>AjaxSmack at 03:19, 5 May 2021

2021-05-05T03:19:48Z

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{{For|Dalhousie Square in Montreal|Dalhousie Station (Montreal)}}
{{Cleanup reorganize|date=July 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement



|name = B.B.D. Bagh 
|official_name =
|other_name =
|native_name = 
|nickname =
|settlement_type = Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta) 
|total_type = 
|motto =

|image_skyline = General Post Office and Reserve Bank of India, Kolkata, India.jpg
|image_caption = [[General Post Office, Kolkata|General Post Office]] and [[Reserve Bank of India]] across Lal Dighi in B.B.D. Bagh
|image_flag =
|flag_size =
|image_seal =
|seal_size =
|image_shield =
|shield_size =
|image_map =
|map_caption =
|pushpin_map = India Kolkata
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Kolkata
|pushpin_mapsize =

|subdivision_type1 = Country
|subdivision_name1 = {{IND}}
|subdivision_type2 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[West Bengal]]
|subdivision_type3 = City
|subdivision_name3 = [[Kolkata]]
|subdivision_type4 = [[List of districts of West Bengal|District]]
|subdivision_name4 = [[Kolkata district|Kolkata]]
|subdivision_type5 = [[Kolkata Metro|Metro Station]]
|subdivision_name5 = [[Mahakaran metro station|Mahakaran]](under construction)
|subdivision_type6 = [[Kolkata Circular Railway]]
|subdivision_name6 = [[B.B.D Bag railway station|B.B.D. Bagh]]

|seat_type = [[Municipal Corporation]]
|seat = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]]
|parts_type = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation|KMC]] ward
|parts_style = 
|parts = [[Ward No. 45, Kolkata Municipal Corporation|45]]
|p1 =
|p2 = 

|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title =
|leader_name =
|leader_title1 = 
|leader_name1 =
|established_title = 
|established_date =

|unit_pref = Imperial
|area_footnotes =
|area_total_km2 = 
|area_land_km2 = 
|area_water_km2 =
|area_water_percent =

|elevation_footnotes = 
|elevation_m =
|elevation_ft = 36
|elevation_max_m =
|elevation_min_m =

|population_as_of =
|population_footnotes =
|population_note =
|population_total = For population see linked KMC ward pages
|population_density_km2 = auto

|timezone = IST
|utc_offset = +5:30
|timezone_DST =
|utc_offset_DST =
|coor_type = 
|coordinates = {{coord|22.572|N|88.349|E|region:IN-{{IndAbbr|[[West Bengal]]}}|display=inline,title}}

|postal_code_type = PIN
|postal_code = 700001, 700062
|area_code = +91 33
|blank1_name_sec1 = [[Lok Sabha]] constituency
|blank1_info_sec1 = [[Kolkata Uttar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kolkata Uttar]]
|blank2_name_sec1 = [[Vidhan Sabha]] constituency
|blank2_info_sec1 = [[Chowranghee (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Chowranghee]]
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
'''B.B.D. Bagh''', formerly called '''Dalhousie Square''', is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh. It is the seat of power of the state government, as well as the [[central business district]] of [[Kolkata]] in [[Kolkata district]] in the [[India]]n [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[West Bengal]].

==Origin of name==
[[File:Memory_of_martyrdom.jpg|thumb|Memory of martyrdom]]
{{Benoy Badal Dinesh}}
B. B. D. stands for three young [[List of Indian independence activists|Indian independence freedom fighters]] — [[Benoy Basu|Benoy]], [[Badal Gupta|Badal]] and [[Dinesh Gupta|Dinesh]] — who on 8 December 1930 shot dead the Inspector General of Prisons, N.S. Simpson, in the balconies of the [[Writers' Building]] of the then Dalhousie Square. The square had been named after [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]], [[Governor General of India]] from 1847 to 1856. At different times it has been called ‘The Green before the Fort’ or Tank Square.<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., ''Calcutta Old and New'', 1909/1980, p 268-9, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.</ref>

{{quote box|width=300px|quote=As we enter the town, very expansive square opens before us, with a large expanse of water in the middle, for public use… the square itself is composed of magnificent houses which render Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) not only one of the best town in Asia but one of the finest in the world. One side of the square consists of a range of buildings occupied by persons in civil employments under the Company, such as writers in public offices.<ref>Quoted by Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi, ''Traders and Trades in Old Calcutta'', in ''Calcutta, the Living City'', Vol I, pp. 156-160, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-563696-1}}.</ref>|source= [[Louis de Grandpré|L. de Grandpre]], ''A Voyage in the Indian Ocean and to Bengal'' (1803)}}

==Geography==
The B.B.D. Bagh area is near the [[Hooghly River]] in the western part of Central [[Kolkata]] and is a square built around the old [[Lal Dighi]] tank. The old fort built by the British was near where the General Post Office now is. The area was in the heart of [[Kalikata]] or the White Town in old Calcutta.

==History==
[[File:Dalhousie 1870s.jpg|thumb|A picture of Dalhousie Square looking northeast in the 1870s]]

B.B.D. Bagh (or Dalhousie Square as it was formerly known) was created as the center of the [[British East India Company|British East India Company's]] trading post along the banks of the Hooghly River. Between the river and the tank (now known as [[Lal Dighi]]), lay the original Fort William. In the summer of 1756, [[Siraj ud-Daulah|Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah]] of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa launched an attack on the British town for the company's decision to strengthen the fortifications around it. The survivors of the attack were sent to a garrison within the fort which spurred an incident infamously known as the [[Black Hole of Calcutta]]. The British soon retook the city after the Nawab retreated from the forces of [[Robert Clive]]. Within a year, the British East India Company's forces had taken all of Bengal and Calcutta, along with the square, was established as the commercial and political center of [[British Raj|British-occupied India]].

[[File:General Post Office (GPO), Calcutta (c. 1880s).jpg|thumb|right|A view of the General Post Office in the 1880s]]

Over the next one and a half centuries, the square grew in importance and influence. It was named after [[Lord Dalhousie]], the Governor-General of India. After the fall of company rule in India, [[Writers' Building]] became the secretariat of the Viceroy of India. A number of corporations and institutions opened offices and headquarters in and around the square, giving it its role as the central business district of the city. In 1912, the capital of British-occupied India was officially moved to [[New Delhi]], but the majority of the financial and political institutions in the area remained.

[[image:DalhousieSqCalcutta 1910.jpg|thumb|Dalhousie Square (B.B.D. Bagh), Calcutta in 1910]]

During the first half of the 20th century, the [[Indian Independence Movement]] began to reach its peak and took a violent turn in Bengal. On the eighth of December 1930, three revolutionaries, Benoy, Badal and Dinesh, stormed the building and fatally shot the Inspector General of Prisons, N.S. Simpson. The three committed suicide and the square was renamed B.B.D. Bagh in their honor after Indian independence. In 1947, the political establishments were officially handed over to the government of India and the government of the newly formed state of [[West Bengal]]. Over the next few decades, Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) would go through rapid economic decline, but B.B.D. Bagh would remain the heart of East India.

==Modern significance==
[[File:BBD_Bag_Station.jpg|thumb|[[B.B.D Bag railway station|B.B.D. Bag circular railway station]]]]

B.B.D. Bagh is still the commercial and political center of all of East India and many of the business and political institutions from the colonial era still exist. The centerpiece is the [[Writers' Building]] which is the secretariat of the Government of the State of West Bengal and houses the office of the [[Chief Minister of West Bengal]]. To the west lie the [[General Post Office, Kolkata|General Post Office]], the Royal Insurance Building, the eastern office of the [[Reserve Bank of India]], the headquarters of the [[Eastern Railway zone|Eastern Railway]], head office of the [[Kolkata Port Trust]] and a number of other government offices. The native name of the area is '<nowiki/>''Office Para'''. To the north lie the Royal Exchange Building which houses the [[Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry]], the [[Calcutta Stock Exchange]], the [[Standard Chartered]] Building and many financial establishments. The eastern end also houses a number of offices till [[Chittaranjan Avenue]]. The south area of the square is home to the [[Raj Bhavan, Kolkata|Raj Bhavan]], which is now the residence of the governor and the former residence of the viceroy and governor-general of India. A number of former British colonial administrative offices, including the former foreign and military secretariats, the Treasury Office, the Telegraph Office and [[Kolkata Town Hall]] can be found here. This area is also a major commercial district with the offices of [[HSBC]] at Hong Kong House and the [[Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata)|Great Eastern Hotel]].

[[File:Calcutta GPO 2010-08-29.jpg|thumbnail|right|A view of the [[General Post Office, Kolkata|General Post Office]] in 2010]]

B.B.D. Bagh can still be considered as one of the best remnants and concentrated zones of British colonial architecture in the world. The square is also characterized by other historical landmarks including [[St. John's Church, Kolkata|St. John's Church]], which was one of the first buildings in Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) and is modeled on [[St. Martin-in-the-Fields]] in London's Trafalgar Square. The church is home to beautiful stained glass windows and paintings as well as the mausoleum of [[Job Charnock]], the man who founded modern Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta). B.B.D. Bagh also has a statue of famous philanthropist [[Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh]] of [[Raj Darbhanga|Darbhanga]] (1858–1898), sculpted by [[Edward Onslow Ford]].

[[File:Great Eastern Hotel (14838195504).jpg|thumb|[[Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata)]]]]

Overall, the square sees thousands of people arriving from all over the [[Kolkata metropolitan area]] to the offices and businesses that have characterized the area for the last three centuries since the establishment of Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta).

==Preservation==
Dalhousie Square was included in the [[2004 World Monuments Watch|2004]] and [[2006 World Monuments Watch]] by the [[World Monuments Fund]] due to "decades of neglect".<ref>[http://www.wmf.org/project/dalhousie-square World Monuments Fund - Dalhousie Square]</ref> After this listing the international financial services company [[American Express]] provided funding through WMF for the square's preservation. A number of buildings in the area have also been listed as heritage buildings and have gone through extensive restorations to bring back the charm of the square. The centerpiece, [[Writers' Building]], has been temporarily vacated to give way for a massive restoration of the building, which has fallen into disrepair in many areas.

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:Tea Board of India 20180823 144554.jpg|[[Tea Board of India]]
image:Kolkata BBD statues.jpg|Statues of Benoy, Badal and Dinesh in front of [[Writers' Building]]
image:Kolkata BBD Bagh1.jpg|[[General Post Office, Kolkata|General Post Office]] and Reserve Bank of India building from across Lal Dighi
image:Kolkata BBD Bagh3.jpg|The southern side of B.B.D. Bagh
image:GPO, KOLKATA.jpg| Dome of [[General Post Office, Kolkata|GPO]] from across Lal Dighi
image:Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh statue - Kolkata.JPG|Statue of Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh
image:Facade of Writers Building - Central Kolkata.jpg|The facade of [[Writers' Building]]
File:The Royal Insurance Building, Kolkata, West Bengal.jpg|The Royal Insurance Building, Kolkata
File:Central Telegraph Office - Red Cross Place - Kolkata 2011-12-18 0166.JPG|The Central Telegraph Office which lies to the south of the main square
File:United Tower - Old Court House Street - Kolkata 2016-06-02 4115.JPG|United Tower
File:KolkataHSBC.JPG|Hong Kong House which has and still houses the offices of HSBC in Kolkata
image:Town Hall - Kolkata 2011-12-18 0335.JPG|[[Kolkata Town Hall]]
File:Calcutta ei05-02.jpg|[[Calcutta High Court]]
image:Old Koilaghat Building - Kolkata 2012-09-22 0303.JPG|The old Koilaghat Building of the Eastern Railway
image:Samriddhi Bhavan - Strand Road - Kolkata 2012-09-22 0343.JPG|Samriddhi Bhavan, the eastern office of the State Bank of India
image:Strand Road - Kolkata 2012-09-22 0339.JPG|A view of [[Strand Road, Kolkata|Strand Road]] and a government administrative building
image:Currency Building - Dalhousie Square - Kolkata 2012-09-22 0289.JPG|The [[Currency Building]] undergoing renovations and restorations
image:South-east Crossing - Dalhousie Square - Kolkata 2012-09-22 0286.JPG|The south-eastern corner of the main square
image:St Andrew's Church - Dalhousie Square - Kolkata 2012-09-22 0281.JPG|St. Andrew's Church in the center of the square
image:Netaji Subhas Road - Dalhousie Square - Kolkata 2012-10-09 0296.JPG|[[Netaji Subhas Road, Kolkata|Netaji Subhas Road]] (formerly Clive Road) which runs along the eastern side of Lal Dighi
File:Reserve Bank of India (RBI) building, September 2011.jpg|Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Kolkata
image:Dalhousie Square South - Kolkata 2011-12-18 0130.JPG|A view down Dalhousie Square South
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|B. B. D. Bagh}}
* {{Wikivoyage-inline|Kolkata/Esplanade}}

{{Kolkata neighbourhoods}}

[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Central business districts in India]]
[[Category:Road junctions in India]]
[[Category:Town squares in India]]

B. B. D. Bagh - Revision history

>AjaxSmack at 03:19, 5 May 2021