Introduction

The revolt in the North-West Provinces, Bengal, and the Panjab left the government with a serious problem: where to put recaptured and surrendered prisoners, and the increasing number of new offenders convicted by the special commissioners for crimes associated with the revolt. As we have seen, rebels damaged or destroyed many jails. In addition, government often converted those that remained intact into military barracks, necessitating structural changes such as the pulling down of outbuildings and walls. As well as the difficulties caused by the lack of accommodation for prisoners, the mass desertion of prison guards in some areas meant that their security could not be guaranteed. There were few if any European soldiers to spare to ease the shortage. Further, hundreds of prisoners had been sentenced to transportation overseas, but there was no means of forwarding them from the districts to the holding jail at Alipur. The river steamers usually employed for the purpose were busy carrying European officers, civilians, and wounded soldiers.

This chapter will explore the development of a penal crisis in the aftermath of the revolt. District magistrates made a series of pleas for a solution to the many problems they faced, but in the short term there were only limited options. Especially in the North-West Provinces, jails needed major repairs, complete rebuilding or new sets of prison guards. An uneasy attempt to deal with the lack of jail accommodation came with the transfer of large numbers of prisoners to more secure jails, notably Alipur in the Bengal Presidency.