Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Black Hole of Calcutta

Black Hole of Calcutta

A dungeon located at Fort William in Calcutta. It is notable as many British prisoners of war were held in this dungeon when it was captured by the Nawab of Bengal in 1756. So many prisoners were held in there at one time that most of them died from heat exhaustion or stroke, with a final death tally estimated to be as high as 123.

In recent times the account of this event has had its veracity challenged for a number of reasons. There has never been independent confirmation of this event happening and it has never been possible to match the numbers claimed with the number of missing POWs in the conflict.

This is auto-generated content. You can help to improve it.
0
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Featured Terms

Harry8L
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: People Category: Artists

Al Hirschfeld

An American caricaturist who possessed a distinctive style and was most famed for including the name of his daughter, Nina, into all of his drawings. ...

Contributor

Featured blossaries

ROAD TO AVONLEA SERIES

Category: Entertainment   2 21 Terms

Collaborative Lexicography

Category: Languages   1 1 Terms