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125-476: "Kalakuta" was a mockery of a prison cell named "Calcutta" that Fela inhabited. The name was originally derived from the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta dungeon in India . Before the attack on Fela's home, he made a record called Zombie , about the Nigerian military regime. In the song, soldiers are called zombies for obeying orders blindly. One of the lines of the song, in West African Pidgin English , says, "Zombie no go walk unless you tell am to walk". Fela

250-654: A United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk". The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures sometime exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June. Winter lasts for roughly 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May

375-580: A cell he and his fellow passengers were put into by police in Bellagio, Italy as "...the Black Hole of Calcutta on a small scale." Later, in chapter 54 of his Following the Equator (1897), he visits Calcutta and describes the history of the place, quoting an excerpt from Holwell. He also mentions the destruction of the site: "the mention of Calcutta infallibly brings up the Black Hole...and yet within

500-494: A councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets. As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor , a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of

625-736: A factory; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village; and Gobindapur was a trading post for Indian merchant princes. These villages were part of an estate belonging to the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of zamindars . The estate was sold to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William , located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory. Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces ,

750-402: A larger room. He went away, but returned saying it was impossible. The bribe was then doubled, and he made a second attempt with a like result; the nawab was asleep, and no one dared wake him. By nine o'clock several had died, and many more were delirious. A frantic cry for water now became general, and one of the guards, more compassionate than his fellows, caused some water to be brought to

875-551: A mad Brahmin in the Black Hole made a stone because he wanted revenge. The stone causes one to have insane thoughts and hallucinations. In The Other Side of Morning by Stephen Goss (2022), the events of the Black Hole of Calcutta are described from the perspective of John Holwell. The book is the story of Holwell's life leading up to the incident. The Black Hole of Calcutta is also mentioned in Chapter IV of Sara Jane Lippincott's book titled "History of my Pets," in reference to

1000-513: A museum. The Kalakuta Republic Museum officially opened on October 15, 2012, in commemoration of Fela's 74th birthday. It contains displays of Fela's clothing, instruments and artwork, as well as a restaurant and hotel. See also: List of schools in Lagos See also: List of hospitals in Lagos See also: List of festivals in Lagos See also: Architecture of Lagos Black Hole of Calcutta The Black Hole of Calcutta

1125-417: A pet toad (named Phibby) she had left locked in the cabin of a wooden ship. The poor toad was later found suffocated as a result. Upon telling her sympathetic father, he compared the unfortunate blunder to the Black Hole of Calcutta. The Black Hole of Calcutta is referenced early in the film Albert R.N. , a 1953 British film dealing with a German prisoner-of-war camp for allied naval officers. There's also

1250-541: A police commissioner, is overseen by the West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs . The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha , and 11 representatives to the state legislative assembly. The Kolkata police district registered 15,510  Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country. In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below

1375-461: A quarter of the population live on less than ₹ 27 (32¢ US) per day. Major manufacturing companies in the city are Alstom , Larsen & Toubro , Fosroc , Videocon . As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average. The 2000s saw

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1500-482: A reference in the 1987 film Hiding Out, where the protagonist's aunt criticizes her teenage son's messy room by comparing it to the Black Hole. It is mentioned in the 1988 animated film [Scooby Doo and the reluctant werewolf] as a month long stay there for the winner of the monster road race. It is also referenced in the 1991 film The Addams Family as one of the locations visited by Gomez and Morticia Addams during their second honeymoon. Jeremy Clarkson refers to

1625-574: A reference to the Black Hole of Calcutta when describing the Anglo-Indian district in London (Chapter LX). Swami Vivekananda makes a mention of the Black Hole of Calcutta in connection with describing Holwell 's journey to Murshidabad . When discussing deep unconsciousness in her book How to be Human , Ruby Wax describes this as: "It's like the black hole of Calcutta of our souls." In Hellblazer : Event Horizon , John Constantine says that

1750-551: A republic. Nigerian tabloids carried lurid but unverified tales of girls lured to the compound and corrupted by Fela's band members. During the attack at the Kalakuta Republic by the Nigerian Armed Forces , Fela's mother Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas was thrown from a window of the second floor. She died after being in a coma for about eight weeks. Fela failed in his initial plan to commemorate

1875-522: A result, Abdul Wasek Mia of Nawabganj thana, a student leader of that time, led the removal of the monument from Dalhousie Square in July 1940. The monument was re-erected in the graveyard of St John's Church in Calcutta , where it remains. The 'Black Hole' itself, being merely the guardroom in the old Fort William, disappeared shortly after the incident when the fort itself was taken down to be replaced by

2000-479: A stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,107 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in April. Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands. More recently, Cyclone Aila in 2009 and Cyclone Amphan in 2020 caused widespread damage to Kolkata by bringing catastrophic winds and torrential rainfall. Pollution

2125-512: A state agency. As of 2012 , the city had 16 fire stations. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited , or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them Vodafone Idea , Bharti Airtel , Reliance Jio are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city. with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and 4G connectivity, the GSM and CDMA cellular coverage

2250-435: A steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism , which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties. From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated. The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet:

2375-406: A surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched. Companies such as ITC Limited , CESC Limited , Exide Industries , Emami , Eveready Industries India , Lux Industries , Rupa Company , Berger Paints , Birla Corporation , Britannia Industries and Purushottam Publishers are headquartered in

2500-509: Is third most populous metropolitan region of India with a metro population of over 15 million (1.5 crore). Kolkata is regarded by many sources as the cultural capital of India and a historically and culturally significant city in the historic region of Bengal . The three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty . After the Nawab granted

2625-633: Is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft). Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population. The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands , were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention (1975). As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain , the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata

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2750-447: Is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008 , sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze. Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer. Kolkata, which

2875-548: Is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base. In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election , Left Front was succeeded by the Trinamool Congress . Spread roughly meridionally along the east bank of the Hooghly River , Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation

3000-602: Is east of the town. To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds. Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal. In 1856, the Bengal Government appointed George Turnbull to be the Commissioner of Drainage and Sewerage to improve the city's sewerage. Turnbull's main job was to be the Chief Engineer of

3125-692: Is extensive. As of 2010 , Kolkata has 7 percent of the total broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL , Tata Indicom , Sify, Hathway , Airtel, and Jio are among the main vendors. The Eastern Command of the Indian Army is based in the city. Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States . The U.S Consulate in Kolkata

3250-746: Is home to institutions of national importance, including the Academy of Fine Arts , the Asiatic Society , the Indian Museum and the National Library of India . The University of Calcutta , first modern university in south Asia and its affiliated colleges produced many leading figures of South Asia. It is the centre of the Indian Bengali film industry, which is known as Tollywood . Among scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts

3375-414: Is in the graveyard of (Anglican) St. John's Church, Calcutta. Holwell had erected a tablet on the site of the 'Black Hole' to commemorate the victims but, at some point (the precise date is uncertain), it disappeared. Lord Curzon , on becoming Viceroy in 1899, noticed that there was nothing to mark the spot and commissioned a new monument, mentioning the prior existence of Holwell's; it was erected in 1901 at

3500-519: Is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin. Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface. The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata

3625-526: Is mentioned for the suffocating properties of Carbonic-Oxide ( Carbon Monoxide ) upon the British soldiers imprisoned in that dungeon. Eugene O'Neill , in Long Day's Journey into Night , Act 4, Jamie says, "Can't expect us to live in the Black Hole of Calcutta." Patrick O'Brian in The Mauritius Command (1977) compared Jack Aubrey's house to the black hole of Calcutta "except that whereas

3750-520: Is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement ; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary , followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian - Carboniferous Gondwana rocks. The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds:

3875-547: Is the US Department of State 's second-oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792. The Diplomatic representation of more than 65 Countries and International Organization is present in Kolkata as Consulate office, honorary Consulate office, Cultural Centre, Deputy High Commission and Economic section and Trade Representation office. Public transport is provided by the Kolkata Suburban Railway ,

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4000-575: Is the largest and second busiest suburban railway network in the country by number of stations and track length, and also one of the largest in the world. Kolkata has five long-distance inter-city railway stations, located at Howrah (the largest and busiest railway complex in India, as of 2024 ), Sealdah (2nd busiest in India, as of 2024 ), Kolkata , Shalimar and Santragachi Junction , which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India. The city serves as

4125-703: Is the area south of Park Street , which comprises thoroughfares such as Jawahar Lal Nehru Road , Abanindranath Thakur Sarani , Dr. Martin Luther King Sarani, Dr. Upendra Nath Brahmachari Sarani, Shakespeare Sarani and Acharay Jagadish Chandra Basu Road . South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Bhowanipore , Alipore , Ballygunge , Kasba , Dhakuria , Santoshpur , Garia , Golf Green , Tollygunge , New Alipore , Behala , Barisha etc. The south suburban areas like Maheshtala , Budge Budge , Rajpur Sonarpur , Baruipur etc. are also within

4250-457: Is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F). The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season. Often, in April–June,

4375-816: Is the oldest High Court in India. It was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Kolkata has lower courts: the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the Sessions Court rules in criminal cases. The Kolkata Police , headed by

4500-488: Is the oldest underground mass transit system in India. The fully operational blue line spans the north–south length through the middle of the city. In 2020, part of the Second line was inaugurated to cover part of Salt Lake city , Kolkata metro area. This east–west green line connects two satellite cities of Kolkata namely Salt Lake and Howrah. Other operational lines are Purple line and Orange line. Kolkata Suburban Railway

4625-564: Is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 206.08 km (80 sq mi). The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi). The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section

4750-615: The East India Company a trading licence in 1690, the area was developed by the Company into Fort William . Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied the fort in 1756 but was defeated at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, after his general Mir Jafar mutinied in support of the company, and was later made the Nawab for a brief time. Under company and later crown rule , Calcutta served as the de facto capital of India until 1911. Calcutta

4875-648: The East Indian Railway Company responsible for building the first railway 541 miles (871 km) from Howrah to Varanasi (then Benares ). Electricity is supplied by the privately operated Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation , or CESC, to the city proper; the West Bengal State Electricity Board supplies it in the suburbs. Fire services are handled by the West Bengal Fire Service ,

5000-1123: The Geological Survey of India , the Botanical Survey of India , the Calcutta Mathematical Society , the Indian Science Congress Association , the Zoological Survey of India , the Horticultural Society , the Institution of Engineers , the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association . The Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port. Four Nobel laureates and two Nobel Memorial Prize winners are associated with

5125-601: The Hawk's Nest Tunnel tragedy and referenced to Marcantonio's speech to compare the silicate tunnels to the Black Holes of Calcutta, writing "This is the place. Away from this my life I am indeed Adam unparadiz'd. Some fools call this the Black Hole of Calcutta. I don't know how they ever get to Congress." Thomas Pynchon refers to the Black Hole of Calcutta in the historical novel Mason & Dixon (1997). The character Charles Mason spends much time on Saint Helena with

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5250-660: The Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II . Millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 (at the same time of the war) due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors. Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000. The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Bengal (later East Pakistan , present day Bangladesh ), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into

5375-553: The Kolkata Metro , trams , rickshaws , taxis and buses. The suburban rail network connects the city's distant suburbs. Kolkata Metro is the rapid transit system of Kolkat. According to a 2013 survey conducted by the International Association of Public Transport , in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks top among the six Indian cities surveyed. The Kolkata Metro, in operation since 1984,

5500-559: The Kolkata metropolitan area , which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority , is responsible for the statutory planning and development of greater Kolkata. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked first out of 21 cities for best governance and administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to

5625-572: The Left Front , which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism . The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms . Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city

5750-590: The Victoria Memorial , Howrah Bridge and the Grand Hotel . The city's heritage includes India's only Chinatown and remnants of Jewish , Armenian, Greek and Anglo-Indian communities. The city is closely linked with Bhadralok culture and the Zamindars of Bengal , including Bengali Hindu , Bengali Muslim and tribal aristocrats. The city is often regarded as India's cultural capital. Kolkata

5875-461: The secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries). As of 2003 , the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.) and 22.2% were casual labourers . About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed. According to one estimate, almost

6000-538: The summer monsoon , sometimes interrupt transportation networks. Kolkata along its metropolitan area is home to the second largest road network in India. As of 2022 , total road network in the city's metropolitan area is 4,018 km (2,497 mi), while the city proper has road network of 1,850 km (1,150 mi). The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles: from 17 lakhs in 2019 to 21 lakhs in 2022, an 18.52 per cent jump. With 2,448 vehicles per kilometre of road, Kolkata has

6125-462: The "dying city". The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government. Recent estimates of the economy of Kolkata's metropolitan area have ranged from $ 150 to $ 250 billion ( PPP GDP), and have ranked it third-most productive metro area of India. Flexible production has been

6250-499: The 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square ; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta. The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah . The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in

6375-418: The 1947 partition of India , transforming its landscape and shaping its politics. The city was overtaken by Mumbai (formerly Bombay) as India's largest city. A demographically diverse city, the culture of Kolkata features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods ( paras ) and freestyle conversations ( adda ). Kolkata's architecture includes many imperial landmarks, including

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6500-453: The 1962 Sino-Indian War , and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities. The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants. According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is Hindu , 20.60%  Muslim , 0.88%  Christian and 0.47%  Jain . The remainder of the population includes Sikhs , Buddhists , and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of

6625-621: The 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status. Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and working with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata—an organisation "whose primary task

6750-437: The 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of 185 km (71 sq mi), had a population of 4,486,679; its population density was 24,252/km (62,810/sq mi). This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The sex ratio is 899 females per 1000 males—lower than the national average. The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from

6875-442: The 20th century. The Jewish population of Kolkata was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after Indian independence and the establishment of Israel; as of 2003 , there were 25 Jews in the city. India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata; once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000, as of 2009 , as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following

7000-631: The Bengali language name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur . There are several explanations for the etymology of this name: Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata or Kôlikata in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh , 35 km (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that

7125-452: The Black Hole prison exclusive of sixty-nine, consisting of Dutch and British sergeants, corporals, soldiers, topazes, militia, whites, and Portuguese, (whose names I am unacquainted with), making on the whole one hundred and twenty-three persons." Holwell's list of the victims of the Black Hole of Calcutta: Of Counsel – E. Eyre, Esqr., Wm. Baillie, Esqr., the Rev. Jervas Bellamy. Gentlemen in

7250-483: The British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah , condemned the militarisation and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; his capture of Fort William led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta . A force of Company soldiers ( sepoys ) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured

7375-473: The Fort-William garrison were either missing or dead, for reasons other than suffocation and shock . Busteed suggests that the many non-combatants present in the fort when it was captured make infeasible a precise number of people killed. Regarding responsibility for the maltreatment and the deaths in the Black Hole of Calcutta, Holwell said, "it was the result of revenge and resentment, in the breasts of

7500-566: The Hole was hot, dry, and airless", Aubrey's cottage "let in draughts from all sides". In Chapter VII of Pearl S. Buck 's biography of her father, Fighting Angel (1936), she compares the brutality of China's 1899-1901 Boxer Rebellion (which she and her family survived while living in China) to that of the Black Hole of Calcutta: "The story of the Boxer Rebellion  ... remains, like

7625-519: The Hole, and that 43 died there. Some historians put the figure even lower, to about 18 dead, while questioning the veracity of Holwell's account itself. 22°34′24″N 88°20′53″E  /  22.573357°N 88.347979°E  / 22.573357; 88.347979 Fort William was established to protect the East India Company 's trade in the city of Calcutta , the principal city of the Bengal Presidency . In 1756 India, there existed

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7750-445: The Hooghly River. The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km (728.45 sq mi) and comprises 4 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 37  local municipalities and 24  panchayat samitis , as of 2011 . The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006 . Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of

7875-603: The Indian military, which is based in Fort William, played a pivotal role in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 and securing the surrender of Pakistan . During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in light of its socio-political woes. In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by

8000-549: The KMC. The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation. Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: Kolkata district ; the Kolkata Police area and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or "Kolkata city"; and

8125-452: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipal corporations or authorities. Kolkata is the commercial and financial hub of East and Northeast India and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange . It is a major commercial and military port, and is one of five cities in eastern India (alongside Bhubaneswar , Guwahati , Imphal , and Kushinagar ) to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced

8250-495: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups— bustees , in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and udbastu colonies , settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the government. The unauthorised slums (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads. According to

8375-440: The Nawabs were abolished, and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley , Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture. Throughout

8500-436: The Private Matter (2003). The Black Hole is also compared with the evil miasma of Calcutta as a whole in Dan Simmons's novel The Song of Kali . Stephen King makes a reference to the Black Hole of Calcutta in his 1983 novel Christine , and his 2004 novel Song of Susannah . In Chapter V of King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (1885) the Black Hole of Calcutta is mentioned: "This gave us some slight shelter from

8625-577: The Service – Messrs. Jenks, Revely, Law, Coales, Valicourt, Jeb, Torriano, E. Page, S. Page, Grub, Street, Harod, P. Johnstone, Ballard, N. Drake, Carse, Knapton, Gosling, Robert Byng, Dod, Dalrymple, V. Ament Theme. Military Captains – Clayton, Buchanan, Witherington. Lieutenants – Bishop, Ifays, Blagg, Simson, Bellamy. Ensigns – Paccard, Scot, Hastings, C. Wedderburn, Dumbleton. Sergeants, &c. – Sergeant-Major Abraham, Quartermaster Cartwright, Sergeant Bleau (these were sergeants of militia). Sea Captains – Hunt, Osburne, Purnell (survived

8750-400: The State, to such an extent that the people will rise up and demand a Called Session of the Legislature of this State in order that legislation may be enacted whereby this organized hell and "Black Hole of Calcutta" will be in the course of a few months only a ghastly memory in the minds of the people. Kolkata Kolkata , also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001 ), is

8875-423: The astronomer Nevil Maskelyne , the brother-in-law of Lord Robert Clive of India. Later in the story, Jeremiah Dixon visits New York City, and attends a secret "Broad-Way" production of the "musical drama", The Black Hole of Calcutta, or, the Peevish Wazir , "executed with such a fine respect for detail ...". Kenneth Tynan satirically refers to it in the long-running musical revue Oh! Calcutta! , which

9000-484: The bars, where Mr. Holwell and two or three others received it in their hats and passed it on to the men behind. In their impatience to secure it nearly all was spilled, and the little they drank seemed only to increase their thirst. Self-control was soon lost; those in remote parts of the room struggled to reach the window, and a fearful tumult ensued, in which the weakest were trampled or pressed to death. They raved, fought, prayed, blasphemed, and many then fell exhausted on

9125-702: The battle, the British commander ordered the surviving soldiers of the garrison to escape, yet left behind 146 soldiers under the civilian command of John Zephaniah Holwell , a senior bureaucrat of the East India Company who had been once a military surgeon . The desertions of Indian sepoys made the British defence of Fort William ineffective and it fell to the siege of Bengali forces on 20 June 1756. The surviving defenders who were captured and made prisoners of war numbered between 64 and 69, along with an unknown number of Anglo-Indian soldiers and civilians who earlier had been sheltered in Fort William. The British officers and merchants based in Kolkata were rounded up by

9250-400: The burning rays of the sun, but the atmosphere in that amateur grave can be better imagined than described. The Black Hole of Calcutta must have been a fool to it". In John Fante 's novel The Road to Los Angeles (1985), the main character Arturo Bandini recalls when seeing his place of work: "I thought about the Black Hole of Calcutta." In Vanity Fair , William Makepeace Thackeray makes

9375-467: The capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal . It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River , 80 km (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh . It is the primary financial and commercial centre of eastern and northeastern India . Kolkata is the seventh most populous city in India with an estimated city proper population of 4.5 million (0.45 crore) while its metropolitan region Kolkata Metropolitan Area

9500-481: The city into North, Central, South and East Kolkata. North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Jorasanko , Rajabazar , Maniktala , Ultadanga , Shyambazar , Shobhabazar , Bagbazar , Cossipore , Sinthee etc. The north suburban areas like Dum Dum , Baranagar , Belgharia , Sodepur , Khardaha , New Barrackpore , Madhyamgram , Barrackpore , Barasat etc. are also within

9625-720: The city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi ( কালবৈশাখী ), or "Nor'westers" in English. Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings life to

9750-522: The city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure). Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh , formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Rajiv Gandhi Sarani is on its west. The West Bengal Secretariat , General Post Office , Reserve Bank of India , Calcutta High Court , Lalbazar Police Headquarters and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub

9875-529: The city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure). The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata" and accommodates sporting events and public meetings. The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Rajiv Gandhi Sarani, along

10000-670: The city such as the Coal India , National Insurance Company , Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers , Tea Board of India , Geological Survey of India , Zoological Survey of India , Botanical Survey of India , Jute Corporation of India , National Test House, Hindustan Copper and the Ordnance Factories Board of the Indian Ministry of Defence . The demonym for residents of Kolkata are Calcuttan and Kolkatan . According to provisional results of

10125-462: The city the following year. Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar , East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province. Declared a presidency city , Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773. In 1793, ruling power of

10250-527: The city. During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist – Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation. During East Pakistan's secessionist war of independence in 1971, the city was home to the government-in-exile of Bangladesh . During the war, refugees poured into West Bengal and strained Kolkata's infrastructure. The Eastern Command of

10375-449: The city. Philips India, PwC India , Tata Global Beverages , and Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of two major banks: UCO Bank , and Bandhan Bank . Reserve Bank of India , State Bank of India have its eastern zonal office in Kolkata. India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India. Some of the oldest public sector companies are headquartered in

10500-540: The city. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata stands out in India for being the country's centre of association football. Kolkata is known for its grand celebrations of the Hindu festival of Durga Puja , which is recognized by UNESCO for its importance to world heritage. Kolkata is also known as the 'City of Joy'. The word Kolkata ( Bengali : কলকাতা [kolˈkata] ) derives from Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা [ˈkɔliˌkata] ),

10625-472: The commander was then taken before the nawab , who expressed no regret for what had occurred, and gave no other sign of sympathy than ordering the Englishman a chair and a glass of water. Notwithstanding this indifference, Mr. Holwell and some others acquit him of any intention of causing the catastrophe and ascribe it to the malice of certain officers, but many think this opinion unfounded. Afterward, when

10750-449: The confinement of more than two or three men at a time. There were only two windows, and a projecting veranda outside, and thick iron bars within impeded the ventilation, while fires, raging in different parts of the fort, suggested an atmosphere of further oppressiveness. The prisoners were packed so tightly that the door was difficult to close. One of the soldiers stationed in the veranda was offered 1,000 rupees to have them removed to

10875-545: The corner of Dalhousie Square (now B. B. D. Bagh ), which is said to be the site of the 'Black Hole'. At the apex of the Indian independence movement , the presence of this monument in Calcutta was turned into a nationalist cause célèbre . Nationalist leaders, including Subhas Chandra Bose , lobbied energetically for its removal. The Congress and the Muslim League joined forces in the anti-monument movement. As

11000-615: The early 1960s compare such gravitationally collapsed objects to the prison. A minority opinion in the August 1910 report of the Penitentiary Investigating Committee of the State of Texas (USA) referred to the prison conditions in this way: I trust that this report will sufficiently arouse the people of Texas to the atrocities daily heaped upon this mass of thirty-six hundred breathing, human souls, wards of

11125-577: The emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities. In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association , which

11250-540: The floor, where suffocation put an end to their torments. About 11 o'clock the prisoners began to drop off, fast. At length, at six in the morning, Siraj-ud-Daulah awoke and ordered the door to be opened. Of the 146 only 23, including Mr. Holwell [from whose narrative, published in the Annual Register and The Gentleman's Magazine for 1758, this account is partly derived], remained alive, and they were either stupefied or raving. Fresh air soon revived them, and

11375-499: The following districts: North 24 Parganas , South 24 Parganas , Howrah , Hooghly and Nadia . Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar , also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat , also called New Town and located east of Bidhannagar. In the 2000s, Sector 5 in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies. Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside

11500-433: The forces loyal to Siraj ud-Daulah and forced into a dungeon known as the "Black Hole". Holwell wrote about the events that occurred after the fall of Fort William. He met with Siraj-ud-Daulah, who assured him: "On the word of a soldier; that no harm should come to us". After seeking a place in the fort to confine the prisoners (including Holwell), at 8.00 p.m. , the jailers stripped the prisoners of their clothes and locked

11625-992: The headquarters of three railway zones out of eighteen of the Indian Railways regional divisions namely the Kolkata Metro, Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway . Kolkata has international rail connectivity with Dhaka , the capital of Bangladesh. Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which was operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company . It has now amalgamated to West Bengal Transport Corporation . There are three operational routes: Tollygunge to Ballygunge , Gariahat to Esplanade , Shyambazar to Esplanade . Trams are environment friendly but due to slow-moving and traffic congestion, tram attracts less passengers. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains during

11750-404: The heat in his Lancia Montecarlo car as "like being in the Black Hole of Calcutta" during The Grand Tour : One For The Road. According to Hong-Yee Chiu , an astrophysicist at NASA , the Black Hole of Calcutta was the inspiration for the term black hole referring to objects resulting from the gravitational collapse of very heavy stars . He recalled hearing physicist Robert Dicke in

11875-487: The highest car density in India. This leads major traffic congestion. The city's main bus terminals are located at Esplanade and Howrah . The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata– Chennai prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral , and National Highway 12 start from the outskirts of the city. As of 2024 , Kolkata has one state expressway and two national expressways , all in its metropolitan area. Kalyani Expressway

12000-442: The late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade. A census in 1837 records the population of the city proper as 229,700, of which the British residents made up only 3,138. The same source says another 177,000 resided in the suburbs and neighbouring villages, making the entire population of greater Calcutta 406,700. In 1864, a typhoon struck the city and killed about 60,000 in Kolkata. By

12125-417: The lower Jemadars (sergeants), to whose custody we were delivered, for the number of their order killed during the siege." Concurring with Holwell, Wolpert said that Siraj-ud-Daulah did not order the imprisonment and was not informed of it. The physical description of the Black Hole of Calcutta corresponds with Holwell's point of view: The dungeon was a strongly barred room and it was not intended for

12250-535: The lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards , on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III . Kolkata is subject to a tropical savanna climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification . According to

12375-467: The narrator Shyama describes Ranga's house as 'the Black Hole of Calcutta' because of the large crowd that had gathered to see Ranga when he came home after completing his studies. If all the people had gone inside, the house would have become as crowded as the Black Hole of Calcutta. In the science-fiction novel Omega: The Last Days of the World (1894), by Camille Flammarion , the Black Hole of Calcutta

12500-596: The national average of 3.3. The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. As of 2023 , the All India Trinamool Congress controls the KMC; the mayor is Firhad Hakim , while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh. The city has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata , which presides over various city-related functions and conferences. As

12625-592: The national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the Hooghly River; most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North ;24 Parganas district. Roughly 95% of the 4,000 tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa , which

12750-531: The new Fort William which still stands today in the Maidan to the south of B.B.D. Bagh. The precise location of that guardroom is in an alleyway between the General Post Office and the adjacent building to the north, in the north west corner of B.B.D. Bagh. The memorial tablet which was once on the wall of that building beside the GPO can now be found in the nearby postal museum. "List of the smothered in

12875-641: The night; died on the morn), Messrs. Carey, Stephenson, Guy, Porter, W. Parker, Caulker, Bendall, Atkinson, Leech, &c., &c. The list of the men and women who survived their imprisonment in the Black Hole of Calcutta: Messrs. John Zephaniah Holwell, Court, Secretary Cooke, Lushington, Burdett, Ensign Walcott, Mrs. Carey, Captain Mills, Captain Dickson, Mr. Moran, John Meadows, and twelve military and militia (blacks & whites). Mark Twain , on Chapter 20 in his travelogue Innocents Abroad (1867), describes

13000-414: The norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force. One unorganised group, roadside hawkers , generated business worth ₹ 87.72 billion (equivalent to ₹ 300 billion or US$ 3.6 billion in 2023) in 2005. As of 2001 , around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in

13125-455: The one-year anniversary of the Kalakuta Republic sacking by marrying 27 of his back-up singers in a mass wedding ceremony at the office of his lawyer, Tunji Braithwaite. Two days later, on February 20, 1978, he secretly married the 27 women popularly known as "Queens" at the defunct Parisona Hotel along Ikorodu Road in Lagos. Fela said he would not have marital relationships with all of the women as

13250-416: The population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census. Kolkata reported 67.6% of Special and Local Laws crimes registered in 35 large Indian cities during 2004. Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation , or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 16 boroughs, which together encompass 144 wards. Each ward elects

13375-562: The possibility of a battle with the military forces of the French East India Company , so the British reinforced the fort. Siraj ud-Daulah ordered the fortification construction to be stopped by the French and British, and the French complied while the British demurred. In consequence to that British indifference to his authority, Siraj ud-Daulah organised his army and laid siege to Fort William . In an effort to survive

13500-516: The prison of Fort William was opened, the corpses of the dead men were thrown into a ditch. As prisoners of war, Holwell and three other men were transferred to Murshidabad . The remaining survivors of the Black Hole of Calcutta were freed the next morning on the orders of the Nawab, who learned only that morning of their sufferings. After news of Calcutta's capture was received by the British in Madras in August 1756, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Clive

13625-444: The prisoners in the fort's prison—"the black hole" in soldiers' slang—a small room that measured 14 by 18 feet (4.3 m × 5.5 m). The next morning, when the black hole was opened, at 6.00 a.m. , only about 23 of the prisoners remained alive. Historians offer different numbers of prisoners and casualties of war; Stanley Wolpert estimated that 64 people were imprisoned and 21 survived. D. L. Prior estimated that 43 men of

13750-708: The region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia. Kolkata or Kalikata in its earliest mentions, is described to be a village surrounded with jungle on the bank of river Ganga as a renowned port, commercial hub and a hindu pilgrimage site for Kalighat Temple . The first mention of the Kalikata village was found in Bipradas Pipilai's Manasa Vijay (1495), where he describes how Chand Sadagar used to stop in Kalighat to worship Goddess Kali during his path to trade voyage. Later Kalikata

13875-575: The rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind. Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14% exceeds the national average of 74%. The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694. The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011. As of 2003 , about one-third of the population, or 15 lakh (1.5 million) people, lived in 3,500 unregistered squatter-occupied and 2,011 registered slums . The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by

14000-696: The seat of the Government of West Bengal , Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly ; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Writers' Building; and the Calcutta High Court . Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The Calcutta High Court

14125-533: The tabloids suggested, but had married them as they could not find employment after the recording studio had been burnt down. According to Fela, in Yoruba tradition, when a woman was in danger of being left destitute, it was the duty of a man in her community to marry her as a means of offering protection. In 2012, Babatunde Fashola , the Governor of Lagos, began an initiative to rebuild the compound and turn it into

14250-400: The tale of the Black Hole of Calcutta, one of the festering spots of history. If the number of people actually dead was small, as such numbers go in these days of wholesale death by accidents and wars, it was the manner of death ... that makes the heart shudder and condemn even while the mind can reason and weigh." Diana Gabaldon mentions briefly the incident in her novel Lord John and

14375-512: The time of men who still live, the Black Hole was torn down and thrown away as carelessly as if its bricks were common clay, not ingots of historic gold. There is no accounting for human beings." Muriel Rukeyser , in The Book of the Dead , originally published as a group of poems in U.S. 1: Poems (1938) , quotes from Vito Marcantonio 's speech "Dusty Death" (1936). Rukeyser was writing about

14500-743: Was a dungeon in Fort William, Calcutta , measuring 14 by 18 feet (4.3 m × 5.5 m), in which troops of Siraj-ud-Daulah , the Nawab of Bengal , held British prisoners of war on the night of 20 June 1756. John Zephaniah Holwell , one of the British prisoners and an employee of the East India Company , said that, after the fall of Fort William, the surviving British soldiers, Indian sepoys , and Indian civilians were imprisoned overnight in conditions so cramped that many people died from suffocation and heat exhaustion , and that 123 of 146 prisoners of war imprisoned there died. Some modern historians believe that 64 prisoners were sent into

14625-630: Was also found to be mentioned in Mukundaram Chakrabarti 's Chandimangal (1594), Todar Mal's taxation-list in 1596 and Krishnaram Das's Kalikamangal (1676–77). Kalighat was then considered a safe place for businessmen. They used to carry on trade through the Bhagirathi and took shelter there at night. Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company , which

14750-493: Was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock is often regarded as the founder of the city; however, in response to a public petition, the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder. The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata , Gobindapur and Sutanuti . Kalikata was a fishing village, where a handful of merchants began their operations by building

14875-519: Was frustrated with the Nigerian army's rank and file that allowed corruption and intimidation of their communities by the corrupt and rich top brass, while blindly following orders to intimidate Nigerians. The song was popular in Nigeria, upsetting then-Head of State General Olusegun Obasanjo . The military was unhappy with Fela's constant criticism and said it was unseemly to have a republic within

15000-482: Was once the premier centre of Indian commerce, culture, and politics, suffered many decades of political violence and economic stagnation before it rebounded. In the late 20th century, the city hosted the government-in-exile of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. It was also flooded with Hindu refugees from East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) in the decades following

15125-475: Was played on Broadway for more than 7,000 performances. Edgar Allan Poe makes reference to the "stifling" of the prisoners in the introduction to " The Premature Burial " (1844). The Black Hole is mentioned in Looking Backward (1888) by Edward Bellamy as an example of the depravity of the past. In a story written by Indian author Masti Venkatesha Iyengar , "Rangana Maduve" ("Ranga's Marriage"),

15250-513: Was sent to retaliate against the Nawab. With his troops and local Indian allies, Clive recaptured Calcutta in January 1757, and defeated Siraj ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey , which resulted in Siraj being overthrown as Nawab of Bengal and executed. The Black Hole of Calcutta was later used as a warehouse. In memoriam of the dead, the British erected a 15-metre (50') high obelisk ; it now

15375-411: Was the first avowed nationalist organisation in India. The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British. The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911. Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement . The city and its port were bombed several times by

15500-564: Was the second largest city in the British Empire , after London , and was the centre of bureaucracy, politics, law, education, science and the arts in India. The city was associated with many of the figures and movements of the Bengali Renaissance . It was the hotbed of the Indian nationalist movement . The partition of Bengal in 1947 affected the fortunes of the city. Following independence in 1947, Kolkata, which

15625-850: Was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after". Languages spoken in Kolkata city (2011 census) Bengali , the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata. English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. Hindi and Urdu are spoken by a sizeable minority. Bengali Hindus form the majority of Kolkata's population; Marwaris , Biharis and Urdu-speaking Muslims compose large minorities. Among Kolkata's smaller communities are Chinese , Tamils , Nepalis , Pathans/Afghans (locally known as Kabuliwala ) Odias , Telugus , Gujaratis , Anglo-Indians , Armenians , Bengali Muslims , Greeks , Tibetans , Maharashtrians , Konkanis , Malayalees , Punjabis and Parsis . The number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews and other foreign-origin groups declined during

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