Bhuj jail

Photograph of the jail at Bhuj, Gujarat, taken by an unknown photographer during the late 1870s. This view shows the walled enclosure in which the jail stood, near the Sirpat city gate. It was designed as a version of the panopticon system proposed for the creation of safe and humane prisons by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Cells are arranged in radiating ranges around a central surveillance tower from which prisoners could be observed. In late 19th-century India this was considered a modern form of construction and was used for new prisons in Gujarat and other states. The jail also included a workshop, kitchens, and women’s quarters and could hold up to four hundred prisoners.