One monsoon day in 1757, in the mango orchards of Plassey, a town that stands between Calcutta and Murshidabad, the British established their empire defeating Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula’s forces. And so, to this land stretching from the foothills of the Himalayas to the steaming marshes through which a thousand tributaries flow into the Bay of Bengal, East India Company galleons sailed in and weighed anchor. Legend has it that administrator Job Charnock ‘founded’ the city of Calcutta at the site of three extant villages, near the banyan tree where he liked to smoke his hubble-bubble.
Over time, Calcutta became the hub for Company trade, capital of the sub-continent, seat of the province of Bengal and the second city of empire, after London. Businessmen and soldiers, artists and memsahibs, all drawn to Bengal’s riches in wealth and culture, flocked to it. It led to an extraordinary mingling that resulted in the flourishing of art that drew inspiration from everywhere while remaining true to its local tradition of technique.
