Maratha Ditch (archaic spelling: Mahratta Ditch) was a three-mile long moat excavated around Kolkata (then known as Calcutta) in the present Indian state of West Bengal, in 1742, as a protection against possible attacks by marauding Bargis, as the Marathas were known locally. The Bargis, however, never came to the city. Later, the ditch proved to be useless when the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, came and ransacked the British settlement in 1756. The ditch was never completely built. It was mostly filled up in 1799 to build the Circular Road and the balance was filled up in 1892–93. It earned Kolkatans the sobriquet "Ditchers". The area bound by the ditch was considered to be the original town of Kolkata.
Read more about Maratha Ditch: Bargi Invasions, The Ditch
Famous quotes containing the word ditch:
“I have three phobias which, could I mute them, would make my life as slick as a sonnet, but as dull as ditch water: I hate to go to bed, I hate to get up, and I hate to be alone.”
—Tallulah Bankhead (1903–1968)