BAILEY'S DUNGEON, Seringapatam

(Srirangapattana taluk - IN)
12.413900,76.704200
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 31/05/2016

An underground 18th century brick structure with many vaults and pillars encloses a space (30.5 m wide, 12.5 m deep, up to 3.5 m high) sunken into alluvium. The dungeon called after one Colonel Bailey or Baillie (note 1) who is said to have died here. The former dungeon once was flooded to a fitting level with water but nowadays the tourist attraction is kept dry, well-swept and improved with a hygienic concrete floor to suite what the Archaeological Survey of India treats as a "protected monument". SITUATION: North of Ranganathaswamy temple and at the north-eastern margin of Tipu Sultan's fort on the island Shrirangapatnam (N12°24'49”: E76°42'15”) in the valley of the river Kaveri (Cauvery, Cavery, Kaubari), some 15 km north-east of Mysore (12°18'26”N: 76°38'59”E) on the road to Bangalore (N12°59': E77°35'). CAVE LIFE: SARKAR et al. (1980: 993) had selected an »abandoned subterranean magazine in Srirangapatna [sic!] itself« as a banding site for bats (Chiroptera) but at the present state of "conservation" absolutely no cave fauna is able to survive.

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 31/05/2016

NOTE 1: The ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) signboard at the site itself spells »Bailey« (seen 14.02.2004) but LONELY PLANET, South India (2001: 342) reports »… the grim dungeon where Colonel Baillie [sic!], defeated by Tipu at the Battle of Pollipore in 1780, died along with many other British prisoners.« LONELY PLANET, India (1997, 2003, 2005, 2007) bypasses this pitfall by referring in some cases to several »dungeons where Tipu held British officers captive« (2003: 858; 2005: 824) and on other occasions to one »dungeon where Tipu held a number of British officers« (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 938, 2007: 938).

Documents

Bibliography 31/05/2016
  • Lonely Planet, India 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007; Lonely Planet, South India 2001.

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
2.2GAUTAMA RISHI CAVE, Seringapatam
10.3PANDAVA CAVE, Pandavapura - Kuntibetta
57.3HULIYURDURGA TUNNEL
61.4PURUSHOTTAMA GUHA
65.4KABBALDURGA DUNGEONS
77.8Mile 26 Cave
85.3SAVANADURGA BAT CAVE
100.0SHIVAGANGA HILL (Caves on the)
100.0PATALE GANGA, Shivaganga