Kolkata district

History

During seventeenth century Sutanuti was a major wool-trading center where had flourished the Basak, Sett, and a group of Portuguese merchants. In Dihi Kalikata, Armenian traders commanded significant influence. The first historical notice regarding Kolkata was found in Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Fazl in 1596. According to it, that Kalighat was a place within Saptagram, an old port on Hooghly River. With the decline of the once flourishing Saptagram port, traders and businessmen, such as the Basaks, the Sheths and others, started venturing southwards and settled in or developed places such as Gobindapur. They set up a cotton and yarn market at Sutanuti. Chitpur was a weaving centre and Baranagar was another textile centre. Kalighat was a pilgrimage centre. Across the Hooghly, there were places such as Salkia and Betor. Kalikata was a lesser known place. While both Sutanuti and Gobindapur appear on old maps like Thomas Bowrey's of 1687 and George Herron's of 1690, Kalikata, situated between the two, is not depicted.

Around early March 1698, the East India Company (EIC) proposed to the Roy Choudhurys that Dihi Kalikata be subrented to them. The offer was rejected since then-Zamindar (anon.) of the Roy Chowdhurys feared permanently losing the properties to a far-powerful client. This led the EIC to negotiate for the rent-rights outright and at the Mughal quarters; one Nathaniel Walsh was dispatched to Prince Azim-ush-Shan, then-Viceroy of Bengal Subah. The negotiations proved successful. The zamindari rights, for Dihi Kalikata, Sutanuti and Govindapur, had been transferred to the Company paying Choudhury total of 2000 Rupees. Subsequent to the fall of Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, the English purchased 55 villages in 1758 from Mir Jafar. These villages were known en-bloc as Dihi Panchannagram.

After the Treaty of Allahabad, the East India Company was granted Diwani rights (the right to collect taxes), in 1765, in the eastern province of Bengal-Bihar-Odisha. In 1772, Kolkata became the capital of East India Company's territories, and in 1793, the English took full control of the city and the province. Development of Kolkata's infrastructure started and in the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained. In the 19th century, Kolkata was the epicentre of the epoch-changing socio-cultural movement, the Bengal Renaissance. The 20th century unfolded historical events in Kolkata – the Swadeshi movement, the first partition of Bengal along communal lines, shifting of the national capital from Kolkata to Delhi in 1911 – and Kolkata emerged as an important hub of the independence movement. With the experience and memories of the Bengal famine of 1943, the Great Calcutta Killings, the final partition of Bengal, and independence of the country, Kolkata moved on to a new era of challenges, with millions of refugees pouring in from neighbouring East Pakistan (later Bangladesh).

Geography

Kolkata district lies between 22.037’ and 22.030’ North latitude and 88.023’ and 88.018’ East longitude. It occupies the east bank of the Hooghly in the lower Ganges Delta. The alluvial plain has an average elevation of 6.4 metres (17 feet) above mean sea level. A large part of the district comprises land reclaimed from wetland. The existing East Kolkata Wetlands has been designated a “wetland of international importance” by the Ramsar Convention.

Kolkata district is bounded by the North 24 Parganas district on the north and on the east, South 24 Parganas district on the south and Howrah district, across the Hooghly, on the west.

In terms of area, it is the smallest amongst all the districts of West Bengal but has the highest density of population. It is the only district in the state with cent per cent urban population. It has the lowest Scheduled Caste (5.38%) and Scheduled Tribe (0.24%) population in the state. Kolkata district is the only district in the state with a negative growth rate (−1.7%) for the 2001–2011 decade. Kolkata district has the second highest literacy rate (86.3%) in the state.

Kolkata metropolitan area, extending over an area of 1851.41 km2, is one of the six metropolitan areas in India. It includes the entire Kolkata Municipal Corporation area.

The Kolkata district collector is responsible for several citizen centric services which are neither being provided by the KMC nor Kolkata Police.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 census Kolkata district has a population of 4,496,694, roughly equal to the nation of Croatia or the US state of Louisiana. This gives it a ranking of 35th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 24,252 inhabitants per square kilometre (62,810/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was −1.88%. Kolkata has a sex ratio of 899 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 87.14%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 5.38% and 0.24% of the population respectively.

Language

Bengali is the most spoken language, with 61.45% of the population. Another 22.19% speak Hindi and 13.04% Urdu. Odia, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marwari and Bhojpuri are also spoken by more than 10,000 people.

The proportion of persons having Bengali as a mother tongue in Kolkata district decreased from 63.8% in 1961 to 59.9% in 1971 to 58.5% in 1981 and then increased to 63.6% in 1991, but again dropped to 62.0% in 2001 and dropped further to 61.5% in 2011. The proportion of persons having Hindi as mother tongue increased from 19.3% in 1961 to 23.2% in 1971, but then started declining to 22.2% in 1981, 20.9% in 1991 and 20.3% in 2001, but rose to 22.2% in 2011. The proportion of persons having Urdu as mother tongue has increased from 9.0% in 1961 to 13.6% in 2001 but decreased to 13.0% in 2011. The proportion of persons having English as mother tongue has dwindled from 1.0% in 1961 to 0.2% in 2001 and now only 8,900 people speak English as mother tongue, mainly Anglo-Indians.

Religion

The small minorities were Jains, who numbered 21,178 and formed 0.5% of the population. Sikhs numbered 13,849 and formed 0.3% of the population. Buddhists numbered 4,771 and formed 0.1% of the population. Persons following other religions numbered 1,452. Persons not stating religion numbered 48,982 and formed 1.1% of the population.

The proportion of Hindus in Kolkata district decreased from 83.9% in 1961 to 76.5% in 2011. During the same period Muslims increased from 12.8% to 20.6%.

Economy

Livelihood

As per the 2011 census, Kolkata district has 1,795,740 total workers (main and marginal) forming 39.93% of the district population. The remaining population of 2,700,954 (60.07%) belongs to the non-workers category. While amongst the males 59.93% are total workers and 40.07% are non-workers, amongst the females 17.91% are total workers and 82.09% are non-workers.

94.61% of the total workers in urban Kolkata earn their livelihood as other workers, followed by 3.81% as household workers. Only 0.89% of total workers are engaged as cultivators and 0.69% are engaged as agricultural labourers. The type of workers that come under the category of “other workers” include all government servants, municipal employees, teachers, factory workers, plantation workers, information technology workers, those engaged in trade, commerce, business, transport, banking, mining, construction, political or social work, priests, entertainment artists, and so on.

Infrastructure

Power supply: In 1895, the Government of Bengal passed the Calcutta Electric Lighting Act and in 1897 Kilburn & Co., as agents of The Indian Electric Company Limited, secured the licence for electric lighting in Kolkata. The company soon changed its name to Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation. It commissioned the first thermal power plant in India, at Emambagh Lane, near Prinsep Street, in 1899. The switching over from horse-drawn carriages to electricity by Calcutta Tramways Company in 1902, provided further impetus to the rise in power consumption. The years of power shortage in the 1970s and 1980s, have been left behind. Now, CESC serves 2.8 million consumers. Total electric consumption in Kolkata district has gone up from 6,424 million KWH in 2006–07 to 8,135 million KWH in 2010–11.

Water supply: Newspaper reports, quoting KMC officials, say that in 2023 water demand from KMC was 360 million gallons per day and on an average, it supplied 300 mgd. 94 per cent of the city is supplied piped water, almost all of it free. The city is serviced by a 5,000 km network of pipes. As per KMC, it has 5 water treatment plants at Palta, Watgunge, Jorabagan, Dhapa and Garden Reach. There are reports that officially 15% of Kolkata's core water supply comes from ground water, in reality 25–30% of water used in households is ground water.

Roads: An estimated 6% of Kolkata's area is under roads, whereas a standard modern city demands 25–30% of the area be under roads. Pucca (surfaced) road construction started in Kolkata only after 1839, and pavements were provided along the main roads only to facilitate erection of gas lights. In 2010–11 KMC maintained 1,909 km of roads (1,670 km surfaced and 239 km unsurfaced). In 2020, the number of registered motor vehicles (including two and three wheelers) on the roads of Kolkata was 1024,000.

Drainage: Kolkata district was traditionally drained by two channels and various minor water ways. Human efforts tried to supplement the natural system. William Tolly tried to develop an eastward drainage-cum-communication channel by excavating the almost dead bed of the Adi Ganga. The 27 km long Tolly's Nullah was completed in 1777. The Lake Channel was cut through the Salt Lake later on. Some of the other channels were; Beliaghata Canal (1800), Circular Canal from Entally to Hooghly river (1820), Bhangor Khal (1897–98) and the 16 km long Krishnapur Khal, a navigational channel connecting Kolkata with Nona-Gang-Kulti Gang in South 24 Parganas (1910). Since 1742 the Bidyadhari served as an outlet for the drainage of the city, but with deterioration of the Jamuna, Bidyadhari lost much of its fresh water flow. Dr. Birendranath Dey renovated and revived the Bidyadhari in 1943.

Industry

The East India Company secured the licence for trading in Bengal from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. In the absence of road and air transport, in those days, water transport flourished and a port was established at Kolkata. The first telegraph line was installed as early as 1839. A pioneering pharmaceutical company, Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical Works was established in 1893. The film industry, based in Tollygunge, also had an early start. The first silent Bengali feature film, Bilwamangal, was produced in 1919 and the first Bengali talkie, Jamai Shashthi, was released in 1931. There were other sectors which had an early start and were subsequently followed up. Kolkata district had 1,012 registered factories in 2010. The three most important goods manufactured in Kolkata district in 2009 were: engineering goods, leather products and rubber products.

There was a boom in information technology sector since 2001 with more and more companies being set up in Salt Lake Sector V and later in New Town.

Trade and Commerce: While there were only a handful of Marwaris in Kolkata's trade and commerce towards the end of the 18th century, they came in larger numbers with the turn of the century and particularly after opening of the railways (1860) and dominated Kolkata's economy. During the 1830s some of the best-known Marwari families, well established in business, were the Singhanias, the Sarafs, the Kotharis and the Bagris. By the turn of the century more Marwari families were in the business limelight: the Poddars, the Mundhras, the Dalmias, the Dugars, the Jalans, the Jhunjhunwalas, the Jaipurias, the Rampurias and the Birlas.Burrabazar became a stronghold of Marwari businessmen from the middle of the 19th century but their operations remained subservient to British business interests. Business opportunities during World War I transformed the Marwaris from a trading community to entrepreneurs and they started challenging the British economically. They gained entry into British economic strongholds like the jute and cotton industries. After World War II, as the British left India, the Marwaris acquired most of their business interests. With political ‘delinquency’ prevailing in Kolkata from the sixties many Marwaris, particularly the elite, started looking for greener pastures elsewhere. The Marwaris “could not stop incorrigible Calcutta from getting poorer; Calcutta, in turn, could not stop them from getting richer.”

Electoral constituencies

Lok Sabha (parliamentary) and Vidhan Sabha (state assembly) constituencies covering Kolkata district are as follows:

Reorganisation

On June 22, 2026, in the budget session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the financial year 2026–27, Swapan Dasgupta, the new Finance Minister of the West Bengal Government, announced a proposal to form 5 new districts, including Kolkata, in the state. According to the proposal, Kolkata will be reorganized into a full-fledged district and the entire area of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will be included in the new Kolkata district. In addition, some municipal areas adjacent to Kolkata city such as Rajpur Sonarpur, Maheshtala and Bidhannagar are also being considered for inclusion in the proposed district.

Gallery