Garden Reach

Garden Reach
Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta)
Country	India
State	West Bengal
City	Kolkata
Parliamentary constituencies	South Kolkata, Diamond Harbour
Assembly constituencies	Kolkata Port, Metiaburuz
Municipal Corporation	Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Ward(s)	80, 134, 135 136, 137, 138, 139, 140 and 141
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Garden Reach is a neighbourhood of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. It is also known by its pars pro toto, Metiaburz. It is situated in the south eastern part of Kolkata near the bank of the Hooghly River. Localities within Garden Reach include Metiabruz, BNR Colony (Residential area of South Eastern Railway employees), Bartala, Bandhabartala, Sicklane etc.

Garden Reach is situated at the eastern bank of the Hooghly River in the South western part of Kolkata. It is located north-east of Maheshtala, west of Kidderpore, and to the north of Taratala, Behala.

This area is connected to the history of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, fifth King of Oudh, who after being ousted by the British made Garden Reach his refuge. Accompanied by his close relatives, musicians, cooks and animals from his menagerie, he came ashore at Bichali Ghat near Metiabruz on May 13, 1856. A year later when the First War of Independence spread to Lucknow and the sepoys installed one of his sons to the throne of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah was imprisoned in Fort William by the British along with his Prime Minister, due to the fear that he could become a rallying figure for the sepoys. HEA Cotton wrote that "on Panic Sunday (June 14, 1857), there was wide spread apprehension among the white inhabitants of Kolkata because he had one, two, three thousand (no one knew) armed men under him". After his release from Fort William, he was "allotted" a building called BNR House, in Garden Reach-BNR Colony area, now a part of headquarters of South-Eastern Railway, Kolkata.

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Wikipedia