1902 Encyclopedia > Hooghly (town), British India

Hooghly (town)
British India




HOOGHLY, the administrative headquarters of the above district [HOOGHLY (DISTRICT), BRITISH INDIA], is a town situated on the right or west bank of the Hooghly, 22° 51' 44" N. lat. and 88° 26' 28" E. long. Hooghly and Chinsurah form one municipality, and the two towns were treated as one in the enumeration of 1872. Population, 34,761, viz., 17,114 males and 17,647 females:—Hindus, 27,429; Mahometans,6952; Christians, 328; "others," 52. Hooghly is a station on the East Indian Railway, 25 miles from Calcutta. The principal building is a handsome " imambara," constructed out of funis which had accumulated from an endowment origin- ally left for the purpose by a wealthy ShiA gentleman, Muhammad Mohsin. The town is said to have been founded by the Portuguese in 1537, on the decay of Satgaon, the royal port of Bengal. Upon establishing themselves they built a fort at a place called Gholghat (close to the present jail), vestiges of which are still visible in the bed of the river. This fort gradually grew into the town and port of Hooghly. (W. W. H.)








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