The East India Company obtained from the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement.

Amongst the prominent residents were George Mandeville, the zamindar/ collector, and Colonel Gilbert Ironside, a friend of Warren Hastings.

It also emerged as a citadel of the educated Bengali middle class after the suburban railway opened up the area.

[5] When the Bengal Renaissance started taking roots in 19th century Calcutta, it was initially limited to the predominantly Hindu 'Indian town' stretching north and north-east from the fringes of Burrabazar, with a somewhat later extension south and south-east of the 'European town' to Bhowanipore, and some decades later to Ballygunge, which was then developing as a suburb.

Many of the mansions in Ballygunge, Bhowanipore and Alipore were built by the city's Bengali and new Marwari elite who wanted to move from the "dirtier sections of north Calcutta to the more fashionable areas in the south".

The makeshift shops along the footpaths, popular as hawkers, sell everything – crockery, cutlery, decorative items and utilities.