Viper Island, the precursor to Cellular Jail

S Balakrishnan *

Viper Island, the precursor to Cellular Jail

Viper Island is a tiny, puny island in South Andamans; it is so tiny that its total area does not make up even one square kilometer. It is just 0.335 sq. km.! However, it was here that the fate of the Andaman & Nicobar Group of Islands was written in 1789. When Lt. Archibald Blair arrived some 234 years ago for a survey of the Islands, his vessel HMS Viper met with an accident near this Island and submerged.

Hence the name Viper Island, though I initially mistook, like many others, that this island abounds with Viper snakes, hence the notorious name! Hissssssss! The pioneering survey of Archibald Blair was honoured by naming the first port area of the Islands as ‘Port Blair’ by which name the capital town also came to be called after.

When the Indian freedom struggle peaked during 1857, the colonial British government decided to send the freedom fighters (the British called them as ‘Sepoy Mutineers’) to the remote Andaman Islands where a penal settlement was being re-established; hence the dreaded nickname ‘Kala Pani’ for the Islands. Later, criminal convicts were also sent to this penal settlement.

In October 1858, Superintendent J.P. Walker made Viper Island habitable by forcing the freedom fighters to clear the jungle. The first jail of the penal settlement was constructed in Viper Island during 1864-67. It had solitary cells, whipping stands, gallows, etc. The penal settlement’s notorious punishments were scripted here.

The gallows (2009)

With the influx of political prisoners, the need for constructing a bigger jail was felt necessary. So the British designed a jail only with ‘solitary cells’ and thus was born the most notorious ‘Cellular’ Jail at Atlanta Point area of Port Blair. Its construction started in 1896 and was completed in 1906; with the inmates being shifted to Cellular Jail, the Viper Island last its importance. A Jail Committee also suggested its closing down.

Now, most of the structures in Viper Island stand dilapidated. Realising the historical connection of these structures with our freedom struggle, the Administration has woken up (like Rip Van Winkle) and taken up restoration & renovation. Better late than never! The domed structure of the gallows is a prominent monument.

Inside - The gallows (2009)

It was constructed so prominently to instill fear among the penal settlement inmates, as it stands atop a mound and is visible from a distance. A stable for the horses/soldiers’ shed is at the foot of the mound. A men’s urinal stands aloof and in almost good condition. Other buildings (the prison, stores, swimming pool, grave yard, etc.) had such an overgrowth of trees that I wondered if the structures supported the trees or the trees supported the structures!

It reminded me of Angor Wat structures in Cambodia (don’t ask me if I had ever visited it). One can experience such a scenario on Ross Island also which was the headquarters of Penal Settlement until World War II.

The Japanese were also to be blamed for this pathetic condition; during World War II when the A&N Islands were under their occupation, they had dismantled some of these structures on Viper Island and used the material (brick, stone, iron, wood, etc.) for fortification elsewhere. Only a portion of the wall and roof of the prison (jail) stands today, with the rest of the structure doomed to the plinth level. The graveyard is a mound conquered by greenery.

The Viper Island gallows gained importance when Sher Ali, a Pashtun from Peshawar (now in Pakistan), was hanged here on 11th March 1872 after he assassinated Lord Mayo, the then Viceroy, at Hope Town Jetty, opposite Port Blair, on 8th February 1872. Tatkal justice within 33 days, because the victim was Viceroy of British India!

Men's Urinal

When I was eking out a living in Port Blair during 1978-80, my adventurous spirit took me to Viper Island twice. The first was in February 1979; was it a solo trip? I suppose so. Probably Viper Island was specially opened for visitors in view of Cellular Jail to be declared open as a National Memorial a week later by Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

The ferry service that connects the various jetties (landing points) within Port Blair touches the Viper Island jetty also. The ‘Narmada’ ferry boat dropped me at and picked me up from Viper. The second trip was with a gang of friends, courtesy Mr. Krishnan, Inspector, Co-op. Societies, because Viper had been leased out to a cooperative society and was closed for visitors. Alas! Most of the now-famous tourist spots in the Islands were then off limits for aam aadmi (ordinary citizen) without a jhadoo (broom) in hand.

A revisit in 2009 (after 30 years) revealed restoration works being taken up; it has taken 10 years more than Rip Van Winkle for the authorities to wake up. It was a conducted visit and, therefore, a hurried visit. I was curious to see and, if possible, use the men’s urinal but we were shooed back to the ferry and I had to control my bladder. It is pathetic that most of our tourist spots lack even basic toilet facilities; how can we expect to have Swachh Bharath even by 2047?

A piece of the 234-year-old history of Viper Island is with me in the form of a broken brick piece that I, as is my wont, picked up at its landing point. There lay two boats - broken and upside down - as witness of the horrible Tsunami of 2004. An eyesore even after five years; maybe they are still rotting there! The historically significant Viper Island, green & serene, resembles a sleeping Godzilla amidst the blue waters of Andamans!

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* S Balakrishnan wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer is from Chennai and can be reached at krishnanbala2004(AT)yahoo(DOT)co(DOT)in
This article was webcasted on June 11 2023.

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