ASI breathes life into 17th century Dutch cemetery at Chinsurah

Among the oldest colonial cemeteries in the country, it holds over 200 graves dating back to 1656.

As early as 1656 after the decline of the Portugese, the western bank of the river Hooghly was occupied by the Dutch. For nearly two centuries, a Dutch settlement flourished at Chinsurah and started intra-Asian trade in spices, cotton and indigo. However, in 1825 when Dutch Commissioner B.C.D. Bouman surrendered Chinsurah to the British government, most of the monumental architecture of the Dutch was destroyed. Of the few remnants of the Dutch architecture, the cemetery, a protected monument remains as the most important proof of strong Dutch presence in the town more than 40 km upstream from Kolkata on the river Hooghly. The Archeological Survey of India, Kolkata Circle had started the restoration of the Dutch cemetery soon after completing the restoration of Danish cemetery at Serampore. But unlike the Danish cemetery which had not more than 50 graves, the Dutch cemetery has around 250 graves that need attention.