. Even after the British had set up their settlements in
Kalikata,
Sutanuti and
Gobindapur, many independent
zamindars survived till 1757. They held large landed properties in Gobindapur and elsewhere. When the Gobindapur area was cleared for the construction of the new
Fort William, they had to be given alternative land elsewhere: Debs in Shobhabazar, the Thakurs in Pathuriaghata and Jorasanko, and the Ghosals in Bhukailas (Kidderpore).
Gokul Ghoshal, the founder of the Bhukailas zemindar family, who was
dewan of
Harry Verest, left Gobindapur and built a palatial
rajbati in Kidderpore and named it
Bhukailas. In earlier days,
thanas (police stations) also looked after the civic needs of the people. The earliest list of
thanas in old Kolkata was prepared in 1785 and in 1888. These
thanas were regrouped under 25 Police Section Houses. The 25 wards created under the Calcutta Municipal Act of 1889, precisely matched these divisions. In this area there were two Police Section Houses – at
Watgunge and
Ekbalpur. Writing in 1909,
H.E.A. Cotton mentions, "Kidderpore, which lies to the west of Alipore, is extensively populated principally by natives." In the early years of
British rule, Kolkata port was a river anchorage where sailing ships would load and unload in mid-stream. The shore-based Calcutta
jetties, with cranes and sheds, came into operation in 1869. In 1884, Kidderpore was selected as the site for the wet docks of the
Port of Kolkata, and it was ready in 1892. King George (later renamed Netaji Subhas) Dock was added in 1928. Haldia Dock System is part of Kolkata port. Its first unit, Haldia oil jetty, was commissioned in 1969. Kolkata port was the premier port of India till the early 1950s. In 1950–51, out of the total traffic of 19.3 MT at all the major ports of the country, Kolkata handled 7.6 MT. In 1988–89, Kolkata handled 14.22 MT against 142 MT of all ports taken together. Calcutta Jetties were closed down in 1965–66. Garden Reach jetties have also been closed down. The total labour force of the port declined from 42,946 in 1967 to 25,761 in 1990. A
red-light district has grown up near the port. In the field of Indian literature, this part of Kolkata produced three noted poets: Rongolal Bandhopadhyay, Hemchandra Bandopadhyay, and Michael Madhushudan Dutta.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873) was born at Sagordari in
Jessore District (now in Bangladesh), and came to Kolkata at the age of 7. After studying initially at Kidderpore School, he joined
Hindu College in 1933. However, after converting to Christianity, his relations with his father was strained. It has been listed as a
notorious market since 2019 by the
USTR for selling counterfeit electronics, cosmetics, apparel, and pirated media. ==Geography==