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A view of Calcutta from Fort William (1807) from prints by
Edward Orme
June 20, 1756: Fort William in India is attacked and 146 prisoners are taken by Sirag ud-Daulah. The fort itself was built to protect the interests of British East India Company. Established by Royal Charter on December 21, 1600 by Queen Elizabeth I, the company traded in cotton, silk, indigo dye, saltpeter, tea, and opium. Saltpeter or potassium nitrate is used in making gunpowder and opium trade was legal at the time. After 21 years of trade monopoly, the company became more than a mercantile enterprise and was actually more of a rulership over India and other British colonies in Asia.
Fort William was situated on the banks of the river Hooghly which is a major tributary of the sacred river Ganges. The early fort was built under John Goldsborough in 1701 with John Beard adding to it in 1702. The entire complex was completed in 1706. There was a guard room that was part of the fort. The Nawab of Bengal noted a buildup of military forces at the fort and issued a cease and desist order. Military personnel decamped and left John Holwell in charge of a token force.
The fort was overrun and 146 prisoners were placed in the small guard room or dungeon. According to Holwell who survived the capture, the room was built to hold 2-3 prisoners, not nearly 150. There were two windows but both were barred. Twice during the sweltering night, bribes were offered to find larger rooms for the captives. The air was stifling and cries for water rang out. The confined men were so tightly packed that 123 suffocated or were trampled in what came to be called the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Today there is controversy over this event. There is no other contemporary record of the 123 deaths. The room was said to have measured 15 x 18 feet and some say 146 adult Europeans could not have been crammed into such a small space. Current subway requirements list 3 square feet for rush hour standees, the space in the dungeon was less than 1.8 square feet per person. This seems to reinforce rather than repudiate the point – they were crammed in so tightly, they suffocated.
"An ugly sight, a man who is afraid." - Jean Anouilh
"Better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees." - Dolores Ibarruri
"A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward." - Jean Paul Richter
"Nature abhors a hero....how can it be the survival of the fittest when the fittest keeps putting himself in situations where he is most likely to get creamed?" - Solomon Short
The BBC presents the British presence in India in the 18th century.
More information on the Black Hole of Calcultta.
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