Victorious in a battle against the British on the evening of 20 June 1756 Indian Siraj-ud-Daulah, the ruler of Bengal, imprisoned 146 British troops, and British loyal Indian infantryman and civilians into a 14-by-18-foot Fort William of Calcutta jail cell at 8:00 at night. The prisoners were given no food or water. At 6:00 the following morning the prison cell was opened to find that only 23 of the prisoners remained alive, the rest having perished from suffocation or heat exhaustion.

The prison ever after has been known as the Black Hole of Calcutta.

John Holwell, the prisoner whose account the deaths of 123 persons is based on, acquitted Siraj-ud-Daulah of any guilt “and ascribed it to the malice of certain inferior officers.” Others suggest that the total number imprisoned in the cell equaled about 64 with 21 surviving; either way the number of incarcerated was far beyond the humane limits of the cell.

Source: Itihaas to History. Black Hole of Calcutta by Bruce Heydt, British Heritage, 2024. Wikipedia. Graphic: Artist conception of the Black of Hole of Calcutta, The Granger Collection NY.