CALCUTTA BY GASLIGHT

Projit Bihari Mukharji

Calcutta By Gaslight

Snippets from the cosmopolitan world of the Second City of the British Empire.

The Art of Rubber Stamps

January 2, 2021 by Projit B. Mukharji Leave a Comment

Looking back through the mists of time, the soft-yellow light of the era of gaslights seem to brim exclusively with mystery and romance. Its stuffiness, grubbiness and drudgery are all too often forgotten. It is easy to forget that the Victorian era was after all wrapped tightly in red tape. No other era in history … [Read more…]

Posted in: Businesses Past, Calcutta By Gaslight

A New Fire

August 23, 2020 by Projit B. Mukharji Leave a Comment

Many ancient religions look upon fire with reverence, but no other religion has elevated it as high as Zoroastrianism. Atash, or the Holy Fire, is not only a hallowed medium through which spiritual insights become available to humans, but it engenders the very visible presence of Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity. With such an exalted … [Read more…]

Posted in: Businesses Past, Calcutta By Gaslight, Uncategorized

Fanning an Eastern Breeze

June 8, 2020 by Projit B. Mukharji 2 Comments

A new Indian nationalism gradually began to take faltering baby steps around the 1870s and 80s and as the newly nationalistic Indians looked around them for inspiration, many of them embraced Japan as a model. Here was an Asian nation that had rapidly begun to emerge as an equal of European imperialist powers and sought … [Read more…]

Posted in: Businesses Past, Calcutta By Gaslight, Enigmatic Images, Uncategorized

The Art of George Darby

March 22, 2020 by Projit B. Mukharji 3 Comments

Capital cities of large empires throughout history have been melting pots. Traditions and people have blended and braided with each other to give rise to new peoples and novel traditions. Calcutta, in the gas lit era, was no different. One of the most arrestingly beautiful testaments to this blending can be seen in several distinctive … [Read more…]

Posted in: Calcutta By Gaslight, Enigmatic Images, Uncategorized

The Promethean Parsi

November 16, 2019 by Projit B. Mukharji 5 Comments

When Prometheus stole fire from the gods, we do not know in what form he actually carried the fire. Most denizens of gaslit cities, however, carried fire in their pockets. That is, in the form of a box of matches. Calcutta was no different. Though local match production in the city did not acquire significant … [Read more…]

Posted in: Businesses Past, Calcutta By Gaslight, Uncategorized

A Calcutta Christmas

September 19, 2019 by Projit B. Mukharji 1 Comment

It was in 1843, only five years after the then-young Queen Victoria first sat on the throne, that the modern Christmas Card made its debut. Sir Henry Cole and his artist friend, JC Horsley, devised the first Christmas Card. The postal rates had just been drastically reduced with the introduction of the ‘Penny Post’, and … [Read more…]

Posted in: Calcutta By Gaslight, Enigmatic Images, Uncategorized

The New Year Murders

December 27, 2018 by Projit B. Mukharji 2 Comments

It was the 30th of December 1879 and Caesar came home on the Star of Africa. Of course it wasn’t the ancient Roman monarch, Julius. It was an humble seacunny, Trazpero Caesar. Or was it Claspero? Some even called him Trisporong, or simply Proone. Names in the gaslit by-lanes of Calcutta flickered as much as the … [Read more…]

Posted in: An Empire of Unexpected Loves, Calcutta By Gaslight, Victorian Crimes

The First Cigarette

August 9, 2018 by Projit B. Mukharji 2 Comments

The 1860s and 70s were a difficult time for the old and noble families of Delhi. The changes ushered in after the rising of 1857 had precipitated the decline of the city that had begun with the invasion of Nadir Shah over a century ago. The grandeur of the old Mughal capital was gone and … [Read more…]

Posted in: Businesses Past, Calcutta By Gaslight, Gaslit Glamour

Glamorous Gauhar

August 8, 2018 by Projit B. Mukharji 8 Comments

Born as Angelina Yeoward in 1873 in Azamgarh, Gauhar Jaan, was one of the greatest stars of the British Raj. One of the best exponents of classical Hindustani music, Gauhar Jaan, like most other classical musicians before her, sang for kings and queens. Patronized by the grand princes and zamindars of the day she achieved … [Read more…]

Posted in: Calcutta By Gaslight, Enigmatic Images, Gaslit Glamour

Smoking Stars

August 6, 2018 by Projit B. Mukharji 1 Comment

The world of gaslights was made ever more mysterious by the swirling balls of cigarette smoke rising from the fashionable new objects that dangled from the lips of the rich and famous. They had rapidly replaced the more substantial cheroots and cigars of the earlier generation. One problem that emerged by the 1880s though was … [Read more…]

Posted in: Calcutta By Gaslight, Enigmatic Images, Gaslit Glamour
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Recent Posts

  • The Art of Rubber Stamps January 2, 2021
  • A New Fire August 23, 2020
  • Fanning an Eastern Breeze June 8, 2020
  • The Art of George Darby March 22, 2020
  • The Promethean Parsi November 16, 2019

Recent Comments

  • Indian mythical tiles from Japan - Tomomi Paromita on Fanning an Eastern Breeze
  • 日本から輸出されたインドの神様タイル | 天竺からの手紙 on Fanning an Eastern Breeze
  • josh on The Bengali James Bond
  • kaushik Bhattacharyya on The Art of George Darby
  • Projit B. Mukharji on The Art of George Darby

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Categories

  • An Empire of Unexpected Loves
  • Article Blurbs
  • Businesses Past
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  • Enigmatic Images
  • Gaslit Glamour
  • Ghost Stories
  • Uncategorized
  • Victorian Crimes

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Recent Posts

  • The Art of Rubber Stamps January 2, 2021
  • A New Fire August 23, 2020
  • Fanning an Eastern Breeze June 8, 2020
  • The Art of George Darby March 22, 2020
  • The Promethean Parsi November 16, 2019

Recent Comments

  • Indian mythical tiles from Japan - Tomomi Paromita on Fanning an Eastern Breeze
  • 日本から輸出されたインドの神様タイル | 天竺からの手紙 on Fanning an Eastern Breeze
  • josh on The Bengali James Bond
  • kaushik Bhattacharyya on The Art of George Darby
  • Projit B. Mukharji on The Art of George Darby

Archives

  • January 2021
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • December 2018
  • August 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • March 2016

Categories

  • An Empire of Unexpected Loves
  • Article Blurbs
  • Businesses Past
  • Calcutta By Gaslight
  • Enigmatic Images
  • Gaslit Glamour
  • Ghost Stories
  • Uncategorized
  • Victorian Crimes

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • web.sas.upenn.edu

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