PANIOTY FOUNTAIN ... British Acclaim for Greek Legacy

PANIOTY FOUNTAIN

Around 6 months ago, on a winter afternoon, I was at the Curzon Park Bus Stop, just opposite of Esplanade Mansion, waiting to meet someone. Suddenly, a dilapidated marble structure inside the park drew my attention. As there was no scope for a close examination (because in most of the time, the park remains closed), I decided to check KMC's list of Heritage Buildings. In Pg.45 of the publication, there is a mere mention of some PANIOTY FOUNTAIN as a Grade I heritage spot in the Curzon Park. When I started cultivating about it, I learned that the structure was built in the colonial time in memory of someone known as Demetrius Panioty.

Here, the question struck. Who was Demetrius Panioty and What was his contribution?...

Further research in the topic revealed details about a Greek Family which played a crucial role in the Colonial History of Calcutta as well as India, yet no elaborated accounts of them were mentioned anywhere.

So here goes the story that carries a 200 years legacy...


GLOBALIZATION, though a modern term, first coined sometime around 1930, was in effect in India from ancient times. Asia, Africa and Europe interacted with each other over long distances for thousands of years. Trading was the principal activity and approximately 4000 miles long Silk Route was the chord. Later, Europeans started exploring the oceans in the late 15th century and finally Vasco da Gama, along with his fleet, arrived in India in 1498. Cape of Good Hope discovered. The Oriental-Occidental Symbiosis got a new dimension.

India had commercial relations with the western countries from the time immemorial, but after Vasco da Gama's achievement, Europeans started trading activities through newly invented sea route. The first among the ethnic communities to arrive in India was naturally the Portugese. Later Dutch, French, Armenians, British, Chinese and finally the Greeks followed their footprints.  

After the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire and subsequent Turkish occupation of Greece in the late 15th and early 16th century, ironically, the entire commercial activity of the Ottoman Empire was in the hands of the Greeks & Armenians. Greek merchants dominated the trade of Mediterranean and most daring of them found their way to India in the 18th Century. Though some Greeks arrived overland through Persia and Afghanistan but many more chose the sea route via the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. They were mainly from the Thracian city of Philippopolis (now called Plovdiv, lying within present Bulgaria). They settled chiefly in the then Bengal.

One of the most prominent among them was Alexios Argyree Panaghiotis (his name later anglicized by his descendants as 'Panioty') or Alexander Haji Argyree (the Christian Greeks who returned from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem were entitled to get the title 'Haji', much like Muslims). Different sources suggest that he was a well known merchant of salt, lime and other native products. He was also the first recognised head of the Greek Community in Bengal.

Born in Philippopolis in around 1710, Alexander Argyree came to India in 1750. In 1771, he was sent to Cairo by Warren Hastings on a diplomatic mission to obtain permission for British merchants to trade in Egypt. On successful accomplishment of the mission, he was given permission by Hastings to build a Greek Church in Amratollah Street in Calcutta. He eventually shifted his commercial operations to Dhaka where he died in 1777. It's a pity that the first Greek church was erected in 1780-81 after his death. His name is mentioned in the tablet in Greek Inscription in the wall of Greek Church near Kalighat Tram Depot. He was a benevolent contributor behind the construction. His grave can be found in the Greek Cemetery located near Phoolbagan. The script is written in memoir, "Here lies the body of the Greek merchant Alexander Argreery from Philipopoly who departed from this world on 5th August 1777.


Grave of Alexander Argyree at Greek Cemetery [Photo Courtesy & Copyright : Indrajit Das]

The successors of Alexander Argyree, were also involved in their family line of business which continued for 3 generations. His son Alexander Panioty was a large scale trader in salt between Narayanganj and Chittagong. He also started a lime manufacturing unit in Sylhet. Alexander Argyree and his son were the chief agents in ensuring the presence of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bengal. Argyree's grandson John Panioty also looked after their family legacy. The Bengal and Agra Annual Guide & Gazetteer [Vol. 1, Page 47] published in 1842, lists John Panioty as one of the prominent Greek merchant of Dacca.

But in the late 18th and early 19th century, opportunities for individual entrepreneurs in the trade declined. Offspring of the well established Greek Merchants turned to other forms of employment. Most of them started serving as the uncovenanted officials in the Bengal Administration of the East India Company. The PANIOTY family was no exception.

John Panioty's son Emanuel Panioty had served for the East India Company till his death in 1815. The East India Register (India Office & Burma Office List) published in 1825 vouched for this fact. His grave can be seen at the Christian Cemetery in Kanpur, UP.

But Emanuel's son Demetrius was the most notable in the family after his great great grandfather. In 1849 he joined Bengal Secretariat as a writer and later transferred to the Durbar Department of the Governor General in 1853. In 1880, Lord Ripon became the Governor General of India and Demetrius started serving as the Assistant Private Secretary to Governor General Ripon. He was so close to Lord Ripon that his wife Perrine was appointed as the interpreter to the Vicereine, Lady Dufferin. The eminence of Demetrius in British Indian Empire can be assumed from the fact that he was awarded the prestigious C.I.E. (Companion of Indian Empire, an honour awarded by Queen Victoria)[Calcutta Old and New, H.E.A. Cotton, Pg.331-332]. After Lord Ripon, he served several Viceroys until his death in Simla in 1895. 

In 1898, at the initiative of Lord Curzon, a drinking fountain for public was erected at the junction of Old Court House Street and Esplanade Row, in the memory of Demetrius Panioty and his contributions towards the Indian Empire.

Today, one can locate this memorial at the north-west corner of Surendra Nath Banerjee Park (now renamed as 'Bhasha Uddyan'), unfortunately in a state of disrepair.

The monument is a finely crafted Jaipur Marble pavilion built in the Mughal Style and indeed an attractive piece of architecture. The nine-foiled cusped arch on each of its four faces indicates the prominence of Islamic architectural style. But the deep overhanging eaves are severely damaged and need some urgent repair. The beautiful motifs on each of the four columns and arch are mostly intact. Through a close observation you will find a proverb from Bible inscribed on the top of one arch "A GOOD NAME IS RATHER TO BE CHOSEN THAN GREAT RICHES" which definitely corresponds to the life of Demetrius Panioty. Furthermore, it is suggested by my Facebook friend Shri Somnath Ghosh that two more inscriptions are there on the monument. On the eastern side there is an inscription as follows - "In Memory of Demetrius Panioty C.I.E. Assistant Private Secretary to the Viceroy who died at Simla July 17th, 1895". On the western side it is inscribed - "This Fountain was erected as a tribute to faithful and assiduous service extending over a period of forty two years. By the Viceroys and Private Secretaries who gratefully remember it. AD 1890".

Another anecdote (also informed by Shri Somnath Ghosh) that I would like to share is, in his 1958 masterpiece 'Parash Pathar' (The Philosopher's Stone) Satyajit Ray used this monument as the location where the main protagonist of the film played by Tulsi Chakraborty, finds the philosopher's stone on a rainy day. I am providing the screenshot from the film below. 

Panioty Fountain can be seen on left side                                     Tulsi Chakraborty taking shelter in the fountain 

Here are given two photographs of the memorial, captured by veteran blogger and writer Brian Paul Bach, twenty years apart.

For the convenience, I am providing the extract from the google map so that you can spot it easily.

So this was the story of Panioty Family, which left its mark in Calcutta through Panioty Fountain and the Orthodox Church. The bloodline can be traced for another 4-5 generations after Demetrius but slowly dissolved in the tide of time. The Panioty family tree is given below, as compiled by linking different information and sources.

Family Tree up to Demetrius Panioty

Family Tree post Demetrius Panioty

Now it's up to the reader to decide that whether this memorial is a mere mark of respect to a reliable bureaucrat or an acclaim from the British Empire to an elegant family.

It would be better if you pay a visit !

Special Thanks:
1. Brian Paul Bach - for providing the photographs of Panioty Fountain
2. Somnath Ghosh - for sharing the information regarding the fountain.

Acknowledgements:
1. Banglapedia - Article on Greeks in India.
2. Website of British Library - India Office Select Materials
3. Blog of Rangan Datta - Article on Greek Orthodox Church.
4. 'Hidden Calcutta' by Sri Rathin Mitra.
5. www.geni.com - for tracing Panioty Family.
6. 'Kolikata, Sekaler o Ekaler' by Sri Harisadhan Mukhopadhyay.
7. Blog of Indrajit Das - Coverage of Greek Cemetery, Phoolbagan (http://www.bongblogger.com/greek-cemetery-calcutta-kolkata/)