European Ladies In Sailing Boat In British Era Purulia, Bengal, 1890 Photo
An 1890 rare photo of four European ladies and a kid in a sailing boat in British era Purulia, Bengal. The British women appear to be enjoying sailing in one of the many lakes and rivers of Purulia. The elegantly dressed ladies probably were on a sunday outing after church. Purulia, is around 240 km from Calcutta, it is the western most district of Bengal.
The British East India Company had acquired Purulia district in 1765. Subsequent to Vasco da Gama’s landing on the shores of Calicut in 1498, other European nations began making inroads into Bengal after a century or two. One of them was starting a settlement in Purulia, the British East India Company acquired the territory.
They obtained a grant of Diwani of the subahs of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa in 1765. Because of this British occupation, Purulia had a large presence of military and civil service officers. Many of the Britishers were married especially of the high ranking officer cadre, hence the presence of European women and children, like that seen in this photo.
Did you know – Purulia gained importance probably because it was en route to Delhi, United Provinces, Simla, and Punjab from Calcutta.
Past posts – M F Hussain Painting – Air India Advertising Postcard 1960., Trivandrum Canal Landing Place – Old Postcard 1900.
