Hooghly-Chinsura, West Bengal

An early 18th Century plan of the Dutch factory of Chinsura, on Bengal’s Hooghly River, offering a detailed perspective on a typical contemporary European commercial outpost in India.

This plan grants a detailed insight into the formation of a European factory in India. While there were several European-governed cities in India, such as Calcutta , Madras , Bombay and Pondicherry , most European settlements consisted of such compact, commercial outposts built on land leased or rented from Indian rulers.

In 1635, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established a factory at Chinsura, very near the town of Hooghly. The settlement was authorized by a firman granted by the Mughal emperor. Chinsura quickly developed into the VOC’s main base in Bengal, then the wealthiest region of India. The Dutch maintained a brisk trade in fine silks, calicos, saltpeter and opium.

The plan depicts Chinsura as it appeared in 1721, and shows a variety of facilities, such as the governor’s house, the accounting office, warehouses, military barracks, residences and docking quays, all enclosed by a wall. While goods and supplies would flow in and out of the factory, the settlement was a largely self-contained Dutch enclave.