Calcutta International Exhibition
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| Calcutta International Exhibition | |
|---|---|
 Lord Ripon (who gave the opening address) in 1880 | |
| Overview | |
| BIE-class | Unrecognized exposition |
| Name | Calcutta International Exhibition |
| Area | 22 acres (8.9 ha) |
| Visitors | 1,000,000 (paid = 817,153) |
| Organized by | Augustus Rivers Thompson (president executive committee), S.T.Trevor (vice president) and Jules Joubert (general manager). |
| Participant(s) | |
| Countries | 37 |
| Location | |
| Country | British India |
| City | Calcutta |
| Venue | Grounds of the Indian Museum and the Maidan[1] |
| Coordinates | 22°33′29″N 88°21′03″E / 22.55806°N 88.35083°E |
| Timeline | |
| Opening | 4 December 1883 |
| Closure | 10 March 1884 |
The Calcutta International Exhibition world's fair[2] was held in Calcutta (now Kolkata) from December 1883 to March 1884.[3]
Indian Courts
The fair was held between 4 December 1883 and 10 March 1884.[3] and took place in the grounds of the Indian Museum and the Maidan.[1]
There were contributions from Belgium, Ceylon, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Straits, Turkey and U.S.A.[4] The Australian colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria were all hosted on the Indian Museum side of the fair.[5]
The Maidan side of the fair was connected to the Indian Museum by a bridge across the Chowinghee Road (now Jawaharlal Nehru Road). In the Maidan there was an iron building that contained Indian courts, a machinery annex, a military shed and a refreshments room.[5]
There was a Punjab Court with contents secured by Lockwood Kipling.[6]
The Maharajah of Scindia provided a carved sandstone gateway, the Gwalior Gateway, designed by Major James Blaikie Keith.[7] After the exhibition the gateway was sent in 200 packages to London's Victoria and Albert Museum and then displayed at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in 1886.[8]
Officials
The fair officials included Augustus Rivers Thompson (president executive committee), S.T.Trevor (vice president of the committee) and Jules Joubert (general manager).[9]
William Trickett was commissioner for New South Wales.[10]
Opening ceremony
The opening talk was by Lord Ripon[11] and was attended by Governors of Bengal (also president of organising committee), Madras, and Bombay, several maharajas[12] and the Duke and Duchess of Connaught.[4]
The ceremony was boycotted by the Anglo-Indian community in protest at the recently introduced Ilbert Bill, it rained (unusual at that time of year) and the illuminations failed.[11]
