Hugli-Chuchura
(Hooghly-Chinsurah)
City
Nickname: 
Chuchura
Hugli-Chuchura is located in West Bengal
Hugli-Chuchura
Hugli-Chuchura
Hugli-Chuchura is located in India
Hugli-Chuchura
Hugli-Chuchura
Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39
Country India
StateWest Bengal
DivisionBurdwan
DistrictHooghly
SubdivisionChinsurah
MunicipalityHooghly-Chinsurah
Metropolitan AreaGreater Kolkata
Establishment of Hooghly by Portuguese1537
Establishment of Chinsurah by Dutch1635
Annexation by British East India Company1825
Establishment of Hooghly-Chinsurah Municipality1865
Founded by Netherlands Dutch
Named forSpecial cane or spire
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyHooghly Chinsurah Municipality
 • Chairman •Vice ChairmanAmit Roy •Partha Saha
Area
 • Total18 km2 (7 sq mi)
 • Rank2nd in Hooghly District just after Chandernagore
Elevation
9 m (30 ft)
Population
 (2015)
 • Total288,506
 • Rank2nd in Hooghly District just after Serampore
 • Density6,641/km2 (17,200/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialBengali, English
 • Additional officialDutch
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
712101, 712102, 712103, 712104, 712105, 712106
Telephone code+91 33
Vehicle registrationWB
Lok Sabha constituencyHooghly
Member of ParliamentSmt. Locket Chatterjee (BJP)
Vidhan Sabha constituencyChunchura
Member of Legislative AssemblyAsit Mazumder (AITC)
Websitehooghly.nic.in
hcm.net.in

Hugli-Chuchura or Hooghly-Chinsurah is a city of Hooghly district and the district headquarters of Hooghly division in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is one of the densely populated cities of West Bengal. It lies on the bank of Hooghly River, 35 km north of Kolkata.[1] It is located in the district of Hooghly and is home to the district headquarters. Chuchura houses the Commissioner of the Burdwan Range. The District Court building of Chinsurah is the longest building in West Bengal. It is a part of Greater Kolkata covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).[2]

Chinsurah is the home to the new state-of-the-art 1000 KW DRM transmitter of Prasar Bharti which enables 'Akashvaani Maitree' to be broadcast across Bangladesh. This special Bangla service of All India Radio was launched in the wake of the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and played a key role during the war, broadcasting Indian news bulletins in Bangladesh. It continued till April 2010 but was discontinued thereafter due to decommissioning of the Super Power Transmitter at Chinsurah.[3] The headquarters of the Hooghly District Sports Association (HDSA) and the famous district Sadar hospital Imambara Sadar Hospital is situated here. Chinsurah is also the home of the oldest Armenian church in India and old Hindu Temples.

Etymology

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.

History

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]

Geography

🌍
Cities and towns in the Chinsurah subdivision (except Polba Dadpur and Dhaniakhali CD Blocks) in Hooghly district
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre,
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
Map of hooghly chinsurah municipality

Location

Hugli-Chuchura is located at 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39.[7][8]

This city is on the flood plain on the right bank of river Bhagirathi-Hooghly. The area is composed of flat alluvial plains that forms part of the Gangetic Delta. The high west bank of the tidal Hooghly River is highly industrialised.[9]

Keota, Manushpur, Naldanga, Kodalia, Kulihanda, Dharampur and Simla form a cluster of census towns on the eastern side of Hugli-Chuchura.[8]

Urbanisation

There are 13 statutory towns and 64 census towns in Hooghly district. The right bank of the Hooghly River has been industrialised over a long period. With foreigners dominating the area's industry, trade and commerce for over two centuries, it is amongst the leading industrialised districts in the state. At the same time the land is fertile and agricultural production is significant.[10]

In Chinsurah subdivision 68.63% of the population is rural and the urban population is 31.37%. It has 2 statutory and 23 census towns.[11] In Chinsurah Mogra CD Block 64.87% of the population is urban and 35.13% is rural. Amongst the four remaining CD Blocks in the subdivision two were overwhelmingly rural and two were wholly rural.[12]

The map alongside shows a portion of Chinsurah subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1901 29,383—    
1911 28,916−1.6%
1921 29,938+3.5%
1931 32,634+9.0%
1941 49,081+50.4%
1951 56,805+15.7%
1961 83,104+46.3%
1971 105,241+26.6%
1981 138,915+32.0%
1991 173,496+24.9%
2001 184,173+6.2%
2011 177,259−3.8%
Source: Government of India[13]
Hinduism
 
 92.15%
Islam
 
 5.95%
Christianity
 
 1.06%
Buddhism
 
 0.14%
Sikhism
 
 0.13%
Jainism
 
 0.03%
Others
 
 0.54%
Religions in Burari (2011)

In 2011, Hooghly-Chinsurah had a population of 177,259, with 88,844 males and 88,415 females. It's population declined by 3.8% from 2001, when it had a population of 184,173. The average literacy rate is 91.1%, with 93.81% for males and 88.39% for females. The sex ratio is 995 females per 1000 males. A vast majority of people in Hooghly-Chinsurah practice Hinduism, with about 92%. The second most practiced religion is Islam, with about 6% of people being Muslim.

Transportation

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[14] 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.

Demographics

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).[15]

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).[16]

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%.[17]

Police stations

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.[18][19]

Lord Taraknath, Tarakeswar
Taraknath Temple, Tarakeswar
Kamarpukur Ramakrishna Hut, Kamarpukur
Hangseswari Temple, Bansberia, Hooghly
Ghorir More, Chinsurah

Education

Primary and secondary education[20][21]

  • Hooghly Collegiate School (established 1812), boys, Bengali language[22]
  • Hooghly Branch Government School (established in 1834)
  • Techno India Group Public School, Hooghly (established 2005), co-ed, English Medium School
  • Don Bosco School, Bandel (established 1978), boys, English Medium School
  • Chinsurah Deshbandhu Memorial High School, boys, Bengali Medium School
  • Auxilium Convent School, Bandel, girls, English Medium School
  • Chinsurah Duff High School (established 1849)
  • Binodini Girls High School
  • S.C. Shome Training Academy
  • Chinsurah Balika Sikha Mandir
  • Chinsurah Deshbandhu Memorial High School (Boys)
  • Chinsurah Deshbandhu Memorial High School (Girls)
  • Chinsurah Bharati Bidya Bhavan Girls High School
  • Garbati High School
  • Hooghly Girls High School
  • Hooghly Balika Banga Vidyalaya
  • Ghutia Bazar Mattickbati Pathsala
  • Sahaganj Shayaprosad Jatiya Vidyalaya
  • Hooghly Jyotish Chandra Vidyapith (Boys)
  • Chinsurah Balika Banimandir
  • Bandel St.John’s High School
  • Gourhari Harijan Vidyalaya
  • Haronath Niroda Sundari Ghosh Vidyalaya
  • Mearberh Ramkrishna Sikha Niketa
  • Hooghly Jyotish Chandra Ghosh Balika Vidyalaya
  • Elite Co-Ed
  • Hooghly Deaf & Dumb School
  • Abbot Sishu Hall
  • Chinsurah English School[21]

Higher-education[23]

Festivals

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.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chinsura" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 235.
  2. ↑ "Base Map of Kolkata Metropolitan area". Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Archived from the original on 7 March 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "AIR to re-launch radio channel for Bangladesh, plans joint content". Indian Express. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hugli". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 862.
  5. ↑ "The Dutch in Chinsurah". www.dutchinchinsurah.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Heritage Commission, West Bengal". wbhc.in. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  7. ↑ "Yahoo maps location of Hugli-Chuchura". Yahoo maps. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Census of India 2011, West Bengal: District Census Handbook, Hooghly" (PDF). Map of Chinsurah-Magra CD Block, page 469. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "District Census Handbook: Hugli, Series-20, Part XIIA" (PDF). Physiography, Page 17-24. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal, 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "District Census Handbook: Hugli, Series-20, Part XIIA" (PDF). Physical features: pages 20, 24. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal, 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "District Statistical Handbook 2014 Hooghly". Table 2.1, 2.2, 2.4(a). Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "C.D. Block Wise Primary Census Abstract Data(PCA)". 2011 census: West Bengal – District-wise CD Blocks. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Census Tables". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Hooghly Buses".
  15. ↑ "2011 Census – Primary Census Abstract Data Tables". West Bengal – District-wise. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011" (PDF). Constituents of Urban Agglomeration Having Population Above 1 Lakh. Census of India 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  18. ↑ "District Statistical Handbook 2014 Hooghly". Tables 2.1, 2.2. Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  19. ↑ "Hooghly District Police". West Bengal Police. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Don Bosco School Bandel".
  21. 1 2 "Welcome to Hooghly Chinsurah Municipality".
  22. ↑ "Official facebook page of Hooghly Collegiate School". Hooghly Collegiate School.
  23. ↑ "Welcome to Hooghly Chinsurah Municipality".

Bibliography

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