The British set up their first capital here, but not until after a considerable amount of trouble from the natives, including the deaths of 123 British soldiers in the infamous black hole of Calcutta.

There is a memorial to the tragedy which stands in the grounds of St John's cathedral.  The cathedral is built in the grounds of the old cemetery, filled with the bones of those who died in the early years of the settlement 

In contrast I Visited the markets where a seething crown haggled and bartered over every kind of commodity, from flowers to chickens.