Chinsurah

Chinsurah হুগলী-চুঁচুড়া Chuchura
Urban agglomeration/city
Chinsurah
Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Hooghly
Population (2001)
• Total	170,201
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	712101 712102 712103 712105 712106
Telephone code	033
Lok Sabha constituency	Hooghly
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Chunchura
Website	hooghly.nic.in

Chinsurah (also known as Hooghly-Chinsura or Hooghly) is a city in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies on the Hooghly River, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata (Calcutta). It is in the district of Hooghly and is home to the district headquarters. Chuchura houses the commissioner of the Burdwan Range. It forms a part of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) region.^[1] The District Court building of Chinsurah is the longest building in West Bengal.

Etymology

Hooghly-Chuchura was a municipality formed by the merging of two towns, Hugli and Chinsura, in 1865. The names are spelled in other ways including Hooghly, Hugli, Hughli, Ugulim (in Portuguese), Chinsura, Chunchura, Chuchro and Chinsurah.

The Grand Trunk Road (G.T.Road) passes through the town. Chuchura and Hugli are historic stations on the Howrah-Burdwan main line of the Eastern Railway. Ferry services on the River Hugli serves as a link with the district of North 24 Parganas.

Geography

Hooghly-Chuchura is at 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39.^[2] This city is on the flood plain on the right bank of river Bhagirathi-Hooghly.

History

A view of Chinsura, the Dutch settlement in Bengal

The Portuguese founded the town of Ugulim, now Hooghly-Chuchura, in 1579, but the district has thousands of years of heritage in the form of the great kingdom of Bhurshut. The city flourished as a trading port and some religious structures were built. One such structure is a church dedicated to a charismatic statue of the Mother Mary brought by the Portuguese.

In the 17th century, political disorder struck the city and the Mughal governor of Bengal expelled the Portuguese. The fleeing Portuguese lost the statue in the river, but local people later found it on the river bank. The arrested Portuguese were taken to Delhi where a death sentence of trampling by elephants was decreed. When the emperor Shah Jahan heard this he ordered the priests released and granted a piece of land on the bank of the river Hoogly where the statue of the Mother Mary was reestablished. There the Portuguese constructed a church to house the statue, which still receives pilgrims today. The church was renovated in 1980s and has been declared as a basilica by the authority of Rome.

In 1656 the Dutch erected a factory on the site of the town. At that time Calcutta was the principal settlement in Dutch Bengal, being used as a base for the Dutch intra-Asian opium trade.

In 1759 the garrison of Chinsurah, on its march to Chandernagore, attacked a British force under Colonel Forde. The Battle of Chinsurah lasted less than half an hour and ended with the rout of the Dutch attackers. In 1795, during the Napoleonic wars, a British garrison occupied the settlement. The peace of 1814 restored Hughli to the Dutch. However, in 1825, the Dutch ceded many of their possession in India to the British, in exchange for the British possessions in Sumatra.

Chinsurah and Hooghly played a role in the Bengal renaissance and the Indian independence movement. "Vande Mataram", India's national song, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Joraghat in Chinsurah; he had been an alumnus of the Hooghly Collegiate School. Nazrul Islam's revolutionary songs were penned while he was imprisoned by the British in Hooghly Jail.

Chinsurah N.S. Road

Transportation

Chinsurah has three railway stations: Chinsurah (CNS) and Hooghly on the Howrah line and Hooghly Ghat (HYG) on the Sealdah line. The Chinsurah railway station is well connected to Howrah, Bandel, Burdwan, and other cities. A few passenger and express trains stop at the Chinsurah station. The Hooghly Ghat station is beside the Jubilee bridge, which is a connector between the eastern and the western side of the Ganges.

Transportation in Chinsurah is mainly by bus, auto and rickshaw. Buses from the stand go to towns such as Memari, Tarakeswar, Serampore, Chandannagar, Arambagh, Bankura, Digha. Apart from being connected by railway services, Chinsurah is well-connected to Naihati by ferry services, which is a delightful experience.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,^[3] Hugli-Chinsurah had a population of 5,520,389. Males constitute 51.06% of the population and females 48.94%. Hugli-Chinsurah has an average literacy rate of 82.55%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 87.93%, and female literacy is 76.95%.

Temples, churches, and attractions

Hooghly Imambara

Dutch cemetery

Mosque of Chinsura

The basilica of the Holy Rosary, Bandel

Jubilee Bridge on the Hooghly River between Naihati and Bandel

Schools

Chinsurah Deshbandhu Memorial High School boys bengali language 1926

• Garbati High School, Chinsurah

Colleges

The famous Chinsurah Court building is the longest building in West Bengal.

Festivals

Durga Puja, Eid, Jagadhatri Puja, Maharam, Kartick Puja, Kali Puja & Deepawali, Saraswati Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Navabarsho (Bengali New Year), Basanti Puja, Manasa Puja, Christmas, etc. are the main festivals celebrated here.

Banks

State Bank Of India, State Bank of India Agricultural Divisional Branch (ADB), Bank of India, Indian Bank, Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, United Bank of India, Uco Bank, Syndicate Bank, Bank of Boroda, Indian Overseas Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, The Hooghly Cooperative Credit Bank Ltd., Hooghly District Central Cooperative Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, IDBI Bank.

Notable residents

The town was home to Jyotish Chandra Ghosh (Mastar mashay), hailed as a guru by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Notable figures associated with the town include Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Bhudev Mukhopadhyay.

See also

• Hooghly District
• West Bengal
• Colonial India
• European colonies in India
• Dutch India

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hugli-Chuchura.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Hugli (town).

• Chinsurah.com
• Hughli in Banglapedia
• Chinsura in Banglapedia
• Hooghly-Chinsurah Information

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