106 
R. Roskell Bayne —Notes on the remains of [No. 2, 
Fort William was not the first Fort built by the English Traders in 
Bengal; that at Hugli bad been erected either at the first voyage to 
Bengal or soon after, about 1640 ; it was called a Factory, and the Mogul 
Empire jealously prevented anything like a bastion being erected about it. 
In 1696 on the outbreak of a war between the Rajas on the western 
side of the river Hugli and the Mogul Empire, the three European 
settlements were allowed to enclose their factories for the protection of 
their goods, and says Orme, “ they, taking for granted what was not posi¬ 
tively forbidden, with great diligence raised walls with bastions round 
their factories.” Such was the origin of Hugli, Chandernagore and Cal¬ 
cutta Forts. Calcutta is then described as a small town contiguous to Soota- 
nutty: we may ascribe the date of 1696 to the first Fort William as an 
enclosed fort. 
In 1753, the Mahratta ditch was dug, originally intended to be seven 
miles long, only three were completed, this was a work carried out at the 
request and “ at the cost,” so says Orme (p. 45), “ of the Indian inhabitants 
of the colony.” He remarks, “ Allaverdy made no objection to this work, 
and moreover permitted the English the same year to raise a rampart 
with bastions of brickwork round their factory at Cossimbazar.” This, I 
am inclined to think, must have been the date of the addition of the outer 
bastions of Fort William ; which, as I shall be able to shew, are additions. 
I, however, cannot find any direct allusion to their being built. 
In 1756, repairs to the fort were begun in compliance with orders from 
the Court of Directors. Holwell writing in a letter, dated November 30th, 
1756, says—“ On the receipt of your letter by the Delawar in April we 
began to put the settlement into as good a posture of defence as we could, 
and as the parapet and embrazures as well as the gun carriages to the 
westward of the fort were much out of repair, they became the first object 
of our attention ; a number of workmen were employed, and I believe the 
parapet and embrazures, the greater part of which we were obliged to pull 
down, were more than half run up—when they were stopped by a Purwannah 
from the Suba.” 
That these repairs had been going on for some time past, and that 
they were extensive, is evident from the fact that considerable diligence 
bad been employed in excluding spies from the city who had reported that 
the place was being fortified. 
The excuse sent was to the effect that war had broken out between 
England and France, and in order to prevent their factory from being taken 
by the French, they state, “ we were only repairing our line of guns to 
the water side,” which Orme states “ extended on the brink of the river 
in front of the western side of the fort.” 
1 have prepared a plan, Plate X, from a portion of Simm’s Map, which 
