Fort William is a fort built in Calcutta on the
eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganges, during the early years of the Bengal Presidency of British India. It was named after King William III of England and
Ireland and II of Scotland.[1] In
front of the Fort is the Maidan, which used to be a part of the Fort and is the
largest urban park in Calcutta.
There
are actually two Fort Williams, the old and the new. The original was built in
1696 by the British East India Company under the
supervision of John Goldsborough. Sir Charles Eyre started
construction near the bank of the River Hooghly with
the South-East Bastion and the adjacent walls. It was named after King William
III in 1700. John Beard, his successor, added the North-East Bastion in 1701,
and in 1702 started the construction of the Government House (Factory)
at the centre of the fort. Construction ended in 1706. The original building
had two stories and projecting wings. An internal guard room became the Black Hole of Calcutta.
In
1756, the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah,
attacked the Fort, temporarily conquered the city, and changed its name to Alinagar.
This led the British to build a new fort in the Maidan.
he rebuilding of the fort was
started by Robert Clive in
1758, after the Battle of Plassey (1757), and completed in 1781 at a
cost of approximately two million pounds. The area around the Fort was cleared,
and the Maidan became "the Lungs of Kolkata". It stretches for around
3 km in the north-south direction and is around 1 km wide.Fort
William is one of Kolkata's most enduring Raj era edifice. This is a fort of
stupendous dimensions and is spread over an area of 70.9 hectares. It was built
by Robert Clive in the year 1781. Fort William has the dubious distinction of
being the only fort in the world from which not a single shot was fired.
Today
this fort located in the periphery of the lush green Maidan is the property of
Indian Army. The headquarters of Eastern Command is based at Fort William and
it has provisions for accommodating 10,000 army personnel.
Much of
Fort William is unchanged except for the fact that the St. Peter's Church which
used to serve as a chaplaincy center for the British citizens of Kolkata is now
a library for the troops of HQ Eastern Command.
For the
welfare and relaxation of the 10,000 odd military personnel who are residents
of Fort William, the army has provided every kind of facilities within the Fort
premises like the emerald blue swimming pool, cinema hall, shopping mall,
laundry, outdoor playground, restaurants and even a post office.
This
colossal fort was built out of fear by the British East India Company. The
British felt vulnerable after their defeat at the hands of Siraj-Ud-Daula in
the year 1756 and the British East India Company for the first time in many
years were showing signs of wear and tear.
The Old
Fort was repaired and used as a customs house from 1766 onwards.
The New
Fort is still in use as the headquarters of
the Eastern Command of the Indian Army. The Army guards it heavily, and
civilian entry is restricted.
Presidency of Fort William
Structure
The
Fort is built of brick and mortar in the shape of an irregular octagon with an area 5 km². Five of
its sides face landward, and three towards the Hooghly River. The design is that of a star fort, suited to defence against cannon, but from before the advent of explosive shells. It
is surrounded by a dry moat 9 m deep and 15 m
broad, which can be flooded but is designed as an area in which to use enfilade (or "flanking") fire
against any attackers reaching the walls. There are six gates: Chowringhee,
Plassey Calcutta, Water Gate St Georges and the Treasury Gate. There are
similar forts at places like Thalassery in Kerala.[2] It has 9-hole golf course.
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