The Less-Known Defense Heritage – The Military Prison, Secunderabad.

(A revelation that it actually was the prototype for the Kalapani Cellular Jail in Port Blair.)

During the British rule of India a garrison was stationed in Secunderabad the primary function of which was to
provide assistance to the Nizam of Hyderabad in a fresh location away from the main city. This was built in virgin
land as a first settlement meant only for defence purposes. A separate railway military siding was constructed from
the Secunderabad railway station to a place called Trimulgherry. The prison location is in Trimulgherry very close
to the military siding. It was secretly designed by the British to house Indian freedom fighters and others who
opposed the British supremacy. This military prison was one of its kinds in the sub-continent at that time
The building basically was used to imprison mutinous Indians during 18 th century. The construction began in 1853
and was completed in 1858 over a plinth area of 20,344 sq ft at a cost of Rs. 4,71,202.
In order to construct this prison in double storey in secrecy
the primary building material were shipped all the way from
Burma to Chennai and brought by rail here. From the military
siding they were carted during the nights to the building site.
They were Burma teak and bricks.
This splendid building is the iconic crown of Secunderabad,
built on the pattern of Windsor Castle in gleaming white
colour, made with brick and lime mortar and stone for the
tower and the entrance gate.
Since the construction was undertaken by British the
influence of English Tudor architecture is an obvious feature of the building. It focused on details, the typical
element of projecting, multi-sided window cantilevered out from an upper floor and supported on a bracket or corbel
from beneath, pointed arch of the Gothic period, windows and doors ornately decorated. This became the prototype
for the Cellular Jail in Port Blair which is a larger version of the same. After using this successfully to intimidate and
control the Indians who rose against them, they decided to replicate the cell design, the basic layout of having a
central tower with wings extending from it. Instead of the four wings as here, it was designed with seven wings. The
gallows were set up as a separate structure in Port Blair.
The Secunderabad Prison was used for 28 long years here.
It was only later that it was decided to build the bigger one
in Port Blair. Very few of are aware of this fact that such a
military prison/jail was secretly designed by the British to
house Indian freedom fighters and people who fought
against them.
The prison was built in such a way that each prisoner was
kept in isolation with very poor ventilation creating a
dungeon like situation. No toilet facility was provided in the
blocks. The Ground floor consists of 32 cells with both
sides corridors and the cells are planned in such a way that
the access doors of each cell are placed on the other side of
the corridor alternatively so that there is no contact to the
neighboring cell even from the inside when the next cell is approached for some reason. The first floor is
approached through a flight of steps from the central tower and has 32 cells. The central area of the first floor has a
prayer hall where the prisoners were allowed to offer their last prayers before being hanged. The hall has double
height roof to allow the pass the body to drop down to the floor below which had spikes upon which it would fall.
The spikes were embedded in the flooring and were about 2 m tall. On the third floor of the tower is the gallows
where the prisoners were hanged. The bottom end had the noose and the top end was tied to a grommet (pulley) in
the ceiling and then was tied off to a metal T-Shaped bracket, which took the force delivered by the prisoners’ drop.
The noose was then placed snugly around the prisoner’s neck, behind the left ear, which would cause the neck to
snap and the prisoner then dropped through the opening in the slab and fell down in the prayer hall over the spikes.
The whole building was fortified by a towering perimeter wall with a medieval gateway, making it impossible for
the outside world to get even the faintest idea of what was happening inside. The prisoners were so secluded so that
contact with the outside world was totally impossible. If they had to be medically treated at the adjoining Military
Hospital, they were transported through an underground tunnel and brought back to their cells through the same
route. The cells remind one of medieval chamber for its horrifying interior which is devoid of natural ventilation and
dark even during days.
 The British supremacy and arrogance is evident not in the
building alone but in the inhuman treatment meted out to the
prisoners. Walking through the corridors one can feel the
atmosphere that prevailed hundred years ago, come alive.
Outside the boundary wall of the prison, there is a 15 feet wide
moat and it is believed that crocodiles were put in there to deter
anyone from trying to get in or out.
After the Independence, the prison was handed over to the
Indian Army. However no records about the prisoners were
handed over by the British. After operation “BLUE STAR” the
Sikh army men who had mutinied at Ramgarh Regimental center
were housed here for reformation. Earlier, according to the people the prison was very active during The Second
World War when the some of the captured prisoners were lodged here.
The prison was disbanded in 1994 and now it houses the Territorial Army since 1995. The building is being
maintained by Territorial Army and as a result of efforts put in by them Indian National Trust of Art and Cultural
Heritage awarded the “Charminar Intach Heritage” award to this building in the year 1997. This award is a yearly
feature of the A P Chapter of the INTACH.