Relic of the Bengal paddle steamers

Following a survey by Captain Thomas Prinsep in 1828 the first paddle steamer began work in 1834. As Johnston of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) wrote in 1947 “The first steamers were stern wheelers about 120 feet long by 22 feet beam, with engines of 40 to 90 nhp, giving a speed of up to 7mph. In those days the same steamer never conveyed both passengers and goods. Passengers were taken in an ‘accommodation boat’, which was towed behind the steamer.”

Increasingly the new paddle steamers were used north east of Calcutta in Bengal and Assam to transport jute and tea for export. The steamers would bring their merchandise through the treacherous tributaries of the Brahmaputra, and Hooghly and return laden with basic supplies for the riverine towns and cities. These vessels worked together with the railway companies. Passengers were transported in both directions, often connecting to railway services at hubs such as Guwahati and Goalonda.

In 1911 no fewer than 225 passenger steamers were listed as belonging to six companies. As the 1913 handbook for the Eastern Bengal Railways puts it, “To visit Bengal without travelling on the great rivers which intersect that province would be almost as bad as going to Agra without seeing the Taj Mahal, and one may see something of the rivers and appreciate their importance as highways of commerce without making the long journey to Dibrugarh. For example, if one goes from Calcutta to Dacca the rail journey is broken at Goalanda and from there to Narayanganj is continued by steamer. The night mail from Calcutta deposits one at Goalanda in the early hours of the morning, and there is little time for the tourist in a hurry to see much of this village and to appreciate its importance as a trade centre before he leaves on the steamer for Narayanganj.

But Goalanda, the terminus of one section of the Eastern Bengal State Railway, merits some description. The groups of thatched huts of which the village consists are a poor index to the transhipment trade of this busy mart. It is situated at the junction of the Padma, or Ganges, and the Brahmaputra, and daily services of steamers connect it with the railway systems at Narayanganj and Chandpur, and with the steamer services to Madaripur, Barisal, Sylhet and Cachar. There are also daily services of steamers up the Padma to Digha Ghat in the dry season, and Buxar in the rains, and up the Brahmaputra to Dibrugarh.

With Partition in 1947 the fleet was split in two and, in 1959, Pakistan River Steamers Limited was formed, in turn becoming the Bangladesh River Steamers Ltd in 1972 after independence from Pakistan.

Irfca.org