On August 24th 1690 the English Merchant Job Carnock moved the trading post of the East India Company downriver from Hooghly to a site located near the three small villages of Sutanti, Govinpur and Kalikata. By 1696 a fort had been established in what is now the center of Calcutta, and the cities fame and size have grown steadily ever since. The city that was once home to the British Raj, designed to accommodate two million people, now houses in excess of twelve million and struggles under the weight of this human impact. Despite the overcrowding and the desperation of the poor visible on many streets, Calcutta remains a vital city that continually challenges and surprises.