ASI restoring the 17th-century Dutch cemetery at Chinsurah

Context

The Archeological Survey of India, Kolkata had started the restoration of the Dutch cemetery at Chinsurah.

About the Dutch Cemetery

• The cemetery is situated more than 40 km upstream from Kolkata on the river Hooghly.
• The Chinsurah Dutch cemetery is probably the biggest non-British European cemetery in West Bengal.
• It is a protected monument remains and the most important proof of strong Dutch presence in the town.
• The Cemetery reminds of the golden days of the Dutch legacy in Chinsurah.
• The cemetery contains an assortment of 250 graves scattered under old trees and surrounded by a high wall.
• The cemetery has two segments, the older one having graves of Dutch nationals and the other is still used by the British and native Christians.
• The oldest identified tomb at the cemetery belongs to Sir Cornelius Jonge who died in Chinsurah in 1743.
  • The other important graves at the cemetery include is of Daniel Anthony Overbeck, Dutch Governor of Chinsurah, who stayed in the town even after the British took over the town in 1825.
• The cemetery has mausoleums with an architectural style of the same period in south India.
• The southern part of the cemetery is home to 24 extant Dutch tombs, which are of three types, namely, pyramids, tomb boxes, and plain