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When the East India Company surrendered Fort William (in modern-day Kolkata) to the Nawab of Bengal on 20th June, 1756, dozens of British captives were imprisoned in a cell measuring only 18ft long and 14ft wide, with just two tiny windows - \u2018the Black Hole of Calcutta\u2019.\nAmong the prisoners was John Zephaniah Holwell, whose pamphlet describing the terrors of the airless room caused a sensation back in Britain and became a cause c\xe9l\xe8bre in the idealization of imperialism in India. Holwell claimed 123 men lost their lives in the cell, although it is now thought the number of deaths was exaggerated.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover Holwell\u2019s mixed feelings around colonialism; consider how \u2018the black hole of Calcutta\u2019 became an enduring term of phrase; and reveal what connected Kolkata with Olly\u2019s home village in Hertfordshire\u2026\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018A Genuine Narrative of the Deplorable Deaths of the English Gentlemen, and Others, who Were Suffocated in the Black-Hole in Fort-William, at Calcutta, in the Kingdom of Bengal, in the Night Succeeding the 20th Day of June, 1756, in a Letter to a Friend - By John Zephaniah Holwell\u2019 (A. Millar, 1758): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Genuine_Narrative_of_the_Deplorable_De/xGg0Cg9WVNcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Holwell+%2B+Calcutta&printsec=frontcover\n\u2022 \u2018The Black Hole of Calcutta \u2013 Kolkata, India\u2019 (Atlas Obscura): https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-black-hole-of-calcutta\n\u2022 \u2018The Story of The Black Hole Of Calcutta - Britain's Secret Homes\u2019 (ITV Daytime, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbjFxITtXwU\n#1700s #India #Empire #Macabre\nLove the show? Join\xa0\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\xa0\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via\xa0Apple Podcasts\xa0or\xa0Patreon.\xa0Thanks!\npodfollow.com/Retrospectors\n\xa0\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices