Kasauli-A Welcome Break from Summer heat

Visiting Kasauli recently was a welcome break from the heat of the plains. Kasauli is a very small hill town in Solan District of Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Located at a height of around 6000 ft from sea level, the town presents a very refreshing and soothing welcome to the visitors. A three day and two nights trip and no one wants to go back home…..such has been the attraction of the lovely, serene and tranquil environments. The kids enjoyed the most playing traditional games like Satapu, Pitthu and Kabaddi in the green lawn of the plush colonial cottage where we stayed. The adults joined in the games with the kids and became one of them…. The walnut and plum trees in the lawn added to the beauty of the surroundings.

First view of Kasauli on entrance from Dharampur

As luck would have it, the cottage gave us glimpses of the Sun as it rose early in the morning and set in the evening. This was the second time in my life when I could see both events clearly on the same day. The first time was during a visit to Puri town located on the Eastern Coast of India in the state of Odisha (then Orissa). Another chance we missed while we were at Kanyakumari on the southern end of Indian state of Tamil Nadu due to presence of clouds in the sky.

Sunrise over Kasauli Hills in Summer

At Kasauli, we were lucky to enjoy the sunrise with the family, however, there was a crowd during sunset. Viewing simultaneous rising of the Moon in the clear skies opposite the setting Sun was amazing.   The town appeared to sleep early and rise late as the closing timings of various facilities indicated.

Rising of the moon amidst trees at Kasauli

A very neat and clean hill station without much holiday crowd is boon for the visitors. The location of Kasauli is such that one can see many cities due to its height and location. While northern side gives views of Shimla, Dagshai and other cities located on the hills, Southern views take you to cities like Chandigarh, Panchkula, Pinjore, Baddi etc.

A stroll at stone tiled Kasauli Sadar Bazaar and nearby Pine Mall will give you an opportunity to take back home momentos from the hills. The tourist attractions at Kasauli include, a colonial church and Manki Point. However, every inch at this tiny town will give you a relaxation which no spa in the world could give.

Overall a very soothing and quiet visit……to be remembered again and again and worth visiting again and again.  

Mutiny by Irish Soldiers at Dagshai (India)

The story of mutiny goes like this. An independence struggle was unfolding in Ireland in 1920 as people wanted freedom from Britishers. This induced a large scale mutiny by Irish soldiers in British service to support freedom struggle. On 27^th June, 1920, Irish soldiers of 1^st Battalion of Connaught Rangers at British military barracks of Jalandhar (Punjab, India) started mutiny by refusing to return to military duty till British forces left Ireland, which was under martial law. Irish soldiers of a part of regiment based at Solan (around 260 km from Jalandhar) also joined the mutiny. 22 years old Private James Daly of Tyrrelpass County Westmeath acted as the spokesperson of the mutineers.



‘Martyrs for Ireland’ display boards at Dagshai Museum highlighting Irish Heroism

A display board at Dagshai Museum informs that Daly led a company of men who paraded outside the officer's mess, stating that "if you want to know who the leader is I am". The mutineers tried to capture armoury on 30^th June, 1920, however, their attempt was unsuccessful. The mutineers were fired upon and two Irish soldiers namely Private Peter Sears and Private Patrick Smyth, were killed in the encounter. Also, 75 of the mutineers were held and kept at Dagshai Prison.  The harsh conditions at then prison led to the death of Private John Miranda of Liverpool. The mutineers were later tried by court martial in September 1920. The court martial sentenced 14 of them to death and the balance were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, 13 of the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, whereas Daly, the leader of the Irish mutiny, was not spared from death. He was later executed by a firing squad in the courtyard of the prison on 2^nd November, 1920. Thus he became a martyr for Ireland.

Courtyard of Dagshai prison where Daly was executed

 

The Dagshai Museum states that in his last letter to his mother, Daly wrote "It is all for Ireland. I am not afraid to die". Daly made history by becoming the last member of the British Armed Forces to be executed for a military offence. He was later buried at the Dagshai graveyard. In year 1970, remains of Daly, Sears and Smyth were repatriated to Ireland and given a funeral with full military honours.

Wikipedia states that Private Sears and Private Smyth were buried at Solan, while Private Daly and Private John Miranda were buried at the Dagshai graveyard.  In 1970, the remains of Sears, Smyth and Daly were repatriated to Ireland by The National Graves Association and given a military funeral with full honours. A special monument in their honour has been erected at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

Central Prison at Dagshai (Himachal Pradesh, India)

While searching for a suitable accommodation to spend the night during our drive to Chandigarh-Shimla highway in India, we chanced upon a small hilltop town, known as Dagshai. The town, which comes on the right side of the highway while driving towards Shimla, is located at a height of 6,078 feet from sea level in northern state of Himachal Pradesh of India. The chance visit to Dagshai brought us to ‘Dagshai Prison’, which turned out to be a prominent historical place connected with the small town.



Inner view of Dagshai Prison

The prison has been converted into a museum on 13^th  October, 2011 and is a wonderful piece of English history in India. I had never heard the existence of this prison earlier, so was surprised to see such a building.

Entrance of Dagshai Museum

Dagshai Prison or Jail is a unique T-shaped jail which was constructed with part stone masonary at a cost of Rs. 72,875 in the year 1849 which was a princely sum at that time. The 20 feet high prison has 54 cellers each measuring 8 feet by 12 feet. The entire flooring of the prison is made up from high quallity seasoned teak wood which appeared intact even after more than 163 years of existance. This type of construction enabled easy hearing of the movements of the prisoners by guards on duty. Each celler has a teak wood gate on the inner side and an iron gate on the outer side. Cross iron alloy  bars are fitted inside these wooden doors due to which they became impregnable and the entire jail complex resembled a fortress. The iron gates of each celler were made of specially casted iron alloy to make it impossible for the prisoners to cut these gates for escape.

Solid Teak wood entrance of Dagshai Prison

Out of 54 cellers, 11 were converted to accommodate staff, 27 were made as common cells and 16 cellers were converted to solitary confinement cellers. The common cells have been provided with heavily barricated 1 feet by 2 feet size ventilators on top of the wall of the celler and underground vents which draw air from a pipeline with an opening into the outer wall. 

The solitary confinement cells were specially created  to provide harsh punishments to the highly indisciplined prisoners. These cellers are dark and suffocating as there is no access to natural light and the cellers have no ventilation. 

Novel techniques were used to punish the prisoners in the jail. Apart from the physical strains to the prisoners, sometimes inhuman punishments were also awarded to the prisoners for perceived indiscipline. In such a case, a prisoner was made to stand between two very closely located doors of the celler. both the doors were locked to ensure that the prisoner kept standing between two doors for long durations depriving him of rest.

Visiting Dagshai prison is a unique experience. A book is kept inside the entrance of  the prison alongwith a fountain pen to facilitate the visitors to pen down their experience of visting the jail. A young girl who visited the jail wrote "A very nice experience. Seen history with my own eyes. Really astonishing, raised goosebumps". 

The display board at the prison states that the jail acquired notoriety and an indelible place in history because of various significant prisoners sent to this jail over a period of time. The jail is known for Irish soldiers mutiny way back in year 1920.