Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Etymology
Jackals (sheal in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata was a port in the Salt Lakes.
History
The East India Company obtained from the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement. Of these 5 lay across the Hooghly in what is now Howrah district. The remaining 33 villages were on the Calcutta side. After the fall of Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, it purchased these villages in 1758 from Mir Jafar and reorganised them. These villages were known en-bloc as Dihi Panchannagram and Shealdah was one of them.
Sealdah was described in 1757 as a "narrow causeway, several feet above the level of the country, leading from the east".
In 1756, when Siraj-ud-daulah attacked the English at Calcutta, a major part of his troops and artillery crossed the Maratha Ditch in Sealdah. There was hard fighting here with 39 English soldiers and 18 Indian sepoys killed on the spot. The English dragged their guns through the rice fields.
Baithakkana was a resting place, where merchants formed and dispersed their caravans, sheltered by an old banyan tree (called a peepul tree by Cotton). Job Charnock is said to have chosen the site of Kolkata for a city, in consequence of the pleasure he found in sitting and smoking under the shade of a large tree.
A present-day road stretching from Bepin Behari Ganguly Street to MG Road is called Baithakkhana Road, as well as the market along the road at the southern (Bowbazar/ B.B. Ganguly Street) end is called Baithakkhana Bazar.
The Maratha Ditch was dug in 1742 and it was partly filled up in 1799 to create the Circular Road (now Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road). The eighty-foot-wide Harrison Road (now MG Road), was built in from 1889 to 1892.
The first list of thanas (police stations) in Calcutta was made in 1765 and Muchipara was not there in the list. Muchipara, named after muchis (cobblers and leather workers), possibly shot in to prominence in the early 19th century. In 1888, one of the 25 newly organized police section houses was located in Muchipara.
The East Bengal Railway opened its track from Calcutta to Kushtia in 1862. At the Calcutta end there was a tin-roofed station room. Sealdah railway station had a proper station building in 1869. The present Sealdah-Ranaghat line was a part of the Sealdah-Kushtia line and was subsequently extended to Goalundo Ghat.
Geography
Police district
Muchipara police station is part of the Central division of Kolkata Police.
Economy
Sealdah market, along with Hatibagan, Maniktala, Lake Market and Gariahat markets, is amongst the largest markets in Kolkata. Very similar to village weekly hats, Kolkata's markets thrive in a sprawling and makeshift environment. Sealdah market is an agglomeration of various markets in the area. There is the Sealdah Area market spread for about a kilometre along both sides of MG Road from Purabi to Chhabighar cinema halls selling mainly vegetables and fruits. Sealdah Dimer Bazar, in Hayat Khan Lane and Panchu Khansama Lane, is an egg arat. Baitakkhna Market, spread across 2 acres at 15/16 Baithakkhana Road, sells vegetable, fruits, betel leaf, flower, fish, meat, egg, grocery etc. New Baithakkhana Market (also known as Chhagalkata Fish Market), spread across 5 acres at 155–158, B.B. Ganguly Street, is a fish market. Kolay Market, located near Sealdah Station, is the largest wholesale market in Kolkata, handling vegetables and other daily needs. It is open 24/7 and has not closed down even during strikes. Bow Bazar market, stretching from Sealdah crossing to College Street crossing, is virtually an extension of Sealdah market zone.
Baithakkhana is one of the largest paper markets in India. However, the letterpress business, once the largest printing process in the country and the pride of Bengal, has lost out to more modern systems. Some 10–15 letterpress printers are still there in Baithakkhana, struggling hard to retain a foothold in the tough competition. MG Road, from Sealdah to College Street, is a big market for wedding and visiting cards.
Transport
Sealdah railway station handles in all around 20 lakh (2 million) passengers daily. A bulk of those using the station, around 12 lakhs, commute daily for work in 917 local trains. The East-West Metro line connects to a station at Sealdah and around 5 lakh passengers are likely to use the Metro station.