ABSTRACT

In the year 1920, the commissioners for the Port of Calcutta arranged for the publication of a commemorative volume to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Calcutta Port Trust's (CPT) founding. The commissioners had substantial grounds for marking the occasion. This chapter examines primary source records from the period 1870 to 1880 to shed light on the early days of the port's modernization. It seeks to identify the impact of this earliest phase of modernization on the Calcutta port workforce. The chapter seeks to understand two key features of the port's modernization process. First, the chapter asks whether there is a causal link between the modernization process and class conflict. Second, it seeks to understand the significance of changes to labor management practices in the modernization process. The chapter explains the relationship between modernization and class formation and places the changes discussed in comparison with developments in similar ports around the world in the same time period.