Hooghly district

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 colonialism.

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. Later 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 is the first Christian church in Bengal known as ‘Bandel Church’ today.

The Portuguese traders started slave trading, robbery and converting natives into Christians by pressure. At one point they stopped paying taxes to the Mughal Empire. As a result, Emperor Shah Jahan ordered the then-ruler of Bengal province, Qasim Khan Juvayni, to block the city of Hooghly. This led to a war in which the Portuguese were defeated.

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.

Chinsurah N.S Road

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.

A village in Hooghly

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. 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.

Map of Hooghly District showing CD blocks and municipal areas

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.

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]

Religion

Religion in Hooghly district (2011)[10]
Hinduism			82.89%
Islam			15.77%
Sarna			0.89%
Other or not stated			0.45%

Religion in Hooghly district

Religion	Population (1941)[11]: 75	Percentage (1941)	Population (2011)[10]	Percentage (2011)
Hinduism	1,099,688	79.82%	4,574,569	82.89%
Islam	207,077	15.03%	870,204	15.77%
Tribal religion [lower-alpha 1]	69,500	5.04%	49,050	0.89%
Others [lower-alpha 2]	1,464	0.11%	25,322	0.45%
Total Population	1,377,729	100%	5,519,145	100%

Hindus are the majority community in the district. Muslims are the largest minority, concentrated more in rural areas.

Chandernagore Govt. College

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:

• Badanganj High School (H.S.),[BADANGANJ : HOOGHLY: PIN-712122] Estd.1910
• Hooghly Collegiate School, Estd. 1812
• Pearl Rosary School, Estd. 2005
• Hooghly Mohsin College, Estd. 1836
• Sitapur Endowment Senior Madrasah - is established in 1751 as a part of Sitapur endowmant.
• Hooghly Madrasah - Haji Muhammad Mohsin established in 1817.[13]
• Furfura Fatehia Senior Madrasah Estd. 1902
• Government College of Engineering & Textile Technology Serampore
• Mahesh Sri Ramkrishna Ashram Vidyalaya (Higher Secondary)
• Saroj Mohan Institute of Technology, Guptipara
• Serampore College
• Serampore Girls' College
• Serampore Union Institution
• Akna Girl's High School
• Chatra Nandalal Institution
• Mahesh High School, Serampore
• Hooghly Branch (Govt) School
• St Joseph's Convent, Chandannagar
• Balagarh Bijoy Krishna Mahavidyalaya (Jirat College), Jirat

Taraknath Temple, Tarakeswar

• Tarakeswar, home of Taraknath Temple.

• Serampore, where the Senate of Serampore College (University) was established

• Bandel, home of Bandel Church, West Bengal's oldest church.

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.
• Panchanan Karmakar, inventor of wooden Bengali alphabet typeface
• Anil Chatterjee (Bengali Actor) - born in Jirat.
• Deb Bera (Deb Design Gallery) - born in Singur. He is a graphics designer.
• Brajendra Nath Seal - born in Haripal. He was a humanist philosopher.
• 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.
• Shib Chandra Deb- born in Konnagar. He was one of the leading Derozians, virtually the first generation of English-knowing Indians.
• Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee- born in Hooghly District. He was a Brahmo reformer.
• Haji Muhammad Mohsin- born in Hooghly District. He was a famous philanthropist.
• Satish Chandra Mukherjee - born in Banipur , Hooghly District. He was a pioneer in establishing a system of national education in India. He was the father of Subroto Mukherjee.
• Subroto Mukherjee (related by ancestry) - He was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Air Force. He was son of Satish Chandra Mukherjee.
• Ganga Prasad Mukherjee, born in Jirat. He was a Physician. He was Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee's father.
• Jagannath Tarka Panchanan, born in Tribeni. He was a legendary Sanskrit scholar and pundit of ancient Hindu Laws.
• Ramakrishna- born in Kamarpukur. He was a Hindu mystic, saint, and religious leader in 19th century Bengal.
• Nagendranath Basu- born in Mahesh. He was an archaeologist, encyclopaedist and a nationalist social historian of Bengal.
• Amiya Chakravarty- born in Serampore. He 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- born in Serampore. He was a magician known for his mesmerizing tricks. He is considered to be the pioneer of modern magic in Bengal. He was the mentor of P. C. Sorcar and K Lal.
• Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, born in Bakulia village. His ancestral house was in Rameswarpur near Guptipara. He was a Bengali poet, journalist, and author.
• Kali Mirza, born in Guptipara. He was an 18th-century composer of tappā music in Bengal. A contemporary of Nidhu Babu, he composed over 400 tappās.
• Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri- born in Serampore. He was an Indian monk and yogi, and the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Satyananda Giri.
• Nagendranath Chattopadhyay- born in Salepur village, approximately five miles from the sub-divisional headquarters in Arambagh. He was a noted Sanskrit scholar and grammarian.
• Murari Mohan Mukherjee- His native place was Chinsurah. He was a plastic surgeon.
• Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya- born in Serampore. He 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.
• Sisir Kumar Mitra- born in Konnagar. He was a physicist.
• Madhusudan Gupta- born in Baidyabati. He 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.
• Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, born in Hughli. He was a Bengali author.
• Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay- born in Debanandapur. He was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century.
• Akshay Chandra Sarkar- born in Chinsurah. He was a poet, an editor and a literary critic of Bengali literature.
• Raja Digambar Mitra- born in Konnagar. He was one of the leading Derozians and first Bengali Sheriff of Kolkata.
• Kanailal Dutta- born in Chandannagar. He was a revolutionary in India's freedom struggle belonging to the Jugantar group.
• Ashapurna Devi- Her ancestral village was Begumpur. She was a prominent Indian novelist and poet in Bengali language.
• Brahmabandhav Upadhyay , born in Khanyan of Hooghly district. He was a theologian, journalist and Indian freedom fighter. He was closely attached with Keshub Chandra Sen, classmate of Swami Vivekananda and close acquaintance of Rabindranath Tagore.
• Ramnidhi Gupta- born in Chapta near Tribeni. He was commonly known as Nidhu Babu . He was one of the great reformers of Bengali tappā music.
• Kirity Roy, civil rights activist working in West Bengal
• Motilal Roy , born in Chandannagar. He was a Bengali revolutionary, journalist, social reformer. He founded the "Prabartak Sangha", a nationalist organisation for social works.
• Dwarka Nath Mitra- born in Augunsi. He belongs to the famous Mitra family of Janai. He was a famous lawyer and judge of the Calcutta High Court.
• Nabagopal Mitra- He belonged to the famous Mitra Family of Konnagar.He 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- He belonged to the famous Ghosh family of Konnagar. He 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- He belonged to the famous Ghosh family of Konnagar. He was an Indian poet and one of the first from India to write poetry in English. He was a brother of Sri Aurobindo.
• Ashim Kumar Majhi born in Jirat, he is a politician.
• Nirmal Jibon Ghosh - born in Dhamasin village, an Indian revolutionary and member of the Bengal volunteers.
• Premendra Mitra - Premendra Mitra belonged to the renowned Mitra family of Konnagar.
• Surajit Dhara, recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his contributions to physical sciences in 2020[14][15]
• Elora Tribedy, field archaeologist, Nalanda University [16]
• Chandranath Basu ,(1844–1910) was born in Kaikala (village), in Hooghly district, an Indian litterateur. A staunch Hindu, Chandranath coined the term "Hindutva" and has been regarded as a doyen of economic and Indian nationalism in Bengal.

• Rathayatra of Mahesh, Serampore

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• Hooghly District official homepage
• Hooghly specific information on West Bengal Portal
• Hooghly District map
• Hooghly District information