JyotikaSBaliarsingh: entry

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{{Short description|Fort in Calcutta, India}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Fort William
| native_name = Vijay Durg
| location = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| image = Fortwilliam1828.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Fort William, a view from the inside, {{Circa|1828}}
| pushpin_map = India Kolkata
| coordinates = {{coord|22.5577|88.3380|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| type = [[Fortification|Fortress]], garrisoned and armoured army headquarters.
| built = 1696–{{start date and age|1702}}
| materials =
| used = 1781–present
| controlledby = {{plainlist|
*[[Bengal Subah]] (before 1757)
*[[British East India Company]] (1757–1858)
*[[British Raj]] (1858–1947)
*[[Indian Army]] (1947–present)}}
| garrison = [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command]]
| commanders =
| battles = [[Battle of Plassey]] (1757)
}}

'''Fort William''', officially '''Vijay Durg''', is a [[Fortification|fort]] in [[Hastings, Kolkata|Hastings]], [[Kolkata|Calcutta (Kolkata)]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort William, Army’s Eastern HQ, renamed Vijay Durg |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/fort-william-armys-eastern-hq-renamed-vijay-durg/article69184172.ece |website=THE HINDU |publisher=The Hindu |access-date=27 April 2026}}</ref> It was built during the early years of [[Bengal Presidency|Britain's administration of Bengal]]. It sits on the eastern banks of the [[Hooghly River|River Hooghly]], the major distributary of the [[Ganga|River Ganga]]. One of Kolkata's most enduring British-era military fortifications, other than those in [[Bombay Castle|Bombay]] ([[Mumbai]]) and [[Fort St. George, India|Madras]] ([[Chennai]]), it extends over an area of seventy [[Hectare|hectares]].

The fort was named after [[William III of England|King William III]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History|author= Krishna Dutta|year=2003|page=71|publisher= Signal Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC&pg=PA71 |isbn= 9781902669595}}</ref> In front of the Fort is the [[Maidan (Kolkata)|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 (India)|Eastern Command of the Indian Army]].

==History==
{{Main|History of Kolkata}}
[[Image:Company rule calcutta from ftwilliam.jpg|right|thumb|A view of Calcutta from Fort William (1807)]]
[[Image:1844 Map of Fort William and Esplanade.jpg|thumb|Plan (top-view) of Fort William, c. 1844]]

There are two Fort Williams. The original fort was built in the year 1696 by the [[British East India Company]] under the orders of [[John Goldsborough|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>{{cite web|url=https://www.makemytrip.com/travel-guide/kolkata/fort-william-monuments.html|title=Fort William Kolkata India - History of Fort William|website=www.makemytrip.com|access-date=2018-12-27|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410174854/https://www.makemytrip.com/travel-guide/kolkata/fort-william-monuments.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Charles Eyre|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 [[William III of England|King William III]] in 1700. [[John Beard (colonial administrator)|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>{{cite book|title=Forts of India|last=Verma|first=Amrit|year=1985|publisher=The Director of Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India|location=New Delhi|pages=101–3|isbn=81-230-1002-8}}</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 (Kolkata)|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 [[1,000,000|million]] [[Pound sterling|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>{{cite web |url=http://ddpdoo.gov.in/pages/history |title=History | Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination and Services) | Government of India |publisher=Ddpdoo.gov.in |date= |accessdate=2022-08-11 |archive-date=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119022053/http://ddpdoo.gov.in/pages/history |url-status=live }}</ref>

Today, Fort William is the property of the [[Indian Army]]. The headquarters of [[Eastern Command (India)|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>{{cite news|date=16 December 2013|title=Memories of 1971 Bangladesh War come alive in Army museum|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/memories-of-1971-bangladesh-war-come-alive-in-army-museum/articleshow/27460220.cms|newspaper=Economic Times|access-date=11 June 2020|archive-date=27 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227130746/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/memories-of-1971-bangladesh-war-come-alive-in-army-museum/articleshow/27460220.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=17 December 2013|title=Indian Army to throw parts of Eastern Command HQ open for public|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/indian-army-to-throw-parts-of-eastern-command-hq-open-for-public/articleshow/73275423.cms|newspaper=Economic Times|access-date=11 June 2020|archive-date=25 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225073745/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/indian-army-to-throw-parts-of-eastern-command-hq-open-for-public/articleshow/73275423.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

The fort was officially renamed to Vijay Durg, in honour of [[Vijaydurg Fort|the oldest fort]] along [[Maharashtra]]'s [[Sindhudurg]] coast, in 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-02-05 |title=Fort William, Army’s Eastern HQ, renamed Vijay Durg |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/fort-william-armys-eastern-hq-renamed-vijay-durg/article69184172.ece |access-date=2025-05-14 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</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>{{cite journal|author=[[Simon Deschamps]]|title=Merchant and Masonic Networks in Eighteenth-Century Colonial India|doi=10.4000/1718.828|journal=L'Empire|issue=74|year=2017| volume=74 |oclc= 7288589062|issn=0291-3798|language=en,fr|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph F. G. Golder|url=https://www.academia.edu/3549069|title=Freemasonry in British India (1728–1888)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328202624/https://www.academia.edu/3549069/Freemasonry_in_British_India_1728_1888|archive-date=March 28, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Presidency of Fort William===
{{Main|Bengal Presidency}}

==Structure==
The Fort is built of brick and mortar in the shape of an irregular octagon with an area of {{cvt|5|sqkm}}. 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]] {{convert|9|m}} deep and {{cvt|15|m}} 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>{{full citation needed|date=September 2018}}

==Gallery==

<gallery>
File:Fort William, Calcutta, 1735.jpg|Fort William, 1735
File:"A Perspective View of Fort William" by Jan Van Ryne, 1754.jpg|Fort William, by Jan Van Ryne, 1754
File:Fort William, Calcutta.jpg|Fort William, Calcutta, 1756<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grant|first=James|title=British Battles On Land and Sea|volume=II|publisher=Cassell & Company, Limited|year=1873|page=69}}</ref>
File:First English Chapel, Fort William, Calcutta. Raised in 1714, with contribution of Rs. 1000 by the East India Company (p. 197, March 1824).jpg|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">{{cite journal|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle|date=February 1824|volume=94|issue=1|page=197|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKVJAAAAYAAJ&q=the+gentlemans+magazine+1824|access-date=13 December 2017|title=The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle}}</ref>
File:St Peter's Church, Fort William, Calcutta by William Prinsep 1835.jpg|St Peter's Church, Fort William by William Prinsep 1835
File:Old Fort William plate17.jpg|Fort William, River Face 1786 (from a coloured engraving by Thomas Daniell).
File:'The interior of the Arsenal, Fort William', Calcutta by William Prinsep 1835.jpg|The interior of the Arsenal, Fort William by William Prinsep 1835
File:Samuel Davis - Fort William, Calcutta - B1977.14.244 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|Fort William by Samuel Davis
File:Main Entrance - Fort William - Kolkata 2013-04-10 7736.JPG|Main entrance, Fort William 2013
File:South Gate - Fort William - Kidderpore Road - Kolkata 2013-04-10 7733.JPG|South gate, Fort William 2013
File:Fort William Church.jpg|St. Peter's Church, Fort William, Kolkata
File:Fort William Semaphore.jpg|[[Semaphore]] Tower, Fort William, Kolkata
File:Gates of Fort William in Kolkata 01.jpg|Main Gates of Fort William
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Fort William College]]
* [[Fort St. George, India]]

==References==
{{Commons}}
{{-}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Kolkata topics}}
{{Forts in India}}
{{Tourist attractions in Kolkata}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kolkata]]
[[Category:18th century in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Forts in West Bengal|William]]
[[Category:Indian Army bases]]
[[Category:British forts]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Military history of Kolkata]]
[[Category:Military installations established in 1698]]

Fort William, West Bengal - Revision history

JyotikaSBaliarsingh: entry