“Fort William, India”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Fort William is a fort in Calcutta (Kolkata), built during the early years of the Bengal Presidency of British India. It sits on the eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganges. One of Kolkata's most enduring Raj-era edifices, it extends over an area of 70.9 hectares.

The fort was named after King William III.^[1] In front of the Fort is the Maidan, the largest park in the city. An internal guard room became the Black Hole of Calcutta.

History

There are two Fort Williams. The original fort was built in the year 1696 by the British East India Company under the orders of Sir John Goldsborough which took a decade to complete.^[2]^[3] 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 King William III in 1700. 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. 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.

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 million 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.

Today Fort William is the property of Indian Army. The headquarters of Eastern Command is based there, with provisions for accommodating 10,000 army personnel. The Army guards it heavily, and civilian entry is restricted.

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.

Presidency of Fort William

Structure

The Fort is built of brick and mortar in the shape of an irregular octagon with an area 5 km². 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 9 m deep and 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.^[4]{{full citation needed|date=September 2018}} It has a 9-hole golf course currently.

Gallery

See also

References

1. ^{{cite book|title=Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History|author= Krishna Dutta|year=2003|pages=71|url=https://books.google.com/?id=UKfoHi5412UC&pg=PA71& |isbn= 9781902669595}}
2. ^Sudip Bhattacharya, Unseen Enemy: The English, Disease, and Medicine in Colonial Bengal, 1617 – 1847, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 30 Jun 2014, p.54
3. ^{{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}}
4. ^Nandakumar Koroth, History of Forts in North Malabar
5. ^{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=James |title=British Battles On Land and Sea |volume=Volume II |publisher=Cassell & Company, Limited |year=1873 |page=69}}
6. ^{{cite journal|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle|date=February 1824|volume=94|issue=1|page=197|url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=mKVJAAAAYAAJ&dq=the+gentlemans+magazine+1824&source=gbs_navlinks_s|accessdate=13 December 2017}}