Kolkata (Calcutta) city's, West Bengal: Tearful And Forgotten Colonial Graves 02

Navrangindia.blogspot.com September 14, 2026

 A legacy of Colonial  rule, the capital city of Kolkata (Calcutta) has many large cemeteries consisting of mostly Europeans who either worked for the colonial government and army or europeans associated with trading etc. 

The following cemeteries served the Europeans and others

Lower Circular Road Cemetery-Also known as General Episcopal Cemetery, it is located on the crossing of Mother Teresa Sarani (former Park Street) and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (former Lower Circular Road), Kolkata  with its entrance on Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road. Established on 29 April 1840 and it is still operating; the grave is not well maintained. It is said that burial records are maintained on site.

At one time, this cemetery contained a number of war graves of both world wars and was in use till 1953. Later, the cemetery had no room for additional burials. But for two of the Second World War graves rest were therefore moved into the services plot in Calcutta (Bhowanipore) Cemetery The graves have permanent private memorials and are privately maintained. They include persons who worked in the civil organizations recognized by the Armed Forces, whose members' graves rank as war graves.

Calcutta Lower circular road cemetery
 cwgc.org

 WWI casualties remain here and their maintenance was a major hurdle here. So, they are commemorated by name on 1914-18 War Memorial in Madras War Cemetery at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. 

 In 1904,  a Gas Crematorium was commissioned for the first time to facilitate ash or urn burials. The crematorium is believed to have been first of its kind in Asia.  The “Mini Cemetery” located behind the LCRC at No.2 Crematorium Street. 


CalCutta cemetery alamy.co

Charles Freer Andrews (died 1940), Sir William Casement, British Army Major General, Member of  Supreme Council of India (died 16 April 1844), Henri Hover Locke, Michael Madhusudan Dutt (died 1873), et al are buried here at Calcutta.

Scottish Cemetery:   "The Scotch & Dissenters Burial Ground - was purchased in 1820.

The Scottish cemetery, Kolkata. Find A Grave

The Scottish Cemetery at Calcutta established in 1820 (3 Karaya Road) was meant to serve the specific needs of the large Scottish population in the Kolkata area. It consisted mostly of soldiers, missionaries, business people, etc. Many held positions of power and prominence with the headquarters of the East India Company, and later the administration of the British Raj, whose capital was Calcutta. The cemetery was in use until the 1940s but after India's independence fell into disuse in  the 1950s. Well over 90% of those buried bear recognizably Scottish names. Around 10% are Bengali.
A huge plot comprising 6 acres (24,000 m2) the cemetery is in the middle of the city in a prominent place and has  over 1600 burial plots, with at least 2000 burials. 

A few  important graves are Thomas Jones 1810-1849, a Welsh missionary, the director of the Calcutta Zoological Gardens,
Rev. John Adam, "late missionary to the heathen", besides several  officers of the EIC.
   
Armenian Church & Cemetery:The Armenian Church of St Nazareth built 1724 has a burial ground attached to it.

Armenian Church in Calcutta alamy.com

Grave of Astwasatoor Mooradkhan
en.wikipedia.org

  Above image: The grave of Astwasatoor Mooradkhan (died at Calcutta on 29.09.1799). He was one of the founders of the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy, Kolkata.
 
tombstone of Rezabeebeh,wikipedia.org

Above image: Located in an Armenian Church, the oldest Christian tombstone in Calcutta belongs to Rezabeebeh, who died on 11 July 1630.

The association of Armenians with India dates back to several centuries and has been mutually beneficial. As a matter of fact India's cultural fabric had been enriched by their continuous presence here. Their major settlements include  Agra, Surat, Mumbai, Kanpur, Chandernagore, Calcutta, Saidabad, a suburb of Murshidabad, Chennai,  Lucknow, etc.  By the 7th century a few Armenian settlements came up on the Malabar coast of Kerala.  Armenians had a strong control over a big chunk of export of precious stones and quality fabrics. A 1956  archive directory in Delhi states the first Armenian to reach the Malabar coast of India  in 780  was one Thomas Cana, a merchant-cum-diplomat, using the overland route. In the year  1498, Vasco da Gama landed on the Kappad Beach of Calicut (Kozhikode.)  Thomas Cana was an affluent merchant dealing chiefly in spices and muslins. He was referred to as  "Kanaj Tomma", meaning Thomas the merchant by the locals. After independence, their numbers, just like Jews, has come down to less than 100 mostly settled in Kolkata. They established a college there - The Armenian College which still functions there. 

Greek Church & cemetery: The Greek Church of the Transfiguration of Our Blessed Redeemer on Mount Tabor was consecrated 6 August 1781, but later was demolished. A new one came up at Kalighat in 1926. "Greek cemetery at 105 Narkeldanga Main Road is forlorn'. Located in a busy residential area - near Phoolbagan, Kolkata, it is tough to locate it and is in a pathetic state due to negligence on the part of authorities concerned. It is believed this cemetery will be renovated soon.
greek cemetery of Calcutta. IndiaMike.com

In Colonial Calcutta, along with other communities, the Greek community also lived. Two Greek tombstones, dated 1713 and 1728, preserved in the Catholic Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Rosary in Murgi Satta, Kolkata (Calcutta) Commonly known as Portuguese Church,  confirm  Greek or Hellenic presence in Calcutta in early 18th Century.

Greek graveyard -various tablets.indrajitdas.wordpress.com

Alexander Argyee or Hadjee Alexios Argyree from Philippopolis (documents suggest  Hadjee is a Turkish word and subsequently not to be found in Greek Lexicon)  came to Bengal in the year of 1750. Greek merchants, settled here in Bengal, were mostly from Thracian cities of  Philippopolis (Now Plovdiv in Bulgaria) and Adriano polis. There was an exodus of Greeks to this place during the Turko-Russian war, as the Greeks lost all their properties and valuable possessions when they left their homeland.

The oldest grave is 1777 of Alexander Argeere, who died in Decca (Now Dhaka in Bangladesh) subsequently brought here in 1949.  There are around 120 graves, named gravestone is 108 and remaining 12 gravestone is unnamed. One  Basanta Das is the caretaker of the cemetery, the newest one is 2013, the grave of a Greek Lady. 

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K. N. Jayaraman (Author: navrangindia.blogspot.com)