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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox museum
| name = Dagshai Central Jail & Museum
| native_name = Dagshai Jail Museum
| native_name_lang =
| logo =
| logo_upright =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| image = File:Dagshai_Museum_Front_Gate.jpg
| image_upright =
| caption = Dagshai Museum Front Gate
| alt = Dagshai Museum Front Gate
| map_type =
| map_caption =
| map_size = map_size=230
| map_relief =
| former_name =
| established =
| dissolved = 
| location = [[Dagshai]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], India
| coordinates = {{Coord|30|53|11.896|N|77|3|2.027|W|display=inline,title}}
| type = [[Jail museum]]
| accreditation =
| key_holdings = 54 cells, 16 were solitary imprisonment.
| collections = Old photographs, Jail cells, fire hydrant (1865)
| collection_size =
| visitors =
| founder =
| executive_director =
| director =
| president =
| ceo =
| chairperson =
| curator =
| architect =
| historian =
| owner =
| publictransit =
| parking = Outside jail museum gate
| car_park = Outside jail museum gate
| website = {{URL|https://sites.google.com/site/dagshaijailmuseum/}}
| network =
| embedded =
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}}
The '''Dagshai Jail Museum''' or [[Dagshai]] Central Jail in [[India]] was built in 1847, a T-shaped building of local stone masonry with 54 tiny cells.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Dagshai Jail Museum|url=https://sites.google.com/site/dagshaijailmuseum/|access-date=2020-06-21|website=sites.google.com}}</ref> Apart from the Cellular Jail in the [[Andaman Islands|Andamans]], it is the only other Indian museum which once was a jail.<ref name="tourmyindia.com">{{Cite web|title=The Dagshai Jail Museum, Solan, Himachal Pradesh|url=https://www.tourmyindia.com/states/himachal/the-dagshai-jail-museum.html|access-date=2020-06-21|website=tourmyindia.com}}</ref>
It is situated {{convert|6087|ft}} above sea level, {{cvt|11|km}} from [[Solan]], in [[Himachal Pradesh]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2016-10-15|title=Time stands still in this little hamlet situated in the heart of the Himalayas|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/travel/6903-time-stands-still-little-hamlet-situated-heart-himalayas|access-date=2020-06-21|website=The Sunday Guardian Live|language=en-US}}</ref> and maintained by the Engineering Wing of the [[Indian Army]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|first=Amitabh|last=Shukla|title=Kasauli, Dagshai and Subathu: The Quaint Cantonment Hill stations|url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/state-editions/kasauli-dagshai-and-subathu-the-quaint-cantonment-hill-stations.html|access-date=2020-06-21|website=The Pioneer|language=en}}</ref> The structure holds 54 maximum security cells, out of which 16 cells were used for severe punishments. The cells were hardly ventilated and lacked any source of natural light. The details of each cell are mentioned on title boards.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ram|first=Siji|date=2016-07-26|title=A Visit to the Dagshai Jail Museum in Solan|url=https://www.nativeplanet.com/travel-guide/a-visit-the-dagshai-jail-museum-solan-002248.html|access-date=2020-06-21|website=nativeplanet.com|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
The military prison in Dagshai Cantonment is a witness of Mahatma Gandhi's arrival in Himachal Pradesh. Britishers used to keep rogue soldiers in the prison. [[Mahatma Gandhi]] spent two days there, not as a prisoner but to meet the Irish prisoners. Gandhi's assassin [[Nathuram Godse]] was kept in the prison, he was believed to be the last prisoner of this jail.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1970-01-01|title=हिमाचल की डगशाई जेल में महात्मा गांधी थे मेहमान और गोडसे कैदी|url=https://hindi.news18.com/news/himachal-pradesh/shimla-himachals-dagshai-jail-where-mahatma-gandhi-was-guest-and-godse-was-prisoner-hpvk-1673051.html|access-date=2020-06-21|website=News18 India}}</ref>

It housed 50 prisoners at most, and well after the [[independence of India]] it was converted into a museum.<ref>{{Cite web|title=गांधी जयंतीः ये है वो जेल, जहां कैद था बापू का कातिल नाथूराम गोडसे, आज एक म्यूजियम है|url=https://www.amarujala.com/chandigarh/mahatma-gandhi-jayanti-nathuram-godse-was-prisoned-in-dagshai-jail-kalka|access-date=2020-06-21|website=Amar Ujala|language=hi}}</ref> The establishment of the museum in 2011 was due to the drive of [[Kasauli]]'s brigade commander, Brigadier Ananth Narayanan. Anand Sethi, a resident of Dagshai Hills, helped him in the curation of the museum with vintage and archival photographs and other material sourced from India, the U.K. and Ireland.<ref name=":0" />

== Construction and view ==
<mapframe latitude="30.8866379" longitude="77.0505632" zoom="15" width="200" height="100" align="right" />The Dagshai jail was constructed in 1849 at a cost of Rs 72,873. It has 54 maximum security cells, which have a floor area of 8’x12’ and 20-foot high ceilings.

The hamlet was founded in 1847 by the [[East India Company]] by securing five villages at no expense from the [[Maharaja of Patiala]].<ref name=":1"/>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Dagshai Old Jail Gate.jpg
File:Dagshai Jail Museum Corridor view.jpg
File:Darkest Room of Dagshai Jail Museum.jpg
File:Corridor View - backside of Dagshai Jail.jpg
File:Garden view of Dagshai Jail Museum.jpg
File:Old Roman catholic European Cementary (1845) Dagshai.jpg
File:Board outside - Dagshai Jail Museum.jpg
</gallery>

== Jail museum ==
The museums in the jail compound has old photographs of houses which recreate the history of the place and some memorabilia from the [[British Raj|British rule]] period. The architecture of both the jail and the museum are typical British in green color.<ref name=":2" /> It was for prisoners guilty of treachery, who were subjected to cruel chastisement, barricaded windows and doors.<ref name=":1" />

Apart from the jail, there is also the Dagshai Heritage museum. There are photos of steam engines, railway lines, old customs of Dagshai, a brief mention of [[Kasauli|monkey point]] and some old notes on what the area was like during the war times.

== Other points of interest, nearby places ==
[[File:Old Roman catholic European Cementary Gate (1845) Dagshai.jpg|alt=Old Roman catholic European Cemetery Gate (1845) Dagshai|thumb|Old Roman catholic European Cemetery Gate (1845) Dagshai]]
* Nobody ever escaped from this jail.
* There is only one VIP cell in the jail.<ref name="tourmyindia.com"/>
* Outside the courtyard of the cell, one can see the solid [[Fire hydrant|gun-metal fire hydrant]] made in 1865 in the [[United Kingdom|UK]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Deepak|first=Sukant|date=10 November 2017|title=Preserving dark secrets|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/supplements/simply-punjabi/story/20171120-preserving-dark-secrets-dagshai-jail-museum-gandhi-godse-1083475-2017-11-10|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623111952/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/supplements/simply-punjabi/story/20171120-preserving-dark-secrets-dagshai-jail-museum-gandhi-godse-1083475-2017-11-10 |archive-date=2020-06-23 |access-date=2020-06-21|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref>[[File:Fire hydrant (1865) Dagshai Jail Museum.jpg|alt=Fire hydrant (1865) Dagshai Jail Museum|thumb|Fire hydrant (1865) Dagshai Jail Museum]]
* Anand Sethi, a military historian and long-time resident of Dagshai whose father, Balkrishan Sethi was the first Indian to be a Cantonment Executive Officer (1941–42), is the man behind the project who funded it and collaborated with the Indian Army to make the museum.<ref name=":4" />
* Other nearby places are the Old Cemetery which was established in 1845, a Catholic church and a graveyard. The graveyard dates back to the early 1800s.<ref name=":1" />
* The area around Dagshai has about 11 forts constructed by the Nepalese [[Gurkha]]s under General [[Amar Singh Thapa]], when they ruled this part of North India from 1805 to 1816. The fort at Banasar is on a hill South of Dagshai.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Defunct prisons in India]]
[[Category:Prisons in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Museums in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Prison museums in India]]
[[Category:British-era buildings in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:1847 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Prisons completed in the 1840s]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dagshai Central Jail and Museum}}

Dagshai Central Jail & Museum - Revision history

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