1912 Burrard Survey of India Large-Format Map of Calcutta / Kolkata

A rare, spectacular, and meticulously surveyed large format 1912 city plan or map of Calcutta, or Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Issued in the year after the capital of British India, facing local religious and political unrest, relocated to New Delhi. Centered on Fort William, this massive map extends north as far as Chitpore, south to Parganas, and from the Botanical Gardens and Civil Engineering College in the west, east as far as Kohdaganj, Pagladanga, and Tangra. The Hooghly River features prominently at center with docks and piers noted throughout. The map offers extraordinary detail throughout, with every street, statue, monuments, theater, market, offices, church, hotel, hospital, press, and much more note.

Calcutta as a Center of Revolutionary Sentiment

This map was issued during a transformative period for Calcutta. Bengal was partitioned in 1905 along religious lines, separating the Muslim eastern Bengal form the largely Hindu, Western Bengal. While intended to reduce strife, the partition proved unpopular, leading to radical nationalism among Bengali Hindus, who turned to terrorism to vent their frustrations. The partitioning was undone in 1911, largely to assuage Bengali Hindus - to the annoyance of Muslims. Calcutta became increasingly tense and emerged as major hub for nationalism, religious conflict, and revolutionary organizations. While the capital of British India was removed to New Delhi in 1911, Calcutta remained an important regional center. There can be little doubt that this meticulous survey, completed in the year of the reunification, was ordered as an advance reconnaissance of the ciyt in anticipation of revolutionary and terroristic activity.

British in Calcutta

The three villages, in particular Kalikata, where Calcutta is located, came into the possession of the British East India Company in 1690, when they established a trading factory on the shores of the Hooghly River. To defend against French and indigenous rivalries, the EIC began constructing Fort William in 1689 - marking the beginnings of Calcutta as a major city. Calcutta became the capital of British India in 1772 and remained so until 1911, when this map was first issued. In 1912, the date of this issue, the capital of British India was moved to New Delhi, but Calcutta remained the capital of Bengal until independence in 1947.

Publication History and Census

This map was first issued by Sidney Gerald Burrard and the Survey of India in 1911. The present example is the second edition, with updates to 1912. Other later editions are known, including one from 1919 and a 50% reduced variant in 1925. While 1911 appears on the map as the date of the first issue, we have been unable to identify any surviving examples with this imprint - the present map being the earliest known surviving example of this important map. The map was both engraved and published at the Survey of India offices in Calcutta. We are aware of one other example (1919 edition) in private hands, and a further 4 examples in institutional collections, including the archives of the University of Oxford, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and Zentralbibliothek Zürich. No surviving examples of the 1911 first edition are known. No other examples of the 1912 edition, as here, are known.