Tucked away in a nook within the Secunderabad Cantonment is a historic marvel that takes one again to the times of the First Battle of Indian Independence (1857). The majestic granite stone and mortar construction referred to as the Army Reformatory at Tirumalgiri (MRT) — though not very acquainted even to Hyderabadis resulting from its restricted accessibility — is a mobile jail that was constructed quickly after the assault on British seats of energy throughout the subcontinent. It’s believed that it was the MRT, commissioned in 1858, that served as a blueprint for the infamous Mobile Jail at Kalapani in Andaman and Nicobar islands 5 a long time later.
The MRT, in contrast to prisons of the time throughout the nation, was not used to lodge Indian prisoners however to reform troopers of the British-Indian military who dedicated crimes or displayed varied sorts of indiscipline towards the British empire after the Revolt of 1857.
Solitary cells, hanging chambers
“6,990 miles to London” — reads a signboard painted in pink and yellow on the entrance of the reformatory. It was the British means of reminding prisoners that their residence was miles away and so they higher put a halt to any hopes of escape.
Whereas Kalapani jail had seven arms, the MRT had solely 4. A typical Anglican-style central watchtower, impressed by England’s Royal Windsor Fort, overlooks the 4 wings. Every of them has two rows of solitary cells with every going through the rear of the opposite; together with the constructing’s cruciform design, it prevented any form of communication between the inmates. Extensive verandahs adorned with gothic arches connect with a complete of 75 cells – 40 on the bottom ground and 35 on the primary ground.
One of many extremely secured reformatories of the time, the MRT is fortified by a towering perimeter wall with mediaeval gateways.
A demo cell organized right here for guests reveals the character of the reform system. Think about being confined in a tiny, windowless cell, your palms shackled to an iron construction above your head. The one supply of sunshine is a small peephole meant for surveillance by the guard. Two minuscule ventilators, one close to the roof and the opposite close to the ground, supply scant aid from the stifling air. With no pure gentle and no sanitary amenities, the inmates had been subjected to a dwelling nightmare.
A chilling secret lurked throughout the coronary heart of the MRT: a gallows perched atop the central watchtower. The slender, winding staircase to the gallows, a steep ascent into the unknown, would quicken even the steadiest coronary heart. From this lofty peak, condemned prisoners had been hanged and if the rope failed to make sure dying, the rope was reduce to permit the physique to plummet onto a mattress of spikes. A macabre ritual preceded their demise, a prayer corridor providing a quick respite earlier than the ultimate departure. The jail grounds or the cemetery behind the jail served as their everlasting resting place.
An officer who’s a part of the MRT’s heritage staff says an unofficial estimate of 504 executions (solely two after 1947) had been carried out from these gallows. “Those that revolted towards the military had been saved within the reformatory to assist them realise their errors and return to the military. This included each British males and Hindu troopers. The British, earlier than handing over the reformatory on 16 August 1947, burnt down all of the data. They left the place to a few Sepoys and one Naik who had been all Indians. So, the favored folklore is that 502 executions had been carried out earlier than Independence, and two had been definitely carried out within the Nineteen Eighties throughout Operation Bluestar in Punjab,” the officer provides, requesting anonymity. The MRT was disbanded in 1994 and now could be being maintained by 125 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Military) THE GUARDS.
“The hanging chambers are distinctive and had been situated on the highest level of the jail. Usually the inmates can be so malnourished that their physique weights don’t kill them when hanged. So to make sure that the sentence is carried out, the executioner would reduce the rope to permit the physique to fall onto a mattress of spikes two flooring beneath to make sure dying,” says Sibghat Ullah Khan of the non-profit entity Deccan Archive who had visited the MRT throughout a heritage stroll. An architect himself, Sibghat tells that the jail is a relic of the British Raj and was a stark instance of European neo-gothic structure.
Army entrenchment
One other hyperlink to the First Battle of Indian Independence is that the MRT was a part of a navy entrenchment the British constructed for themselves a 12 months after the 1857 Rise up. One of many necessary seats of energy, the British Residency, which was the workplace and residence of the British Resident of the East India Firm to the Nizam’s court docket, was then situated in Chaderghat on the northern banks of river Musi overlooking the Nizam’s Chowmahalla Palace. It was constructed between 1803 and 1808 after the Doctrine of Subsidiary Alliance was signed between the second Nizam, Mir Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II, and the British East India Firm in 1798. This treaty in 1804 paved the best way for a full-fledged navy base for the Firm in Secunderabad Cantonment, a spot named after the third Nizam Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III (who dominated from 1803 to 1829).
“After a gaggle of native Hyderabadi males stormed in direction of the Residency in protest towards the rising British affect within the Nizam’s Hyderabad, the British feared additional rebellion and even from throughout the forces. The entrenchment is a ground-level fort that was inbuilt Secunderabad, far-off from Hyderabad, which might home all the European inhabitants of the time in Hyderabad in case of an extra assault,” says an officer from the Secunderabad Army Hospital. After 1947, the Entrenchment was repurposed and transformed into the Army Hospital.
Professor Salma Ahmed Farooqui of HK Sherwani Centre for Deccan Research on the Maulana Azad Nationwide Urdu College (MANUU) says the Nizam had chosen the colonial brokers owing to the threats his kingdom confronted from the Maratha rulers and Tipu Sultan of Mysore. “After signing the treaty, the British gained a political foothold within the princely state of Hyderabad. A cantonment — the biggest within the nation on the time — was established at Secunderabad and British troops had been stationed completely. Additionally, the Nizam ceded the fertile jap coastal areas of Northern Circars to the British.”
In accordance with Pankaj Sethi, a Secunderabad-based researcher, troops from throughout British India had been stationed at Secunderabad Cantonment and this drive was referred to as Subsidiary Drive as they had been maintained by a subsidy paid by the Nizam. Within the adjoining Bolarum Cantonment, the troops of Nizams had been stationed in one other Garrison and referred to as the Hyderabad Contingent. The 2 cantonments had been merged into one Secunderabad Cantonment in 1904, says Sethi. “The Nizam gave up territories south of river Krishna that he had gained from Tipu Sultan to the British to keep up the Subsidiary Drive and likewise ceded Berar to the British to keep up Hyderabad Contingent. The irony is that two main geographical territories had been ceded to the British to keep up British troops on Hyderabad soil regardless of Hyderabad being an impartial state and never a part of British India,” he provides.
Regardless of the Subsidiary Alliance, the Nizam didn’t hand over his legislation and order jurisdiction to the British. Whereas the Nizam’s topics had been lodged on the previous jail close to Monda Market in Secunderabad, the British troops from these two cantonments had been locked up on the MRT. The entrenchment was constructed because the British determined to make preparations for his or her security. Immediately, remnants of the colonial period dot the panorama throughout the fortress partitions, serving as silent witnesses to a bygone period.
The Secunderabad Entrenchment with its imposing fort wall alongside a moat and slender archway entrances had been designed to limit entry to a single horse-drawn cart at a time, hinting at its strategic significance. Beneath the floor, a community of underground chambers, together with a bomb shelter and underground interrogation room speaks of the fort’s defensive capabilities. 4 ground-level bastions with three caponiers every offered a 360-degree watch over the encircling panorama. A large journal for storing arms and ammunition, six water rooms for storage, and even a church had been integral to the fort’s self-sufficiency and the religious wants of its inhabitants.
“On our platinum jubilee final 12 months, we restored all these websites in order that it reminds us of our previous. The three gateways, Laswarie, Plassey and Assaye gates, had been to be renamed as they had been named to commemorate British victory towards Indians. However we determined towards renaming them as a lot of Indians had been killed in these three battles and the gates stand as a memorial for the misplaced lives. Within the Battle of Laswarie alone, about 7,000 Indians had misplaced their lives,” says an officer from the Army Hospital, who’s a part of the Heritage staff. The Army Hospital together with the 125 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Military) THE GUARDS has been holding heritage walks for military officers and households in addition to for college students of faculties and faculties with prior permission.
