The Presidency General Hospital British Calcutta, 1900 Postcard
A 1900 postcard shows the Presidency General (PG) Hospital in British Calcutta (Kolkata). The first British hospital to be built in India was in Fort St George, Madras (Chennai), in 1664. The first British hospital in Calcutta was this Presidency General Hospital opened in 1707. Job Charnock landed in Calcutta on an expedition, it was a mere cluster of villages at that time.
Charnock opened a British settlement on the banks of the River Hooghly, but the place reeked with malaria and other diseases. Not surprisingly human mortality was remarkably high. The Supreme Council declared in 1706, that a convenient spot be provided inside the old Fort to build a hospital. The old Fort, the predecessor to today’s Fort William was also known as Fort William at that time.
The East India Company was responsible for the building of the hospital although they had partly financed it. Initially it was meant for the Europeans, and was known as the Presidency Hospital. Non European patients were allowed in from 1770 onwards. Later it came to be known as The Presidency General Hospital (PG for short) until 1954. Consequently, it was renamed Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital, and still functions as such to this day.
Did you know – Calcutta did not become the capital of British India until 1772, when the first governor-general, Warren Hastings, transferred all important offices to the city from Murshidabad, the provincial Mughal capital.
Past posts – M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Art On Paper 1964 (#19)., Kohinoor Mills In British Era Bombay, 1918 Photo., Nizam Of Hyderabad Asaf Jah VI, 1889 Print., Lorry In British Era Madras, Old Photo 1919
