Prisoner-Of-War Coupons used in India
India with her vast territorial extent provided an excellent haven for internment and detentions, especially when the war was fought much away from the geographic location. Many times, the British government brought in prisoners from wars it carried out in other continents. The earliest reference to such an intra-territorial internment is found during the Anglo-Afghan war of 1830s.
To enable the prisoners of war to purchase daily necessities within the camp, it was necessary that they should be denied access to the circulating legal tender, lest they would save such money and use it for unwarranted activities. The best solution was to use coupons which carried value inside the camp but were useless outside. It is recorded that such coupons of value were first used in camps of prisoners during the rebellion of 1857. However the earliest coupons available to us are those of the Boer war of 1989-1902. The prisoners of this war were brought in at Trichinopoly in South India. Coupons of 1 Rupee and 5 Rupees bearing the signature of Camp-Commandment are known.
It was during the Second World War that several POW camps were set up in India for German, Italian and Japanese POWs. These camps were first located in the inland and hilly tracks, but in towns which were sufficiently large to afford ease of communication. Such towns included Ahmednagar, Bangalore, Bhopal, Ramgarh (near Dehradun), Yol (in Garhwal), Delhi, Clemant town (in the Nilgiris). The central internment camp was situated at Ahmednagar. There is evidence to believe that coupons were issued by each "Wing" of the camp and were authorized by the Camp Commandment.
After independence, India fought three successful wars with Pakistan. The most significant among these was the War of 1971 that led to the independence of Bangaladesh and an unconditional surrender of nearly 90,000 Pakistani troops in the Eastern Sector. Coupons issued for use in the POW camps during this war are known.
