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Ultadanga is one of the most crowded junctions in North Kolkata. The place is located at the north-eastern fringe of the city and marks the limit of
Kolkata district Kolkata district (formerly known as Calcutta district) is a district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It only contains the entire city proper of Kolkata, the capital city of the state and therefore it i ...
. Prominent places in Ultadanga are Telenga Bagan and Muchi Bazar.


Etymology

Ultadanga lay outside the Maratha Ditch, beyond Halsibagan, where the Sikh billionaire Umichand had a garden. It was the land on the opposite bank (''ulta'' in Bengali).Nair, P.Thankappan, ''The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta'', in ''Calcutta, the Living City'', Vol. I, pp. 14-15, Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Oxford University Press, 1995 edition.


History

The
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
obtained from the
Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...
Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar (; 20 August 16839 April 1719), also spelled as Farrukh Siyar, was the tenth Mughal emperors, Mughal Emperor from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after deposing his uncle Jahandar Shah. He was an emperor only in name, with all ...
, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement. Of these 5 lay across the Hooghly in what is now Howrah district. The remaining 33 villages were on the Calcutta side. After the fall of
Siraj-ud-daulah Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah (1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal, Nawab of the Bengal Subah. The end of his reign marked the start o ...
, the last independent
Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal (, ) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the mod ...
, it purchased these villages in 1758 from
Mir Jafar Mir Jafar ( – 5 February 1765), was a commander-in-chief or military general who reigned as the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expansion ...
and reorganised them. These villages were known en-bloc as ''
Dihi Panchannagram Dihi Panchannagram was a group of 55 villages which the East India Company purchased in 1758 from Mir Jafar, after the fall of Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, in what is now the city of Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in ...
'' and Ultadanga was one of them. It was considered to be a suburb beyond the limits of the Maratha Ditch. The name, Ulta Danga, comes from the original name of the place, Ulta Dingi, or a place where small boats which were colloquially called Dingis were made or repaired. It was a ghat area and chances are that this too would be on the banks of the Ganges at some point of time in history, before the river changed its course. In 1889, Maniktala, Ultadanga and Beliaghata became 'fringe area wards' of
Kolkata Municipal Corporation Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is the local government of the Indian city of Kolkata, the List of Indian state and union territory capitals, state capital of West Bengal. This civic administrative body administers an area of . Its motto, ' ...
.


Geography


Police district

Ultadanga police station is part of the Eastern Suburban division of
Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police () (formerly "Calcutta Police"), is the Law enforcement in India, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the Kolkata metropolitan region, metropolitan area of the city of Kolkata, ...
. It is located at Block 13, CIT Scheme No. VIII M, Kolkata-700067. Ultadanga Women police station, located at the same address as above, covers all police districts under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Suburban division i.e. Beliaghata, Entally, Manicktolla, Narkeldanga, Ultadanga, Tangra and Phoolbagan.


Economy

Ultadanga is densely populated with not only people but also with shops, restaurants, shopping malls, banks, Government housings, Government and private offices, educational and training institutes etc.
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
,
AXIS Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fo ...
,
Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda (BOB or BoB) is an Public sector banks in India, Indian government Public sector bank headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. It is the third largest Public sector banks in India, public sector bank in India after State Bank of India ...
, United Bank of India, Federal Bank and
State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...
are some of the bank branches located in this area. Ultadanga is near to some of the most happening shopping malls in the city like Mani Square, City Center, Charnok City and Pantaloon in
Kankurgachi Kankurgachi (Bengali language, Bengali: কাঁকুড়গাছি) is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, North-East Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. With a cosmopolitan crowd and several commercial buildings and restaurant ...
etc. Sony World, one of Kolkata’s biggest Sony showrooms is located at Ultadanga crossing near the station. Honey da Dhaba, Bika, Delhi Darbar and Rose are few of the many restaurants located in and close to the Ultadanga area. Arena Animation Kankurgachi, Jetking Institute, FIIT JEE, DGCT BRAIN Credence Academy, Kolkata Cables, BSNL and BrandMantra Solutions Pvt. Ltd. are some of the prominent institutes and offices in Ultadanga and its surrounding areas. There is also a TITAN Showroom in Ultadanga.


Transport

Hudco More in Ultadanga is one of the busiest crossings in
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
. It is the junction of four roads:- Ultadanga Main Road/ Bidhannagar Road (towards Maniktala),
VIP Road VIP Road (officially Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue) is a major thoroughfare connecting the city of Kolkata with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Dumdum/Kolkata Airport. Located in the North-Eastern outskirts of the city, it was buil ...
(towards Lake Town), CIT Road (towards
Kankurgachi Kankurgachi (Bengali language, Bengali: কাঁকুড়গাছি) is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, North-East Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. With a cosmopolitan crowd and several commercial buildings and restaurant ...
) and Bagmari Road/ 1st Avenue (towards
Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...
). EM Bypass also runs parallel to CIT Road on the eastern boundary of Ultadanga. Many buses along with taxis and auto-rickshaws are available on these roads. Kolkata tram route no. 18 serves Ultadanga (via CIT Road). Ultadanga and Gouribari ( Maniktala) are connected with Arobindo Setu (Gouribari Bridge), which was constructed in 1974. In 2011, Ultadanga Flyover was opened in Ultadanga to connect EM Bypass with
VIP Road VIP Road (officially Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue) is a major thoroughfare connecting the city of Kolkata with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Dumdum/Kolkata Airport. Located in the North-Eastern outskirts of the city, it was buil ...
easily. One of Kolkata’s busiest railway stations, Bidhannagar Road railway station, is located in Ultadanga. It remains packed with passengers throughout the day especially on weekdays.


Education

The Sir Gurudas Mahavidyalaya, a college previously known as Gurudas College of Commerce, affiliated to
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
is located in Ultadanga.


Fire

On 12 January 2010, a fire broke out at a slum in Ultadanga, popularly known as 'Basanti Colony', leaving 1 man dead and 450 homeless. The homes were rebuilt by the Government and were redistributed among the residents free of cost within 6 months.


References


External links

{{Neighbourhoods in Kolkata Road junctions in India Neighbourhoods in Kolkata