Taltala 3.89

Taltala is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. One of the old neighbourhoods of the metropolis, it has a police station and is an assembly constituency.EtymologyTaltala was named after its tal trees.HistoryAccording to H. E. A. Cotton Taltala was chiefly peopled by Bihari Muslim khalasis and lascars. Wellesley Street (renamed Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road) is described as a ‘fine broad thoroughfare’, along the course of which is situated Wellesley Square (renamed Haji Mohd. Mohsin Square). To the north of it is the Madrasa.In 1758, one year after their decisive win in Battle of Plassey, the British East India Company commenced construction of the new Fort William in the center of the village Gobindapur. The inhabitants of the village were compensated and provided with land in Taltala, Kumortuli and Shovabazar.Although a predominantly Muslim locality, its early Hindu settlers included Durga Charan Banerjea, father of Surendranath Banerjea. Muslims have been living in the area since the early 19th century, and the earliest inhabitants were mainly Bengali Muslims, though Bihari Muslim settlers began arriving in a flood since 1870-1880 and more so since the 1980s.