{"id":9698,"date":"2024-02-12T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T01:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/?p=9698"},"modified":"2024-02-12T01:01:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T01:01:02","slug":"black-hole-calcutta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/black-hole-calcutta\/","title":{"rendered":"The Horror of the Black Hole of Calcutta Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The past is full of events that gained their notoriety from the death and destruction they wrought, but few of those events took place over a single night. In the city of Kolkata, then called Calcutta, one night was all it took to make a grisly mark in history, all thanks to their dungeon\u2013the Black Hole of Calcutta. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 20, on a stifling summer night, over one hundred prisoners were placed in the dungeon. By the time morning came, some reports say that only 23 survived. Other sources, on the other hand, claim that the horror of the Black Hole of Calcutta incident has been blown out of proportion throughout history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we will delve into the events of that infamous night, the chaotic aftermath, and the controversies that surround it all. Was the Black Hole of Calcutta the living hell that legends make it out to be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Black Hole. June 20 1756.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is the Black Hole of Calcutta?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the term \u201cBlack Hole of Calcutta\u201d is usually used to describe the event in which British prisoners of war were jailed and suffered extreme casualties, the Black Hole itself was a dungeon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be more specific, the Black Hole of Calcutta was a dungeon<\/a> within Fort William in the city of Calcutta, which is modern-day Kolkata. Fort William was a British East India Company stronghold that was taken over by Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal when the city fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This dungeon was described as small and incredibly confined, 18 feet by 14 feet in size, with two barred windows for light and air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*The title \u201cNawab\u201d is a royal title given to sovereign rulers, usually in South Asian states. The Western equivalent title would be \u201cPrince\u201d, so the Nawab of Bengal was essentially the Prince of Bengal.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Happened in the Black Hole of Calcutta?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prelude to the Battle of Calcutta<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During the 1700s, the British East India Company was constantly looking for ways to expand. The EIC quickly took control of Calcutta, using the port city as a centralized point for trade in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bengal region of India was rich in resources, and the British East India Company<\/a> wasn\u2019t the only foreign company to take notice. The French East India Company was also present in the area, and to protect their assets, the British East India Company built Fort Williams.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make tensions even higher, both the British and the French each had their own military forces attached to their stations in the Bengal region. The fear that a conflict might break out was upsetting to local Indian rulers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, had grown tired of the foreign companies trying to control the region. He ordered that the fortification of Fort Williams be halted. As expected, the British East India Company did not comply.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To more firmly establish himself as the ruler of the area, and potentially to drive the British out, Siraj ud-Daulah gathered his army and attacked the fort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fall of Fort Williams and the Black Hole of Calcutta <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On June 20, 1756, the Nawab and his forces attacked Fort Williams. They were ready to drive out the British and take back the area for their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Siraj ud-Daulah\u2019s forces laying waste to Fort Williams, the British commander of the fort ordered his soldiers to escape. But not all of the British soldiers fled. Around 140 stayed behind under the watch of John Zephaniah Holwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem was that Holwell wasn\u2019t a commander of any sort. In fact, he was a bureaucrat for the British East India Company<\/a> who had once been a military surgeon. Along with the soldiers, an unrecorded number of Anglo-Indian merchants and civilians also took shelter in the fort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also present at Fort Williams was a group of Indian sepoys, or native Indian soldiers working for the British East India Company. When the Bengali forces began their siege, the sepoys deserted<\/a>, leaving the British and Holwell in a lurch.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now lacking the sepoy, and under the command of the civilian Holwell, Fort Williams quickly fell to Siraj ud-Daulah\u2019s army. According to Holwell, Siraj ud-Daulah spoke with him before those at Fort Williams were imprisoned, and promised Holwell that no harm would come to them by his hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siraj ud-Daulah needed to contain his new batch of prisoners, and Fort Williams lacked a large space to do so. With little other choice, Siraj ud-Daulah had all the prisoners rounded up and put into Fort William\u2019s dungeon<\/a>\u2013also known as the Black Hole.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Night of Hell: Inside the Black Hole of Calcutta <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The prison, or the Black Hole of Calcutta, was perfectly acceptable for two or three prisoners, but the night of June 20 would see it filled with many, many more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Holwells’s account, 146 people were placed into the Black Hole\u2013the surviving soldiers from the siege along with the British and Anglo-English civilians that had taken shelter in the fort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cell was so full that it was difficult for the Bengali soldiers to shut the door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rischgitz\/Stringer\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Holwell\u2019s description of the Black Hole of Calcutta described it as:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n