Belvedere Estate

Mir Jafar moved to Kolkata where he owned a large court house, and settled within the safety of East India Company fortifications at Alipore.

While he was in Kolkata, he built many buildings in the area and gifted Belvedere House to Warren Hastings.

In 1769, according to Dutch author Stavorinus, the house was occupied by Harry Verelst and subsequently by John Cartier in 1770, both were Governors.

[2] After the Battle of Buxar in 1764 Hastings left for England, but returned to Kolkata as governor in 1772 and to Belvedere House with Baroness Inhoff by his side.

[4] The grounds of Belvedere Estate were witness to a duel between Warren Hastings and his legal officer, Philip Francis, in August 1780.

Illustration of Belvedere House, 1838, by the Anglo-Indian merchant and artist William Prinsep . The estate belonged to the family, who sold it to the East India Company in 1854.
National Library of India , Kolkata, has been housed in Belvedere House since 1948.