From Whom Did Shyambazar Get Its Name

Have you ever walked on the busy streets of Shyambazar and wondered what really lies behind the name? Well, this is the treat for you. "From whom did Shyambazar get its name" is not a question at all-it is a gateway to discover amazing slices of history. Shyambazar, with its culture and living antiquity, possesses stories connecting today's time to days long past. Being your guide through this journey, I assure you nothing less than excitement comparable to that of the busy bazaars themselves. Let's go into the secret and rediscover the roots of this place together. Ready to enjoy some history? Let's go!

From Whom Did Shyambazar Get Its Name

You'll Discover

A Childhood Memory 

Shoshibabu From Shyambazar

The pronunciation of the Bengali alphabet 'Sh' is usually taught to most Bengali children during childhood by a limerick which says:

Syam Bajarer Sossi Babu

Sombar sokaale

Sorsoriye cycle chepe

Salir sathe sosa khete khete

Sosorire swarge jaan

In this whole poem, the sound of Sh is pronounced wrongly, and it portrays the humorous plight of Shashi Babu of Shyambazar, a master cyclist, who is having a hard time pronouncing the letter S. A part of north Kolkata, Shyambazar is an important neighborhood as well as one of the junctions of five very important roads, which are popularly called Paanch Mathar More or the Five-Point Crossing. Much of its history is interwoven into the development of Kolkata itself in cultural, social, and economic dimensions.

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The Historical Genesis Of Shyambazar

In the 18th century, before the advent of Kolkata, Sutanuti, Gobindopur, and Kolkata were three contiguous villages situated on the banks of the great river, the Hooghly. These villages played a significant role in the early development of the area. In 1658, when Kashimbazar became the center of all trades, there was a yarn market named 'Sutanuti' that existed in Calcutta-'suta' means yarn, whereas 'nuti' signifies bundle. It was where the community of weavers resided and where the traditional market for yarn thrived. The yarn dealers mainly resided at the port of Saptagram. But when the Saraswati river toward it began drying, the port turned dysfunctional; the weavers migrated to Sutanuti, which incorporated itself into the very fabric of Kolkata.

The first settlers in Sutanuti were the Basaks and the Setts, who managed to clear up the forests that covered the entire area. Sobharam Basak was one of the richest native residents of Kolkata in the 18th century. Sobharam owned a vast land in Sutanuti where he ran a textile workshop. The area where the Sovabazar Raj Bari stands today belonged to that man. It was marshy land, with villagers growing vegetables then; however, it eventually turned into a busy marketplace where vegetables, textiles, and clothes were traded.

Thus, both Bazar and locality came to be called Sovabazar. And Sobharam Basak came to enjoy enormous monopoly power in prices of clothes and vegetables at this same marketplace. Later, the market shifted to Chitpur Road when Govindchand Basak, grandson of Sobharam, passed the land to Naba Krishna Deb of Sovabazar Rajbari.

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The Mystery Of Shyambazar’s Name

The source of the name "Shyambazar" is mysterious and controversial. The most popular story is, of course, from the house of Basak that states, Shyambazar was named after Shobharam's Kuladevata (house deity), Shyam Rai (Govinda). As per a correspondence in the 'Indian Daily News' dated 24th Oct, 1887, Sir John Zephaniah Holwell had changed the name of Shyambazar to Charles Bazar. However, Shobharam requested him to change it to the earlier one, i.e., Shyambazar, and Holwell abided by him. The name was again changed back to Shyambazar and the water body beside it was named Shyampukur. Although this water body does not exist today, both Shyambazar locality and Shyampukur Lane exist as testimony of the olden times.

Some say a Brahmin named Shyamacharan Mukhopadhyay lived near a small pond in the Sutanuti area. This pond later became known as Shyampukur, and the neighborhood got the name Shyambazar. It even appeared on the first official map of Kolkata, created in 1784 by Lt. Col. Mark Wood. This supports the idea of Shyamacharan’s connection to the name.  

However, Gourdas Basak believed that the name Shyambazar came from the wealthy zamindar Sobharam’s Kuladevata (household deity), Shyam Rai (Govinda). Now, who was this Gourdas Basak?  

Gourdas was an extraordinary man from a prosperous Basak family in 19th-century Calcutta. He wasn’t just a successful Deputy Magistrate under British rule; he was also a brilliant scholar. His research on ancient India’s archaeology was published in the prestigious journals of the Asiatic Society, where he later became president.  

Gourdas wasn’t just about academics—he was deeply involved in social reforms. He worked closely with Pundit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a legendary reformer. What’s more, he was a true friend in need. When the renowned poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta faced a financial crisis, Gourdas stepped in to help him. To honor his legacy, a lane in Shyambazar bears his name today. 

Shyambazar has a third interesting and unrelated fact about its origin. The Shyambazar was the sea-salt market once. In Bengali, sea salt was once called 'Shyam'. Entrepreneurs like Prince Dwarakanath Tagore, grandfather to Rabindranath Tagore, made mountainous fortunes out of salt trading. Even Antony "Firingi" (Hensman Anthony), a merchant of Portuguese descent, was a salt trader. Dwarkanath was a 'Nimki Dewan' or salt superintendent at East India Co. His first posting was in Bagunda, Basirhat. Interestingly, 'Basir' also means salt. The Basirhat salt market and the Shyam Bazar have the keys to Bengal's salt market.

The salt stores were originally placed towards Belgachhia, which have now turned to ruins. However, those near the river by Burrabazar still function today. In 1676, Strensam Master, an employee of the East India Company, noted the establishment of a factory in Baranagar for processing pork meat, with the intention of later exporting it to foreign countries. Most likely, this salt was used for the meat's processing that came from the storerooms of Shyambazar.

Isn’t it amazing how one neighborhood can hold so many stories?

Infrastructure And Urban Development

Shyambazar's Paanch Mathar More

Back in 1742, a three-mile-long ditch called the "Maratha Ditch" was dug to protect the city from Maratha soldiers who were believed to be on their way. However, those soldiers never showed up. Later, in 1799, this ditch was filled to create Circular Road. This road started at Shyambazar, looped around old Kolkata, and reached the southern end of the Maidan.  

As roads were built, the surrounding areas started to develop and grow. In those days, Sutanuti, a part of Kolkata, had no proper roads. There was just a pilgrim path running through it, connecting Halisahar to Barisha. Eventually, Chitpur Road (now known as Rabindra Sarani) was constructed along this route, passing through neighborhoods like Bagbazar and Chitpur.  

By the early 19th century, road construction picked up pace. The Lottery Commission, formed in 1817, and its successor, the Lottery Committee in 1836, focused on developing native parts of old Kolkata. Their main goal was to build roads running from south to north, parallel to the Chowringhee-Chitpur route.  

Shyambazar saw its roads being paved during this time, turning it into a key area. Important streets like Wood Street, Wellesley Street, Wellington Street, College Street, and Cornwallis Street were also built by the Lottery Committee.  

Later, more roads were added, including one leading to Barrackpur and another called R.G. Kar Road. These roads all met at Back in 1742, a three-mile-long ditch called the "Maratha Ditch" was dug to protect the city from Maratha soldiers who were believed to be on their way. However, those soldiers never showed up. Later, in 1799, this ditch was filled to create Circular Road. This road started at Shyambazar, looped around old Kolkata, and reached the southern end of the Maidan.  

As roads were built, the surrounding areas started to develop and grow. In those days, Sutanuti, a part of Kolkata, had no proper roads. There was just a pilgrim path running through it, connecting Halisahar to Barisha. Eventually, Chitpur Road (now known as Rabindra Sarani) was constructed along this route, passing through neighborhoods like Bagbazar and Chitpur.  

By the early 19th century, road construction picked up pace. The Lottery Commission, formed in 1817, and its successor, the Lottery Committee in 1836, focused on developing native parts of old Kolkata. Their main goal was to build roads running from south to north, parallel to the Chowringhee-Chitpur route.  

Shyambazar saw its roads being paved during this time, turning it into a key area. Important streets like Wood Street, Wellesley Street, Wellington Street, College Street, and Cornwallis Street were also built by the Lottery Committee.  

Later, more roads were added, including one leading to Barrackpur and another called R.G. Kar Road. These roads all met at Shyambazar, creating a central hub. In 1911, the Kolkata Improvement Trust extended Central Avenue (now known as Bhupen Bose Avenue at the Shyambazar end). This made Shyambazar's famous five-point crossing also known as Paanch Mathar More, one of Kolkata’s busiest and most iconic intersections.  

It is so interesting how these roads have woven history into Shyambazar, turning it into the thriving centre that it is today.

The emergence of new modes of transportation had further shaped the area. Later, the area throbbed with motion, with horse-drawn tram cars coming to Shyambazar in 1882. By 1899, the Calcutta Tramways Company Limited had started using electric traction and fully electrified the system by 1902. Tramways were later extended to Belgachia, and in 1941, tram tracks were laid along Circular Road. 

While motor car services began in Kolkata in 1896, it wasn’t until 1920 that motor buses became a regular mode of public transport. The Shyambazar tram depot, now defunct, was located near the five-point crossing on Bidhan Sarani. Interestingly, Circular Road once had a garbage clearance light railway, which operated until the early 1950s, a forgotten piece of history.

Cultural And Social Importance

Shyambazar has also been an important fragment of the entertainment hub which has played an important part in the cultural development of the city of Kolkata. Nabin Chandra Basu brought the first-ever Bengali production, "Bidyasundar," in his Shyambazar home theatre in 1835. In the last quarter of the 1800s, Bagbazar Amateur Theatre, and Shyambazar Natya Samaj, both demanded public commercial theatres much to the contrast from private home theatres of rich families.

The Star Theatre was the center of attraction for Shyambazar's theatrical life for over a century-with names like Noti Binodini, Girish Ghosh, and Ramakrishna Paramahansa. More than 300 plays were staged at the theatre, most of which include Hindi dramas. But the glorious Star Theatre was burnt out on the 16th of October, 1991. Though it was rebuilt, it has failed to regain its former splendor, with cinema shows now taking place in the auditorium instead.

Shyambazar has always been an area filled with life and cultural richness. Despite the decline of cinema halls and home theatres, the locality continues to captivate visitors. The laid-back, aristocratic charm of Shyambazar remains untouched by modernity—a testament to the area’s timeless appeal.

The Legacy Lives On

Even though Shyambazar has changed over the years, its essence remains intact. It’s a place where history meets modernity, where every street has a story to tell. From its early days as a cluster of villages to its rise as a cultural and commercial hub, Shyambazar continues to inspire and enchant.

So the next time when you find yourself in Kolkata, ensure to visit Shyambazar. Stroll upon its streets to get lost in history and maybe end up humming the nursery rhyme about Shashi Babu and his bicycle!

Shyambazar is not a locality; it is the true, living soul of Kolkata.

Final Thoughts 

And so there it is—that mystery that kept everyone guessing all this while, "from whom did Shyambazar get its name?" Now solved. It has three very intriguing theories—each interpretation could as well qualify to be called the real one which guards the historic, cultural, and imaginative backstories of this much popular name. Was it named after Shobharam's Kuladevata (house deity), Shyam Rai (Govinda)? Or that of Brahmin Shyamacharan Mukhopadhyay? Or is it possibly linked to a local legend of sea-salt? What piques interest so greatly is the mystery attached to each of these tales. Now, it is for you to immerse yourself in the charm of the origins of Shyambazar and decide for yourself. Which one would you prefer to believe? Let us know and keep the conversation going!