The Great Bungalow to the East

From marshes to metropolis - the making of Calcutta might seem to be a fairy tale. When looked at in detail - the story unfurls into the city being built block by block. Such is the story of a marshland in 17th century Calcutta, where stood a tavern or an inn for comfort staying and refreshments - albeit a famous one, went down in pages of history and led to the making of one of the epicenter of present day Kolkata with vital thoroughfares grazing past it. This is an account of what went down over the years to make way for the present.

Where Job Charnock loved to have a smoke!

As the name suggests in Bengali, Baithakkhana would mean a place well suited sitting for long hours for meetings and similar purposes in general. In some context it would also mean the outer space (bahirmahal) of a residential house.

The name which designates a neighborhood in present day Central Calcutta derives its roots from a huge Banyan tree which lied on the eastern extremes of the city in eighteenth century. It is difficult for one to imagine that before 300 years, today's BB Ganguly Street would take one off the city limits. It is here under the shade of the banyan tree that traders from Sunderbans and Salt Lakes would gather to strike a deal with European merchants.

Job Charnock (Banglapedia)