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| Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah,WB getbengal.com |
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| Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah,WB.oldbotprotect.pages.dev |
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| Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah,WB.getbengal.com |
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Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah,WB.getbengal.com
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Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah,WB.getbengal.com
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Among the European cemeteries in India that were active during the colonial days, very little is known about the Dutch cemetery in Chinsurah, a suburb of Kolkata and once a vital Dutch trade center on the banks of the Hooghly river. In this grave lie in eternal sleep some of the important Dutch associated with the Dutch company and some who were associated with the Maratha army and women's education in India.
The well planned cemetery with narrow pathway is fairly protected by high compound walls. Believed to be the biggest non-British cemetery in West Bengal, it covers 7,400-odd square metres and has 250 graves (hundred and ninety Dutch and British tombs). The Dutch tombs date from 1743 to the end of the 19th century. It is considered to be bigger than Kolkata’s Scottish and Greek cemeteries. Besides Europeans, tombs also include Indian Christians. As for the Britons, most of them had settled down at Chinsurah when the British took over the town towards the end of 19th century. This cemetery has more Dutch tombs than the one at Serampore which has less than 45. Chinsurah cemetery needs to be restored back to old glory and the onus is on the ASI to save this colonial heritage for the posterity.
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| Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah,WB scroll.in |
The high walled Dutch Cemetery built by Louis Taillefert, then director of the VOC in Bengal, was functional during the 18th–19th centuries. It has contains an assortment of graves of various configuration scattered across the site under the shade of old trees. There are two sections in the graveyard, the older one with graves of Dutch nationals and the other, still in use by the British and native Christians. There are 45 graves of Dutch citizens who died between 1743 and 1846. Here, many Dutch officials, some of them holding senior position lie in obscurity far away from their motherland. The oldest tomb belongs to Sir Cornelius Jonge who died in Chinsurah in 1743. Other prominent people buried here are Daniel Overbeck, Gregorious Herklots, a high official in the VOC, and George Vernet, another VOC director. The latter’s tomb has no inscription. (Courtesy: Aishwarya Tipnis Architects, dutchinchinsurah.com) Other prominent Dutch company personnel buried here include Peter Starthemus, the director of the first factory built by the Dutch-East India Company in Bengal, Jan Albert Sichterman, a\ senior official of the Dutch company. A famous Frenchman, General Perron who served as military advisor to the Mahrattas, settled in a large house in this Dutch colony; after death he was buried here. Yet another well known Dutch buried here is Fr. Robert May, who emphasized education for women and established many schools in Chinsurah.
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tomb of Daniel Anthony Overbeck, dutchcemeterychinsura.com
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| tomb of Daniel Anthony Overbeck, dutchcemeterychinsura.com |
As for Daniel Anthony Overbeck, the last Dutch Governor of Chinsurah, he handed over the Dutch settlement to the British - in 1825 and continued to stay in Chinsurah till his death in 1840 and his mortal remains are in his grave. As governor, Overbeck also famously donated drums and a silver idol of Shiva to the Sandeshwar temple in Chinsurah. In Mesrov Seth's The History of Armenians in India it is mentioned that he had laid the foundation stone for the steeple of the Armenian Church in Chinsurah. He died on September 25 1940 at the age of 76.
The structures in the graves are mostly masonry - brick and lime mortar with black or white marble headstones and epitaphs. What is unique about them is the design of cenotaphs here which closely resembles those in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where the Dutch had flourishing trade centers and settlements. There are graves of different types, some are simple, some have tombstones others have a different types of mausoleums built in Dutch architecture. The structures come in different shapes, Pyramidal, box-like and simple gravestone with no embellishments. Black or white marble headstones and epitaphs are common. On one part of the cemetery south side there are 24 Dutch graves .
