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|date= 20 June 1756
|location=[[Calcutta]]
|presidency=[[BengalPresidency]]
|co-ordinates=[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=22.550293,88.339805&z=14&t=h&hl=en 22.550293°N 88.339805°E]
|result= British defeat
|commander1=Governor Roger Drake<br>Captain Minchen<br>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Zephaniah_Holwell John Holwell]
|commander2= [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraj_Ud_Daulah Siraj-ud-Daula]
|strength1= 200 garrison|strength2= 50,000
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
}}
'''This was an event during the [[3rd Carnatic War]]'''<br>
== Summary ==
After the [[Surrender of Kossimbazar]] Siraj ud Daulah advanced towards Calcutta which he reached on 16 June and drove in the British outposts. Attempts were made to evacuate women and children but panic overtook the defenders. Governor Drake, Captain Minchen and a large portion of the militia fled on board the vessels in the Hughli. With a garrison of only 200 the fort was overwhelmed. Though Siraj ud Daulah promised no harm would come to the 146 prisoners, they were packed into a small space where many of them suffocated overnight. John Holwell's account of the Black Hole of Calcutta has been challenged. The facts will probably never be established.
== Biographies ==
