692 
CENSUS OF CALCUTTA. 
the buildings in the town, which fell into 
the hands of the Nawab, resistance became 
impossible. On the 18th of June the out- 
posts were stormed by the besiegers, which 
caused the native troops, hired by the Eng- 
lish, amounting to 1,500 men, to desert.* The 
besiegers in a few days obliged Mr. Drake, 
the governor, to take refuge in a ship then 
anchored in the river, leaving m the fort 
190 Europeans, with Mr. Holwell, one 
of the members of council at their head. 
These also wanted to embark, but no ship 
would come near the fort for fear of the 
firing kept up by the Nawab’s .troops. 
Notwithstanding every effort of the besieged, 
the fort was taken by storm on the 20th of 
June, whilst Mr. Holwell was treating with 
the Nawab the terms of capitulation. The 
English then surrendered their arms, and 
the Nawab’s people desisted from bloodshed. 
Having thus got possession of the fort, 
the Nawab sent for Mr. Holwell, and, after 
enquiring about the treasures which he 
said the English had hidden there, dismissed 
him with assurances of safety. On his 
return to his companions, who were then 
146 persons, he found them surrounded by 
a strong guard. About 7 o’clock in the 
evening of the 20th of June, these unfortu- 
nate people were locked up in a room used 
for the confinement of disorderly soldiers, 
which was not above 20 feet square. The 
time of the year which is well known for its 
heat in this climate, and the smallness of 
the room, caused 123 of these miserable 
sufferers to expire in the same night. The 
next morning only 23, among whom was 
Mr. Holwell, were taken out, scarcely 
able to stand. The spot, called the black 
hole, where this room stood, is situated just 
at the north-west corner of the Tank-square, 
where at present a triangular patch of grass 
may be seen. On this spot Mr. Holwell 
afterwards causdS a monument to be erect- 
ed, which has since been removed. 
The Nawab, after a short stay, returned 
to Moorshedabed, leaving Manick Chund, 
the Fouzdar of Hooghly, in charge of Cal- 
cutta, with a garrison of 3,000 men. Hol- 
well and the other survivors from the black 
hole were soon after released, and, joining 
Mr. Drake and those who had taken shelter 
in the ships, continued there until news 
having reached Madras, an expedition was 
proposed against the Nawab, ‘which, con- 
ducted by Admiral Watson and Lord Clive, 
retook Calcutta in January 1757, and 
though the Nawab brought a large force 
against them, he could not drive out the 
English from their possessions. A treaty 
* It is to be hoped the ruling powers will 
learn hereby a lesson when Russian invasion 
is threatened. --Edif. India Review, 
was the consequence, and since that time to 
the present, Calcutta has remained in the 
undisturbed possession of the English, daily 
increasing in importance, wealth, and pros- 
perity. 
The contrast, between the position of 
Calcutta in 1756, as shewn by the forego- 
ing accounts, and that which it at present 
occupies as the capital of the most power- 
ful country in Asia, is so striking, that it ^ 
cannot escape the eye of the most negli- 
gent observer. There is no comparison 
between its present condition and that in 
which it was at the time to which the above 
account relates. With the increase of the 
British possessions the seat of their govern- 
ment has continued to increase. The po- 
pulation of a city, circumstanced as this 
has been, would, no doubt, increase in pro- 
portion. Now, we find, by a report of Mr. 
Holwell to Mr. Drake, the Governor of Fort 
William, that the Town of Calcutta was in 
his time divided into four principal dis- 
tricts, viz. Dee Calcutta, Govindpoor.Soota- 
nutty, and Bazar Calcutta. These four 
districts contained 5,472^ bigahs of ground, 
on which the Company received ground 
rent at three rupees per bigah, per annum, 
some few places excepted as lakheraje or 
rent-free lands. Besides the above lands, 
there was also 3,050 bigahs possessed by 
proprietors independent of the English ; but 
situate within the bounds of the Company. 
The number of houses in Calcutta at that 
time, Mr. Holwell says, was 51,132, and 
reckoning 8 inhabitants to each house, 
which he considers a very moderate estimate, 
he states the number of souls in Calcutta 
at 4,09,056 as the constant inhabitants of 
the town, without reckoning those that 
came in and went out. 
In the year 1800, according to the report 
of the police committee, furnished to Lord 
Mornington, the population was stated at 
5,00,000; and in 1814, according to the cal- 
culation of Chief Justice Sir Hyde East, it 
amounted to 7,00,000. These calculations 
are supposed by some to have included the 
suburbs of Calcutta and Garden Reach. 
But Mr. Holwell’s account, which assigns 
to Calcutta about 4,09,056 inhabitants in 
1752, bears out the calculations made in 
1800 and 1814. There can be no doubt, 
as we have stated above, that the popula- 
tion of this city has been on the increase 
since. Accordingly, at the present moment, 
the number of souls in Calcutta ought to be 
considerably more than at the time of Mr. 
Holwell. But instead of it, we find by the 
census of Captain Birch, that they amount 
to 2,29,714 only about one-half the num- 
bers stated by Mr. Holwell. Under these 
