Cellular Jail

Cellular Jail, prison complex built between 1896 and 1906 in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India. Indian revolutionaries were deported from the mainland—some 850 miles (1,370 km) to the west—to the Andaman Islands and made to clear land to build their own prison, before being incarcerated there. As the freedom movement in India continued to grow, the British decided it was necessary to build a new jail, and toward the end of the 19th century work began on a large circular building to house the ever-increasing numbers of political prisoners.