3-028-390 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Calcutta, from the Plassey Gate, 1870. The British in India. Engraving '...from a photograph taken on the ramparts of the Plassey Gate, or Lal Deroisa (literally meaning in Hindostanee "red door"), giving a view of the draw-bridge in the foreground, and the Ravelin Quarters, occupied by staff sergeants, with the principal part of Calcutta in the distance. To the extreme left is Government House, the residence of the Viceroy, while in front is Chowringhee-road, with its magnificent houses and public offices. This is where all the richest "civilians" live who can afford to pay a rent from £30 to £70 a month. In the same view is a Mohammedan temple, with several gilt domes, which is a favourite resort for worship of the natives...Fort William is considered the healthiest part of Calcutta to reside in; and, owing to the scrupulous cleanliness of the whole place, it is entirely free from the disgusting smells that offend one's nose at every turn in almost every street in Calcutta. It is separated from the town by the Esplanade or Maidan, an open plain five miles in circumference, on the banks of the Hooghly River'. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.