British Colonial Architecture in Bengal

By Farhat Afzal
Published on The Daily Star on 19th February, 2018

The art and architecture style of the Bengal region has been rich and magnificent long before
the British came to rule. It is evident from the ruins of various archaeological sites of Bengal
that, the art of building has been a long running practice here since the earliest points of the
region’s history.

The ruins of Mahasthangarh, for instance, is proof that even during the ancient period, the
builders were already working with highly developed techniques in making and using of the
bricks. In Somapura Mahavihara, deemed as the largest Buddhist monastery in the Indian
subcontinent, the orientation and proportions of the structure show extreme sensitivity of the
builders when it came to architecture techniques. Architecture, sculpture, terracotta and painting
developed extensively during the Pala Dynasty’s rule from 8th to 12th century. In the Sultanate
Period, Bengal had already developed a distinctive language, culture and architecture.

With the advent of the Mughals, political centralisation took place. For the region’s architecture
style, this meant that ideas and ideals were being enforced by the Governor of Bengal from
Delhi. For the first time, the architectural tradition of the region was broken, which further
continued with the rule of the British.

The next pivotal point came with the arrival of the Europeans. The Portuguese were the first
ones to arrive in India for commerce and as missionaries. A century later, the Portuguese were
followed by the Dutch, the British and the French. The Danes, the Armenians, the Greeks and
the Germans also set up settlements in the region. However, colonial architecture became
almost synonymous with that introduced by the British, since they occupied the largest territory.

During the initial period of British occupation, Calcutta rapidly achieved importance as a city
because of greater trading opportunities, owing to better communication by water. As a result of
which, it remained the British capital of India from 1773 to 1912. Hence, it is of no surprise that
during the two hundred years of British reign, many of the architecturally significant structures,
like the Belvedere House, the Writer’s Building and the Victoria Memorial, were erected in West
Bengal.
Belvedere Estate, Kolkata The Writer’s Building, Kolkata
Source: অলক িম , বেনিদ কলকাতার ঘরবািড় ​Source: রথীন িম , কলকাতা - একাল ও সকাল

By definition, colonial architecture is the architectural style borrowed from a country originally
and then integrated into the structures located in far off regions. This particular architecture style
evolved when colonists created a fusion by blending the architecture vocabulary of their country
of origin with the design principles of the region they colonized.

Before we delve further into the grandiose and magnificence of British Colonial architecture, we
must stop and reconsider the purpose behind building these structures. The architecture style of
a particular time period is a reflection of a region’s social standing and political power. As a
display of power, Louis XIII built the Palace of Versailles, the Greeks built Parthenon and the
Mughal emperor Shahjahan built the Tajmahal. Since the British considered themselves to be
successors of the Mughals, they too decided decided to use architecture style as a symbol of
power.

These chain of events began with the Indian Rebellion of 1857. When the Indian soldiers openly
revolted against the British, the army mutiny was taken down by the colonists. The overthrowing
of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar of India, marked the end of the Mughal
Empire. Then it was time for the British to show they were the new rulers.

Historian and professor at the Department of History at University of California - Berkeley,

“In the public buildings put up by the Raj, it was essential always to make visible Britain’s
imperial position as a ruler, for these structures were charged with the explicit purpose of
representing the empire itself. Since they wanted to legitimize their rule, they decided to justify
their presence by relating themselves to the previous rulers, the Mughals.”
The colonial architecture style, thus, aimed to represent awe and power of the British Imperial
rule in India. In order to be seen as powerful by the commoners, the colonists realized they must
come up with a hybrid design style that the general public were already familiar with.

In the late 19th century, Indian British architects developed an architecture style that was a
synthesis of Indo-Islamic and Indian architecture with borrowed elements of Gothic revival and
Neo-Classical styles that were still favoured in Britain of Victorian era. Thus began the
architecture style movement known as Indo-Sarcenic Revival architecture, Sarcenic being a
medieval Latin term for ‘Muslim’.

At this time, the region which is present-day Bangladesh remained largely overlooked by the
colonists, because of its lack of urbanisation and industrialization. However, despite all this, a
number of remarkable structures were built by the British during this time that remains notable
till today because of their architectural and historical significance.

Panorama of the City of Dacca. [London] : Lithographed and published by Messrs. Dickinson, 114, New
Bond Street, 1850.

When the British colonists changed their role from traders in 17th century to the new rulers in
mid-18th century, their building art went through series of development phases. Initially, British
churches in Dhaka and its suburbs were built in European Renaissance style, which was later
also used for secular buildings. The next phase witnessed buildings with semi-octagonal or
rounded corners and tall Doric columns becoming more favourable, during late 18th and early
19th century. The Classical orders - Tuscan, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian - also gained popularity
in this region.

During the 19th century, some newer architecture elements were introduced such as the
semi-circular arch, the triangular pediment built over the semi-Corinthian, Doric or Ionic columns
and leaf-like motifs on plaster. The Old High Court building is a notable example of this time
period. In the wake of the partition of 1905, this building was designed originally as the official
residence of the governor of East Bengal and Assam. The building has a typical European
Renaissance style facade, and a triangular pediment over a large porch that is held up by
Corinthian columns. The structure is topped off with a graceful dome that is supported by thin
columns and piers in a ring formation. This is one of the colonial buildings in Dhaka built with
little or no Mughal features in its architectural style.

These features can be still seen today in structures like Ahsan Manzil and the Greek Memorial
located on the grounds of Teacher Student Centre at University of Dhaka.

Old High Court Building Greek Memorial at TSC, University of Dhaka

Following the first partition of Bengal in 1905, between the late 19th and early 20th century, a
combination of the Mughal and European style of architecture made an appearance. This was
carried out under the authority of Lord Curzon , the Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, who also
happened to be a Mughal art and architecture enthusiast. Perhaps the most exemplary structure
that defines this style would be the Viceroy’s namesake, Curzon Hall. It consists of the
traditional artistry combined with modern design elements preferred by the Mughals such as
horse-show and cusped arches and stunning domes. Appreciation of Mughal building style is
also apparent in the red colouring, decorative brackets, deep eaves and domed ​chattris
(terraced pavilion); all of this can be seen as borrowed elements from Diwan-i-Khas at Fatehpur
Sikri, built by Emperor Akbar.
Diwan-I-Khas, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Curzon Hall, University of Dhaka, Dhaka
Source: ​https://commons.wikimedia.org​ Source: ​http://www.daily-sun.com

The building, which has been housing the Faculty of Science at University of Dhaka since its
inception in 1921, became a reality due to Lord Curzon’s dream of creating a magnificent town
hall for the city. Even though his dream remain unfulfilled, the building still remains as a key
witness to some significant events in the history of Bangladesh, notably those during the
Language Movement from 1948-56.

Other spectacular examples of this hybrid Mughal and European architectural style can be seen
in Dhaka even today in Northbrooke Hall, Dhaka Medical College and Salimullah Muslim Hall.

Despite all the influences from European building styles, the colonial architecture era was able
to successfully come up with a distinct architecture style, that was truly original on its own. This
was the ‘bungalow’, a remodelling of the deltaic hut.The bungalow exemplified the notion of
living in nature inside a secluded hut covered by a roof, while being able to look at a distant
horizon. Soon enough, the bungalow became a popular building style in the subcontinent and
then afterwards, in other parts of the world.

It is fascinating to take a moment and look at the way architecture style has developed since the
earliest points of history in this region. Ever since the Mughal dynasty, this region has struggled
with keeping its tradition and culture alive in their building style. With the introduction of colonial
architecture, it was even harder to keep our roots intact. Architecture is supposed to give
identity to a region. However, for Bangladesh, because of its complicated history, that has not
been the case. Lack of historical materials makes the narration of the region’s history difficult as
well.
This is why it is of greatest urgency now to preserve all old structures that are still standing
today. These works should be documented as much as possible by historians who are
researching about these regions. Only then maybe we will reach a point where we have a clear
understanding about this region’s architecture, the complex history behind it and the
consequences of that history on the building style.

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