Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/37

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CALCUTTA. 23 leges have been instituted to prepare intending students. Other educational institutions are nu- merous in Calcutta. There are an engineering college and four Government colleges. The prin- cipal places tor religious instruction are Bishop's College, intended chietiy for the education of missionaries and teachers, and the institutions of the Established and Free Churches of Scotland for the same purpose. The communications of Calcutta afford great facilities for its extensive commerce. There are several lines of railway connecting it directly with Ivliulna in the delta; with Goalanda, an important centre of steamship traffic on the Brahmaputra ; with Darjiling in the Himalaj-as, and with Diamond Harbor and Port Canning. The lines to northwest India and to Bombay start from Howrah, on the opposite side of the Hugli. Calcutta has telegraphic connection with the principal towns of India and eonununicates with Europe by several lines. Continuous eommimi- cation, greatly facilitated by the Suez Canal, is kept up with Great Britain b_v numerous well- appointed steamers and sailing vessels. The river adjacent to the city varies in breadth from a quarter of a mile to nearly a mile. There are dry docks and wet docks. The city has water communication in three directions — to the east by various rivers leading to the Brahmaputra ; to the north bj' the Hugli and the Xadiya rivers leading to the Ganges; to the west by the Jlid- napur Canal. The port has excellent anchorage and is the lowest of several seaports on the Hugli, which is navigable by sea-going vessels. The port extends for about 10 miles along the river and is somewhat less than 2 miles in breadth at its broadest part, the area being about S square miles, and comprised for the most part between the rivers and the circular road, a spa- cious roadway which marks the landward bound- ary of the city proper. Beyond this road there lie extensive suburbs, the chief nf which are Chit- pur, on the north : Xundeu Baugh.Bahar-Simleah, Sealdah. Entally, and Baliganj, on the east: and Bhawaripur, AUipur, ancl Kidderpur, on the south. The municipality of Howrah, situated on the opposite side of the river and coimected with Calcutta by a pontoon bridge, contains the salt-golahs or warehouses of the Government, ex- tensive manufactories, dockyards, ship-building establishments, and the depot of the East India Railway. One-third of the whole trade of India passes through Calcutta. The exports are jute, opium, cotton, rice, wheat, sugar, indigo, coffee, tea, saltpetre, linseed, shellac, buffalo-horns, hides, castor-oil. cutch, gunny bags, etc. As a centra! depot for the richest parts of India, Calcutta has an extensive inland trade. The principal in- dustrial establishments include sugar-refineries, cotton-manufactories, flour, saw, and oil mills, and ship-building rlocks. Several newspapers are published. There are a few banks and numerous insurance and other companies, with a chamber of commerce. Living is comparatively cheap, and most of the luxuries of life, as well as its neces- saries, are to be had as readily as in most Euro- pean towns. The annual fall of rain averages 64 inches; the temperature in the shade ranges in July from 78' to 87', and in December from 00° to" 79°. In 18.S7 the population of the town proper amounted to 22i».700 ; it had increased by 1881 to (il2.:i07; in 18'J1 to 801,704, with sub- CALDAS. urbs (excluding Howrah, which had 116,600) ; and in 11)01 to 1,121,700, when Howrah also had 157,850. Besides these, thousands of the 3,500,000 who sleep at night in the surrounding districts ol Hugli and the twenty-four sul)urljan Parga- nas tlock during the day to Calcutta on foot, by boat, or by railway, to their daily toil. The inhabitants are mostly Hindus and ilohamme- dans. The Christians number only about 30,000. There is a considerable number of Europeans and of Eurasians, with some Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Parsees, and negroes. Calcutta was the birthplace of William Makepeace Thackeray. Calcutta was founded by Governor Charnock in the year 1086, by the removal hither of the fac- tories of the East India Company. In 1700 three villages surrounding the factories having been conferred upon the company by the Emperor of Delhi, in recognition of a present made to Azim, a son of Aurungzebe, they were forthwith forti- fied and received the name of Fort William in honor of the reigning King; but the place was subsequently termed Calcutta, the name of one of the villages. In 1707 Calcutta had acquired some importance as a town, and was made the seat of a presidency. In 1756 it was unex- pectedly attacked by Surajah Dowlah, the Xawab of Bengal, and compelled to yield after a two days' siege; 146 men fell into the enemy's hands, and these were cast at night into the notorious "Black Hole' (q.v. ), only 23 surviving the hor- rors of that night. The city remained in the hands of the enemy until eight months after- wards, when Clive, in conjunction with Admiral Watson, recaptured the place, and afterwards concluded peace with the Xawab. Soon after this, and subsequent to the decisive victory of Plassey, the possessions of the East India Company were greatly extended by means of grants made by the Enqieror of Delhi, and Calcutta once more resumed its career of progress and prosperity. Consult Stevens, "The Port of Calcutta," in Vol. XLVIL. Hociety of Arts Journal (London. 18S>9| ; Stevenson. "Calcutta," in Outinq. Vol. XXXI. (Xew Vnrk. 1900). CALDANI, kal-dii'ne, Leopoldo Mabc Ax- TOXIO (1725-18131. An Italian anatomist, born in Bologna. In 1771, on the death of ilorgagni, the celebrated anatomist of Padua. Caldani was chosen his successor in the professorship. i the age of 76 he published his principal work, Icones Atialoiniccr. a series of anatomical plates. He also published Institutioiies I'liijsiolor/icw (1772) and other works. CALDARA, kal-da'ra. A.vxo.xio (167S-17361. An Italian composer, born in Venice. He stud- ied there under Lcgrenzi and became .a singer in the Chapel of San Marco. In 1714 he was ap- pointed miwxtro di capjicllu in JIantua. and from there went to Vienna, where Charles VI. made him one of his vice-ehaiielmasters and took les- sons from him. Caldara is noted rather for the quantity than the quality of his works. He was a most prolific comi)oscr for the stage and the Chuich, and his orchestration was often very elaborate. He compos(>d 60 operas and oratorios, including the celebrated Criirifixu,i (1840), and numerous purely religious productions. CALDARA, PoLiDORO. See Poilidoro da. Oakavai.c.io. CALDAS, kiil'das (Sp. plur. of cald». Lat. cnliiht. warm water. Lat. cnliiliis, hot). A Spai>-