Калкутта ботаникалық бағы: тарихы мен маңызы

Botanic garden in Calcutta, India

The Culcutta Botanic Garden, previously known as Indian Botanic Garden and the Calcutta Botanic Garden, The gardens exhibit a wide variety of rare plants and a total collection of over 12,000 specimens spread over 109 hectares. It is under Botanical Survey of India (BSI) of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

The gardens were founded in 1787 by Colonel Robert Kyd, an army officer of the East India Company, primarily for the purpose of identifying new plants of commercial value, such as teak, and growing spices for trade. In a written proposal to Governor General John Macpherson to establish the garden, Kyd stated it was "not for the purpose of collecting rare plants as things of mere curiosity, but for establishing a stock for disseminating such articles as may prove beneficial to the inhabitants as well to the natives of Great Britain, and which ultimately may tend to the extension of the national commerce and riches." India was undergoing mass famine in the 18th century as a result of political turmoil, in addition to severe socio economic crises. Robert Kyd's Garden proposal was motivated by the desire to increase agricultural revenue in an effort to end food scarcity and promote economic growth. Furthermore, Robert Kyd was accustomed to growing various plants (spices) from the East Indies, which were obtained from East India Company's voyages. The East India Company's Court of Directors supported Kyd's ambitions to establish cinnamon, tobacco, dates, Chinese tea, and coffee in the Garden due to its economic benefits. A major change in policy, however, was introduced by the botanist William Roxburgh after he became superintendent of the garden in 1793. Roxburgh brought in plants from all over India and developed an extensive herbarium. This collection of dried plant specimens eventually became the Central National Herbarium of the Botanical Survey of India, which comprises 2,500,000 items. During the early years of the garden Joseph Dalton Hooker writes:
contributed more useful and ornamental tropical plants to the public and private gardens of the world than any other establishment before or since. I here allude to the great Indian herbarium, chiefly formed by the staff of the Botanic Gardens under the direction of Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, and distributed in 1829 to the principal museums of Europe.

The Calcutta Gardens, along with gardens such as Singapore Botanic Gardens, Botanic Gardens St. Vincent and others located in Southeast Asia formed a large network of scientific institutions through which plants were transferred, classified according to the Linnaean system, and used to justify colonial expansion. Over the years attractive display gardens for the public have been developed and many kinds of plants have been cultivated for scientific observation. During the 1970s the garden initiated a program to introduce improved food plants and other varieties of economic benefit to the people of India. This garden is a No Plastic Zone.

Griffith was instrumental in rearranging the Calcutta Garden in a way that reflected scientific practice at the time, emphasizing the importance of scientific classification in the Garden's appearance. Griffith often criticized the layout of the Botanic Garden under Wallich's control as he believed it did not have the qualities of a traditional European garden. These qualities included "uniformity of design, adaptation of particular parts to particular purposes, including those of science and instruction." The gardens are also famous for their enormous collections of orchids, bamboos, palms, and plants of the screw pine genus (Pandanus). Animals seen inside the Botanic Garden include the Jackal (Canis aureus), Indian mongoose and the Indian Fox (Vulpes bengalensis). Many species of snake are also to be found in the garden.