Cellular Jail had been an extremely notorious cellular prison called “Kala Pani”. It is located in the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, named “Port Blair”. The prisoners were sentenced in this jail after getting brutally treated with the punishment of black water.
Here are 10 interesting facts about this Cellular Jail, Andaman:
1. What is the History of Cellular Jail
Cellular Jail is seen amongst the darkest chapters in the history of India. This jail was built during the reign of Bruisers after the war of 1857. The main objective of constructing this prison was to provide severe torture to all the freedom fighters of India who fought for Indian independence.
This prison was formed in order to prevent the contact of the rebellious people from the general public. It is located outside the country and named the Cellular jail. Britishers have used this prison to imprison political prisoners on a remote island.
2. Cellular Jail Location
Cellular Jail is situated at Port Blair within the boundaries of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There are many kilometers of the deep sea around this prison, all of which are visible only as seawater. It was not easy for anyone to cross it. In this prison, the most noteworthy feature was its very small perimeter walls, which could easily be crossed by anyone, but after that, the prisoner would almost certainly fall into the sea in an attempt to escape. Almost certainly, he would drown.
3. Cellular Jail Construction Time
It took around ten years from 1896 to 1906 for the British Government to construct this Jail. A foundation was laid for this prison in 1896 AD, and it was completed in 1906. At this jail, there were 698 cells, with each cell measuring 15 by 8 feet. Three-meter-high skylights were placed in these cells so that no prisoner could see another prisoner.
4. Why was it called Black Water Jail or Kala Pani?
Cellular Prison has once served as a “colonial prison”. It was also referred to as “black water jail”, or “Kala Pani”. This jail is surrounded by sea on all its sides so that the prisoners who were detained in this jail could not find any way to escape from the prison.
Cellular Jail was used mainly by the Britishers to expatriate political convicts to a remote land at the time of the freedom struggle of India. This jail was later taken over by the Japanese troops in the year 1942 at the time of World War II. A lot of British troops were detained in the jail in the form of prisoners.
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5. A National Museum
The Cellular Jail has been considered as one of the major jails throughout Asia. Presently, this place is visited by tourists in the form of a popular national monument. It is given the title of the National Memorial. The major attraction of the place is its fascinating museum that showcases life in prison and struggles faced by prominent political prisoners of India.
Today, the place is illuminated by colorful lights in the memory of martyrs. A beautiful sound and light show are organized on four days of a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday). It aims at recounting the events that are organized at the Cellular Jail Memorial in the past.
This museum stores all the weapons that the Britishers have used to fight against the freedom fighters. These weapons weren’t brought to separate them from society. They were also employed in building the prison, construction of its port, and a few more tasks.
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6. Cruel treatment of Britishers
There are several jails throughout the world to punish prisoners for their crimes. Cellular Jail is one of the cruelest jails in the world. The jail narrates the malice with which the Indian political prisoners were treated by Britishers. It is the strategy of Britishers to give black water punishments to the prisoners.
Here the prisoners have kept a thousand miles away from the country and were surrounded by the black water of the sea. This is to sabotage any plans, or strategies of the prisoner to flee from the place. The place was designed so perfect to confine the prisoners within the jail and surround them by the sea on all four sides, to have no option for them to leave. They were tied to the guns and were blown up under any disobedience act. A majority of prisoners were severely tortured and even killed at this jail.
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7. Construction
There is a total of 696 small-sized cells in this prison. It is a three-storied Jail with seven branches. The size of every cell comprises 2.7 meters to 4.5 meters. There is no bedroom present in jail. The primary building is made up of red stones that were acquired from Burma. This type of construction resembled a wheel of the bicycle where each of the wings is connected with the central tower as the “spoke of the wheel”.
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8. About the Life of Prisoners
The Jail was designed in such a way that no prisoner can see, and talk to other prisoners. They were kept aloof from each other. A prisoner in one cell could not interact with the prisoner in the adjacent cell. The Savarkar brothers Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Babarao Savarkar were assigned adjacent cells in the Jail, but for around two years of staying in this prison, they were unaware of the fact that they were detained in the same Jail.
Prisoners were assigned the job to fill the soil in the marshy land followed by cleaning the forest and making roads. If they fail to perform the allocated task within speculated time, then they were given terrible physical torture. They were also held in shackles. The prisoners also contributed towards building houses of British monarchs.
The condition of the prisoners was very bad in jail. They were treated badly by putting them under the extreme whims of nature without providing them water, and food. The space allocated between the different wings of this Jail was the working place for the prisoners. The inmates who were kept in this prison had to perform various activities that include oil extraction, coconut peel, rope making, a few more. This punishment was very cruel and creepy for prisoners.
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9. Freedom Fighters who remained in Jail
Several acclaimed freedom fighters of India who fought during the epic Indian freedom movement were detained in the prison. A few of them are Batukeshwar Dutt, Yogeshwar Shukla, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and the famous Veer Savarkar. The initial two hundred rebels present in this Jail were brought for the protection of the jailer named Major James Pattison Walker, and David Berry. Around 733 freedom fighters were brought from Karachi.
10 Unique Design of Cellular Jail, Andaman
The entire structure of the Cellular Jail had 7 straight wings that are joined to a tower in the middle. This design of this prison was inspired by the Panopticon concept of English philosopher and social thinker Jeremy Bentham. This jail has got the shape of an octopus. A tower is constructed in the center of the prison that was used by the jailor to keep a watch on the prisoners. But the prisoners couldn’t know that someone is watching them.
