Hugli-Chuchura

Hugli-Chuchura was founded as Ugulim in 1579 by order of Luís de Ataíde, 1st Marquis of Santarém, Viceroy of Portuguese India.

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.

State Highway 6/ Grand Trunk Road (G.T. Road) passes through the town. Chuchura and Hooghly are historic stations on the Howrah-Bardhaman main line of the Eastern Railway. Ferry services across the Hooghly River serves as a link with the district of North 24 Parganas.

A View of Chinsura the Dutch settlement in Bengal

The Portuguese founded the town of 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 Christian church dedicated to a statue of Mary, brought by the Portuguese.

In 1629, 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 Hooghly, where the statue of Mary was reestablished. There the Portuguese constructed a church to house the statue, which still receives pilgrims today. The church was renovated in the 1980s and has been declared as a basilica by the authority of Rome.

After the Portuguese expulsion, the town was made the royal port of Bengal, and all the public offices and records were established there. In 1640 the East India Company established a factory at Hugli, their first settlement in Lower Bengal.[4]

In 1656 the Dutch also erected a factory on the site of the town.[1] At that time Calcutta was the principal settlement in Dutch Bengal, who used it as a base for Dutch intra-Asian trade in opium, saltpetre, spices, cotton and indigo.[5] However, in 1685, a dispute having taken place between the English factors and the nawab, the town was bombarded and burned to the ground.[4]

In 1759 the Dutch garrison of Chinsura, 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 possessions in India to the British, in exchange for the British-occupied possessions in Sumatra.[1]

Both 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, who had been an alumnus of the Hooghly Collegiate School. Nazrul Islam's revolutionary songs were penned while he was imprisoned by the colonial government in Hooghly Jail (Hooghly District Correctional Home).[6]

Chinsurah N.S. Road

Hooghly-Chinsurah has three railway stations: Chinsurah railway station (CNS), Hooghly railway station (HGY) and Bandel Junction railway station (BDC) on the Howrah line and Hooghly Ghat railway station (HYG) on the Sealdah line. Thus Chinsurah is well connected to Howrah, Burdwan, Katwa, Naihati and other cities. A few passenger and express trains stop at the Chuchura station. The Hooghly Ghat station is beside the Sampreeti Bridge which is a connector between the eastern and the western side of the Ganges.

Transportation in Chinsurah is mainly covered by bus, auto, rickshaw and toto. Private Buses from Chinsurah Court stand[13] go to Chinsurah railway station (Bus no. 1) and other towns such as Dakshineswar (Bus no. 2), Memari (Bus no. 4), Jirat (Bus no. 8), Tarakeswar (Bus no. 17 and 23), Haripal (Bus no. 18) and Pandua (Bus no. 39). Besides Express Buses up to Bankura, Jangipara etc. are also available. Formerly bus to Arambagh, Bandar, Bardhaman, Barakar, Digha, Laugram, Kumarganj was available but due to insufficient passengers many of them are completely closed while some are short terminated and originated at Tarakeswar. According to many passengers because of so many illegal auto and toto routes, bus routes are closing. Auto service is provided to nearby towns and villages. Chinsurah Court-Chinsurah Railway Station, Chinsurah Court-Tribeni, Chinsurah Court-Bandel Junction Railway Station, Chinsurah Court-Hooghly railway station are the major auto routes in Hooghly-Chinsurah. Additionally, Chinsurah is well-connected to Naihati by ferry services.

As per 2011 Census of India Hugli-Chinsurah had a total population of 2,88,506 of which 1,44,267 (50%) were males and 1,44,239 (50%) were females. Population below 6 years was 22,604. The total number of literates in Hugli-Chinsurah was 2,42,055 (91.04% of the population over 6 years).[14]

The following Municipalities and Census Towns in Hooghly district were part of Kolkata Urban Agglomeration in 2011 census: Bansberia (M), Hugli-Chinsurah (M), Bara Khejuria (Out Growth), Shankhanagar (CT), Amodghata (CT), Chak Bansberia (CT), Naldanga (CT), Kodalia (CT), Kulihanda (CT), Simla (CT), Dharmapur (CT), Bhadreswar (M), Champdani (M), Chandannagar (M Corp.), Baidyabati (M), Serampore (M), Rishra (M), Rishra (CT), Bamunari (CT), Dakshin Rajyadharpur (CT), Nabagram Colony (CT), Konnagar (M), Uttarpara Kotrung (M), Raghunathpur (PS-Dankuni) (CT), Kanaipur (CT) and Keota (CT).[15]

As of 2001 India census, Hugli-Chinsurah had a population of 170,201. 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%.[16]

Chinsurah police station has jurisdiction over Hugli-Chuchura and Bansberia Municipal areas and a part of Chinsurah Mogra CD Block. Chinsurah police station has jurisdiction by Chandannagar Police Commissionerate. Chinsurah has a woman police station.[17][18]

Lord Taraknath, Tarakeswar

Taraknath Temple, Tarakeswar

Kamarpukur Ramakrishna Hut, Kamarpukur

Hangseswari Temple, Bansberia, Hooghly

Ghorir More, Chinsurah

Durga Puja, Jagadhatri Puja, Kartick Puja, Kali Puja & Deepawali, Ras Yatra, Saraswati Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Navabarsho (Bengali New Year), Basanti Puja, Manasa Puja, etc. are the main festivals celebrated here. Jagadhatri Puja or Mohish Mordini puja is a very famous festival. Every year it starts from "Jamai Sasti" and continues till 4days like Durga Puja. Mohish Mordini temple is situated in Dharampur. The famous Gajan Festival is also celebrated at Sandeswartala Temple in Chinsurah near the bank of river Hooghly.

• Muhammad Mohsin – Philanthropist
• Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay – Writer
• Bhudev Mukhopadhyay – Writer and intellectual
• Kalikananda Abadhuta – Novelist
• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay – Novelist (wrote the national song of India)
• Bijoy Modak – Freedom Fighter
• Kazi Nuruzzaman - Bangladeshi Army Officer and Freedom fighter
• Titas Sadhu - Cricketer (Under-19 World Cup winner, Asian Games gold medallist)

• Colonial India
• Dutch Cemetery, Chinsurah
• Dutch India
• European colonies in India
• Hooghly Chinsurah Municipality

• Dey, S. C., "Hooghly Past and Present", The Calcutta Review, Vol.96, No.191, (January 1893), pp.22-42; No.192, (April 1893), 276-288; Vol.97, No.193, (July 1893), pp.71-81; No.194, (October 1893), 340-366;Vol.98, No.195, (January 1894), pp.152-170; Vol.99, No.197, (July 1894), pp.153-164; Vol.104, No.208, (April 1897), pp.355-373.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hugli-Chuchura.

• Dutch in Chinsurah Archived 22 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine
• Hoogly Chinsurah Municipality