Kolkata

Kolkata (UKkɒlˈkɑːtə or kɒlˈkʌtə, USkoʊlˈkɑːtɑː, kolˈkata; also known as Calcutta kælˈkʌtə which was the official name until 2001) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the financial center of eastern and northeastern India. According to the 2011 Indian census, Kolkata is the seventh-most populous city in India, with a population of 4.5 million residents within its city proper. Greater Kolkata has a population of 15 million residents. Kolkata is a historically and culturally significant city in the historic region of Bengal. It is the second largest Bengali-speaking city. The three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, the area was developed by the Company into Fort William. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied the fort in 1756 but was defeated by Robert Clive at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, resulting in three centuries of British rule. Under company rule and later the British Raj, Calcutta served as the de facto capital of India until 1911. The city was the center of bureaucracy, politics, law, education, science and the arts in British India. The city was associated with many of the figures and movements of the Bengali Renaissance. Calcutta's administrative jurisdiction peaked in the mid 19th-century, when the Bengal Presidency stretched from the Khyber Pass in the west to Burma and the Straits of Malacca in the east. Calcutta became second largest city in the British Empire. It was the hotbed of the Indian independence movement and was bombed by the Japanese during World War II. Calcutta was also home to the Bengal Legislative Council, the Bengal Legislative Assembly and the Prime Minister of Bengal. The University of Calcutta and its affiliated colleges produced many leading figures of South Asia. Kolkata's architecture includes many colonial landmarks, including the Victoria Memorial, Howrah Bridge and the Grand Hotel.