EARLY YEARS
century. Chowringhee doubtless kept the pilgrim road through the jungle in repair as a pious duty, and the grateful pilgrims knew it by his name, which in later years became synonymous with rank and fashion in the English city.
After the English settled in Calcutta, and as year by year the villages grew and spread, the Govindpore jungle was steadily cleared away as brushwood was cut and trees felled for firewood to supply the needs of the growing population. Then came the sudden expansion of the town which followed Clive's victory at Plassey; and, the old fort having been found inadequate for the defence of the settlement, it was decided to build the new Fort William on the ground occupied by the Govindpore village, surrounded as it was by waste lands which formed a natural esplanade. In 1757 the village was removed, the inhabitants were given lands in the town and outskirts on which to build, and were paid compensation for their houses and huts destroyed. The remains of the jungle were cleared away, the land was drained, and the Calcutta maidan was formed, to grow in after years into a beautiful park, the pride and adornment of a beautiful city.
Such were the three villages and their surroundings when Charnock took up his residence
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