Navrang India: Black hole incident (1756), Calcutta & J.Z.Holwell ...
navrangindia.blogspot.com
Black hole incident (1756),Calcutta,people fighting to stay alive. derwombat.net
John Zephaniah Holwell was born in
Dublin, September 17, 1711, the son of Zephaniah Holwell (d. 1729), a
timber merchant Andrew Cooper. In 1732 Holwell became a surgeon's mate
on board an India bound ship for Calcutta later he settled there in1736.
Subsequently went back to England and in 1751 he returned to India now
as a"covenanted civilian".
The relationship between the British and the Nawab – Siraj-ud daulah was not good as the British failed to pay taxes and also started fortification work with out permission from the Nawab. Infuriated Nawab fought the british and took over Ft William and put the British captives in a cellar – sort of dungeon. Following morning 123 captives were found dead. Cause: probable suffocation due to lack of ventilation. This incident was referred to as the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Having survived the night in the "Black Hole," Holwell was taken as prisoner along with three others to Murshidabad. He was in a very bad state of health and covered with boils. Holwell was eventually released on July 17, 1756, at the interference of the Begum of Bengal, who, it is said, recognized his services to ailing Indians. Holwell then returned to England in February,1757; the voyage took five months, during which time he wrote an account of the events in the "Black Hole". He returned to Calcutta in 1759 and was appointed Governor in 1760, but disagreeing with the Board of Directors in the September of the same year, he resigned; he died on November 5, 1798. He was twice married; one son and two daughters survived him.
The original inscription gave only a few names that Holwell could remember, and gave some of them inaccurately. The present fuller and more accurate lists are due to a careful examination of contemporary records, lists, and registers, which was conducted by Lord Curzon, in co-operation with Mr. S. C. Hill. The inscription is as follows:
This monument was erected by Lord Curzon, Viceroy and Governor-General of India,
In the year 1902,
Upon the site and in reproduction of the design
Of the original monument -
'To the memory of the 123 persons
Who perished in the Black Hole prison
Of Old Fort William
On the night of the 20th of June, 1756.
The former memorial was raised by
Their surviving fellow-sufferer
J. Z. Holwell, Governor of Fort William,
On the spot where the bodies of the dead
Had been thrown into the ditch of the raveling.
It was removed in 1821.'
Some Interesting facts about the Black Hole of Calcutta:
1. The prison was already called the "Black Hole" before the events of 1756.
2. No report of the event was ever made to the Directors of the East India Company.
3. In 1757 leaders from Britain and India signed the Treaty of Alinagar in which the Indians agreed to pay compensation for attacks on British citizens. No mention was made of the Black Hole of Calcutta.
4. The list of casualty legally declared was based on solitary evidence given by Holwell. The list of 123 dead British officer in a small prison cell that could accommodate only 50 to 60 people at a time was a cock and bull story promoted by Holwell and his buddies backed by media to gain political millage out of it and to win the sympathy and support of the British public regarding company's confrontation against the Nawob. This way they could show the Nawob in poor light and portray him as the real villain or culprit whose motive was to kill the British mercilessly. Siraj-ud daulah was not a cruel man and this act was committed most probably out of negligence
References :
Old Fort William in Bengal - By Charles Robert Wilson
John Zephaniah Holwell (1711-1798) and the Black Hole of Calcutta - By H. P. Bayo
Addl: Black Hole
Siraj-ud-Daulla arrived before the gate of Fort William at Calcutta on 16th June,1756 with a formidable force of 30,000 foot soldiers, 20,000 cavalrymen, 400 trained elephants and 80 pieces of cannon to capture it from the English for their failure to pay trade taxes. Governor Roger Drake found it impossible to tackle the onslaught of the Nawob's forces and, on June 19th, escaped to the fort at Fultah to avoid capture under the cover provided by other soldiers. The responsibility to save the fort from the marauding forces of Nawob fell on John Zephaniah Holwell, a magistrate and Member of the Council, with a few other Englishmen left in the fort On 20th June, only 14 men were left to serve the guns as 25 English soldiers were killed and 70 wounded. They fought tooth and nail till evening. The main gate, having been opened by a Dutchman, the Nawob's forces entered and several British soldiers lost their life in the fierce fighting and at last Holwell surrendered to the invading army.
According to the survivor John Zephaniah Holwell, Siraj-ud-Daulla put 146 English prisoners in a military prison which was only about 8 meters by 6 meters. The room being not good enough for 143 people and with no ventilation, following morning, 123 of the prisoners had died. This incident was recalled by the survivor and tagged Indians as a base, cowardly, and despotic people. Holwell, however, pointed out suffocation is one reason and the other reason was prisoners, who had been inside the dungeon, were short of breath bordering on heavy panting and in the me-lee to get fresh air from the only small window available, prisoners panicked and initially resorted to violence,then fighting and ultimately killing - Darvin's theory of natural selection came into play: survival of the fittest, so to speak. It is now almost universally conceded that Holwell greatly embellished his story. Indian scholars have shown the Nawob had no hand in this affair, and that the number of incarcerated prisoners was no higher than 69.
Ref:
Old Fort William in Bengal - By Charles Robert Wilson
John Zephaniah Holwell (1711-1798) and the Black Hole of Calcutta - By H. P. Bayo.
John
Zephaniah Holwell was born in Dublin, September 17, 1711, the son of
Zephaniah Holwell (d. 1729), a timber merchant Andrew Cooper.
Saturday, 24 January 2015
Black hole incident (1756), Calcutta & J.Z.Holwell - British East India company
 |
| Black hole memorial in St John's Church,Calcutta. The memorial to the victims of the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta was moved here in 1940. johnandlucyareback.blogspot.com |
 |
| Nawob Siraj-ud-daulah and Z.Z.Holwell,Black hole incident (1756),Calcutta www.historic-uk.com |
The relationship between the British and the Nawab – Siraj-ud daulah was not good as the British failed to pay taxes and also started fortification work with out permission from the Nawab. Infuriated Nawab fought the british and took over Ft William and put the British captives in a cellar – sort of dungeon. Following morning 123 captives were found dead. Cause: probable suffocation due to lack of ventilation. This incident was referred to as the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Having survived the night in the "Black Hole," Holwell was taken as prisoner along with three others to Murshidabad. He was in a very bad state of health and covered with boils. Holwell was eventually released on July 17, 1756, at the interference of the Begum of Bengal, who, it is said, recognized his services to ailing Indians. Holwell then returned to England in February,1757; the voyage took five months, during which time he wrote an account of the events in the "Black Hole". He returned to Calcutta in 1759 and was appointed Governor in 1760, but disagreeing with the Board of Directors in the September of the same year, he resigned; he died on November 5, 1798. He was twice married; one son and two daughters survived him.
The original inscription gave only a few names that Holwell could remember, and gave some of them inaccurately. The present fuller and more accurate lists are due to a careful examination of contemporary records, lists, and registers, which was conducted by Lord Curzon, in co-operation with Mr. S. C. Hill. The inscription is as follows:
This monument was erected by Lord Curzon, Viceroy and Governor-General of India,
In the year 1902,
Upon the site and in reproduction of the design
Of the original monument -
'To the memory of the 123 persons
Who perished in the Black Hole prison
Of Old Fort William
On the night of the 20th of June, 1756.
The former memorial was raised by
Their surviving fellow-sufferer
J. Z. Holwell, Governor of Fort William,
On the spot where the bodies of the dead
Had been thrown into the ditch of the raveling.
It was removed in 1821.'
Some Interesting facts about the Black Hole of Calcutta:
1. The prison was already called the "Black Hole" before the events of 1756.
2. No report of the event was ever made to the Directors of the East India Company.
3. In 1757 leaders from Britain and India signed the Treaty of Alinagar in which the Indians agreed to pay compensation for attacks on British citizens. No mention was made of the Black Hole of Calcutta.
4. The list of casualty legally declared was based on solitary evidence given by Holwell. The list of 123 dead British officer in a small prison cell that could accommodate only 50 to 60 people at a time was a cock and bull story promoted by Holwell and his buddies backed by media to gain political millage out of it and to win the sympathy and support of the British public regarding company's confrontation against the Nawob. This way they could show the Nawob in poor light and portray him as the real villain or culprit whose motive was to kill the British mercilessly. Siraj-ud daulah was not a cruel man and this act was committed most probably out of negligence
References :
Old Fort William in Bengal - By Charles Robert Wilson
John Zephaniah Holwell (1711-1798) and the Black Hole of Calcutta - By H. P. Bayo
Addl: Black Hole
Siraj-ud-Daulla arrived before the gate of Fort William at Calcutta on 16th June,1756 with a formidable force of 30,000 foot soldiers, 20,000 cavalrymen, 400 trained elephants and 80 pieces of cannon to capture it from the English for their failure to pay trade taxes. Governor Roger Drake found it impossible to tackle the onslaught of the Nawob's forces and, on June 19th, escaped to the fort at Fultah to avoid capture under the cover provided by other soldiers. The responsibility to save the fort from the marauding forces of Nawob fell on John Zephaniah Holwell, a magistrate and Member of the Council, with a few other Englishmen left in the fort On 20th June, only 14 men were left to serve the guns as 25 English soldiers were killed and 70 wounded. They fought tooth and nail till evening. The main gate, having been opened by a Dutchman, the Nawob's forces entered and several British soldiers lost their life in the fierce fighting and at last Holwell surrendered to the invading army.
According to the survivor John Zephaniah Holwell, Siraj-ud-Daulla put 146 English prisoners in a military prison which was only about 8 meters by 6 meters. The room being not good enough for 143 people and with no ventilation, following morning, 123 of the prisoners had died. This incident was recalled by the survivor and tagged Indians as a base, cowardly, and despotic people. Holwell, however, pointed out suffocation is one reason and the other reason was prisoners, who had been inside the dungeon, were short of breath bordering on heavy panting and in the me-lee to get fresh air from the only small window available, prisoners panicked and initially resorted to violence,then fighting and ultimately killing - Darvin's theory of natural selection came into play: survival of the fittest, so to speak. It is now almost universally conceded that Holwell greatly embellished his story. Indian scholars have shown the Nawob had no hand in this affair, and that the number of incarcerated prisoners was no higher than 69.
Ref:
Old Fort William in Bengal - By Charles Robert Wilson
John Zephaniah Holwell (1711-1798) and the Black Hole of Calcutta - By H. P. Bayo.
No comments:
Post a Comment