One of the most notorious incidents of the latter part of the century was the trial and execution of

Nanda Kumar, who had been the governor of Hugging in 1756. In 1764 he had been appointed
collector of Burdwan in place of Warren Hastings, which resulted in a long-standing enmity
between the two men. In 1775, when Hastings was Governor-General, Nanda Kumar brought
accusations of corruption against him, accusing him of accepting bribes and other abuses of
power. These were taken up with enthusiasm by Hastings' rivals on the Governor General's
Council, led by Philip Francis. Whilst this matter was still awaiting investigation Nanda Kumar
was indicted for forgery of a deed, condemned and executed. There was a strong suspicion that
the charges had been invented by Hastings, and that he had put pressure on the judges to pass
sentence of death. At this date it was far from clear whether or not English law applied in
Calcutta, and it was extremely rare for the death penalty to be applied for forgery even in
England. Furthermore, Nanda Kumar was a Brahman, and his hanging caused widespread
dismay and outrage in Calcutta.[14]

Warren Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice, were both impeached, and were
accused by Edmund Burke and afterwards by Thomas Babington Macaulay of committing a
judicial murder.[15] Five years after this incident, in 1780, relations between Warren Hastings and
Philip Francis deteriorated to such an extent that the two fought a duel in the grounds of
Belvedere (now the National Library) on the road to the suburb of Alipore. Francis was severely
wounded, but Hastings escaped unscathed.[16]

Opium trade

After the territorial conquest of Bengal in 1757, the British East India Company pursued a
monopoly on production and export of opium from India. The company bought opium from local
traders and later directly from farmers, and sold it at auction in Calcutta. From there much of it
was smuggled to Canton in China by foreign traders, eventually leading to the First Opium War
(1839–1842).

Social and intellectual life in the 18th century

In 1772, Calcutta became the capital of British India, a decision made by Governor General
Warren Hastings. On 29 January 1780, Hickey's Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General
Advertiser became the first newspaper to be printed in India, and is an invaluable chronicle of the
social life of Anglo-Indian society in Calcutta. Contemporary memoirs such as those of William
Hickey record the consumption of enormous meals, washed down by copious quantities of claret,
port, madeira and other wines, followed by the smoking of Hookahs.[17] After the death of his
English wife, Charlotte, (who is buried in Park Street Cemetery) Hickey married a Bengali girl
called Jemdanee, who died in childbirth in 1796, prompting him to write in his journal that "Thus
did I lose as gentle and affectionately attached a girl as ever man was blessed with".[18]