Art and culture

Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century: An Archival Exploration

Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the nineteenth century was a city of contrasts, where the Bengal Renaissance thrived alongside the patriarchal “Baboo Culture.” Despite the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, widows like Kally Bewah endured social ostracism, poverty, and tragic deaths — highlighting both the grip of orthodox traditions and the colonial government's complicity in sustaining such injustices.
By
Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century

January 25, 2025 04:47 EDT
 user comment feature
Check out our comment feature!
visitor can bookmark

Nineteenth-century Calcutta was the epicentre of the Bengal Renaissance. But alongside Raja Rammohun Roy, Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, the members of the Young Bengal movement and other stalwarts of the society, the baboos (babus) also made their presence felt. They formed the core of a decadent culture that prevailed in Calcutta at that time. An apt description of the ‘Baboo Culture’ has been elucidated by Bhabanicharan Bandyopadhyay in the following words:

Monia bulbul akhrai gaan,

Khos poshaki yashomi daan,

Adighudi kanan bhojon,

Ei nobodha babur lakshan.

(The baboos can be recognised through their activities of keeping birds, listening to lewd songs, dressing up, charity, kite flying, and going for picnics.)

These baboos patronised prostitution, a profession embraced mainly by the Hindu womenfolk who were victims of the Hindu patriarchal social system. The British government considered prostitution a crime and through various acts, like the ‘Contagious Diseases Act’ or Act XIV of 1868, took an initiative to curb the profession. One such act was the registration of girls below the age of ten who resided with the prostitutes. As a first step, the government prepared a questionnaire for the district magistrates. The questionnaire pointed to the sources of supply of prostitutes and one of the sources were the child widows of Hindu families. Vidyasagar, driven by the sad plight of these children, had taken up their cause and had received the support of the government which passed the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act in 1856. After the Act was passed, several such marriages were undertaken by the initiative of Vidyasagar. However, in most cases such marriages proved to be failures. Here we shall narrate the sad plight of one such child widow who belonged to a well-to-do family residing in the northern part of the town of Calcutta.

The coroner of Calcutta, in a letter dated 14 December 1885, addressed to the secretary to the Government of Bengal, wrote a narrative about a woman named Kally Bewah, who had met with a violent death:

The deceased belonged to a respectable Hindu family of Calcutta. She is the sister of Baboo Koylash Chunder Mitter Chief Clerk in the office of the Private Secretary to His Honor the Lieutenant Governor. The deceased married when she was 10 or 11 years old to one Shome Baboo of No. 160 Musjid Baree Street in Calcutta. She became a widow three years after her marriage. She left her deceased husband’s house in 1863 on account of some disagreement with her brother-in-law who was manager of the house and property at the time…. After her husband’s death Kally lived with her uncle and subsequently with her brother Baboo Koylash Chunder Mitter. In 1876 the deceased was sent away by her brother on ground of some disagreement regarding monetary transactions and she was told not to return back again. Kally then went to stay with her maternal uncle…, and at his death … with one Baboo Kisto Churn Bose house no. 82 Sham Bazar Street…. She left the house on the 2nd or 3rd week of September last stating that she was going to her brother, Baboo Koylash Chunder Mitter, and she also told that she was suffering from some disease in the abdomen (goolmo) and wanted to know what was to be done. Baboo Kisto Churn Bose told her to take some physic and she left. But on hearing… from the maid servants of the house that Kally was Enciente 6 Months, Baboo K.C. Bose interdicted her return to the house.

The deceased instead of going to her brother went to the house of one Baboo Purno Chander Mitter. She was there on the 25th September and left that place on the 13th October, because it is alleged the inmates of the house believed her to be advanced in pregnancy 6 months, and according to Hindoo Custom she could not be kept in the house….

Kally next went to a place called Andool in Howrah… on or about the 13th October last. She stayed there for 5 or 6 days. Then she went to Nuttipore to her sister Prosonno Bewah… They reached Nuttipore … on Wednesday the 21st October stayed there at night. Deceased returned again the next day Thursday 22nd October … to Alokasie’s at Andool.” One of the witnesses overheard Prosonno making a remark that “Since her daughter (Nitto) would not allow her (Kally) to stay at Nuttipore let us go to our house at Sham Bazar.”

Another witness, Soodheer Gangooly, saw Prosonno and Kally in 21 Santiram Ghose’s Street which was the ancestral residence of Prosonno, Kally and Koylash Chunder Mitter. There, Kally was not allowed in, though her clothes were stained with blood and she was in pain and was groaning. This took place at noon on 23 October. From there Kally was taken to 161 Musjid Baree Street to which she had legal right. She was however barred from entering there. Prosonno then took her to a dilapidated house at 11 Santiram Ghose’s Street, away from the prying eyes of the public. Next morning Soodheer and Prosonno found her dead.

The body was in the bare floor, with a bundle of dirty clothes under her head, and a small piece of cloth across her waist; otherwise the deceased was quite nude. These clothes were all stained with blood. There was nothing in the house to show that the deceased had any attention paid to her. There was neither food, water nor an ordinary country lamp. In fact the wonder is how the corpse escaped the ravaging attack of jackals…

Soodheer states further in evidence that Prosonno went to her people and returned stating that she was told to leave the country and had been frightened by them.

The coroner ended the letter with the remark that although it was,

… recently decided by the High Court that a Hindoo widow has a legal right to share in the property of her deceased husband, even if she led an unchaste life, this poor woman was literally hunted from house to house even from the ancestral dwelling of her father and the family property of her husband.

An analysis of the letter of the coroner reveals three things. In the first place, she was a child widow; secondly, though she was a legal heir to her husband’s property she was driven out from her husband’s house and economic issues prevented her from securing her brother’s patronage; and thirdly, she had to endure extreme social ostracism till her violent death.

The above account reveals the ruthless nature of the patriarchal social structure of nineteenth-century Calcutta, where its womenfolk were penalised for activities of which they were usually the mere victims. The socio-religious network was so strong that even administrative and legal efforts could not break it. In fact, the foreign rulers, who did not hesitate to take steps against activities which they felt might threaten their existence, kept themselves aloof regarding issues which might enrage the Western-educated but orthodox section of the society. This section of the society formed the major part of the lower administration and were the main supporters of British rule. This tacit agreement between the rulers and the orthodox members of native society, only encouraged such social maladies. And so the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 could merely legalise widow remarriage, but could progress no further to make the Act effective.

[Niyogi Books has given Fair Observer permission to publish this excerpt from Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century: An Archival Exploration, Bidisha Chakraborty and Sarmistha De, Niyogi Books, 2013.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Comment

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Atul Singh
13 days ago

Till 1757, a Shia dynasty with origins in Najaf, modern day Iraq, was ruling Bengal. The young ruler was murderous, incompetent and unpopular. Blaming the British is very fashionable in left-leaning circles but, in their defense, British thinkers introduced progressive ideas to India, including the very idea of democracy itself.

Of course, the British looted India as well. Yet we cannot run away from the fact that our modern ideas and administrative systems have British roots.

Support Fair Observer

We rely on your support for our independence, diversity and quality.

For more than 10 years, Fair Observer has been free, fair and independent. No billionaire owns us, no advertisers control us. We are a reader-supported nonprofit. Unlike many other publications, we keep our content free for readers regardless of where they live or whether they can afford to pay. We have no paywalls and no ads.

In the post-truth era of fake news, echo chambers and filter bubbles, we publish a plurality of perspectives from around the world. Anyone can publish with us, but everyone goes through a rigorous editorial process. So, you get fact-checked, well-reasoned content instead of noise.

We publish 2,500+ voices from 90+ countries. We also conduct education and training programs on subjects ranging from digital media and journalism to writing and critical thinking. This doesn’t come cheap. Servers, editors, trainers and web developers cost money.
Please consider supporting us on a regular basis as a recurring donor or a sustaining member.

Will you support FO’s journalism?

We rely on your support for our independence, diversity and quality.

Donation Cycle

Donation Amount

The IRS recognizes Fair Observer as a section 501(c)(3) registered public charity (EIN: 46-4070943), enabling you to claim a tax deduction.

Make Sense of the World

Unique Insights from 2,500+ Contributors in 90+ Countries