Amidst the most renowned quays of the city there is a jetty-ghat that stands out for certain reasons. There may be nothing particularly overwhelming about the architecture as seen today, yet the unmistakable scent of a once-glorious vanity continues to dominate. And what was once the hot seat of all business activities of the city is now more nostalgia. Extending simple favours to the daily commuters of the riverine is the renowned Old Fort Ghat of yore. Resplendent in its all new avatar as the Fairlie Place Ghat.  

Among all the stories on the Ghats of Kolkata published so far, the Old Fort Ghat will perhaps survive as the most significant. In order to find a connection between this ghat and those that exist today, we carried out extensive research. And what we discovered from various sources is that despite the changes in the course of the Ganges, the Old Fort Ghat must have similarly stood somewhere between today’s Fairlie Place Ghat and the Shipping Corporation Jetty (Millennium Park main entrance).

ROUTE
Proceeding northbound by the Strand Road from Babughat, just after crossing Koilah Ghat Street on the right and the entrance of Millennium Park on left, keep an eye on the double-arched entrance of the Fairlie Place Ghat or BBD Bagh Circular Railway Station. Enter through the second arch going over the railway tracks and hitting the Fairlie Place Ghat. You will find a vast parking lot on your right in front of the north-most entrance of the Millennium Park. Park your car and walk down to the riverside and you will find the two jetties of Fairlie Place Ghat on either side of the car-parking. 

HISTORY
Fairlie Place, a popular business district of the city, was named after William Fairlie, an English merchant and a senior stakeholder of a British trading house named the Fairlie Gilmore & Company. The Fairlie House of the Kilburn Company was located towards the north while the ghat stood at the end of Fairlie Place. It was thus called the Fairlie Place Ghat. Fort Ghat was the original name, which it retained for a hundred and fifty years. The Fort Ghat marked the northern limit of the old Fort William. However, in Upjohn’s map of 1794, Fairlie Place figures as a passage without name, leading to the Old Fort Ghat. 

OLD FORT WILLIAM
Christened after King William III, the old Fort William was built by the British East India Company between 1696 and 1702 after the Company’s main Bengal trading station was moved from Hooghly to Calcutta in 1690. In 1702 the Government House (Factory) was being constructed at the centre of the fort. The original building was two-storeyed with projecting wings and an internal guardroom on the ground floor – which later became the infamous ‘Black Hole of Calcutta.’
The plot where the magnificent old Fort William was built is now bound in by Fairlie Place to the north, Koilah Ghat Street to the south, Netali Subhas Road to the east and the Strand Road to the west. The General Post Office of today was at the south-east corner of the old Fort. Koilah (Coelah) Ghat, earlier known as ‘New Wharf’ marked the southern-most limit of the old Fort at the end of the present Koilah Ghat Street. The Fort Ghat, on the other hand, marked the northern extremity of the Fort.
A long strip of brass etched on the eastern staircase of the GPO is reminiscent of the old Fort William and a prominent marble plaque mentions the history. The other buildings viz., the Calcutta Collectorate, the Custom House, Reserve Bank of India building and the office of the Eastern Railways are present at the same plot today where the old Fort once stood. 
In 1757 the forces of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah attacked the old Fort. The northern part of the old Fort (on the boundary of which lay the farm house of Lord Crittenden), was destroyed by the Nawab. The northern river gate was used by the young Nawab to enter the fort after it fell. The south section had two gates – one leading to the river and steps and the other – the landing stage (ghat) which was used by the Governor Roger Drake – to escape in a boat before the Fort fell to the Nawab's forces. From 1766 what remained of the Fort was repaired and repurposed into warehouses, offices and a Custom House for the East India Company. 

THE OLD FORT GHAT
The Old Fort Ghat was built at the turn of the eighteenth century. It was probably the only ghat of British India which promoted large scale maritime activities. In those days, trade between England and India was carried out only through waterways. Loading and unloading of both goods and passengers from ships or cargos were carried out from this ghat.  Besides being the capital city, Calcutta also gained immense prominence as the commercial centre of British India as it could use its riverine for transshipment of goods from water to land and from river to sea.
History has it that the Customs House had issued instructions sometime in February 1807 stating: ‘No goods whatever imported at Calcutta from sea, or for exportation from Calcutta by sea, will, in future, allowed to be landed at, or shipped from any other Ghaut, but that to the south of the Custom House at Calcutta.’ This ghat (or Ghaut) was none other than the famed old Fort Ghat. It was therefore of great importance. The orthodox devotees however continued to use this ghat for their daily ritual of taking holy dips and offering prayers.

LIFE AT THE GHAT
Standing on one of the jetties of the Fairlie Place Ghat, we were as if transported back in time. The siren of a departing launch immediately summoned visuals of a sailing ship with its towering masts slowly approaching the magnificent old Fort Ghat. Helpers would scurry around ready to unload the goods and help the passengers to disembark. Sailors flaunting their well-travelled machismo would swagger around, while merchants with gems the size of pigeon eggs on their plump fingers glowed in anticipation of the cargo, further adding to their already colossal coffers. Large boxes and sacks were thrown down from the deck while the porters swarmed their way to the ships to collect the luggage and carry them safely to the banks. The cacophony of people’s excitement coupled with loud cheering filled the air – so dramatic yet so real.

THE GHAT TODAY
Located right behind the BBD Bagh Circular Railway Station on Strand Road, is today’s Fairlie Place Ghat – a vast quay on the eastern banks of the Ganges, near the Customs House. Yet the absence of a colonnade and flight of stairs descending down to the river barely qualifies the place to be called a ghat in the true sense. 
Similar to the Armenian Ghat, the Fairlie Place Ghat is also equipped with local ferry services. The jetty towards the north is under the WBTDC while that towards the south is run by the Hugli Nadi Samabai Samity. Using the two jetties extending out of the quay, the Kolkatans are saved hours of hectic commuting.  
Descending the ladder of fame, facing the challenge of a potential fading into obscurity, the quaint ghat has successfully circumnavigated many trials and travails. To the denizens of the city, however, the Fairlie Place Ghat is still a revered entity besides being their lifeline. The Old Fort Ghat carries the charm of a bygone era where velvet-clad swashbuckling adventurers in crisp moustaches could still hope to find their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – or beneath the timbers of the jetty hidden from the authorities in sacks in the swirling waters! ‘Yo heave ho, yo heave ho, once more once again, still once more…’ or for a ‘Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum’… as the old privateers would sing…