Tucked away in a corner in the Secunderabad Cantonment is a historical marvel that takes one back to the days of the First War of Indian Independence (1857). The majestic granite stone and mortar structure called the Military Reformatory at Tirumalgiri (MRT) — although not very familiar even to Hyderabadis due to its restricted accessibility — is a cellular jail that was built soon after the attack on British seats of power across the subcontinent. It is believed that it was the MRT, commissioned in 1858, that served as a blueprint for the notorious Cellular Jail at Kalapani in Andaman and Nicobar islands five decades later.
The MRT, unlike prisons of the time across the country, was not used to lodge Indian prisoners but to reform soldiers of the British-Indian army who committed crimes or displayed various kinds of indiscipline against the British empire after the Revolt of 1857.
“6,990 miles to London” — reads a signboard painted in red and yellow at the entrance of the reformatory. It was the British way of reminding prisoners that their home was miles away and they better put a halt to any hopes of escape.
While Kalapani prison had seven arms, the MRT had only four. A typical Anglican-style central watchtower, inspired by England’s Royal Windsor Castle, overlooks the four wings. Each of them has two rows of solitary cells with each facing the rear of the other; along with the building’s cruciform design, it prevented any sort of communication between the inmates. Wide verandahs adorned with gothic arches connect to a total of 75 cells – 40 on the ground floor and 35 on the first floor.
One of the highly secured reformatories of the time, the MRT is fortified by a towering perimeter wall with mediaeval gateways.
A view of the entrance to the Military Reformatory at Tirumalgiri. (Express Photo/Rahul V Pisharody)
A demo cell arranged here for visitors reveals the nature of the reform system. Imagine being confined in a tiny, windowless cell, your hands shackled to an iron structure above your head. The only source of light is a small peephole meant for surveillance by the guard. Two minuscule ventilators, one near the roof and the other near the floor, offer scant relief from the stifling air. With no natural light and no sanitary facilities, the inmates were subjected to a living nightmare.
A chilling secret lurked within the heart of the MRT: a gallows perched atop the central watchtower. The narrow, winding staircase to the gallows, a steep ascent into the unknown, would quicken even the steadiest heart. From this lofty height, condemned prisoners were hanged and if the rope failed to ensure death, the rope was cut to allow the body to plummet onto a bed of spikes. A macabre ritual preceded their demise, a prayer hall offering a brief respite before the final departure. The prison grounds or the cemetery behind the prison served as their eternal resting place.
An officer who is part of the MRT’s heritage team says an unofficial estimate of 504 executions (only two after 1947) were carried out from these gallows. “Those who revolted against the army were kept in the reformatory to help them realise their mistakes and return to the army. This included both British men and Hindu soldiers. The British, before handing over the reformatory on 16 August 1947, burnt down all the records. They left the place to three Sepoys and one Naik who were all Indians. So, the popular folklore is that 502 executions were carried out before Independence, and two were certainly carried out in the 1980s during Operation Bluestar in Punjab,” the officer adds, requesting anonymity. The MRT was disbanded in 1994 and now is being maintained by 125 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) THE GUARDS.
“The hanging chambers are unique and were located at the highest point of the jail. Often the inmates would be so malnourished that their body weights do not kill them when hanged. So to ensure that the sentence is carried out, the executioner would cut the rope to allow the body to fall onto a bed of spikes two floors below to ensure death,” says Sibghat Ullah Khan of the non-profit entity Deccan Archive who had visited the MRT during a heritage walk. An architect himself, Sibghat tells that the prison is a relic of the British Raj and was a stark example of European neo-gothic architecture.
An entrance to the underground bomb shelter at the Entrenchment. (Express Photo/Rahul V Pisharody)
Military entrenchment
Another link to the First War of Indian Independence is that the MRT was part of a military entrenchment the British built for themselves a year after the 1857 Rebellion. One of the important seats of power, the British Residency, which was the office and residence of the British Resident of the East India Company to the Nizam’s court, was then located in Chaderghat on the northern banks of river Musi overlooking the Nizam’s Chowmahalla Palace. It was built 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 Company in 1798. This treaty in 1804 paved the way for a full-fledged military base for the Company in Secunderabad Cantonment, a place named after the third Nizam Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III (who ruled from 1803 to 1829).
“After a group of local Hyderabadi men stormed towards the Residency in protest against the rising British influence in the Nizam’s Hyderabad, the British feared further uprising and even from within the forces. The entrenchment is a ground-level fort that was built in Secunderabad, far away from Hyderabad, which could house the entire European population of the time in Hyderabad in case of a further attack,” says an officer from the Secunderabad Military Hospital. After 1947, the Entrenchment was repurposed and converted into the Military Hospital.
A view of the inside of one of the bastions at the Entrenchment. (Express Photo/Rahul V Pisharody)
Professor Salma Ahmed Farooqui of HK Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) says the Nizam had chosen the colonial agents owing to the threats his kingdom faced from the Maratha rulers and Tipu Sultan of Mysore. “After signing the treaty, the British gained a political foothold in the princely state of Hyderabad. A cantonment — the largest in the country at the time — was established at Secunderabad and British troops were stationed permanently. Also, the Nizam ceded the fertile eastern coastal areas of Northern Circars to the British.”
Participants of a heritage walk inside one of the rooms inside an underground bomb shelter. (express Photo/Rahul V Pisharody)
According to Pankaj Sethi, a Secunderabad-based researcher, troops from all over British India were stationed at Secunderabad Cantonment and this force was called Subsidiary Force as they were maintained by a subsidy paid by the Nizam. In the adjoining Bolarum Cantonment, the troops of Nizams were stationed in another Garrison and called the Hyderabad Contingent. The two cantonments were merged into one Secunderabad Cantonment in 1904, says Sethi. “The Nizam gave up territories south of river Krishna that he had won from Tipu Sultan to the British to maintain the Subsidiary Force and also ceded Berar to the British to maintain Hyderabad Contingent. The irony is that two major geographical territories were ceded to the British to maintain British troops on Hyderabad soil despite Hyderabad being an independent state and not part of British India,” he adds.
Despite the Subsidiary Alliance, the Nizam did not give up his law and order jurisdiction to the British. While the Nizam’s subjects were lodged at the old jail near Monda Market in Secunderabad, the British troops from these two cantonments were locked up at the MRT. The entrenchment was built as the British decided to make arrangements for their safety. Today, remnants of the colonial era dot the landscape within the fortress walls, serving as silent witnesses to a bygone era.
The Laswarrie gateway which was one of the three mediaeval gateways to the Entrenchment (Express Photo/Rahul V Pisharody)
The Secunderabad Entrenchment with its imposing fort wall along a moat and narrow archway entrances were designed to restrict entry to a single horse-drawn cart at a time, hinting at its strategic importance. Beneath the surface, a network of underground chambers, including a bomb shelter and underground interrogation room speaks of the fort’s defensive capabilities. Four ground-level bastions with three caponiers each provided a 360-degree watch over the surrounding landscape. A massive magazine for storing arms and ammunition, six water rooms for storage, and even a church were integral to the fort’s self-sufficiency and the spiritual needs of its inhabitants.
“On our platinum jubilee last year, we restored all these sites so that it reminds us of our past. The three gateways, Laswarie, Plassey and Assaye gates, were to be renamed as they were named to commemorate British victory against Indians. But we decided against renaming them as a large number of Indians were killed in these three battles and the gates stand as a memorial for the lost lives. In the Battle of Laswarie alone, about 7,000 Indians had lost their lives,” says an officer from the Military Hospital, who is part of the Heritage team. The Military Hospital along with the 125 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) THE GUARDS has been holding heritage walks for army officers and families as well as for students of schools and colleges with prior permission.
