Chinese settlement in Calcutta is usually traced to Tong Achew, a trader who set up a sugar mill near Budge Budge in the 1770s; the village of Achipur south of the city carries his name and his grave is still there. Through the nineteenth century Chinese migrants came as carpenters, shoemakers, dentists, sailors and above all tanners, mostly Hakka from Guangdong, with Cantonese and Hubei groups alongside.
Two Chinatowns formed: Territti Bazar in the centre, and Tangra in the east where the tanneries were. The community numbered over twenty thousand at its height. After the 1962 India-China war, when many were interned at Deoli in Rajasthan and others deported, and with later emigration to Canada and Australia, it is now a few thousand.
The names
Places, institutions and dishes| Name | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Achipur1770s | near Budge Budge, south of Kolkata | Named after Tong Achew, the first recorded Chinese settler. His grave and a temple are still visited at Chinese New Year. |
| Territti Bazar1800s | off Rabindra Sarani, central Kolkata | The older Chinatown; now mainly a morning food market. |
| Tangra1930s | east Kolkata | The tannery district that became the larger Chinatown. |
| The Deoli internment1962 | Deoli, Rajasthan | Around three thousand Chinese-Indians were interned after the 1962 war; many lost everything and left India afterwards. |
| Chinese schools1900s | Territti Bazar and Tangra | Pei May and other schools taught Chinese; enrolment has collapsed with the community. |
| The clan associations1900s | Territti Bazar | Hakka, Cantonese and Hubei associations that ran schools, temples and welfare. |
| Chinese dentists and shoemakers1900s | Bentinck Street | Trades the community was known for; a few shops survive on Bentinck Street. |
| The Chinese Kali temple1990s | Tangra | A Kali temple run by the Chinese community, where noodles are offered as prasad. |
Worth knowing
- The community is now a few thousand, from over twenty thousand at its peak.
- Achipur, south of the city, is visited at Chinese New Year and is where the settlement began.
- The 1962 internment at Deoli is the turning point in this history and is still not widely known.
- Bentinck Street kept the Chinese shoemakers and dentists; a few remain.
- Most younger members of the community have emigrated to Toronto, Vancouver and Melbourne.
More on Chinatown
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