Fort William, India

Fort William
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Fort William, a view from the inside, c. 1828
Fort William is located in Kolkata
Fort William
Fort William
Coordinates22°33′28″N 88°20′17″E / 22.5577°N 88.3380°E / 22.5577; 88.3380
TypeFortress, garrisoned and armoured army headquarters.
Site information
Controlled by
Site history
Built1696–1702
In use1781–present
Battles/warsBattle of Plassey (1757)
Garrison information
GarrisonEastern Command

Fort William 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.[1] 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.

  1. ^ Krishna Dutta (2003). Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History. Signal Books. p. 71. ISBN 9781902669595.