THE HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY OF KOLKATA’S RIVERINE CITYSCAPE: A STUDY OF THE GHATS FROM COLONIAL ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT

Author(s)	Ms. Runi Goswami
Country	India
Abstract	The city of Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, owes its existence and historical prominence to its strategic location on the eastern bank of the Hugli River. Integral to this riverine identity are its numerous ghats—stepped embankments that have served as the city's primary interface with its lifeblood waterway. This paper traces the historical evolution of Kolkata’s ghats, examining their transformation from simple access points in a pre-colonial settlement to multifaceted hubs of commerce, religion, social life, and colonial power. Focusing on four key case studies—Sarada Mayer Ghat, Mullick Ghat, Babooghat, and Princep Ghat—this study analyzes how these spaces have reflected and shaped the city's complex socio-cultural fabric. Through a chronological analysis spanning the pre-1911 colonial heyday, the transitional period of rising nationalism, and the post-independence era, the paper argues that the ghats are not merely functional structures but are living archives. They are palimpsests on which the city’s narratives of tradition, modernity, social stratification, community life, and colonial legacy have been inscribed, evolving in function and significance while remaining central to Kolkata's urban identity.
Keywords	Kolkata, Calcutta, Ghats, Hooghly River, Colonial History, Urban Landscape, Cityscape.
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2025
Published On	2025-06-30

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