Black Hole of Calcutta

Black Hole of Calcutta
the name later given to the tiny room in Calcutta, India, in which 146 British prisoners, including one woman, were put by the Indian leader who captured them on 20 June 1756. The next morning only 22 men and the woman were still alive, though some Indian sources of information say that far fewer people were involved. People sometimes talk about a small dark room without fresh air as being ‘like the Black Hole of Calcutta’.

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▪ Indian history
      scene of an incident on June 20, 1756, in which a number of Europeans were imprisoned in Calcutta (now Kolkata (Calcutta)) and many died. The Europeans were the remaining defenders of Calcutta following the capture of the city by the nawab (ruler) Sirāj al-Dawlah (Sirāj-ud-Dawlah), of Bengal, and the surrender of the East India Company's garrison under the self-proclaimed governor of Bengal, John Z. Holwell. The incident became a cause célèbre in the idealization of British imperialism in India and a subject of controversy.

      The nawab attacked Calcutta because of the company's failure to stop fortifying the city as a defense against its rivals in anticipation of war (the Seven Years' War, 1756–63). Following the surrender, Holwell and the other Europeans were placed for the night in the company's local lockup for petty offenders, popularly known as the Black Hole. It was a room 18 feet (5.5 metres) long and 14 feet (4 metres) wide, and it had two small windows.

      According to Holwell, 146 people were locked up, and 23 survived. The incident was held up as evidence of British heroism and the nawab's callousness. However, in 1915 British schoolmaster J.H. Little pointed out Holwell's unreliability as a witness and other discrepancies, and it became clear that the nawab's part was one of negligence only. The details of the incident were thus opened to doubt. A study in 1959 by author Brijen Gupta suggests that the incident did occur but that the number of those who entered the Black Hole was about 64 and the number of survivors was 21.

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  • Black Hole of Calcutta — black hole lack hole A dungeon or dark cell in a prison; a military lock up or guardroom; now commonly with allusion to the cell (the Black Hole) in a fort at Calcutta (called the {Black Hole of Calcutta}), into which 146 English prisoners were… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Black Hole of Calcutta — Black Hole of Cal|cut|ta, the a small room used as a prison in Calcutta, India. In 1756, 146 British prisoners were put into it, and most of them died in one night. People sometimes say that a small very crowded room or dark place is like the… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Black Hole of Calcutta — The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small dungeon in Fort William where troops of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud Daulah, held British prisoners of war after the capture of Fort William on June 20, 1756. John Zephaniah Holwell claimed that following… …   Wikipedia

  • Black Hole of Calcutta, the — Black Hole of Cal|cut|ta, the [ ,blæk ,houl əv kæl kʌtə ] a place that is very crowded and uncomfortable …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Black Hole of Calcutta — noun a dungeon (20 feet square) in a fort in Calcutta where as many as 146 English prisoners were held overnight by Siraj ud daula; the next morning only 23 were still alive • Instance Hypernyms: ↑keep, ↑donjon, ↑dungeon …   Useful english dictionary

  • (the) Black Hole of Calcutta — the Black Hole of Calcutta [the Black Hole of Calcutta] the name later given to the tiny room in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, in which 146 British prisoners, including one woman, were put by the Indian leader who captured them on 20 June 1756. The… …   Useful english dictionary

  • BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA —    a confined apartment 13 ft. square, into which 146 English prisoners were crammed by the orders of Surajah Dowia on the 19th June 1756; their sufferings were excruciating, and only 23 survived till morning …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Black Hole of Calcutta — noun a dungeon in which the Nawab of Bengal in 1756 confined 146 English prisoners for a night, of whom only 23 were alive in the morning …  

  • black hole — lack hole A dungeon or dark cell in a prison; a military lock up or guardroom; now commonly with allusion to the cell (the Black Hole) in a fort at Calcutta (called the {Black Hole of Calcutta}), into which 146 English prisoners were thrust by… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • black hole — in astrophysics, 1968, probably with awareness of Black Hole of Calcutta, incident of June 19, 1756, in which 146 British POWs taken by the Nawab of Bengal after the capture of Ft. William, Calcutta, were held overnight in punishment cell of the… …   Etymology dictionary

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