Fort William and Calcutta Maidan (The British Heritage of Calcutta)

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One of the legacies left behind by the British Raj is the Maidan in Calcutta. To every Calcuttan, the best and the of the British, is the Maidan The Calcutta Maidan lating gift of t kahle landmark and is one of the disputably, a remark is indi city's most fascinating features. The Maidan is essentially two square miles of parkland and a larg arge open space along tely river Calcutta Maidan ranks third in area after Moscow Laamay lovsky and two central parks of Paris. The Maidan is even bigger than New York's Central Park and London's Hyde Park. After the battle of Plassey the construction of the present Fort William commenced by Clive led to the clearing of the marshy jungle on the Hoogly river hank upto Chowringhee Gevindapur, one of the three villages set and marsh and forest on the river bank lower down, clewed of its original inhabitants by the British Government by its ender in 1757 directing the villagers to leave. This led to the birth of the present Calcutta Maidan, one e of the largest open spaces in the very heart of the city. Though originally Maidan was conceived as the glacis of Fort William, it now serves as the Central Park of Calcutta, more popularly known as the "Lungs of Calcutta", since it is the main centre for recreation and sports.

Most of the city's public buildings like the Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, Government House and so on were built round the Maidan. The Maidan not only serves as a huge playground but also as a gigantic arena for political congregations, cultural and religious meetings. Dotting it are innumerable tents of around 80 sports clubs, many of which are nationally renowned. The Eden Gardens at its north- eastern end is one of the three foremost cricket grounds in the world along with those in Melbourne, Australia and Lords in U.K. Another unique feature of the Maidan is that it was decorated by the British Government with statues of British viceroys, Governor Generals, British military officers and so on which were, later on, replaced by the statues of Indian political leaders, educationists, freedom fighters, and other important Indian personalities in philanthropists and the post-independence period.

The Fort William, Maidan in the older times, monuments and statues in Maidan, sports clubs and their activities in Maidan, roads and localities in Maidan, other landmarks in Maidan and laws relating to the Maidan have been elaborately discussed and evaluated in this study with the help of both archival materials and contemporary sources. The focus of this study is on the unique features and varied aspects of Maidan and this study also highlights the change in the character and use of the Maidan from a purely residential area to a semi-commercial area and sports arena. This study also highlights the question of the Maidan's identity- how the Maidan, used mainly as a central park, sports arena and a centre for public entertainment in the British days, has undergone a radical change in the mode of its user by the successive State Governments of West Bengal and the Central Government in the post-independence period by allowing Maidan to be used as a real estate property by building Metro Railway and its stations, hawker's market, a central bus stand and other permanent structures. Though the Maidan belongs to the Army, the defence department has all along been sleeping over the matter of gross misuse of the Maidan both at governmental and private levels. It is utterly surprising to find that the Army is ignorant of the fact that Article III of the Fort William Act (Act XIII, 1881) which makes Maidan a no nuisance land, is still in full force as there is no record to show that this Act has been repealed. Whether a book fair or a political rally or Gang Ganga Sagar Mela Camp, the misuse of the Maidan has made a mockery of all that it stands for and the open space and greenery of the Maidan have been largely damaged by encroachment uncleanliness, filth and pollution. It is hightime for the Central and State Governments as well as the Army to arise from deep slumber and take constructive steps and preventive measures for the proper preservation and maintenance of the Maidan, failing which the Maidan will lose its open space identity forever and become a full fledged nuisance land.

Dr. Dalia Ray, (daughter of late Hon'ble Justice Bankim Chandra Ray, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and late Banalata Ray), is the chip of the old bloc. After completing graduation (B.A. Hons.) in History from Lady Brabourne College, Calcutta, she took her Masters Degree in Modern Indian History from the Jadavpur University. She took her Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Calcutta. She was a Junior Research Fellow of the University Grants Commission and took her Ph.D. from the Jadavpur University in Modern Indian History. Her thesis was published under the title, "The Bengal Revolutionaries and Freedom Movement' (1902-1919) from Delhi in 1990, which was later on reprinted and updated.

After working as a First Class Judicial Magistrate and as a Civil Judge in the West Bengal Judicial Service for 9 years, Dr. Ray returned to the Bar of Calcutta High Court in 1988. She is now, a practicing Lawyer.

Dr. Ray has published a number of papers in the academic journals and research journals. Her papers on the Jews of Calcutta in the Proceedings of the Indian History Congress and All Indian Oriental Conference etc. have been, well received and appreciated. She is a frequent contributor to the daily press of Calcutta. She has written a few papers in Bengali also.

Her second book entitled "The Jewish Heritage of Calcutta' was published in 2001 from Calcutta while her third book, The Parsees of Calcutta' was published in 2005 from Calcutta. Her fourth and fifth books, The Jews of India' and 'Bengal Revolutionaries in Quest for Freedom' were published in 2017 from Calcutta.

The Maidan, a major landmark in Calcutta, came into existence during the colonial rule of the British Raj in India. The decision to build a new Fort, and expand the settlement further south led to the clearing of the forest spread all around the village of Govindapur, which was situated on the bank of the Hooghly river, more popularly known as Ganges or Ganga. Thus the Maidan or the Great Plain or open space was born after the clearing of the jungle by the government as the British East India Company felt the need for a clear field around the site of Fort William for the safety and security of the Fort.

I was inspired by Mr. P.T. Nair, my mentor, to undertake the research work on Calcutta Maidan and write this book. A historian of Calcutta, having penned sixty three books on different aspects of this city of palaces, Mr. Nair encouraged me to write this book as the Maidan is a remarkable and important landmark of Calcutta, both in the British era and in the post-Independence period.

Calcutta, one of the World's over populated and colourful cities is located in a formerly swampy area with a proximity to the Hooghly river, more popularly known as the Ganga or Ganges. A major landmark in Calcutta is the Maidan, a large open space along the Hooghly River containing the historie Fort Willam, the Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, innumerable sports Clubs tents, statues and monuments. Calcutta is an amalgamation of three villages set amid marsh and forest. Sutanati where Charnock landed was a thriving village occupied by weavers. Govindpore was situated on the river bank lower down. All around this village extending from Calcutta Khal (the Creek) to the Govindpore "Nullah' (Tolly's Nullah) covering the whole of Maidan of the present day, spread a jungle of heavy undergrowtih.