Colonel Bailey's Dungeon

Colonel Bailey's Dungeon lies in the northern part of Srirangapatna, the island on the Cauvery that served as the capital of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, about 19 km from Mysuru on the Bengaluru highway. Built in the 18th century under Tipu, it is hidden beneath the Sultan Bateri bastion by the fort wall, near Tipu's burial memorial, with gardens on all sides. It held British prisoners of the Anglo-Mysore Wars.

Colonel William Bailey, or Baillie, was captured after his defeat at Pollilur in 1780 and died here on 13 November 1782 after a long illness; the dungeon took his name. The white-walled brick chamber, about 30.5 by 12.2 metres, has a row of symmetrical arches. On a raised platform stand shoulder-high stone slabs with hooks and chains for tying prisoners, who are said to have been kept in water up to their necks. A cannon fired in the British bombardment of 1799 broke through the roof; the hole remains and the cannon is on display.