When Calcutta Was Compared to London and St Petersburg

“Calcutta as it is to-day, may truly called a great and magnificent city. Its metamorphosis from a small collection of villages in the midst of a swampy land has been characterised as unprecedent ed. Hardly any comparison can he instituted between its present state and its early condition. A scene quite novel and events quite unique in their character will be presented to our view. History furnishes but few parallels to a change so rapid, so varied, so extensive. The growth and development of Calcutta has been even more striking than that of St. Petersburg since the days of Peter the Groat. With the exception of London, no city in the great British Empire can be compared to Calcutta in point of size, beauty, and commercial and political importance. It is not only the recognised capital of British India, and hence the seat of the Supreme Government, as well as the headquarters of the Provincial Governor of Bengal, but it may be regarded as the second capital of the Empire. In its early days it was dependent on, and subordinate to the older Indian presidencies, namely, those of Bombay and Madras. In the year 1707 it was declared a presidency town, and it attained almost the same status as the two other presidencies.”

Binaya Krishna Deb, The Early Growth and History of Calcutta (1905)