FORT WILLIAMS

The Indian Army changed the name of the Eastern Command headquarters, located in West Bengal, from Fort William to Vijay Durg mid-December last year in a bid to shed off the “colonial legacy”.

• Additionally, Kitchener House inside Fort William has been renamed to Manekshaw House, and South gate, formerly known as George’s Gate, is now Shivaji Gate.
• Fort William is Fort Williamsituated in Kolkata, West Bengal, on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River, a major distributary of the Ganga.
• Fort William was constructed by the British in 1781 and was named after King William III of England.
• The original fort was built by the British East India Company under Sir John Goldsborough.
• The current fort was reconstructed under the supervision of Robert Clive after the British regained control of Kolkata following the Battle of Plassey (1757).