calcutta the Imperial Capital.

A strong national awakening now took shape in Calcutta. On October 16, 1905, Lord Curzon, the then Governor General of Bengal, partitioned Bengal. This move was intended to stamp out growing nationalist sentiment, but it had the opposite effect. Calcutta became the hub of the Indian independence movement. The Partition was revoked in 1911, and the capital of India shifted to New Delhi.

However, with the Partition of the country in 1947, Calcutta became home to thousands of refugees fleeing their former homes in East Pakistan. More refugees poured into the city with the Bangladesh independence movement in 1971. Kolkata was now a city almost bursting at its seams.

In 2001, Calcutta was officially renamed Kolkata.

Kolkata Airport

Kolkata Airport is popularly known as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. Located at Dum Dum, Kolkata Airport is situated 18km from the city and is gateway to the North Eastern States. India’s first cargo terminal was established at Kolkata Airport in 1975.

Kolkata Airport has separate terminals for International and Domestic flights. Ten International airlines operate from Kolkata Airport. Domestic airlines operating from Calcutta Airport include Indian Airlines, Alliance Air, Jet Airways, Air Sahara, and Blue Dart Ltd. (Freighter).

Kolkata shopping

Calcutta has a lot to offer the hard-core bargain hunter. From hole-in-the-wall shops that sell T-shirts and jewelery at a steal, to classy arcades in deluxe hotels, there's something to suit every budget in Kolkata. Over the years, a lot of malls have sprung up all over the city, but if you want a true-blue feel of a good bargain in Calcutta, here's where you should spend your shopping money:

New Market

If you stand outside this sprawling market complex and crane your head in the right direction, you might still spy a faded sign or two that still refer to this place as Hogg Market. However, if you'd rather plunge into the heart of the shopping game, here's the best place to start bargain hunting in Kolkata. Shiny plastic clips, faux crystal ware, flowers, fabric, toys, luggage, ready-to-wear clothes, shoes, crockery, candles, swimwear, uniforms… name it and it's likely to be there in one of the shops here. The thumb rule at New Market? Bargain with all your might!

AC Market

If you want to get away from the heat on the streets, walk into AC Market on Shakespeare Sarani. No prizes for guessing what the AC stands for - an icy blast is bound to hit you as soon as you open the doors to this building. AC Market is much smaller than New Market, and doesn't offer the mind-boggling variety of goods that the former does. It used to be the haunt of the upwardly mobile, but with swanky new shopping complexes opening up over town, AC Market is now a toned down version of its former snooty self. Don't let the "Fixed Price" signs scare you off - this is as good a place as any for great bargains.

College Street

Trams, buses, people on foot, rickshaws, cows, dogs - and rows and rows of bookshops, that's College Street. If you're looking for books at a steal, this is the place to go to. A word of advice though - get to where College Street begins and undertake the rest of the journey on foot - this way, you can not only browse to your heart's content, you'll also not have to worry about parking your vehicle.

Dakshinapan Shopping Complex

This is one place that's a favorite with college student looking for clothes to fit their budgets. Bargaining is out of the question here, as most shops sell their ware at fixed prices. However, the complex is choc-a-bloc with state emporia, peddling their ware at reasonable rates. A few bargains can also be grabbed at the shops that aren't emporia. The complex also houses a few clean food stalls, where you can stop for a bite after a long shopping spree.

Nights at Kolkata

Nightlife in Kolkata is full of energy and excitement. The people of Kolkata are believed to have a natural bent of mind and as such very creative.The consequence reveals active participation and adoption of versatile lifestyle by the upcoming generations. The nightlife that started as a phenomenon in the state towards the last decade of 20th century has engulfed the city in deep chasm, an eternal bliss. Younger generations prefer action based participation rather being mute audience in the cinema halls. For these people it is innovation, it is discovering the beautiful side of night if not life.

Some reputed nightspots include Anticlock Dance Club, Big Ben Dance Club, British Council Dance Theatre, Incognito Dance Club, Academy of Fine Arts, Rabindra Sadan Dance Theater, Sunset Bar.

Transportation at Kolkata (Air Transportation)

Kolkata city avails almost all the means of modern transportation be that an airway, railways, roadways, subway, trams or sea routes. The transportation by road is primarily provided by the buses and taxis. State run and privately owned buses provide for the commutation in the city. Besides buses and taxis the streets of Kolkata can be seen dotted with individual owned vehicles including cars, motor cycles and scooters, auto rickshaws, rickshaws.

Kolkata metro, the first subway system of India, avails more safer and faster means of transportation in the city premises. The metro runs from the Tollygunge in the south to Dum Dum in the north and covering an area of about 16 kms.

The Dum Dum Airport serves as both an international as well as domestic airport. About ten international airways provide their services for Kolkata. The domestic flights connects the region with other cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Patna, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bangalore, Varanasi, etc. There is also an extensive coverage provided by the Indian Railways. Howrah and Sealdah are two primary railway stations in the city. The sea liners and cruisers provide the water transportation facilities. Besides that ferry boats in river Hoogli also provide the commutation facilities. The trams also run at many places in the city. These electric trams are not preferred as such because of their slow speeds.

BusTransportation

A birds eye view of Kolkata city reveals a profuse network of interlinking roads. The city does not have any particular major bus station. But there are a number of smaller terminal located in the premises of various suburbs. The bus services available for the city comprises of the State Bus Services, Private Bus Services, Mini Bus Services and Calcutta Transport Corporation (CTC) Services.

State buses ply between important sectors and suburbs of the region. The buses have regular stops in the suburbs they provide their services. Private buses on the other hand connects whole of the city. The mini buses likewise have fixed terminals and ply between them only. CTC buses have their terminals at the major terminals like that of Esplanade, Golpark, Behala, BBD Bagh, etc. It is because of the huge population and the booming number of vehicles that the city witnesses some of the worst traffic jams. The public transport, especially private buses, have not a very good reputation in the city.