10/01/2019
Clive House
According to local legend, the mound on which the Clive House stands was built in a single night. Locals believe that the grounds and the house are haunted.
O’Malley in Gazetteer of 24 Parganas quotes “It appears to have been originally a one-storeyed blockhouse, so constructed as to secure a flank fire along each side, in underground chambers or cellars. The walls were of great thickness… further strengthened by huge buttresses, between which the walls were loop-holed for musketry. No authentic account of the origin of this building can be found.The native tradition is that the mound on which it stands was thrown up by a spirit in a single night and to this day the house and the grounds have the reputation of being haunted.”
Back Entrance, Clive House, Dum Dum, Kolkata
Back Entrance, Clive House, Dum Dum, Kolkata
After Clive, the house changed hands several times. It served as a private residence of notable Englishmen and in 1890s, it served as a head quarters of Presidency Volunteer Reserve Battalion.
After independence, about 20 – 25 refugee families from East Pakistan occupied the rooms and the peripheries of Clive House and few families continue to live in the peripheries, even after the Clive House was taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2003.In spite of centuries of neglect, the Clive House was is fairly good shape till the late 1990s, when chunks of the roof started falling off. Even during the 1970s, an Air Technical Institute operated from the building and had two model planes displayed at the entrance.
Courtyard of Clive House, Dum Dum, Kolkata
Courtyard of Clive House, Dum Dexcavatiollta
In 2001, a decorated shred of pottery taken from the mound, attracted the attention of ASI. This led to extensive excavation of the portion of the mound, North of Clive House. The excavation revealed remnants of civilization dating back far beyond the days of Christ. The findings are all set to revolutionise the history of Bengal.
