A decade of controversy: sources on the demarcation of Calcutta, 1784–94

Abstract

Abstract Historians have tended to assume that the boundaries of Calcutta were generally agreed upon before 1794, and that their formalization in that year marked a natural stage in the evolution of the town. The documents published here tell a different story. They show that the southeastern boundary was the subject of heated disputes among British and Indian officials and landholders. They reveal how these disputes gave rise to the demarcation of Calcutta. Finally, they contribute to a larger argument that the ‘second city’ of Britain’s empire took shape from contests over the meaning, use, and ownership of space.