Dark, dingy dungeons of Srirangapatna

TRAVEL

Think of Srirangapatna and one cannot but think of the great ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. Simply because of his valour, talent and the way he fought the British. Known as the Tiger of Mysore, he was the de facto ruler of the Mysore kingdom for a long time. 

Srirangapatna had the privilege of witnessing the great courage of Tipu Sultan during the late 1700s.

Though a small town, 19 kilometers from Mysore, it was the chosen capital of Mysore. Several structures were constructed here too by Tipu Sultan. This town, an island on the River Cauvery, has endless number of stories of historical significance. One such story is that of the dungeons of Colonel Bailey.

Even before the narration of the story, I was fixated with its name and was curious to know what the place was all about. Dungeon is sort of morbid and one imagines this to be a place where prisoners are put to much suffering in dark and dreary cells. As the story unfolded, it was becoming clear this was actually true. 

It was not out of turn in those times for the British to hold Indian officers and locals as prisoners of wars. But it certainly was big news when the British were held prisoners. Tipu Sultan was one such valiant fighter who had the courage to hold highly ranked British officers captive. In order to have a defined place for housing captured prisoners, Tipu built these dungeons resembling a fortress. 

As history has it, Tipu Sultan was destined to struggle against all odds, more so, as the British had established their supremacy by then. Also the British had successfully conspired with the Nizam and Marathas, to try and overcome the formidable hurdle in South India – Mysore. But Tipu, the ruler of Mysore, true to his prowess put up a strong and gallant fight against the superior forces, each time.

The second Anglo-Mysore war
Not only was Tipu a great warrior, but so was his father Hyder Ali. So when the British had captured the French-controlled port of Mahe in 1779, Hyder Ali was agitated, mainly because this was a place that Tipu had placed under his protection with the help of some troops. So, Hyder Ali retaliated by launching the invasion of the Carnatic where he intended to drive the British out .

Tipu Sultan lead this campaign with 10,000 odd men and many guns, to intercept Colonel Bailey, who was heading the other troop.

This Anglo-Mysore War, also called the Battle of Pollilur was fought in September 1780. Tipu decisively won over Colonel Bailey and his troops. Several Europeans were captured alive while more than 3,800 sepoys suffered casualties. Tipu brought many men from the troops and Colonel Bailey to the dungeon as POWs. Later, Tipu also brought Captain Baird and Rulay, Colonel Brithwhite Sampson, Frazer and Lindsay as prisoners to this dungeon in a year or two.

The dungeons!
It was hard to see anything inside the dungeon; it was eerie, yet the way the dungeon was built was appealing. It had several arches and it seemed as if the arches greeted me to explore it. Cleanly maintained till date, one can easily imagine prisoners being held here with chaos around.  As anyone would imagine, the dungeons were built underground – and one had to climb down a few steps to enter.

Built of brick and mortar, this fortress had relatively smaller measurements of 30.5m x 12.2m. The presence of many arches provided the dungeons with sufficient light to come in. And to me,  Tipu had not compromised on the style of the architecture even here. The arches were symmetric, had the shape of a masjid’s tomb, bulbous on the side and converging at the ceiling, at least so prisoners could stand up tall.

Inside the dungeons that are on a lifted platform near the fort wall, there were several shoulder height stone slabs fixed on the East, West and Northern walls. These slabs had holes in them and acted as hooks, to which the captives were chained.

Why Bailey’s dungeon?
Serving as a prisoner of war, Colonel Bailey breathed his last in 1782 AD. The dungeons were named after him as ‘Colonel Bailey’s Dungeons’ and it has remained so, ever since. Even as we walked through the arches, I saw a large cannon in the centre of the dungeon. There is no dearth of the theories that explain its presence here. But one that I have heard often is the one in which the cannon rolled back or fell through the roof while Tipu was waging war with the British during the military blockage at Srirangapatna.

The cannon came piercing the ceiling, leaving a large hole that can be seen even today.  Made of solid wrought iron, weighing perhaps a ton, I wondered how soldiers of those days handled such heavy machinery! As I walked out after clicking many photographs, I noticed that some children had come in perhaps on a field trip to see the dungeons.

These hyperactive children chatted away but still had their eyes transfixed to the hooks and the arches – absorbing the surroundings at length. One is sure that they had their imagination was triggered by this important slice of history, when brave Tipu fought the British.

How to get there...
Distance: 19 km from Mysore, 125 km from Bangalore
Transport: Well connected by road and rail. Buses ply from Mysore and Bangalore at regular intervals. You can even drive down to the town
Accommodation: Many hotels and resorts are available.