Captain Bailey s Dungeon, Srirangapatna

Colonel Bailey Dungeon is a historical fortress which is around 30.5 m wide and 12.2 m wide. The entire fortress is built of mortar and bricks. This arched dungeon was named after Colonel Bailey, who took his last breathe at this site in 1780 AD. The prisoners of the war of Tipu Sultan were kept on a lifted platform by the fort wall beside the fortress. There are concrete structures and prison hooks on the walls on to which the captured British soldiers of the wars were tied to. The British prisoners of the war were basically imprisoned on this dungeon. There is an entry way for the river water to get into this part of the fort. A tunnel is found underneath the surface through which Tipu Sultan used to see the prisoners of this dungeon. Historical cannon can be seen at this site. Once there was military blockade at Srirangapatnam, and incidentally a canon rolled back piercing the ceiling of the dungeon. In the dungeons, Captain Rulay, Captain Baird, and other renowned British commanders were also imprisoned. The canon can be seen till today in the dungeon premise. There are stone hooks along the wall where hands of the prisoners were chained. The dungeons are damn dark, morbid and prisoners used to suffer there for the environment. There are shoulder height stone slabs inside the prison, which are fixed on the West, North, and East walls with holes. The captives used to be chained at the wrists and tied to the slab. They were compelled to be drowned their waist inside the cold water. Colonel Brithwite, Captain Rulay,Captain Baird, Frazer, Lindsay, and Samson were imprisoned by Tipu Sultan inside this dungeon. It is very tough to spot anything inside the dungeon. It seems very ghostly. But, the way to the dungeon is built in such a way that it seems quite appealing. The dungeon contains quite a few arches and one can go through them to explore more closely. The fortress is maintained properly till date as the sites inside are quite neat and clean. The remaining on the walls, different age old marks and left over weapons remind the visitors of those days when no human rights were being protected. One can easily imagine the situation of those days when prisoners were kept with chaos around.