KOLKATA: Tucked away in a store-room in the labyrinth-like corridors of a Secretariat building in Kolkata is a rare treasure trove of 19th-century photographs, sketches, mementoes and documents whose discovery has turned the neglected room into an Antiquarian's 'Alladin's cave'.
Black and white photographs of a three-decker, steam-driven, tram on the roads of the second city of the British Empire and another of a pontoon bridge which preceded the iconic Howrah Bridge over the Hooghly, a certificate issued to Paul Gregory Melitus, the 1880 topper from Bengal Presidency of the coveted ICS examination, an ivory replica of the Holwell Monument, besides a 1919 book on public hygiene written by an Indian doctor during the outbreak of the Spanish flu contagion, are among the treasures discovered and now being carefully restored by the Administrator General and Official Trustee of Bengal.
A British-era law dating to 1849 created the office which looks after the property and effects of any citizen who dies without an heir or next of kin. Most of those whose properties came under the Administrator's charge were Britons who died while working or doing business here and had no one who came forward to claim their estate.
The law continues till date with changes in 1902 and 1913 and has created a huge depository of personal effects which may prove to be a collection of remarkable value for both antiquarians and for historians looking to flesh out their understanding of social life in 19th and early 20th century.
Biplab Roy, the current Administrator General who has been working hard to preserve this unique treasure, told PTI, "Once we stumbled across these objects in the storeroom, our next line of action was dusting and cleaning. We then started cataloguing and documentation... Restoration is being done systematically, but the sheer number and variety of such photos, letters and documents is overwhelming."
The work undertaken by Roy and his team is quite enormous. Thousands of sepia-tinted photographs which date from the 19th century to the early 20th century, mostly taken by Britishers along with tones of documents and artefacts stashed away in leather folios and trunks are being taken up for restoration work.
"Around 1,000 photos have already been restored and are now in the safe custody of the department," Roy said.
He pointed to a book - Hygiene and Public Health by Dr Jahar Lal Das, published in 1919, during the Spanish flu outbreak which he pointed out may hold clues for tackling the Covid contagion.
Das had suggested wearing masks and listed ways to prepare a mask in the manual and explained why masks should be worn in certain situations and "was the first doctor here who had talked about this. We are lucky to have his writing on the issue of pandemic with us," Roy said.
His team is trying to find photographic evidence of the Spanish Flu as also other important landmark happenings.
There are photos of the river ghats along Hooghly, small ships, New Market and Great Eastern Hotel in the 19th century as well as private albums of many British army officers.
Firearms from the 19th century along with ammunition have also been found hidden in the heaps of private effects in the room.
"We want to set up a museum in our building storing all these objects after they are fully restored. We also want to introduce a digital touch screen where a visitor can see the images by the touch of a screen, Roy said.
He said if allowed by the government, copies of the restored photos and documents can be put up for sale in the market by his department and this could be a new stream of revenue for the state.