Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon, located at Srirangapatna in present-day Karnataka, is one of the most evocative reminders of the Anglo-Mysore Wars and the long military struggle between the British East India Company and the rulers of the Mysore Kingdom. Built in the late 18th century during the reign of Tipu Sultan, the dungeon served as a prison for captured British officers and soldiers.
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| Bailey's dungeon. Srirangapatna Fort,KA aninditapaul.blogspot.com |
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| Srirangapatna Fort,KA oneshorttrip.com |
Above Image: British Army officer Colonel Bailey's Dungeon in Srirangapatna Fort, KA is a historic underground prison.Ruler Tipu Sultan purposely built the underground cell for the captured British prisoners of war. Tipu considered the EIC as his arch enemy as it was on a land grabbing spree across South India. Named after Colonel Bailey, a British officer who died there in 1780, the dungeon is notable for its brick construction, low vaulted roof, iron hooks, and its grim past during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, offering a glimpse into Tipu's military history and nearby the Cauvery river. The fortress had relatively smaller measurements of 30.5m x 12.2mwith many arches providing the dungeons with sufficient light to come in. The arches were symmetric, looking like a masjid’s tomb- bulbous on the side and converging at the ceiling, at least so prisoners could stand up tall..............
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| Bailey's dungion.thinkbangalore.com |
Srirangapatna, situated about 16 km from Mysore, 28 km from Mandya, and 128 km from Bengaluru, was the capital of the Mysore Empire under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan between 1761 and 1799 CE. The dungeon lies on the northern side of the fort wall, close to the Ranganathaswamy Temple and not far from Tipu Sultan’s tomb, highlighting the area’s strategic and symbolic importance.
The dungeon is named after Colonel William Bailey, a senior British officer captured during the Battle of Pollilur in 1780, a crushing defeat suffered by the British in the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Bailey, along with several officers and soldiers, was brought to Srirangapatna and imprisoned here. He endured months of harsh captivity and died on 13 November 1782, reportedly after prolonged illness, giving the dungeon its present name.
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| Col.Bailey's dungeon,UG arches, image:ChinyaSuhail Srirangapatna Ft upload.wikimedia.org |
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| In memory of Col, Bailey en.wikipedia.org |
Architecturally, Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon is a subterranean structure built of brick and lime mortar, located beneath the Sultan’s Battery. Measuring roughly 100 feet by 40 feet, it features a series of symmetrical arches that allow limited light and ventilation. A striking aspect of the design is its bulbous, domed ceiling, reminiscent of Islamic mausoleums, which allowed prisoners to stand upright.
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| Srirangapatna,Karnataka, news18.com |
Inside the dungeon are raised stone slabs with holes fitted with iron hooks and chains. Prisoners were allegedly chained to these slabs, and accounts suggest they were sometimes submerged in water up to their necks, making confinement physically and psychologically torturous.
Today, Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon stands as a grim yet powerful historical monument, reflecting the brutality of 18th-century warfare and the fierce resistance mounted by Mysore against British colonial expansion.
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/dark-dingy-dungeons-srirangapatna-2453024
https://www.thinkbangalore.com/2015/01/tippus-colonel-bailey-dungeon.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Bailey%27s_Dungeon
https://oneshorttrip.com/srirangapatna-fort
Author: K.N. Jayaraman
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