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Vernacular Display | English Display |
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Kolkata (inhabited place) |
Coordinates: |
| Lat: 22 33 45 N degrees minutes |
Lat: 22.5626 decimal degrees |
| Long: 088 21 47 E degrees minutes |
Long: 88.3630 decimal degrees |
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Note: India's largest city and one of its major ports. It is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, which was once the main channel of the Ganges River, about 96 miles upstream from the head of the Bay of Bengal. It was documented in rent-roll of Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th century. The English East India Company founded a trading post here in the 17th century, which grew up on the sites of three local villages, Sutanati, Kalikata, and Gobindapore. It was taken by Siraj-ud-daula, Nawab of Bengal in 1756. There were notable riots between Muslims and Hindus in the late 1940s. |
Names: |
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| Kolkata (preferred,C,V,English-P,U)
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............ | Bengali name, approved by state senate in July, 1999 |
| Kolkata (Bengali (transliterated),U)
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| Calcutta (C,V,English,U)
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............ | probably from English pronunciation of nearby Kolikata, where the British laid anchor in the 17th century |
| Kalkutta (C,V)
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| Kalikata (C,V)
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............ | possibly derived from the Bengali word "Kalikshetra," meaning Ground of (the goddess) Kali" |
| কলকাতা (C,V,Bengali-P,U)
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| Sealdah (NA,V)
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| কলকা��¤à¦¾ (NA,V,Bengali,U)
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| כלכתה (C,U,Hebrew )
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| Fort William (H,V)
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............ | name of site when it was fortified ca. 1700 |
| Kalikātā (H,V)
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............ | documented in 16th cen. |
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Hierarchical Position: |
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Asia (continent) (P) |
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Kolkata (inhabited place) (P) |
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Place Types: |
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| inhabited place (preferred, C) |
............ |
Englishman Job Charnock established a factory on the site of several existing villages in 1690 |
| city (C) |
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| state capital (C) |
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| metropolitan area (C) |
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| port (C) |
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| trade center (C) |
............ |
exports jute, tea, hides and sugar |
| commercial center (C) |
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| industrial center (C) |
............ |
produces crude steel and machinery |
| financial center (C) |
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| transportation center (C) |
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| educational center (C) |
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| national capital (H) |
............ |
of British India, 1773-1912 |
| capital (H) |
............ |
of Bengal Presidency, 1707 |
| regional capital (C) |
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Sources and Contributors: |
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| Subject: ..... |
[BHA, FDA, IMJ, VP] |
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Calcutta Journal, New York Times (1999) |
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Canby, Historic Places (1984) I, 143-144; 1:143-144 |
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Encyclopaedia Britannica (1988) II, 735; XV, 458; XV, 458-459; 2:735 |
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Getty Vocabulary Program rules |
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Israel Museum Jerusalem contribution (n.d.) |
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National Archives and Record Administration database (1987-) |
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NGA/NIMA database (2003-) -2092511 |
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NIMA, GEOnet Names Server (1996-1998) |
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Rand McNally Atlas (1994) I-82 |
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Times Atlas of the World (1994) 37 |
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Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1984) 538; 101 |
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Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1988) 202 |
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