EAP1104/5

Custodial history: Butto Kristo Paul was born in 1835 near Shibpur in Howrah, Bengal. His father, Lakshminarayan Pal was a petty businessman but not very well off. When Batto Kristo was around 12 years of age he left Shibpur to settle down in his maternal house in Sobhabazar in north Calcutta. His maternal grandfather bought a small estate near Sobhabazar -Beniatola region in north Kolkata where eventually Butto Kristo started living in. His maternal uncle, Ramkumar had a small spice shop in Natunbazar in north Kolkata where Butto Kristo first started working in. But he always dreamt of carrying out his own independent business ventures from a very young age. This prompted him to leave the spice shop behind and start an opium selling shop when he was just 16 years old in the Chitpore region of north Kolkata. It was a flourishing business by then. However, Butto Kristo always felt guilty about selling opium and he abruptly called off the opium shop in Chitpore and went to Baidyabati in Hoogly. He started a jute shop there with a very small amount of capital. However, he was not satisfied with his Jute business and opened up a small spice shop in Sobhabazar Street in north Kolkata. Again, he withdrew from this venture and started a medicine shop in 120/121 Sobhabazar Street with the help of Madhab Chandra Daw. He was very aware of the pulse of the people who were by then shifting from traditional medicinal practices like ayurvedic medicines to western allopathic medications introduced by the British. There was a rising demand for allopathic medicines in the market. He started contacting agents in Kolkata who were attached with foreign medicine companies and started bringing medicines from London. These medicines were sold from his shop which was named as “Butto Kristo Paul and Company". He used to sell these medicines at lower rates than his fellow foreign medicine shops in Kolkata and thus he attracted the buyers. Apart from importing and selling allopathic medicines he also started popularizing the allopathic medication among the native population of Kolkata. Butto Kristo Paul bought a three-storied building on 7, Bonfield Lane and opened up a new medicine shop there. Later he purchased land and built up a house on 12, Bonfield lane. They opened up a store-house on 16/17 Chinabazar street in Kolkata. They built another huge house on 30, Sobhabazar Street in 1904. They opened up a dispensary in this house too. In 1909, they bought a mansion on 13, Bonfield Lane. They opened up a research laboratory in 18, Shashibhushan Sur Lane in 1912. They opened up around 16 departments in medicinal instruments, medicine making, dentistry, eye treatment, homeopathy, ayurveda, patent medicine, photography, etc. There was also a separate veterinary department for the treatment of the animals. He engaged his elder son, Bhootnath Paul, to his flourishing business. It was Bhootnath who made the Butto Kristo Paul and Company a household name in Bengal through the use of advertisements in the leading newspapers, magazines and even in the traditional almanacs. His sons, Harishankar and Harimohan were also engaged in the family business. Harishankar went to England to have a firsthand experience on the operation of the medicine business there. In 1930, he was awarded the title of Knighthood. Harishankar was not only a renowned businessman but also an enthusiastic social worker. In 1936, he became the mayor of Calcutta Municipal Corporations. He also founded the Bengal Chemists and Druggists Association. The medicine business of Butto Kristo Paul and Company acquired so much reputation that that the Indian Medical Record stated in 1909 in that ‘Calcutta can at least boast of one pharmacy organized and financed solely by Indian brain and Capital/which/only through unstinted honesty of purpose and dogged perseverance of its founder proprietor, has fully won the confidence and esteem of even in the Western world.’.

Arrangement: Arranged by the custodian.

This collection contains the following 6 files:

• EAP1104/5/1: বাংলা নববর্ষের আমন্ত্রণপত্র [3 Apr 1951]
• EAP1104/5/2: Letterhead of Butto Kristo Paul & Co. Limited [20th century]
• EAP1104/5/3: Revised and Confidential Price List of Tinctures, Pharmaceutical Preparations and Proprietary Medicines Manufactured at The Research Laboratory of Messrs. B.K.Paul & Co. [20th century]
• EAP1104/5/4: Sticker of Medicine [20th century]
• EAP1104/5/5: ১৩৫৪ সালের পঞ্জিকা [1947]
• EAP1104/5/6: ১৩৬৭ সালের পঞ্জিকা [1960].

The physical collection in India also contains the following book (which has not been digitised for this project:

• The Cyclopedia of India, 1906.