We do not definitely know when Freemasonry was first introduced in Calcutta. Some even suggest that Freemasonry originated in India or some other place in the East but later on travelled westward (2 BMM., 69), but there is no proof to sustain the suggestion. Others seek to trace the origins of the institution in the ancient mysteries of Egypt or Greece (ibid., 19-33) (also FPRB., 85). In 1787, addressing a general meeting of the Lodges in Calcutta on the occasion of the anniversary of St. John, the Rev. Mr. Johnson, 'a member of the Fraternity, traced the origin of the Society from ancient Egyptians, and enumerated its several revolutions, encouragements, and persecutions down to the present period.' But Pick and Knight are right in observing, 'Many of the doctrines of Freemasonry belong also to the vast traditions of humanity of all ages and all parts of the world. Nevertheless, not only has no convincing evidence been brought forward to prove the linear descent of our Craft from any ancient organization which is known to have, or even suspected of having, taught any similar system of morality, but also, from what we know of the Craft in the few centuries prior to the formation of the first Grand Lodge in 1717, it is excessively unlikely that there was any such parentage.' (FPRB., 26) They further add, 'The fact is that the Craft, as we know it, in all probability had its origin among the operative Masons of Britain. No doubt it incorporated from the earliest times shreds of ritual, folk-lore and even occult elements of time immemorial antiquity. But it is almost certainly of British origin.' (ibid.) It is, therefore, safe to hold that India imported Freemasonry from Great Britain. But when? The answer is not at all definite, particularly regarding its introduction in Calcutta.

Writing in 1852, the Rev. J. Long noted, 'We have accounts of a Free Mason's Lodge in Calcutta in 1744 ; and they seem to have had a local habitation and a name there from the days of Charnock.' In his well-known work, The Good Old Days of John Company (1882), W. H. Carey quotes these observations of the Rev. J. Long without any quotation marks or acknowledgment (new Ed., 186). But neither Long nor Carey gives us any basis of this supposition. Thus we are unable to check its correctness.

Job Charnock was the agent of the English East India Company in Bengal. He was hounded out of Kassimbazar, Hugh and other parts of Bengal by the Mughals. After a futile expedition against the Mughals at Chittagong, the English withdrew to Madras but later obtained permission from the Mughals to resume their trade in Bengal. On 24 August 1690 Job Charnock landed at Sutanuti (northern part of the present city) 'for a new settlement and trade'. The village of Calcutta was to its south, round the 'Tank' (later Dalhousie Square). The position of the English in Calcutta was extremely insecure. A brickbuilt house was bought and rebuilt for the Company, as the books and papers lay 'in thaced houses Lyable to the hazards of fire every day.' The English feared that the Mughals might 'require the expulsion of Agent Charnock'. A letter of 25 May 1691 states:' the truth is that they (the English) live in a wild unsettled condition at Chuttinuttee, neither fortified houses nor godowns, only tents, huts, and boats, with the strange charge of near 100: soldiers, guard-ship, & ca. for no business, and a doubtful foundation wholly depending on the good Nabob's stay and favour'. It is extremely doubtful if in a situation like this any Freemason's Lodge could have `a local habitation and a name there from the days of Charnock,' as suggested by Long and Carey.

In his interesting verse, 'A tale of two cities'. Rudyard Kipling, himself a Craft Mason 'having been initiated at the age of 20 in the Lodge Hope and Perseverance, No. 782 (E.C.) of Lahore,' (FPRB., 152) poetically summarized the story of the foundation of Calcutta and the growth of the English power in India:

'Once, two hundred years ago, the trader came
Meek and tame.
Where his timid foot first halted, there he stayed,

Till mere trade
Grew to Empire, and he sent his armies forth
South and North
Till the country from Peshawur to Ceylon
Was his own.
Thus the midday halt of Charnock-more's the pity!

Grew a City.
As the fungus sprouts chaotic from its bed
So it spread
Chance-directed, chance-erected, laid and built
On the silt
Palace, byre, hovel-poverty and pride
Side by side;
And, above the packed and pestilential town,
Death looked down.'

Job Charnock died on 10 January 1693.

To Charnock and Charnock alone modern Calcutta owes its existence, but not its development. He had no time and energy to construct a planned city. In 1698 the English purchased the Zamindary rights over three villages of Sutanuti, Calcutta and Govindapur (site of the present Fort William) and thus became feudatory rulers under the Mughals. Out of these villages grew the city.

Next we hear of Freemasonry in old Calcutta again from the Rev. Long (1852), 'To the west of Writers' Buildings, thirty yards east of the fort (i.e. the old fort), stood the first church of Calcutta, called St. John's, at the suggestions of the Free Masons, who were liberal contributors to it. It was built in 1716 ... the oldest chaplain we have notice of is Samuel Brereton, in 1709.'

Here the Rev. Long is certainly responsible for wine inaccurate statements. The oldest church in Calcutta was not called St. John's but St. Anne's, a C. R. Wilson mentions in his The Early Annals of the English in Bengal (Vol. I, 214). The Rev. Long himself elsewhere wrote, 'St. John's Church, alias the old Cathedral, was opened on Easter Sunday, 1787. Previous to Bishop Middleton's arrival it was called the New Church ... ' The Freemasons of` Calcutta frequented the new church from 1787 onwards to attend divine service and hear 'historical sermon'. But we can not ascertain if the Freemasons of Calcutta had anything to do with the first church (St. Anne's) as the Rev. Long claimed. About this first church Wilson writes, `But of all the buildings erected at this time without the fort, the most important was the Church of St. Anne. The first proposals for separate place of worship in Calcutta were made in September 1704, in a joint letter to the Council by Benjamin Adams and by William Anderson, the former chaplain of the "English Company" at Hugli ... and the Council lent a willing ear to the suggestions of the two clergymen. To the building fund, to which the commanders of ships, the Company's servants and the free inhabitants had liberally contributed, they added Rs. 1000 ... Adams ... called a conference and arranged that the raising of funds, as well as the supervision of the building, should be left to lay agency. In a somewhat mysterious letter to the Council, dated the 19th of the month (September 1706), he gives as his reason for this step, that "Brother Anderson had not reputation enough among the gentlemen to obtain their subscriptions"..' (ibid., 214-5). By early 1709 the church was complete and 'duly dedicated to the service of God in the name of St. Anne'. Thus the Rev. Long's statement that it was built in 1716 is wrong, Whether "Brother Anderson" was a freemason is not known. Nor can we find out if any of the contributors was a member of the Craft. In view of many inaccuracies the Rev. Long's attempt to associate Freemasons with the foundation of the first church of Calcutta is somewhat doubtful. But as we shall see, in later years the Freemasons of Calcutta took part in the foundation ceremonies of churches and other public buildings.

In Calcutta Old and New, Cotton (1905) writes, `Freemasonry in Bengal boasts of a record as ancient as it is honourable. Its earliest District Grand Master, George Pomfret, assumed office in 1728; and Lodge "Star in the East" its premier Lodge of England, is the oldest of any Lodge outside the United Kingdom on that roll and dates from the year 1740.' (p. 916) In the first place, Cotton's use of the word `District' is unwarranted, because in the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century the Lodges were grouped under the Provincial Grand Lodge (FPRB., 213-4). The reports in the earlier newspapers of Old Calcutta invariably mention provincial orgnisations. The first District Grand Lodge of Bengal, according to D'Cruz, was established in 1840 (HOFIB., 200). Only from 1866 the designation was changed to the District Grand Master (6 GLIN., 207). Pick and Knight point out, 'As the influence of the first Grand Lodge extended into the provinces and overseas, it was found necessary as early as 1726 to appoint Provincial Grand Masters, the appointment being a prerogative of the Grand Master's' (ibid.). 'After 1866,' they state in another work (PHOF., 212), 'the "Provinces" were renamed "Districts".'

D'Cruz informs us that during the Grand Mastership of Lord Kingston, on 27 December 1728, the Grand Lodge of England granted a `Deputation' to George Pomfret Esq. for opening a new Lodge in Bengal. The relevant year was 1729 according to Pick and Knight (PHOF., 212). However, `This gentleman', observed Preston (quoted by D'Cruz), 'first introduced Masonry into the English Settlements in India.' In 1729, says D'Cruz, Captain Ralph Farwinter was appointed Provincial Grand Master 'for East India in Bengal.' He 'sent from his Lodge at Bengal a chest of the best arrack for the use of the Grand Lodge, and ten guineas for the Mason's charity.' (HOLEIB., 1-2) But, according to Pick and Knight. the year was I731 when 'Fairwinter was appointed the Provincial Grand Master for India.' According to Gould, he established Lodge East India Arms in 1730 (GHOF., IV, 50).

The Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th Edition - q.v. Freemasonry, however, informs, 'Lodges were constituted in India from 1730 (Calcutta). 1751 (Madras) and 1758 (Bombay).'

Yet Cotton states that Lodge Still in the East, 'the oldest of any Lodge outside the United Kingdom' on the roll of the Lodge of England, 'dates from 1740'.

It is difficult to reconcile the divergent views on the date of the first Lodge in Calcutta. We have to concede that the problem cannot be solved unless clear evidence emerges.

Lodge Star in the East of Calcutta was established definitely in 1740. So when the Rev. Long and Carey further observed, 'We have accounts of Freemason's Lodge in Calcutta as early as 1744' (italics ours), they err on the point of date. We may at least hold that Lodges existed in Calcutta prior to 1740.

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