This Fort William is a popular monument for the tourists in the Calcutta. The name of the monument derived from the King William III name of England and this monument is located at the Hooghly river bank. In the year 1696 at the time of British rule, This Fort William was built in the Kolkata, India. This is a building of two-storeys named guardroom in which tragedy ofthe black hole happened. In the year 1757 at the time of war of Plassey held, the Bengal Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah defeat the Britishers by attacking on them. This covered the system by the Britishers for the Fort construction in a new way.

Robert Clive started the construction of the new Fort and it was finished in year 1780. This fort William was built to prevent from the Muslim invaders attack. The ground of the fort is used for various fairs and exhibitions. The old fort is still unbroken. As the area of the fort is under military command, so to watch it from inside, it is necessary to take the permission of the commanding officer.

History

Fort William are of two types, old one and the new one. The main original Fort was built under John Goldsborough of the East India company in the year 1696. At the bank of the Hooghly river along with the help of South and east Bastion, the construction of the fort was initiated by the Sir Charles Eyre. The name derived after the name of King William III in the year 1700. The successor of King William, John Beard, in the year 1701 included the Bastion of North-East and initiated the Government house construction in the year 1702 at the fort center. This was completed in year 1706. There were projecting wings and building is two-storey. The guard room of the fort called as the Calcutta black hole.

The city was changed to Alinagar as by the Siraz Ud Daulah who is the Bengal nawab and in year the 1756, he attacked the ford. So later on British built the new fort in the maidan. The new fort was manufactured under the supervision of Robert Clive in year 1758 during the Plassey war and it was finished in year 1781 costing about 2 million of pounds. This maidan then later on called as the “Kolkata lungs” and area was cleared around the fort. This area is about 1 km wide range and ranges at north-south within 3 km. This Fort is most durable construction of the Raj Era of the Kolkata. The area of the fort covers about 70.9 hectares and is very amazing in its dimensions. This fort was constructed by the Robert Clive in 1781. In the world, there is a doubt created as this Fort William has not history of even a firing of a single shot.

At the present time, this fort is the Indian Army official property and it was located in the lushed green maidan. In the fort Williams, there is Eastern Command headquarters and there were about army personnel of 10, 000 counts. There is a St. Peter Church that served as center of chaplaincy for the citizens of British, so most of the Fort William portion is not changed due to this fact, but there is no existence of this church now.

For the 10, 000 personnel of the military that is also residents of this Fort, army has given all the facilities for the welfare of these personnel like shopping mall, laundary, swimming pool, post office, cinema hall, playground, and outdoor in the campus of the fort. The East India Company has built this fort. The British East India company become defenseless as due to defeat got from the attack of Siraj-Ud-Daula in 1756 and it happened just for this time only that British become wear.

By the year 1766, a custom house was built in the old fort. In the new fort, there was held an establishment of Indian Army Command. There is army guards to take of this fort and the civilians were strictly banned in this area.

Architecture

This fort covers an area of 5 km2 and formed of big gun and the bricks. Towards the land, it has 5 sides and towards the river Hooghly it has 3 sides. The design of the fort is such that like a star that this fort was defended against the cannon by the shells that is explosive. This fort is 15 m broad and 9 m deep with a dry moat but it got flooded and it is so much designed like that attackers cannot reached this fort. This fort has total of 6 gates named Water Gate St Georges, Plassey Calcutta, Chowringhee,, and Treasure Gate. Similar to this fort, there is another fort named Thalassery in the state Kerela and this fort has golf course that is 9-hole.

How to Reach

By Air

The nearest airport is the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport that is situated at the Dumdum and is about 17 km far from the state Kolkata. All the major cities were connected by this airport. In abroad, various cities were also connected the Kolkata through this airport. The distance of the airport from the city will cost about Rs. 400 by the car taxi.

By Rail

In Kolkata, the major stations were Howrah and Sealdah. All major cities were connected by these stations. There is facility of the Metro rail system in the Kolkata that joined the different junctions. To reach the city in a very short period of time, this Metro rail system is the bestoption.

By Road

In the Kolkata state, all the areas were visited by the buses of West Bengal state. The charges of the buses are Rs. 2/km. To reach the nearby cities, there were facilities of Deluxe and A/C buses from the state of Kolkata.

Nearby Places to Visit

Old Fort

Under the supervision of the John Goldsborough, the old fort was established by the East India British company. Charles Eyre started the construction of this fort at the River Hooghly bank along with the help of bastions on the walls of the fort. In the year 1701, the Northern and eastern bastion was manufactured by the John Beard.

Factory

At the fort center, there was a factory built. In the 1706, the construction completed. There two storey in the old building of Fort William having adjacent wings. Inside the fort, there was a guard room that was later on called as the Black Hole of the Kolkata.

Calcutta Victoria Memorial hall

This Memorial Hall was manufactured in the 1921 and famous for its drawing and beautiful designing. This Hall is now converted into a most popular art museum in the city of Kolkata. The paintings in this museum represent the past history. There were collections of effigies of various common personalities and many photos that reminded the war memories. The figures on the balcony of the museum showed the presence of maternityhood, good sense, and knowledge.

Weather and Best Time to Visit

The climate of the Kolkata is very wet and dry. The summers are from months of March to May having the minimum temperature of 30°C and maximum temperature of 40°C. Temperature in the winter season ranges from 9°C to 11°C and there is cool climate in the winter. The hottest month is the May and the coolest Month is January. The season of monsoons starts from June to September and there is heavy rainfall during this season.

Best time, October to March months were the good option to visit this place.

Accomodation

Hyatt Regency

In the city Salt lake, this hotel is very luxurious 5 star hotel having long acres of lands. There are total of 235 room in the hotel along with the conference hall that is about 12,970 square metres with other facilities like Prana and spa for wellness. There were other dining facilities like waterside café and Gucchi that guests can avail and they offered grilled fares and tandoor. For the visitors those likes the cocktails, there is a bar also available.

Address

Salt Lake,
Kolkata,
West Bengal - 700 098, India

The Park

This is another luxurious 5 star hotel that is situated at the Park Street area of the city. The main attraction of this hotel is that the rooms are about 149 and that has about 5000 sq feet of Tantra space filled with high energy. Also there is a dance floor and bar available for the visitors named Santra room. There is also restaurant having cosmic décor with Saffron and Thai Delicacies.

Address

Park Street,
Kolkata,
West Bengal - 700 016, India

The Pride Hotel

This hotel has about 153 designed guest rooms and it is situated in the New Town. There were 24 hours coffee house that offers various dishes that are multi-cuisine and beverages in its bar. For the private events and conferences, there is 350 sq feet of boardroom and banquet available for the official parties and events. There is also facility of steam, Jacuzzi, and Sauna.

Address

A.J.C Bose Road,
Kolkata,
West Bengal - 700 156, India

Timings and Tickets

Timings: Fort William is opened from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.

Tickets: Free

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