Government House, Year 1854 And Lord Hardinge’s Statue, Year 1880, (Code 056)

- Archival Photo Print

In the centre of the city in the Maidan area, overlooking the Ochterlony monument also popularly known as the Sahid Minar stood the equestrian statue of Lord Hardinge, the Governor General of India from 1844 to 1848. The statue of the Viscount Hardinge of Lahore looking towards Chowringhee Road was put up by J.H Foley, an Irish sculptor working in London. The photographer has intelligently captured both the sculpture and the Sahid Minar in the distance. The Sahid Minar constructed in 1828 was in memory of Major General Sir David Ochterlony. The Major General had successfully defended Delhi from the Marathas and also won the Anglo Nepalese war. 
Lord Hardinge was a British diplomat and served as the Viceroy and Governor General of India. His time in India was noteworthy which explains the presence of the statue. The first was the visit of King George V to Delhi Durbar where his coronation took place in 1911 and also the capital of India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. It was Hardinge who highlighted the fact that Calcutta was too much to the East whereas Delhi was more central in location. Calcutta has a number of statues of colonial men in power. In most cases the funds were gathered from the locals but the sculptures were made in Britain and shipped to India. As times changed and protests rose, these statues were dishonoured or removed.  In Calcutta the Municipal Corporation removed Lord Hardinge’s statue in 1950. The statue had stood there since 1858. It was shipped to his native place in Cambridgeshire. The shipping cost was borne by them. Since the removal of the statue the place lay vacant for about 15 years after which in 1965 the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was placed there.