Kolkata, Feb 3 : The nearly 250-year-old Fort William in Kolkata, headquarters of the Army's Eastern Command, has been renamed Vijay Durg, said Wg Cdr Himanshu Tiwari, Chief Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Defence, Kolkata.

He added that some other structures within the Fort have also been renamed.

"Kitchener House, inside Fort William, has also been renamed Manekshaw House and the South Gate - also known as St George's Gate - is now Shivaji Gate," Wg Cdr Tiwari said.

According to a senior official of the Eastern Command, the existing Fort William, on over 177 acres, replaced the original one that was sacked by Siraj-ud-Daula's troops in 1757. The British began building the new Fort in 1758 and completed the first phase in 1781.

"Wiser after the rout of the older structure, they constructed the new one with added defences. The ramparts were constructed to withstand cannon fire (of those times). The octagonal structure, with a moat all around, had eight gates. While three of these faced River Hooghly, on whose banks the Fort stands, the others overlooked open land what was then known as the Glacis. This open land is today called the Kolkata Maidan," the official said.

He added that 497 cannons were placed along the ramparts, but none of them had to fire a shot against the enemy as the fort was never attacked.

"The historic Kitchener House was originally built in 1771 as a blockhouse for the Fort Assault Company. In 1784, it was converted into the residence of the commander-in-chief of the British Indian Army and got its name after Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, who occupied it between 1902 and 1910. There is reason behind renaming it after Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. He was India's Chief of the Army Staff in 1971 when India won a decisive victory against Pakistani forces, resulting in the liberation of Bangladesh. Lt Gen AAK Niazi of the Pakistan Army, who surrendered with nearly 90,000 troops in Dhaka on December 16, 1971, was initially imprisoned at Kitchener House," he added.

Renaming St George's Gate after Chhatrapati Shivaji is also not without reason. Vijay Durg is also the name of the oldest fort along the Sindhudurg coast in Maharashtra. It was the naval base of the Marathas during Shivaji's time.

/IANS