1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gay Bluesier and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,639 Speaker 1: examining an infamous story from the early days of colonial 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: rule in India, the time when an overcrowded jail cell 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: became a tomb for British prisoners. The day was June 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty six. Dozens of British prisoners were forced to 9 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: spend the night in an airless cell known colloquially as 10 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: the Black Hole of Calcutta. The tiny chamber was housed 11 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: at Fort William, an outpost built by the British to 12 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: guard their trade post in Calcutta or Kolkatta as it's 13 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: known today. The fort had been captured that afternoon by 14 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: the forces of suraje Adola, the newly appointed Nawab, or 15 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: provincial governor of nearby Bengal. The fort's cell had been 16 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: designed to hold just six people, but according to one 17 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: of the survivors, as many as a hundred and forty 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: six prisoners were crammed into it that night, and by 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,559 Speaker 1: the time the chamber was opened the next morning, only 20 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: twenty three people came out alive. The reports of this 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: barbaric treatment were later used to bolster support for the 22 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: British conquest of the Indian subcontinent. Although an isolated incident, 23 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: the story helped establish the narrative that all Indians were 24 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: cruel savages and therefore fair game to conquer. However, two 25 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: hundred years later, new evidence began to cast serious doubts 26 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: on those charges of Indian brutality. By the turn of 27 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century, the British East India Company had establed 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: wished a lucrative port and trading base at the Indian 29 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: city of Calcutta. Although it was technically a commercial enterprise, 30 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: the East India Company came to act as a kind 31 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: of proxy for the British government in India. The organization 32 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: established diplomatic relationships with local rulers, minted money, and even 33 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: maintained its own private army. The forts and the soldiers 34 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: were meant to protect the company's factories and trading posts, 35 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: not so much from the locals, but from the French, 36 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: who were also building a commercial empire in India at 37 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: the time. Fort William was constructed for this very reason, 38 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: and years later its defenses were further strengthened to better 39 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: guard against French competitors. Reports of these new fortifications didn't 40 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: sit well with Saraja Doola. He had recently succeeded his 41 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: grandfather as the Niuab of Bengal, and he came to 42 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: resent the growing foreign influence in the region. In early June, 43 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: he sent a message to the British governor of Calcutta 44 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: demanding that they stopped working on the fort When these 45 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: orders when ignored, the Niab responded by sending fifty thousand 46 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: troops and five hundred elephants marching straight toward the city. 47 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: The army arrived on June six and began slowly working 48 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: its way to the gates of Fort William. British soldiers 49 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: tried to stop the advance, but were overwhelmed at every turn. 50 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: By June nineteenth, most of the local residents and staff 51 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: had fled to the company's ships docked in the harbor. 52 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: There were only a hundred or so English soldiers left 53 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: to defend the fort and the women and children housed 54 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: inside it. The garrison was under the command of John's 55 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: Zephaniah Hallwell. He served as something of a sheriff for 56 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: the East India Company, collecting taxes and helping to keep 57 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: the peace. He was not a soldier, though, and he 58 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: didn't have any military experience. The Bengal Army made their 59 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: big push on the morning of June twenty, and while 60 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: Halliwell managed to hold the fort for a time, by 61 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: the afternoon he knew it was a lost cause. Following 62 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: his surrender, Hallwell and the other British prisoners were held 63 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: overnight at Fort William. According to Hallwell, soldiers with bayonets 64 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: forced them into a small lock up cell that had 65 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: been built and used for the punishment of minor offenses. 66 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: The room, which had been nicknamed the black Hole, was 67 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: said to be eighteen feet long and fourteen feet wide, 68 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: with just one or two small windows to provide ventilation. 69 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: Halliwell claimed that a hundred and forty six people were 70 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: stuffed inside the tiny cell, including two women and several 71 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: wounded soldiers. It was a sweltering summer night in Calcutta, 72 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: and the captives reportedly climbed over one another to steal 73 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: a breath of fresh air from the window. Those two 74 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: weak to fight were trampled or left to beg for 75 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: mercy from the guards, who supposedly laughed and mocked them 76 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: in response. In the end, Hallwell claimed that a hundred 77 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,479 Speaker 1: and twenty three people suffocated overnight, and that when the 78 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: door was finally opened the following morning, many of the 79 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: corpses were still standing upright because they had no room 80 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: to fall. Hallwell and the other survivors continued to be 81 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: held at Fort william in much better conditions until January 82 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: of the following year, when British forces recaptured the fort 83 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: and secured their release. Hallwell returned to England as something 84 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: of a celebrity, and his star only rose after he 85 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: published an account of his ordeal. It was titled A 86 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: Genuine Narrative of the Deplorable Deaths of the English Gentleman 87 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 1: and Others who were suffocated in the Black Hole. Hallwell's 88 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: claims were taken his gospel at the time, but later 89 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: studies suggest he exaggerated his figures. For example, only forty 90 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: three soldiers stationed at Fort Williams were unaccounted for after 91 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,799 Speaker 1: the events of June twenty there should have been many more. 92 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: Based on the death toll reported by Hollwell in nineteen 93 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: fifty nine, after conducting extensive research, Professor Brujan Gupta concluded 94 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: that a total of sixty four soldiers and civilians had 95 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: been captured by the Bengal attackers, and that the true 96 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: number of survivors was twenty one, not twenty three. Gupta 97 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: also found evidence that although Surajadola had ordered the attack 98 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,799 Speaker 1: on Fort William, he knew nothing about the black hole 99 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: or the prisoners held there until significantly later. It's also 100 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: been suggested that the cruelty inflicted on the British prisoners 101 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: that night, though egregious, may have been unintentional. It's possible 102 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: they were meant to be confined only briefly, but wound 103 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: up being held much longer due to poor communication and 104 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: general disorganization among the Bengal forces. None of that would 105 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: change the injustice of what happened. Dozens of people suffered 106 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: and died in that cell, but it's still worth keeping 107 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: these considerations in mind, especially since some historians view the 108 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: incident as a catalyst for the eventual large scale conquest 109 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: of India. Some British officials used the event and the 110 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: sole first hand witness account of it, as propaganda to 111 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: promote imperial control, to get the public on board with 112 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: what would prove to be a long, bloody conquest. The 113 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: government needed to dehumanize the people they would be conquering, 114 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: to make them out to be monsters. That need should 115 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: make us wary of accepting the story at face value, 116 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: because the purpose of propaganda isn't to tell the truth. 117 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: It's to spread a point of view. That makes it 118 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,679 Speaker 1: an effective tool for public messaging. But whether you should 119 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: trust the message depends a lot on who's wielding the 120 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: tool and on what they stand to gain from it. 121 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Louzier and hopefully you now know a little 122 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 123 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's show, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 124 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: Instagram at t D i HC Show. You can also 125 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you 126 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: can reach out to me directly by writing to this 127 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks as always 128 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you 129 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for 130 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: another day in History class.