Kharagpur () is a semi-planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision and the largest city of the district. It is located 120 km west of Kolkata. Kharagpur is home to IIT Kharagpur, the oldest and largest Indian Institute of Technology. It has the fourth longest railway platform in the world, with a length of , after Hubbali, Gorakhpur and Kollam junctions. The Kharagpur Junction railway station is the headquarters of the Kharagpur Division of the South Eastern Railways.
History Kharagpur (transliterated from ) received its name from the twelfth king of the Mallabhum dynasty, Kharga Malla, when he conquered it in 832 AD (Bengali: 147 BS). Alt URL It was a part of the Hijli Kingdom, and was ruled by Hindu Odia rulers of the Mallabhum dynasty.
According to some historians, in the 16th century, Kharagpur was a small village which was surrounded by dense forests. The village was located on barren terrain, such as a rocky plateau. According to Ain-i-Akbari, it also had a strong fort in the middle of its wooded hills.
Hijli (part of the Hijli Kingdom) developed into a port town in 1687. On 9 February 1687, Job Charnock with English soldiers and warships captured Hijli on the east coast of the Medinipur district and thereby defeated the Mughals ruling there. Alt URL In mid-May 1687, Abdus Samad, a lieutenant serving under Shaista Khan, arrived to recapture Hijli from the English forces, with 12,000 men. The Mughal forces' heavy batteries, then located on the mainland west of Hijli, fired across the English positions, which drove the latter's ships from their anchorage. On 28 May an army of 700 cavalry and 200 gunners recaptured Hijli from the English, and set it ablaze. Adding to their misfortunes, malaria had spread to the English forces killing more than 200 soldiers; only 100 men, including five officers, survived. Following these events, a peace treaty was signed between the English and Samad. Subsequently, the English left Hijli on 11 June 1687, and later on 9 November 1688, they also left Calcutta and evacuated all their businesses and troops stationed in Bengal. The British came back to Bengal in 1690, and established the city of Calcutta, after an invitation by the new Viceroy of Bengal, Ibrahim Khan. After Battle of Plassey, the East India Company took control of the Bengal Presidency including Kharagpur, as its puppet state.
Hijli port was destroyed by the Calcutta cyclone in October 1864. The area was then rebuilt in the months following the natural calamity.
Hijli existed as a province until 1886, covering parts of both Bengal and Odisha. The province had important towns like Tamluk, Panskura, and Debra. At the time, Hijli was ruled by Taj Khan. Many centuries before Khan, it was also ruled by the Kushan, Gupta, and Pal dynasties, and by the Mughals. Further, it is claimed that Hijli had excellent business and trade centres, along with judiciary, prison, and administrative offices.
The entire Kharagpur division of today has identical boundaries to the 17th-century Hijli province.
Hijli detention camp In 1930, the Hijli Detention Camp was opened by the British authorities to house "security prisoners" or unarmed political prisoners who included revolutionaries from organisations such as Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar. The "Hijli firing" took place on 16 September 1931, in which two prisoners, Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeswar Sengupta, were shot dead inside the camp. The incident also injured multiple others. It led to widespread protests in Bengal, including a condemnation by Subhas Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore. Bose went in person to collect the two prisoners' dead bodies while there was an ongoing protest against the incident in Calcutta.
The camp was later closed in 1937, and reopened in 1940 to detain political activists and freedom fighters who participated in anti-colonial movements. It closed in 1942 when the British needed to reorganise their administration for war efforts in World War II. After India's independence, the jail was converted to Hijli Shaheed Bhavan (later Nehru Museum of Science and Technology) after the establishment of IIT Kharagpur in 1951.
Role in World War II
On the Japanese front of World War II in 1944, the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) required airbases to send B-29s to mainland Japan for its aerial bombardment. Bases were set up to be used across locations in China, India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), in an operation known as Operation Matterhorn. On the Indian airfields, Kharagpur played an important role by becoming the key airfield to serve as the centre of operations. It was chosen as the airfield headquarters by Ken Wolfe, who headed the XX Bomber Command.
Initially, in December 1943, the plan was to expand the airfield runways chosen in India to make it operational for B-29 bombers. General Harrison and Colonel Wilson put forward the plan to Mountbatten, then the Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia, and the proposal was accepted by the latter. The field airmen were requested by the SOS engineers for making the runways long and wide. In January 1944, Lewis Pick released the 382nd Construction Battalion to speed up work on the Kharagpur airfield until the aviation engineers arrived. The work on the airfield, now Kalaikunda Air Force Station, was completed by June 1944. Apart from the long runway, it had 50 hardstands, hangars from the European theatre, operational buildings, and housing. The first B-29s left from the Kharagpur airfield to bomb Bangkok's railway shops in May 1944. In total, the construction forces used in building the five airfields, which included Kharagpur, numbered some 6,000 U.S. troops, and 27,000 Indian civilians who worked on a contractual basis for the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
Geography
Location
Kharagpur is located at .
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the city. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Urban structure Kharagpur is the fourth largest city of West Bengal in area after Kolkata, Durgapur and Asansol. It is also the fifth most populated city of West Bengal after Kolkata, Asansol, Siliguri, and Durgapur. Kharagpur proper covers an area of about in the southern part of West Midnapore, while the Kharagpur subdivision covers an area of . For the Kharagpur municipality, the total area is . The city also has an elevation of above sea level. It is a part of the Kharagpur subdivision, which comes under Medinipur division, and the Dalma Hills also stretch across its lands. Three significant rivers flow through the city which are Subarnarekha, Keleghai and Kangsabati rivers.
Kharagpur has a railway colony that was established as a primary residence of British Raj officers as well as people of Anglo-Indian heritage. Hijli station is the boundary of this railway colony, which also borders the village houses in Jhapatapur and Jholi. IIT Kharagpur, one of the Institutes of National Importance in India, was also established adjacent to the colony. Nimpura contains colonies that house over a thousand railway employees. There is a long and winding road from Nimpura to Hijli which goes through Tengra Haat (Arambati) and Talbagicha. Another road goes from Kalaikunda to Gopali through Hiradihi and Talbagicha. Hijli Co-operative society is a planned residential area in Kharagpur. The Kharagpur Municipality office and fire station are also located nearby. Kharagpur Railway Colony is the biggest railway settlement in India, which has about 11,000 railway quarters. There are several railway residential areas which include but are not limited to–Chhota Ayma, Bara Ayma, Old Settlement, New Settlement, Mathurakati, Nimpura, South Side, and Traffic. The BNR (Bengal Nagpur Railways) ground, owned by the Indian Railways, is a large under-developed playground which holds significant potential to be developed and properly maintained.
Outside the railway settlement, popular areas are Bhawanipur, Subhaspally, Kharida, Malancha, Inda, Jhapatapur, Talbagicha, and Prem Bazar amongst others. Gole Bazar is a significant marketplace within Kharagpur, which is not only a reliable but also a congested shopping destination for locals. Other marketplaces like Talbagicha Bazar, Gate Bazar, Inda Bazar, Puratan Bazar, the Janata Market, the DVC Market, and the are also important in Kharagpur.
Growth is witnessed around Chowringhee and Inda, where new construction and projects are taking shape. Big Bazaar, operated by the Future Group, was the first mall to open in Kharagpur. It remained the only mall in the town for nearly a decade until it closed in 2022. After 2017, a number of new malls and shopping centres have opened, including a Spencer's, Trends, and More's. The Railway Garden (also known as BNR garden) on the south side of railway station is a park, which is frequently visited by people of all ages, and is also a popular picnic spot. The park also offers toy-train rides to all.
Languages
Bengali is the most commonly spoken language of the region. Other common languages are Hindi, Urdu, Odia, Telugu and Punjabi.
Climate
Kharagpur has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). Summers start in March and are hot and humid, with average temperatures close to . They are followed by the monsoon season that sees an average of about of rain. Total annual rainfall recorded is around . Winters are brief but chilly, lasting from December to mid-February, with average temperatures around .
Demographics
As of the 2001 India census, Kharagpur had a population of 207,984 (municipality area) and 88,339 (railway settlement area), the fourth largest in West Bengal. Males constituted 52% of the population and females 48%. Kharagpur had an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy was 75%, and female literacy was 52%. One-tenth (10%) of its population was under 6 years of age. Also, Kharagpur is a town of significance in India due to its mixed ethnicity and linguistic diversity.
As of the 2011 India census, Kharagpur Urban Agglomeration had a population of 293,719 out of which 150,487 were males and 143,232 were females. The population aged 0–6 years was 25,130. Effective literacy rate for the population aged seven and above was 85.61%. This is higher than the national average literacy rate of 74%.
Kharagpur (Town) police station has jurisdiction over Kharagpur municipality. Kharagpur (Local) police station has jurisdiction over Kharagpur I and Kharagpur II CD Blocks.
The state government is also working on setting up a separate police commissionerate at Kharagpur to enhance security in this growing region.
Civic administration and utility services Kharagpur Municipality looks after civic affairs in the city. There is a proposal to upgrade it to a Municipal corporation after including the railway area under its jurisdiction. As of August 2024, the responsibility of civic amenities in railway area lies with the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Kharagpur Division, who is also the head of railway establishment in Kharagpur.
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), as well as private enterprises, among them Bharti Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea, are the leading telephone, cell phone, and internet service providers (ISP) in the city.
Economy
Industries