Chinese of Calcutta

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The Chinese of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) are a community of immigrants and their descendants that emigrated from China starting in the late 1700s. Unofficial estimates put the number of Chinese in Kolkata anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000, most of whom live in or near Chinatown in Tangra.[1][2]

The ethnic Chinese have contributed to many areas of the social and economic life of India, and Kolkata in particular, in a manner arguably disproportionate to their numbers. Today a majority are engaged in business with a major segment involved in the manufacturing and trade of leather products. A sizeable number are also owners and workers in Chinese restaurants. [1] Kolkata is the only city in India to boast a Chinatown.[3]

Contents

[edit] Immigration

An opium den in Chinatown, Kolkata, 1945
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An opium den in Chinatown, Kolkata, 1945

The first record of travel from China is provided in the travelogue of Fa-Hien who visited Tampralipta, in what is now Tamluk in the Fifth Century A.D. Records of immigration for the next sixteen centuries are not reliable although many words in Bengali can be attributed to Chinese influences. [1] For example chini, the Bengali word for sugar derives from Mandarin, and words like Cheenamati for porcelain china hint at Chinese influences.[4]

Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, was the capital of British India from 1772 to 1911. It was also geographically the easiest accessible metropolitan area from China by land. The first person of Chinese origin to arrive in Calcutta was Yang Tai Chow who arrived in 1778. He worked in a sugar mill with the eventual goal of saving enough to start a tea trade.[2] Many of the earliest immigrants worked on the Khidderpore docks. A police report in 1788 mentions a sizeable Chinese population settled in the vicinity of Bow Bazaar Street. [1]

During the time of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of British India, a businessman by the name of Tong Achi established a steel mill at Achipur, 33 km from Calcutta, on the bank of the Hooghly River near Budge Budge.[5] A temple and the grave of Tong Achi still remain and are visited by many Chinese who come from the city during the Chinese New Year.[5]

A certain C. Alabaster mentions in 1849 that Cantonese carpenters congregated in the Bow Bazar Street area. [1]. As late as 2006, Bow Bazar is still noted for carpentry, but few of the workers or owners are Chinese.

According to Alabaster there were lard manufacturers and shoemakers in addition to carpenters. Running tanneries and working with leather was traditionally not considered a respectable profession among upper-caste Hindus, and work was relegated to lower caste muchis and chamars. There was a high demand, however, for high quality leather goods in colonial India, one that the Chinese were able to fulfill. Alabaster also mentions licensed opium dens run by native Chinese and a Cheena Bazaar where contraband was readily available. Opium, however, was not illegal until after India's Independence from Great Britain in 1947. Immigration continued unabated through the turn of the century and during World War I partly due to the fact that China was undergoing political upheavals such as the Opium Wars, First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion. Around the time of the First World War, the first Chinese-owned tanneries sprung up. [1]

[edit] Effects of the Sino-Indian War of 1962

India's Independence from Britain did not hinder the influx of Chinese into Kolkata. In 1961, there were close to 7,000. [1] The Sino-Indian War of 1962 ended further immigration from communist China. An unknown number left (most for Australia, Canada, and the United States). Further, those that remained were often branded enemies and detained.[6] The situation was alleviated when India and China resumed diplomatic relations in 1976. However, it was not until 1998 that ethnic Chinese were allowed naturalized Indian citizenship.[6] In 2005, the first road sign in Chinese characters was put up in Chinatown, Tangra.[2]

[edit] The Chinese today

The Chinese today work as tannery-owners, shoeshop owners, and restaurateurs. A number of them run beauty parlours in the city. Among services, dentistry is a traditional occupation that is being welcomed by the new generation. [2] Many of the shoe shops lining Bentick Street, near Dharmatolla, are owned and operated by Chinese. A number of restaurants dotting the city are also owned by the Chinese. Fusions of Chinese (especially Hakka) and Indian culinary traditions have given rise to a widely available form, Indian Chinese cuisine. There is one Chinese newspaper published in the city, The Overseas Chinese Commerce in India but figures from 2005 show that sales have dwindled from 500 to 300 copies sold.[7] At one time, 90% of the students of the Grace Ling Liang English School were ethnic Chinese. In 2003, they comprised only about 15% of the 1500 students.[8]

Most of the Chinese of Calcutta are Christian, although they do observe the Chinese New Year.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Haraprasad, Ray (2006-08-23). Chinese (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
  2. ^ a b c d e Biswas, Ranjita (2005). Little China Stays Alive in Eastern India (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
  3. ^ Karkaria, Bachi (2004-04-28). Bell tolls for China Town (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
  4. ^ Suniti Chatterji. The Origin and Devlopment of Bengali Language, University of Calcutta Press, 1926.
  5. ^ a b Datta, Rangan (2006-03-19). Next weekend you can be at ... Achipur (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
  6. ^ a b Sen, Tansen (2005-04-13). GO FOR A SLIGHT CHANGE OF ROUTE (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
  7. ^ Sardar, Aninda (2005-04-03). Kolkata’s only Chinese daily on shaky ground (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
  8. ^ Loss for law, gain for school (HTML) (2003-09-18). Retrieved on 2006-09-26.

[edit] External links

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