West Bengal isn’t really known for its forts. That is not to say that there were never any forts in this part of the country. Gangetic West Bengal is lacking in stone, and therefore forts that were built here, were mostly built of mud. Since mud forts do not survive for a long time, there aren’t any left from the medieval era. One could point to the stone ‘fort’ of Kurumbera, but evidence says that it wasn’t a fort at all, but a temple complex.
The only forts that survive in West Bengal are those that were built during the colonial era. As the East India companies from various European countries settled in this part of the world, they built strongholds from where they could do business or provide security. These forts, built of brick and mortar, have survived to some degree, though often as little more than ruins. While in any other part of the world they would be developed as tourist attractions, here they have mostly been left to fall apart and disappear. One such fort is the former Dutch fort of Falta, in the South 24 Parganas district, approximately 50km to the southeast of the state capital of Kolkata.
THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY
When it comes to the colonial trading companies, in India, it is the British who are remembered. But the truth is, the British had been beaten to it by the Dutch and the Portuguese. Both nations had arrived earlier and penetrated further by the late 17th century than the British. It was the spice trade which drew the early Europeans to this part of the world, and one spice more than others – pepper.
In 1591, the Portuguese established a syndicate between themselves, the Germans, Italians and Spanish, effectively excluding the Dutch from the nautical trade. However the Dutch got their hands on confidential Portuguese papers which revealed their trade routes and business practices[1]. The first Dutch trading mission to the ‘East Indies’ was in 1594. 5 years later there were as many as 6 Dutch companies trading with the East Indies. These 6 rival companies would merge on the 20th of March, 1602, creating the United Dutch Chartered East India Company, better known by its Dutch initials, VOC, meaning Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie.
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| Bridge across the moat of Falta Fort |
The VOC’s first official contact with India came in 1604 when Admiral Steven van der Hagen landed in Kozikhode and signed an agreement for defence and trade with the local ruler, known as Zamorin[2]. In 1627, the Dutch Governor of Coromandel deputed some men to Bengal to establish a trading station there. This trading post was Pipli, in modern day Odisha, established in 1630. In 1653 came the settlement of Chinsurah. By 1655 the VOC authorities in Batavia, modern day Jakarta, had elevated this to a separate Directorate of Bengal.
But navigating the treacherous waters of the Hooghly River, from the Bay of Bengal to the settlement in Chinsurah, almost 100km inland, was a specialized task. For this, each company had a set of navigators called ‘pilots’. These men, who had an intimately familiar knowledge of the river, would be picked up when a ship entered the Hooghly. Their sole task was to guide the ship to its destination without grounding it. For this, the Dutch had established a pilot post in Falta, around 10km to the north of the point where the Hooghly’s waters met those of the Roopnarayan[3]. This is the origin of the Dutch fort of Falta.
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| Guardhouse of the Falta Fort |
THE ENGLISH REFUGEES IN FALTA IN 1756
In June of 1756, when the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah expelled the British from their settlement of Calcutta, a number of the English East India Company’s factors, along with all the women and children from the settlement, would take shelter here. Not wanting to anger an already unpredictable Nawab, the Dutch would not let the English into their fort. However, they permitted them to anchor next to it, and the Dutch chief of Chinsurah, Adrian Bisdom, provided the English with all manner of support.
The English arrived in Falta (spelt Fulta in older texts) on the 26th of June 1756[4]. They would stay here until the winter of that year, when relief finally arrived in the form of a large flotilla from Fort St. George in Madras (now Chennai), carrying Clive who led the company forces, Admiral Watson who led the naval forces, and Sir Eyre Coote, who commanded His Majesty’s 39th Regiment of Foot. From here, the force embarked on the 27th of December 1756, taking Calcutta on the 2nd of January, 1757.
In 1825, the VOC and the EIC had a mutual exchange of settlements in the East[5]. The VOC handed over all their Indian settlements to the English East India Company in exchange for all English possessions in the island of Sumatra. As per the terms of this treaty, the fort of Falta came to be occupied by the EIC. It is not clear what happened to it after that, since the records are few and far between. It would seem that in the wake of independence and partition, the fort was used for refugee resettlement by the new Indian government. The fort still contains the families of the refugees who were settled there and the interiors now look like a very typical Bengal village, although there are some interesting ruins that set it apart.
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| Inside of the gateway complex |
The area is still known as Falta Kella (Kella is the Bengali for Fort), and local party office is labelled ‘Falta Kella TMC Office’. The entrance to the fort is about 1.5km south of the Falta Police Station, on Falta Road. The GPS coordinates are - 22°17'21.7"N 88°06'23.6"E. As one approaches from the north, the first thing one notices is a long waterbody by the side of the road. This is the fort’s moat and it is completely intact, wide and deep enough to drown a modern day truck. Across the moat is a modern concrete bridge, which probably replaces the old draw bridge that would be typical of a fort. The bridge is wide enough to accommodate a small car.
Once across the bridge, one comes to the two storeyed gateway complex. The arched entrance is clearly an old one, but additions to the gateway complex have been made over time. The complex now serves as a home. Through the gate, approximately 40 metres to the west, there is a lighthouse. The lighthouse stands on a small mound. Older documents refer to the fort being “perched on a hill”. Could this be it?
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| Lighthouse inside Falta Fort |
HERE FOR BETTER PRESERVATION
PERIOD DATED 1756 FROM RUINS OF
OLD FORT FALTA
BY
SHRI HIRANMAY PRAMANIK
OC FALTA PS
23RD JANUARY 1960
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| Falta Fort Cannon at the Falta Police Station |
The cannon bears the mark of a crown, along with tge letter 'P'. The crown makes it clear that this is a British cannon. A VOC cannon would have the VOC stamp on it. As for the 'P', that is what is known as a proofing mark. The "P" indicates approval from a civilian approval board.
If this was any other country, the Falta fort would have been developed as a tourist attraction. A riverside resort has already come up adjacent to the fort. But in India, no one gives a damn about history, or even the revenue potential of historic structures. And so the Falta fort remains, slowly decaying, until the day it is gone forever.
- by Deepanjan Ghosh
[1] The Dutch East India Company: The
History of the World’s First Multinational Corporation (Charles Rivers Editors,
2017)
[2] Bauke van der Pol – The Dutch East
India Company in India (Parragon, 2014)
[3] Bauke van der Pol – The Dutch East
India Company in India p66 (Parragon, 2014)
[4] S.C. Hill – Bengal in 1756-57 pcix
(John Murray, 1905)
[5] Dr. Kalikinkar Dutta - The Dutch in Bengal and Bihar, 1740-1825 p154 (University of Patna, 1948)
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