20th March 1602: The Dutch East India Company established

By the start of the 17th century merchants from the Dutch Republic had begun to undertake voyages to the ‘Spice Islands’ of the Indian Ocean.

20th June 1756: British prisoners locked in the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’

British prisoners of war were imprisoned in the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’ after the Bengali army captured Fort William from the East India Company.