Hooghly district (/ˈhuːɡliː/) is one of the districts of the
Indian state of
West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt Hoogli or Hugli. The district is named after the
Hooghly River.
The district of Hooghly derived its name from the town of Hooghly on the west bank of the
Hugli River about 40 km north of
Kolkata. This town was a major river port for trade in India before colonization.
The district has thousands of years of rich heritage as part of the Bengali kingdom of
Bhurshut. The first European to reach this area was the
Portuguese sailor
Vasco da Gama. In 1536 Portuguese traders obtained a permit from Sultan
Mahmud Shah to trade in this area. In those days the Hooghly River was the main route for transportation and Hooghly served as an excellent trading port.
Within a few decades, the town of Hooghly turned into a major commercial centre and the largest port in Bengal. In 1579–80,
Mughal Emperor
Akbar gave permission to a Portuguese captain Pedro Tavares to establish a city anywhere in the Bengal province. They chose Hooghly, and it became the first European settlement in Bengal. In 1599, the Portuguese traders built a
convent and a
church in
Bandel. This was the first Christian church in Bengal and is known as ‘Bandel Church’ today.
Among other European powers that came to Hooghly were the
Dutch, the
Danish, the
British, the
French, the
Belgians and the
Germans. Dutch traders centred their activities in the town
Chuchura which is south of Hooghly.
Chandannagar became the base of the French and the city remained under their control from 1816 to 1950. Similarly, the Danish establishment in settlement in
Serampore (1755). All these towns are on the west bank of the
Hooghly River and served as ports. Among these European countries, the British ultimately became most powerful.
Initially the British were based in and around the city of Hooghly like traders from other countries. In 1690
Job Charnock decided to shift the British trading centre from Hooghly-Chinsura to
Calcutta. The reason behind this decision was the strategically safe location of Calcutta and its proximity to the
Bay of Bengal. As a result, trade and commerce in the
Bengal province shifted from the town of Hooghly to Calcutta. Hooghly lost its importance as Calcutta prospered.
After the
Battle of Buxar this region was brought under direct British rule until India's independence in 1947. After independence, this district merged into the state of
West Bengal.
Though the city of Hooghly is more than 500 years old, the district of Hooghly was formed in 1795 with the city of Hooghly as its headquarters. Later the headquarters shifted to the town of
Chuchura. In 1843 the
Howrah district was created from the southern portion of this district. And in 1872, the south-west portion of this district was merged into the
Medinipur district. The last change in area occurred in 1966.
Tarakeswar Temple
The
Taraknath Temple, dedicated to the Hindu god
Shiva worshiped as Taraknath, is a major pilgrimage spot in the town of
Tarakeswar. Built in 1729, the temple is an ‘atchala’ structure of Bengal temple architecture with a ‘
natmandir’ in front. Close by are the shrines of
Kali and
Lakshmi Narayan. Dudhpukur, a tank to the north of the Shiva temple is believed to fulfil the prayers of those taking a dip in it.
Pilgrims visit the temple throughout the year, especially on Mondays. Thousands of pilgrims visit Tarakeswar on the occasions of
Shivaratri and ‘
Gajan’, the former taking place in
Phalgun (Feb-March) while the latter lasts for five days ending on the last day of Chaitra (mid-April). The month of
Sravana (mid-July to mid-August) is seen to be auspicious for Shiva when celebrations are held on each Monday.
The district is flat, with no place having an elevation of more than 200 meters.[citation needed] The River Hooghly borders it to the east. Another major river is the
Damodar. The district is bordered by
Howrah district to the south,
Bardhaman District to the north, and to the east by the
River Hooghly.
Bankura District lies to the north-west, with
Medinipur District to the south-west.
Economy
Hooghly is one of the most economically developed districts in West Bengal. It is the main
jute cultivation,
jute industry, and
jute trade hub in the state. The jute mills are along the banks of the river Hooghly in
Tribeni, Bhadreswar, Champdani and Sreerampur.
There are a number of industrial complexes including one of the largest car manufacturing plants in India, the Hindustan Motors plant in Uttarpara.
It was also home to the Singur Tata Nano controversy. Hindustan Motors plant was closed in 2014.
Bandel Thermal power plant and Tribeni tissue plant (ITC) are running smoothly.
Divisions
Administrative subdivisions
The district comprises four subdivisions: Chinsurah, Chandannagore, Srirampore and Arambagh.
Chinsurah subdivision consists of two municipalities (
Hugli-Chuchura and
Bansberia) and five community development blocs: Balagarh, Chinsurah–Mogra, Dhaniakhali, Pandua and Polba–Dadpur.
Arambagh subdivision consists of
Arambag municipality and six community development blocks: Arambag, Khanakul–I, Khanakul–II, Goghat–I, Goghat–II and Pursurah.[1]
Hugli-Chuchura is the district headquarters. There are 23 police stations, 18 development blocks, 12 municipalities and 207
gram panchayats in this district.[1][2]
Other than municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocks that are divided into rural areas and census towns. There are 41 urban units: 12 municipalities and 64
census towns.[2][3]
Chanditala–I community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats and 2 census towns:
Masat,
Gangadharpur, Aniya, Bhagabatipur, Haripur, Krishnarampur, Kumirmorah, Nawabpur, Sheakhala.
12
Balagarh, Dhaniakhali, Khanakul and Goghat constituencies are reserved for
Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Along with two assembly constituencies from
Howrah district, Jangipara, Chanditala, Uttarpara, Serampore and Champdani constituencies form the
Serampore (Lok Sabha constituency). Chandernagore, Singur, Haripal, Chinsurah, Bansberia, Polba and Dhaniakhali constituencies form the
Hooghly (Lok Sabha constituency).
Hooghly District comes under Burdwan Police Range. Hooghly Rural Police District was created on 30 June 2017, curbing out of erstwhile Hooghly district. Presently it consists of sixteen police station with jurisdiction, one women police station and one Cyber Police Station. The head quarter of Hooghly Rural Police District was shifted to Kamarkundu under Singur PS from Chinsura.
Chandannagar Police Commissionerate was formed after bifurcation of the Hooghly Police District, and has nine police stations under its jurisdiction established on 30 June 2017, is a police force with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within certain urban parts of Hooghly district. The Commissionerate is part of the West Bengal Police, and comes under the Department of Home & Hill Affairs, Government of West Bengal.
For the functioning of 23 police stations of the district, District Intelligence Branch, District Enforcement Branch and District Reserve Police Force SP, Hooghly is assisted by three additional superintendents:
HQ: Having his office at Chinsurah, he looks after the Sadar Sub-Division and District Police Force, being assisted by Dy.S.P. (HQ) and Dy.S.P. (D&T).
Industrial: He is in Serampore. He is the supervising officer for Serampore and Chandernagore Sub Divisions, assisted by SDPO: Serampore and SDPO: Chandernagore.
Rural: He is in Arambagh and is the supervising officer for Arambagh Sub Division; being assisted by SDPO: Arambagh.
Transport
Rail
The railway communication of the district, especially at the suburban area, is very developed.
The railway is under Howrah Division. The Howrah – New Delhi Rajdhani Route passes through the district, which is one of the most important routes of the country. This route comes under Howrah division and is under the jurisdiction of Sr Den/2/Hwh assisted by AEN/2/LLH. The first train of ER started its journey from Howrah to Hooghly on 14 August 1854 (First halt was Bally (Howrah) and second halt was
Serampore). Hooghly station was announced as the heritage station.
Chinsurah and Tarakeswar railway stations are very useful.
Bus
There are several bus stands in Hooghly district, of the main four bus stands are Chinsurah, Serampore, Tarakeswar, Arambagh. Other small bus stand including Kamarpukur, Dashghara, Dankuni, Champadanga, Garer Ghat, Badanganj, Haripal, Jangipara, Balideaonganj, Bandar present in Hooghly district.
Tarakeswar is the largest bus terminus of Hooghly. It has bus connection with several districts of West Bengal. Express Buses bound Bankura, Barddhaman, Durgapur, Sonamukhi, Tamluk, Bolpur, Khatra, Kharagpur, Digha, Medinipur, Haldia, Panskura, Jhargram, Katwa, Krishnanagar, Nabadwip, Kalna and many more destination are available from Tarakeswar bus stand. There is also many local bus route like 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23 from Tarakeswar that covers Hooghly and some other districts.
Chinsurah is one of the largest bus terminus of Hooghly. Several local bus route bound Rishra, Memari, Jirat, Tarakeswar, Haripal, Jangipara are available.
Arambagh is another important bus stand of this district. Buses bound Tarakeswar, Kolkata, Kamarpukur, Badanganj, Kotulpur, Khanakul, Barddhaman are available.
According to the
2011 census Hooghly district has a
population of 5,519,145,[7] roughly equal to the nation of
Denmark[8] or the US state of
Wisconsin.[9] This gives it a ranking of 16th in India (out of a total of
640).[7] The district has a population density of 1,753 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,540/sq mi).[7] Its
population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 9.49%.[7] Hugli has a
sex ratio of 958
females for every 1000 males,[7] and a
literacy rate of 82.55%. 38.57% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 24.35% and 4.15% of the population respectively.[7]
At the time of the 2011 census, 87.49% of the population spoke
Bengali, 7.59%
Hindi, 2.37%
Santali and 1.72%
Urdu as their first language. Hindi and Urdu speakers are predominantly found in urban areas.[12]
Education
There are 2992 primary schools, 408 high schools, 127 higher secondary schools, 22 colleges, and 6 technical institutes in Hooghly district.
The most notable institutions among them are:
This is a list of notable people from Hooghly District:
Sridhara was an Indian mathematician, Sanskrit pandit and philosopher. Sridharacharya's formula is also known as the
Quadratic formula or Sridharacharya's method.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, born in
Radhanagore. He is considered as the "Father of the Indian Renaissance". He was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious (Hindu) reform movement in Undivided India.
Ramakrishna was a Hindu mystic, saint, and religious leader in 19th century Bengal.
Nagendranath Basu was an archaeologist, encyclopaedist and a nationalist social historian of Bengal.
Amiya Chakravarty was a literary critic, academic, and Bengali poet. He was a close associate of
Rabindranath Tagore, and edited several books of his poetry.
Ganapati Chakraborty was a magician known for his mesmerizing tricks and is considered to be the pioneer of modern magic in Bengal.
Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya was a philosopher at the
University of Calcutta known for his method of "constructive interpretation" through which relations and problematics of ancient Indian philosophical systems are drawn out and developed so that they can be studied like problems of modern philosophy.
Madhusudan Gupta was a translator and Ayurvedic practitioner who was also trained in Western medicine and is credited with having performed India's first human dissection at Calcutta Medical College (CMC) in 1836, almost 3,000 years after Susruta.
Nabagopal Mitra was an Indian playwright, poet, essayist, patriot and one of the founding fathers of Hindu nationalism. He founded the Hindu Mela, the pioneer institution behind the genesis of Hindu nationalism. Mitra also founded National Press, National Paper, National Society, National School, National Theatre, National Store, National Gymnasium and National Circus, earning him the sobriquet 'National Mitra'.
Barindra Kumar Ghosh was an Indian revolutionary and journalist. He was one of the founding members of "Jugantar" , a Bengali weekly, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. Barindra Kumar Ghosh was the younger brother of
Shri Aurobindo.
Manmohan Ghose was an Indian poet and one of the first from India to write poetry in English. He was a brother of
Sri Aurobindo.