History of Kolkata Trivia Quiz

Answer: Job Charnock

The area that is now Kolkata has been inhabited for at least two millennia, but the city is widely regarded as being founded in 1690 by Job Charnock, who was an administrator for the East India Company. The East India Company was looking to expand operations into Bengal and Charnock was tasked with finding a headquarters.

He suggested that several small villages be merged together as one to form a city which later became Calcutta (now renamed Kolkata).

Answer: The British building a fortified wall

During this time, the British and the French were fighting the Seven Years War in North America. The British feared the fighting could jeopardize their territories elsewhere and began securing its hold on Calcutta. The British and the Indians already had a tense relationship and the British fortification of Calcutta was the last straw. The British had hoped to strengthen Fort William, but Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah opposed this effort and attacked. The nawab claimed victory, although this victory was short-lived.

The Siege of Calcutta led to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta. The Black Hole was a dungeon area of Fort William where roughly 150 British were held prisoner in a very small, hot space that was described as an oven. Almost all of the captives died within 24 hours. All the gruesome conditions were well documented at the time, however, historians do not agree on what actually happened in the Black Hole. Many suspect some of the British claims were exaggerated.

Answer: Robert Clive

The Battle of Plassey occurred in 1757 and was in response to the Indian victory at the Siege of Calcutta. Siraj ud-Daulah lost support of his own allies who believed him to be too arrogant and getting too close with the French. Some of them betrayed the nawab and flipped to support the British led by Colonel Robert Clive.

The Battle of Plassey was over fast because the nawab fled and Clive was able to dominate the small town. This led to the British seizing the much larger Calcutta and all of Bengal with it. The rest of the Indian subcontinent fell like dominoes until the British controlled most of it.

Answer: Forgery

Nanda Kumar was executed on what were probably false charges of forgery. Kumar had accused Governor William Hastings of bribery and while that matter was being investigated, Kumar was accused of forging a deed. It was believed, even at the time, that the charge was false, made by Hastings and his allies. Nonetheless, Kumar was executed by hanging.

The execution caused outrage as Kumar was a Brahman and led to fears that extrajudicial executions would become the norm. Many British officials in India were impeached and removed because of their role in the execution and the stability of the British Government in Calcutta was questioned.

Answer: Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey was a soldier for the British East India Company who is generally credited with setting the first sparks of Indian Independence in 1857. Pandey mutinied against his regiment and attacked Lt. Baugh. Chaos ensued when other members of the regiment joined in or looked the other way during the ensuing brawl.

It is believed Pandey was under the influence of narcotics at the time but he denied this and admitted to rebelling. He was executed by hanging and today is considered one of the more prominent members in the fight for Indian Independence.

Answer: Ramakrishna Biswas

Calcutta (and all of Bengal) was one of the hotspots of Indian Independence. Many activists for the cause originated in Calcutta. Among them were Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, who founded the Indian National Congress and was its first president. Other famous revolutionaries from Calcutta include the poet Rabindranath Tagore, whose works form the basis for several of India's national songs, and Bankimchandra Chatterjee, who was also a famous local poet whose works inspired others to join in the movement.

Ramakrishna Biswas was a young revolutionary primarily active in Chittagong, which is now in Bangladesh. He was, however, executed in Calcutta for attempting to assassinate the Chief of Police but mistakenly killed someone else.

Answer: Nazi Germany

Subhas Chandra Bose was a member of the Indian National Congress, which sought Indian Independence from Britain. However, he was considered much more radical than others in the movement and frequently clashed with them, including Mohandas Gandhi. During World War II, Bose was under house arrest in his home in Calcutta. He fled India and traveled to Nazi Germany where he met with Nazi leaders, including Hitler, and collaborated with them to create a potential German invasion of the Indian subcontinent. The invasion never occurred and Bose instead went to Japan.

Bose's legacy is complicated in India. Although he is revered for his independence efforts, his collaboration with Nazi Germany muddied his reputation.

Answer: Muslims

After Indian Independence was achieved, India was carved up into India and Pakistan. Pakistan consisted of modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh (called East Pakistan). Pakistan was primarily Muslim and thousands of Muslims in Calcutta left for East Pakistan, while Hindus left East Pakistan for Calcutta.

This caused a severe economic situation in Calcutta, which could not provide for the millions of Hindus who arrived without government assistance, little of which was received. This led to Calcutta gaining a reputation for slums and uncleanliness.

Answer: Mother Teresa

The Missionaries of Charity was established by Mother Teresa in 1950 to aid those suffering from extreme poverty in Calcutta. The mission gained international notoriety for its generosity, hard work, and dedication to aiding the poor, sick, homeless and anyone who needed help.

When the organization was founded, Mother Teresa had just twelve workers but by the time of her death, she had thousands in over 100 countries. Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was canonized a saint in 2016.

Answer: Dying

Rajiv Gandhi called Calcutta a dying city because violence had erupted on several fronts and the city was plunged into economic crisis after crisis. Meanwhile, the rest of India had been booming economically. Other cities' population was growing exponentially faster than Calcutta's. Much of the city's woes were caused by Naxalite revolutionaries destroying much of the city's infrastructure which could not be rebuilt for economic reasons.

Toward the end of the 20th century, Calcutta was renamed Kolkata and began a renaissance after a series of economic reforms boosted the city once more.