"Kolkata: a port in East India, capital of West Bengal state, on the Hooghly River: former capital of the country (1833-1912); major commercial and industrial centre; many universities. Population 4,580,544 (2001). Former official name Calcutta." http: //dictionary.reference.com/browse/kolkata "Calcutta: a seaport in and the capital of West Bengal state, in East India, on the Hooghly River: former capital of British India." http: //dictionary.reference.com/browse/calcutta Joachim Hayward Stocqueler, compiler, editor; The oriental interpreter and treasury of East India knowledge: A companion of "The hand-book of British India"; Issue 35652 of Goldsmiths'-Kress library of economic literature; C Cox; 1848 Joachim Hayward Stocqueler writes: "CALCUTTA, the capital of India, and the 'emporium of the east', is situated on the east side of the western branch of the Ganges, in the province of Bengal, called by Europeans the Hoogly, but by the natives the Bhagiruttee, about a hundred miles from the sea, the whole of which distance is navigable for ships, the river at Calcutta itself being more than a mile in breadth. Calcutta owes its origin entirely to the English. In 1717 it was a petty village of mud huts; it is now a city of palaces. In 1756 Calcutta was besieged and taken from the English by Surajood Dowlut, the nabob of Bengal, on which occasion the English prisoners, to the number of 146, were confined by him in a small room, called the Black Hole, about twenty feet square, where in one night all, except 23, perished from suffocation. The fort, named Fort William, stands about a quarter of a mile below the city. It was commenced by Lord Clive, shortly after the battle of Plassey, and is considered the strongest in India. The total population of Calcutta, amongst which are to be found natives of every part of Asia, is estimated at about 550,000 persons. Calcutta is the seat of the supreme Government of British India."