Kolkatar Nagarayan

Kolkata still serves as the yardstick by which Bengali society and culture are measured—sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. But the urbanization of Kolkata did not happen overnight. This book traces the history of how a city emerged in what was once a remote rural area, a forested settlement frequented by wild animals. The modern city—with its opportunities, amenities, civic comforts, and even voting rights that drew local people into the process of urbanization—was all part of the planned vision of the British rulers. Moving beyond one-dimensional interpretations of history, the book shows how many ordinary Englishmen and a section of the rulers themselves participated in this planning. Interestingly, a section of the local zamindars did not take initiative in the urban development of Kolkata. Across fourteen chapters, the book analyzes the history of Kolkata’s urbanization in simple, accessible language. The chapters that reveal the poison that rose alongside the nectar of urbanization further enrich the book.