For many, contemporary Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) still conjures hideous images of interminable squalor - a skewed reputation largely built on antiquated stereotypes regurgitated by the (mainly Western) media. But after spending time in India's other major cities, it's plain to see that modern-day Kolkata has been unfairly stigmatized.

Get to know Kolkata and you'll see why it has long been acknowledged as the cultural capital of India. Although it may have some of the country's finest remnants of British colonial architecture, it possesses a distinct Bengali soul. Referred to as India's friendliest metropolis, Bengali humor is renowned and the Bengalis, so ready to raise arms against political wrongdoings, are also the poets and artists of India. Kolkata was the birthplace and/or home of many famous people including the inimitable Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, the novelist William Thackeray, Academy Awarded film director Satyajit Ray and the actress Merle Oberon, who appeared in films including The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Kolkata isn't an ancient city like Delhi, with its impressive relics of the past. In fact, it's largely a British creation that dates back only some 300 years. It was the capital of British India until the beginning of last century.

In 1686 the British abandoned Hooghly, their trading post 38km up the Hooghly River from present-day Kolkata, and moved downriver to three small villages - Sutanati, Govindpur and Kalikata. Job Charnock, an English merchant who later married an Indian widow whom he dissuaded from committing sati (widow's act of suicide on her husband's funeral pyre), was the leader of the British merchants who made this move. At first the post was not a great success and was abandoned on a number of occasions, but in 1696 a fort was laid out near present-day BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square) and in 1698, the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's grandson gave the British official permission to occupy the villages.

Kolkata then grew steadily until 1756, when Siraj-ud-daula, the nawab of Murshidabad, attacked the town. Most of the British inhabitants escaped, but those captured were packed into an underground cellar where, during the night, most of them suffocated in what became known as 'the black hole of Calcutta'.

Early in 1757 the British, under Clive of India, retook Kolkata and made peace with the nawab. Later the same year, however, Siraj-ud-daula sided with the French and was defeated at the Battle of Plassey (now Palashi), a turning point in British-Indian history. A stronger fort was built in Kolkata and the town became British India's capital.

Much of Kolkata's most enduring development took place between 1780 and 1820. Later in the 19th century, Bengal became an important centre in the struggle for Indian independence, and this was a major reason for the British decision to transfer the capital to Delhi in 1911. Loss of political power did not alter Kolkata's economic control and the city prospered until after WWII.

Partition affected Kolkata more than any other major Indian city. Bengal and Punjab were the two areas of India with mixed Hindu and Muslim populations and the dividing line was drawn through them. The result in Bengal was that Kolkata, the jute-producing and export centre of India, became a city without a hinterland, while across the border in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), jute (a plant fiber used in making sacks and mats) was grown without anywhere to process or export it. Furthermore, West Bengal and Kolkata were disrupted by tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from East Bengal, although fortunately without the communal violence and bloodshed that Partition brought to Punjab.