The Calcutta Collectorate and The Black Hole of Calcutta, Dalhousie Square

The Calcutta Collectorate Building on Clive Street (now Netaji Subhas Road), at the North Western corner of Dalhousie Square (now Binay Badal Dinesh Bagh or BBD Bagh), is one of the many unfortunate victims of Calcutta’s (Kolkata) unplanned and uncontrolled green drive. Large trees have been planted at random along the pavements of many of the city’s streets, which completely blocks of the view of the architectural marvels behind them.

When the English bought the villages of Kalikata, Sutanuti and Gobindapur from Sabarna Roychowdhury in 1698, and established their factory here, they also had to take over the tasks of tax collection and policing. For this task, a European collector or zamindar was appointed who would have a native as his deputy. During the tenure of John Zephaniah Holwell, the “black zamindar” was the notorious Gobindram Mitter (or Gobindaram Mitra) who was famously rich and, legend says, the first native in the town to have a horse carriage. Gobindram Mitter was the man who built Chitpur’s famous “Black Pagoda”, a “nava ratna” or nine turreted temple that was so huge, it was used as a navigational aid by ships on the Hooghly. It was knocked down by a cyclone in 1820, and its ruins can still be seen.

The Black Hole of Calcutta

Let me start by differentiating between the place and the event. The Black Hole of Calcutta was a place, and about it’s existence, no controversy exists. The Black Hole Tragedy was an event which, many historians say, did not happen at all. My search was for the place, and it’s existence does not in any way corroborate the events alluded to by John Zephaniah Holwell in his letter of 1758.

Now, to the beginning. The original Fort William of Calcutta stood where the GPO, the Collectorate, the RBI and the Fairlie Place offices of Eastern Railway stand today. It’s construction began around 1696, and continued through 1706. The fort housed, among other things, the East India Company’s factory, the Governor’s mansion, living quarters for the employees or factors of the company, and various offices and godowns. When the new Nawaab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula attacked Calcutta in 1756, the fort fell. St. Anne’s Church, Calcutta’s first Church, which stood where the main rotunda of the Writers’ Building stands today, was also destroyed in the attack. The heavily damaged fort was ultimately torn down, and the GPO and other buildings took it’s place.

Now, what was the Black Hole? The Black Hole was a military prison, within the walls of the old Fort William. It was located along the Eastern curtain wall of the fort, was about 18 feet by 14 feet, and was completely bricked up, save for two very small, barred windows. What happened here on the night of 20^th June, 1756, is a matter of great controversy. The acting Governor, Roger Drake, having fled the fort, it’s defenders chose a surgeon, John Zephaniah Holwell, to lead the defense of the fort against the far superior army of Siraj-ud-Daula. Outmanned and outgunned, the defenders ultimately surrendered, and the Nawab ordered the survivors to be confined for the night. It is most likely that these instructions filtered down through several subordinates, and hence it’s actual meaning was lost somewhere in the chain of command. Holwell claims that 146 people were forcibly driven into the Black Hole Prison, and in the night, through heat and suffocation, 123 of them died. Many eminent Historians argue that this event did not occur at all. However, Holwell did erect a monument to the dead just outside the site of the Black Hole prison, which eventually fell into disrepair and was dismantled. It’s place was taken by a replica built under orders of Lord Curzon, in 1901. That too had to be ultimately removed to the grounds of the St. John’s Church, due to energetic protests by Indian freedom fighters, led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

The GPO today