Vol. VI, No. 11.] History of the District of Hughli. 617 



[N.S.] 



CHAPTER III. 



Some Celebrated Events. 



Of some of the events in the history of Bengal the dis- 

 trict of Hughli may justly be proud, as they all occurred in 

 the former and present headquarters of the district. 



(1) The first Printing Press in Bengal was set up at 

 Hughli, the former headquarters of the district, in 1778, and 

 Halhed's Bengali Grammar was the first book that was printed. 

 Halhed was so proficient in colloquial Bengali that he was 

 known to pass as a Bengali in assemblies of Hindus disguised 

 in a native dress. He was also an accomplished Sanskrit 

 scholar : he published the Code of Gentoo Laws which was com- 

 piled at Benares by some Brahmins at the instance of Warren 

 Hastings. Sir Charles Wilkins, who rightly deserves the title 

 of Caxton of Bengal and who was called the li Nestor of Sans- 

 krit studies/' prepared the types for this grammar with his 

 own hand, and he taught one Panchanan, a blacksmith, in 

 type cutting, and all knowledge of type cutting was derived 

 from him. 1 



(2) The Pankha, the sine qua non of our comfort during 

 the summer season, was first invented by a Dutch governor at 

 Chinsura, the present headquarters of the district, in the 

 "Dutch barrack 5 ' as it is called, at the close of the 17th 

 century. A newspaper which was in front of him on the table 

 was blown up by the wind to a beam overhead and it com- 

 menced oscillating: this first suggested to him the idea of a 

 Pankha.* 



(3) The first grant-in-aid which was made by Govern- 

 ment for the promotion of Vernacular education in Bengal, 

 was allowed in support of Mr. May's schools around Chinsura 

 in 1814 during the administration of the Marquis of Hastings 

 at the monthly rate of Rs. 600. 3 



(4) The oldest Christian Cburch in Bengal was construct- 

 ed at Bandel in 1597 by a Portuguese named Villalobos : it is 

 about a mile to the north of Hughli 



(5) The first serious quarrel between the Moguls and the 

 Europeans took place at Hughli in 1632 when the Portuguese 

 were defeated and their fort was blown up ; and the first 

 action between the English and the Moguls in Bengal was 

 fought at Hughli in 1686 which resulted in their obtaining an 

 easy victory over the latter. 



1C. i?., vol. xiii, p. 24; vol. vi,— " Sir William Jones/' by the 

 Rev. T Smith. 



* Toynbee's Sketch of the Administration of the Hughli District, 

 p. 10; Janmabhumi, 1298 B.S. 



" Handbook of Beneal Missions, p. 484 (1848), by the 



Rev. J. 



Long. 



