calcutta national medical college

Way back in 1707, the first hospital in Calcutta was built in the premises of the Old Fort at Gerstein Place. The Council of Fort William constructed this hospital. This hospital, initially built for the Europeans, was then known as Presidency Hospital. The hospital was accommodated in a single storied building. Later, in 1768, two houses were purchased in Lower Circular Road for converting them into a full fledged hospital. Located near the Presidency Jail, the hospital came to be known as Presidency General Hospital. Doors were opened to the non-European patients from 2nd April 1770.

During 1803, at height of its rule in India, the British India Company (East India Company) had a private army of 260000, twice the size of British Army. Plenty of soldiers used to die, mainly from diarrheal diseases, malaria and kala azar. The only available treatment at that time was traditional Indian medicine. It was not possible to treat this vast number of soldiers with very limited European doctors. Necessity of imparting training to the native people in modern medicine was badly felt.