Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore was a rich businessman of Calcutta. In 1842 Dwarkanath travelled on railroads in England and Scotland and considered them as ‘the greatest wonders of England.’ On his return home, he endeavoured to recreate the wonder in India.
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Prince Dwarkanath Tagore |
colliery to establish the Bengal Coal Company,
the major producer of coal in the Raniganj field right up to nationalization of
coalmines in 1970s.
Along with a group of local merchants he started the Great Western Bengal
Railway as a rival to the East Indian Railway Company promoted by Rowland
MacDonald Stephenson.
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Office of Carr, Tagore Co, at Raniganj, presently in ruins |
GWBR
proposed a line from Calcutta northward directly along the river Ganges,
terminating at Rajmahal, the port of the India General Navigation Company
managed by Carr, Tagore & company with an East West spur to connect the
coalfields.
It was designed to make use of the riverine transportation facilities then
existing on the Ganges. EIR, on the other hand, was more interested in the
north-western markets for British trade in cotton. Crippled by the collapse of
the Union Bank, of which he was a major shareholder, and lacking influence in
England, he lost the battle for the railway to his rival. Eventually the GWBR
merged with the EIR after his death. Dwarkanath’s dream thus remained
unfulfilled.
