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Raj
Bhavan
is
the
official
residence
of
the
governor
of
West
Bengal,
located
in
Kolkata,
the
capital
of
the
Indian
state
of
West
Bengal.
Built
in
1803,
it
was
known
as
Government
House
before
Indian
independence.
After
the
transfer
of
power
from
the
East
India
Company
to
the
British
Crown
in
1858,
it
became
the
official
residence
of
the
Viceroy
of
India,
moving
here
from
the
Belvedere
Estate.
With
the
shifting
of
the
British
Indian
capital
from
then
Calcutta
to
Delhi
in
1911,
it
became
the
official
residence
of
Lieutenant
Governor
of
Bengal.
Since
independence
in
1947
it
serves
as
the
official
residence
of
the
Governor
of
West
Bengal
and
came
to
be
known
as
the
Raj
Bhavan,
a
name
it
shares
with
the
official
residences
of
other
states'
governors.
In
the
early
nineteenth
century
Calcutta
(Kolkata)
was
at
the
height
of
its
golden
age.
Known
as
the
City
of
Palaces
or
St.
Petersburg
of
the
East,
Calcutta
was
the
richest,
largest
and
the
most
elegant
colonial
cities
of
India.[2]
It
was
during
this
time
that
one
of
Calcutta's
finest
colonial
structures,
Government
House
(later
Raj
Bhavan),
was
constructed.
Before
1799,
the
Governor-General
resided
in
a
rented
house,
called
Buckingham
House,
located
in
the
same
location.
The
land
belonged
to
Mohammad
Reza
Khan,
a
Nawab
of
Chitpur.[3]
It
was
in
1799
that
the
then
Governor-General
of
India,
The
1st
Marquess
Wellesley,
took
the
initiative
of
building
a
palace,
because
he
believed
that
India
should
be
ruled
from
a
palace
and
not
from
a
country
house.
Lord
Wellesley
wanted
to
make
a
statement
to
the
imperial
authority
and
power
and
so
the
building
was
done
on
a
grand
scale.
After
four
years'
construction
it
was
completed
at
a
colossal
cost
of
£63,291
(about
£3.8
million
in
today's
estimate).[4]
Wellesley
was
charged
for
misusing
of
East
India
Company’s
fund
and
was
finally
recalled
back
to
England
in
1805.
Although
Wellesley
lost
his
job,
he
does
have
the
credit
of
giving
Kolkata
one
of
its
finest
colonial
mansions.
In
1892,
the
Otis
Elevator
Company
installed
the
first
elevator
in
India
at
the
Raj
Bhavan.
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