The Military Reformatory at Trimulgherry (MRT) stands as a significant colonial-era prison built in 1858, spanning 5 acres in Secunderabad Cantonment. It showcases remarkable European neo-gothic architecture and was designed to mirror elements of England's Royal Windsor Castle! The prison features a cruciform design with four wings extending from a central Anglican-style watchtower, visible in this postcard which makes the prison seem like an enormous palace. It has 75 solitary cells, high perimeter walls with medieval gateways, Gothic arches and wide verandahs.
The prison served as the blueprint for the notorious Kalapani cellular jail in Andaman Islands, which was built nearly 50 years later. Unlike other prisons of its time, the MRT was specifically designed to reform British-Indian army soldiers who committed crimes or showed indiscipline after the 1857 Uprising.