Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t2.149

v2.c13.s3.t2.149

A lasting connection between Calcutta and China is the Chinese community that took root in Calcutta from the late 18ᵗʰ century CE. Calcutta's Chinatown is the only one-of-its-kind in India. Migration of Chinese to Calcutta was a by-product of the maritime trade between Calcutta, southeast Asia and China. The records mention a Chinese named Atchew or Achi (Yang Dazhao), who applied to the Warren Hastings, the then Governor General of Bengal for land to set up a sugar factory. He was granted land near Budge Budge outside Calcutta and he recruited Chinese labourers to work for him. Although no longer a centre of the Chinese community, the place of this original Chinese settlement is known today as Achipur and a tomb believed to be that of Atchew as well as a Chinese temple are still to be found there. In the 19ᵗʰ and early 20ᵗʰ centuries CE, several waves of migration brought thousands of Chinese, mainly Hakka and Cantonese, to settle in Calcutta. They congregated mainly in the areas of and Tangra, specialising in certain occupations, particularly the tannery business, shoemaking, carpentry and running beauty parlours and restaurants. A number of Chinese, particularly from Hubei province, specialised in dentistry. At one time, nearly 15,000 people, the population of Chinese in Kolkata steadily dwindled in the last couple of decades and there are now not more than 3,000-4,000 (although there are a few thousand more Chinese Indians scattered in other parts of India).