Black Hole Massacre : What really happened ?

History's infamous "Black Hole Massacre" also known as "Black Hole of Calcutta" happened in 20th June of 1756. When Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal sacked and captured Calcutta from British East India Company, he ordered the British prisoners to be held in a 14' X 18' (4.3 M X 5.5 M) prison cell for the night. There were 146 total prisoners (Numbers varied source to source) and all kept inside the room. In the morning when the guards opened the cell only 23 was survived. 

Black Hole of Calcutta

Prelude : British East India company was controlling Calcutta as their trading post in India from 1690. When "Seven Years War"  (Also known as French and Indian War) started in America in 1756, the British and French in India also started doing their part. French had an outpost In Chandannagar (Upstream of Hooghly River) while British had their outpost in Calcutta (Downstream of Hooghly River). Both British and French started building and reinforcing forts alongside the river after the war started. A trading company having a fort in his soil was really insulting and threatening for Nawab of Bengal. So, he ordered both parties to stop building and reinforcing the forts. French East India Company stopped but British East India Company ignored it and replied it was the matter of their own safety. So, they didn't need approval from Nawab. That reply was a direct insult to Nawab's Authority in Bengal. So Siraj Attacked Calcutta with 50,000 men. He defeated the British force stationed there (Only 146 British soldiers and some civilians and Anglo-Indian troops) and captured Calcutta on 20th June, 1756.

Siraj ud-Daulah

The Incident : After capturing the Fort William, Siraj ordered the prisoners of wars to be held in dungeons in the fort and went to take rest for the night. Siraj didn't know there was only one small cell or dungeon in that fort, which they called Black Hole and nobody informed him about it's size. So, in his order guards kept those unfortunate prisoners inside that small cell. They tried to bribe the guards to tell Siraj about the situation and arrange for more space. The guards went to inform Siraj but that time he was sleeping so they dared not to disturb him in his sleep. In the morning, Siraj ordered to open the cell. That was 6 A.M. in the morning. So, when they opened the cell as per source only 23 survived and others died of suffocation. After that the corpses were thrown into ditch and the survivors were transported to Murshidabad, capital of Bengal.

Controversy : The main source of this tragedy was J.Z. Halwell, a survivor of that tragedy. He was among the 23 people who came out alive from that cell. He stated there were 146 people. Other sources like Stanley Wolpert said there were 64 prisoners and 21 survived, D.L. prior said 43 men of the garrison were already missing before the incident. The presence of civilians and Anglo Indian troops made the counting of the actual number of prisoners really difficult. Now here comes the controversy. Many modern historians believe that the numbers were highly exaggerated. Logically it was impossible to put 146 people in a room of that size. Some believe it was a propaganda of British East India Company to gain sympathy and portray themselves as victims and Siraj as villain or monster. After that incident Robert Clive recaptured Calcutta. Later Siraj was defeated and killed by British East India Company in 1757 (Battle of Plassey). So, We never came to know the Siraj's version of the story. All records of this incident was British. 

Conclusion : History was written by victors. We all know that. So, the authenticity of the history of this incident is highly questionable. I personally believe if it really happened then also the numbers were much lesser than the Halwell account. Though it is my personal opinion and I'm not challenging any source material. What is your opinion ? Share it in the comments.