Bathgate & Co., Camac Street & Ballygunge Circular Road

The first time I heard the name Bathgate & Co. was when I asked my mother about the dilapidated building that once housed my Kindergarten school. That was the name originally associated with building, she said. Thus, my digging began. I present to you here, information that I have gathered through countless hours of internet trawling. Because, in spite of the fact that Bathgate & Co. were Calcutta’s very first chemists, there is no book or website dedicated to their history.

The root encrusted walls of Bathgate & Co's Ballygunge Dispensary

2, Camac Street

His name was Arathoon Stephen and he was born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1861. An Armenian, he came to Calcutta as a penniless refugee sometime in the early 19^th century, and began life by selling jewellery from a wheelbarrow. Later he set up shop on Chowringhee, and made his fortune in the real estate development business. He is the man who built The Grand Hotel on Chowringhee and Stephen Court on Park Street. Both structures are standing and are in use today.

Newspaper advert of Stephen's shop on Chowringhee

Not too many people are aware that this millionaire lived in Camac Street, and the building that he lived in also remains standing. On 2 Camac Street, on the corner of Middleton Row, stands a nondescript old building. The only way to tell that this isn’t just another building, is when stands infront of the petrol pump on Camac Street and looks up. The ornate decorations on the terrace wall, along with the urns are a clear indication of the period this house was built in. This was once home to the real estate magnate, who died on the 14^th of May, 1927.

External view of 2 Camac Street, with part of the petrol pump visible in the bottom left

The building is in a grubby state, although a peep inside will tell you that it was once quite something. The solid wooden staircase, the porcelain tiles along the walls, and beautiful wooden elevator all bear witness to this. The building is currently in mixed usage, with residential flats and a few offices. Mayfair hotels was said to have it’s offices in this building.

Driveway of 2 Camac Street

While the Calcutta Corporation has declared this a heritage building, there have been attempts made by unscrupulous developers to bring it down, and although a heritage structure not too many people seem to be aware of the history of the building. Stephen’s granddaughter, Irene Harris, was said to be living in Stephen Court at the time of the devastating fire of 23^rd March, 2010.

Dumraon House, 26 Camac Street

The en masse migration of labourers and daily wage earners of Bihar to Calcutta is well known. They still form a large part of the menial workers of the city. But not many are aware that the upper crust of Bihar society also had a presence in Calcutta, and like all other communities that came here, they left their mark on the city.

Surrounded by new flats and glitzy commercial buildings, at 26 Camac Street, stands Dumraon House. Dumraon is one of Bihar's oldest municipalities and one of India's oldest princely states. It came into being under Narayan Mal, who through his friendship with Mughal Prince Khurram, received the title of Raja. The 4th ruler of the dynasty, Raja Horil Shah (1708 – 1746) shifted the capital to Dumraon, which was initially called Horilnagar. Skip ahead 200 years and we have the birth of Maharaja Bahadur Ram Ran Vijay Prashad Singh in 1907. Ascending the throne on death of his father, Maharaja Bahadur Sir Keshav Prashad Singh in 1933, Ram Ran Vijay Prashad Singh inherited a depleted treasury and massive debts owed due to almost continuous litigation. He was able, through his short reign, however, to revive the fortunes of the family. To augment the family’s incomes, properties were acquired outside Bihar in places like Calcutta , Dehradun, Mussoorie, Shilong and many other places. The property on Camac Street was acquired during this period, and Dumraon House was constructed in 1922.

Some will no doubt recall the company Dumraon Textiles, which was started by the Maharaja’s son, Maharaja Bahadur Kamal Singh in 1968.  Dumraon House today continues to function as what the official records call a building of “mixed usage”. There are residential flats, as well as commercial establishments functioning out of the building. There is a large open space in the rear, which is used as a car park, and part of it has been converted into a garden where the building’s ‘darwaan’ lives with his family.

One of the most famous people to emerge from Dumraon was the Shehnai maestro, Ustad Bismillah Khan, who was born in Dumraon, on 21 March 1913.

- by Deepanjan Ghosh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• I am grateful to Shivang Vijay Singh of the Dumraon royal family for his comments on the article.
• Thanks also to Tirtha Tanay Mandal for pointing out certain errors in the original post, which have now been corrected.

SOURCES

• http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/d/dumraon.html
• http://www.zamindar.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20&Itemid=16