ABSTRACT
This chapter narrates a unique instance of urbanity in the area of Metiaburz, situated on the southern fringe of the city of Calcutta. Established and thriving during the colonial period, the settlement dated back to 1856 when the ousted Nawab of Awadh founded an enclosed settlement with a wish to replicate the grandeur of his beloved capital - the city of Lucknow. The author traces the history of an urban area which started as of a unique example of the pre-colonial notion of urbanization and gradually slipped into being an industrial suburb with overwhelming minority populations that could never integrate to the main-stream urban culture of Calcutta, despite its economic and political encroachments during the colonial era. By tracing the history of the settlement pattern and urban culture of the area, the author explores how the area, particularly of negligible colonial lineage, featured as an exception in the model of colonial urbanity.
