Long before gas lamps lined the Esplanade, evening carriage rides in Calcutta relied on a troupe of torch‑bearers known as the “mussalchees.” At dusk, each carriage was preceded by its own runner, sprinting ahead—often nearly eight miles an hour—while holding a flaming torch aloft to light the way. Their swift advance turned practical necessity into a nightly spectacle: a long procession of carriages outlined in fire, moving like a river of living light through the gathering gloom .
Travellers of the time noted how the combined glow of dozens of torches transformed the broad avenue bordering the Maidan into an enchanting promenade. The mussalchees’ bright flames danced on the carriage panels and on the faces of onlookers, blending Calcutta’s emerging urban elegance with the elemental romance of open flame .
With the installation of gas streetlights in the 1840s, the mussalchees’ torch‑lit runs were gradually discontinued. Yet even today, as one walks or drives along the Esplanade under electric lamps, it’s easy to imagine the echo of hurried footsteps and the flicker of torches that once guided Calcutta’s nighttime travelers.
Source: Cotton, H.E.A. (1907). Calcutta: Old and New. Calcutta: W. Newman.
Arup K. Chatterjee 