Fort William, West Bengal

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military installation

Fort William, officially Vijay Durg, is a fort in Hastings, Calcutta (Kolkata). It was built during the early years of Britain's administration of Bengal. It sits on the eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganga. One of Kolkata's most enduring British-era military fortifications, other than those in Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai), it extends over an area of seventy hectares.

The fort was named after King William III.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In front of the Fort is the Maidan, the largest park in the country. An internal guard room became the Black Hole of Calcutta. Today the fort is the headquarters of Eastern Command of the Indian Army.

History

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There are two Fort Williams. The original fort was built in the year 1696 by the British East India Company under the orders of Sir John Goldsborough which took a decade to complete. The permission was granted by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.<ref>Sudip Bhattacharya, Unseen Enemy: The English, Disease, and Medicine in Colonial Bengal, 1617 – 1847, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 30 Jun 2014, p.54</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sir Charles Eyre started construction near the bank of the Hooghly River with the South-East Bastion and the adjacent walls. It was named after King William III in 1700. John Beard, Eyre's successor, added the North-East Bastion in 1701, and in 1702 started the construction of the Government House (Factory, see Factory (trading post)) at the centre of the fort. Construction ended in 1706.<ref name=fort>Template:Cite book</ref> The original building had two stories and projecting wings. 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. Robert Clive started rebuilding the fort in 1758, after the Battle of Plassey (1757); construction was 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.<ref name=fort/> The headquarters of the Indian Ordnance Factories was established in 1775 at Fort William.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Today, Fort William is the property of the Indian Army. The headquarters of Eastern Command is based there, with provisions for accommodating 10,000 army personnel. The Army guards it heavily, and civilian entry is restricted.<ref name=fort/>

Much of Fort William is unchanged, but St Peter's Church, which used to serve as a chaplaincy centre for the British citizens of Kolkata, is now a library for the troops of HQ Eastern Command. A major part of the land parcel is home to the family of Army.

A war memorial has been created at the entrance of the fort, and the fort also houses a museum which displays artifacts from the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, especially those related to the battles in the Eastern sector and the Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The fort was officially renamed to Vijay Durg, in honour of the oldest fort along Maharashtra's Sindhudurg coast, in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

First Indian Masonic lodge

In 1730, Ralph Farrwinter and other members of the East India Company opened the first Indian Masonic lodge, a short time after the creation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Presidency of Fort William

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Structure

The Fort is built of brick and mortar in the shape of an irregular octagon with an area of Template:Cvt. 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 firing solid shot, and dates from before the advent of explosive shells. A dry moat Template:Convert deep and Template:Cvt broad surrounds the fort. The moat 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.<ref>Nandakumar Koroth, History of Forts in North Malabar</ref>Template:Full citation needed

Gallery

Fort William, 1735
Fort William, by Jan Van Ryne, 1754
Fort William, Calcutta, 1756<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
First English Chapel, Fort William, Calcutta. Raised in 1714, with contribution of Rs. 1000 by the East India Company (p. 197, March 1824)<ref name="Gentleman1824">Template:Cite journal</ref>
St Peter's Church, Fort William by William Prinsep 1835
Fort William, River Face 1786 (from a coloured engraving by Thomas Daniell).
The interior of the Arsenal, Fort William by William Prinsep 1835
Fort William by Samuel Davis
Main entrance, Fort William 2013
South gate, Fort William 2013
St. Peter's Church, Fort William, Kolkata
Semaphore Tower, Fort William, Kolkata
Main Gates of Fort William