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Fort
William
is
a
fort
in
Hastings,
Calcutta
(Kolkata).
It
was
built
during
the
early
years
of
the
Bengal
Presidency
of
British
India.
It
sits
on
the
eastern
banks
of
the
Hooghly
River,
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.
Fort
William
is
a
fort
in
Hastings,
Calcutta
(Kolkata).
It
was
built
during
the
early
years
of
the
Bengal
Presidency
of
British
India.
It
sits
on
the
eastern
banks
of
the
Hooghly
River,
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.
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.
The
permission
was
granted
by
Mughal
Emperor
Aurangzeb.
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.
The
Old
Fort
was
repaired
and
used
as
a
customs
house
from
1766
onwards.
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.
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.
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