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Fort William

Fort William

heritage site · West Bengal

State
West Bengal
Type
Heritage Site

Fort William is a large star-shaped fort on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River in the Hastings area of Kolkata, spanning roughly 70 hectares with a dry moat and six gates. Built by the British East India Company, it served as the seat of British administrative power in Bengal and today functions as the headquarters of the Indian Army's Eastern Command.

Fort William is known for

star-shaped 18th-century fortBritish East India Company strongholdRobert Clive rebuild after 1757Eastern Command Indian Army headquartersrenamed Vijay Durg in 2025

A short history

The East India Company relocated its Bengal trading station from Hooghly to Calcutta in 1690. The original fort was constructed between 1696 and 1702 under Sir John Goldsborough, named after King William III. In 1756, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah attacked and captured the fort; the British recaptured Calcutta in 1757, the same year as the Battle of Plassey. After 1757, the original fort was demolished and a new fort built further south, overseen by Robert Clive, with construction completed by 1773. The Indian Ordnance Factories organisation established its headquarters there in 1775. In February 2025, the Indian Army's Eastern Command renamed the fort "Vijay Durg" as part of an initiative to remove colonial names from military infrastructure. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_William,_West_Bengal; Source: britannica.com/topic/Fort-William-fort-Kolkata-India]

Why Fort William matters

Fort William was the nerve centre of British political and military power in Bengal for over two centuries and a key site in the colonial-era power struggles that led to British dominance in India.

When to go

October to March

How to reach

Located in the Hastings area of central Kolkata on the Hooghly River, adjacent to the Maidan. As it houses the Eastern Command of the Indian Army, general public access is restricted. Kolkata is served by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and Howrah/Sealdah railway stations.

Fort William guide & itineraries

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Kolkata
Place

Kolkata

Kolkata is the one Indian metropolis that still feels like it belongs to the people who live in it rather than to the traffic. Do the north first and on foot. Kumartuli is the potters' quarter where the Durga idols are built from straw and river clay through the year — go in the months before the puja and you will find workshops full of half-finished goddesses. College Street sells second-hand books by the mile, and the Indian Coffee House above it has been arguing about politics since before independence. The trams still run, barely, and the ferry across the Hooghly to Howrah at dusk costs a few rupees and gives you the bridge from below. Durga Puja, in September or October, is the reason to plan a trip around this city. For five days the streets fill with commissioned temporary architecture — some of it genuinely ambitious — and nobody sleeps. It is also completely full; book months out. October to February. Summer here is humid and heavy, and the monsoon floods streets to the knee.

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