Do
you know the ancient Dutch Cemetery in Fort Kochi is the oldest European
cemetery in India? Dutch cemetery in Surat(Gujrat) is also a notable historical
place in India. But unlike Dutch cemetery in Kochi or Dutch cemetery in Surat,
Chinsurah dutch cemetery is not a well-known destination for the tourists.
is the main town in Hooghly district of West Bengal, India. Commonly known as “Chuchro”. Hooghly was
founded by the Portuguese
and Chinsurah was a Dutch colony. Between the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century, Chinsurah was the most
prosperous trading post of the Dutch East India Company.
Those days, not only the
Dutch but also Armenian merchants were very popular in Chinsurah. In 1602 the
Dutch business association formed The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie(VOC)
which was commonly known as the Dutch East India Company. As they headed for
Southeast Asia to expand their business, they had a fight with the Portuguese
and defeated them. In India also, they started conquering the places from the
Portuguese. Surat, Cochin, Calicut on the west coast of India, Musalipatnam,
Pulikat, Negapatnam, Baleshwar on the east coast, Chinsurah and Kasimbazar in
Bengal came under Dutch colonial area. In the year 1635, the Dutch came to
Chinsurah and set up their colony. Mainly they were into spices, Sugar, silk,
opium, cotton and saltpetre trading.
In 1759, in the battle
of Biderra, the Dutch were finally defeated by the British. According to the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch surrendered all their colonies in India
to the British and left from here.
Chunchura was a Dutch colony. Chinsurah Dutch cemetery was built by the Dutch
governor Louise Taillefert in 1743. Though it is called Dutch cemetery, the people
buried here include Dutch and British both and it was active during the 18th -
19th centuries. This Dutch graveyard contains a number of brick structures
which include Mausoleums, tombs, Obelics and coffins with epitaphs in some. The
oldest tomb with an Epitaph in this cemetery belongs to Sir Cornelius Jonge who
died in 1743 on 10th October and the last recorded burial was for Emma Draper
in 1847. Also, the tallest tomb belongs to Pieter Brueys who was the first
husband of Susanna Anna Maria and was buried here. Robert May, who played an
important role in women's education in India, was also buried here. The last
Dutch governor, Daniel Overbeck, who died in the year1840, was also buried
here.
The cemetery is
currently under the Archeological Survey of India, also the details of the
people buried here are documented and maintained by an Indo Dutch initiative.
In 1993 a devastating
tornado caused damage to some of the brick structure inside the cemetery which
was subsequently repaired successfully by the Archeological Survey of India.
Now Chinsurah Dutch cemetery has been declared as World heritage site.
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