Fort William, India

Fort William
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Fort William, a view from the inside, c. 1828
Fort William
Coordinates	22°33′28″N 88°20′17″E / 22.5577°N 88.3380°E / 22.5577; 88.3380
Type	Fortress, garrisoned and armoured Army Headquarters.
Site information
Controlled by	Bengal Subah (before 1757) British East India Company (1757–1858) British Raj (1858–1947) Indian Army (1947–present)
Site history
Built	1696–1702
In use	1781–present
Battles/wars	Battle of Plassey (1757)
Garrison information
Garrison	Eastern Command

Fort William is a fort in Hastings, Calcutta (Kolkata). It was built during the early years of Britain's administration of Bengal. It sits on the eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganga. One of Kolkata's most enduring British-era military fortifications, other than those in Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai), it extends over an area of seventy hectares.

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