Introduction

The Portuguese traders started slave trading, robbery and converting natives into Christians by pressure. At one point they stopped paying taxes to the Mughal Empire. As a result, Emperor Shah Jahan ordered the then-ruler of Bengal province, Qasim Khan Juvayni, to block the city of Hooghly. This led to a war in which the Portuguese were defeated. Among other European powers that came to Hooghly were the Dutch, the Danish, the British, the French, the Belgians and the Germans. Dutch traders centred their activities in the town Chuchura which is south of Hooghly. Chandannagar became the base of the French and the city remained under their control from 1816 to 1950. Similarly, the Danish establishment in settlement in Serampore (1755). All these towns are on the west bank of the Hooghly River and served as ports. Among these European countries, the British ultimately became most powerful.

Initially the British were based in and around the city of Hooghly like traders from other countries. In 1690 Job Charnock decided to shift the British trading centre from Hooghly-Chinsura to Calcutta. The reason behind this decision was the strategically safe location of Calcutta and its proximity to the Bay of Bengal. As a result, trade and commerce in the Bengal province shifted from the town of Hooghly to Calcutta. Hooghly lost its importance as Calcutta prospered. After the Battle of Buxar this region was brought under direct British rule until India's independence in 1947. After independence, this district merged into the state of West Bengal.

Bandel Church

The Basilica of the Holy Rosary (commonly known as Bandel Church) is one of the oldest Christian churches in West Bengal, India. Situated in Bandel, Hooghly district of West Bengal, it stands as a memorial to the Portuguese settlement in Bengal. Founded in 1599, it is dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Our Lady of the Rosary. It is also a parish church, part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta. It is one of the most prominent historical churches in West Bengal as well as in India.

Around the middle of the 16th century, the Portuguese began using Bandel as a port. During or around 1571, they were given permission by Akbar, the Mughal emperor, to build a town in Hooghly. As they began settling around the area, their priests began to baptise the natives - by 1598, Catholics in Hooghly numbered around five thousand, including natives and mixed races. In 1579, the Portuguese built a port on the banks of the Hooghly, as well as a fort named Fort Ugolim, and enlisted the services of a band of Augustinian Friars, then the largest religious body in Goa. The following year, Captain Pedro Tavares obtained the emperor's full permission to preach the Catholic faith publicly, and erect churches. Thus the Bandel Church came to be constructed in 1599. This first church was burnt down during the sacking of Hooghly by the Moors in 1632. A newer church, constructed by Gomez de Soto (also spelt John Comes de Soto), was built over the ruin in 1660. The keystone of the older church can still be seen on the eastern gate of the monastery, bearing the date 1599. On November 25, 1988, Pope John Paul II declared the sanctuary a minor basilica.

Hoogly Imamabara

Hooghly Imambara is a Shia Muslim congregation hall and mosque in Hooghly, West Bengal, India. The construction of the building was started by Muhammad Mohsin in 1841 and completed in 1861. The building is a two storied structure, with a tall clock tower over the entrance gate. The mosque has intricate designs and texts from Quran engraved on the wall. The interior of the mosque is decorated with marbles, candles and hanging lanterns.

The Hooghly Imambara was set up by a distinguished Persian merchant named Mohammad Aga Motahar in 1717 AD. He had arrived at the banks of river Hooghly at the beginning of 18th century with his salt business. He built his abode at the place where the Imambara stands today for his family with the desire to spend the rest of his life. Being a rich person, he enjoyed the service of a large number of servants. But perhaps, his family life was not a happy one although he was blessed with immense wealth. In 1717, he dedicated his loved home solely to the almighty God “Allah” and renamed the place as “Nazargah Hossein”. In 1735, his son-in-law Mirza Saleh-ud-din added another building to it. This new building was named “Tazia Khana”, this is probably the place where the Tazias are kept.

Hanseswari Temple

In 1673, Zamindar Rameshwar Ray left Patuli and settled in Bansberia or Banskabati as it was known earlier in Hooghly. Bansberia is located besides our holy river Ganga, and in between Tribeni and Bandel. Zamindar Rameshwar Ray was gifted this village of around 400 Bigha of Land and its Zamindari by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who also gifted him the prestigious title of King. From this time onward many of his kith and kin settled in Bansberia.The Hanseswari temple was built in the beginning of the 19th century. The main deity is the blue neem-wood idol of the four-armed goddess Hanseswari, a manifestation of Goddess Kali. The temple is 21 meter high and has 13 towers. The peak of each tower is shaped as a lotus flower. Built according to Tantric principles, this five-storey shrine follows the structure of a human body – Ira, Pingala, Bajraksha, Sushumna and Chitrini.

The temple complex has another temple— Ananta Basudeba temple — besides the main temple. There is also the Swanbhaba Kali temple nearby built by Raja Nrisinhadeb Roy Mahasay in 1788. This temple too holds a very special position as a terracotta temple with exquisite terracotta works on it.The Hanseswari temple has a distinctive architecture different from the usual pattern present in this area, consisting 13 minars or ratnas, each built as a blooming lotus bud. The inner structure of the building resembles human anatomy. It was started by Raja Nrishinghadeb Roy and later completed by his wife Rani Shankari. According to a legend King Nrisingha Dev Rai, while staying in Varanasi during the year 1792 to 1798 learnt deeply “Kundalini” and “Six cyclic centers (Six Chakras)” in the human system. Cancelling his plan to visit Britain he endeavored to build a temple at Bansberia based on “Kundalini and yogic concepts”. At that time rupees one lakh or more was spent in procuring marbles from a hilly area called Chunar situated near Benaras (Varanasi, U.P). Skilled artisans were also brought from this place to build up the temple. Unfortunately the King left for his heavenly abode in the year 1802 in the midway of construction of the temple. His queen Shankari took the initiative and the temple was completed in the year 1814.