Prisoners of War Coupons – Indian Paper Money Museum

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Prisoners of War Coupons : 1899, 1902 & 1942 & 1971

The British set up Prisoners of War camps in several locations in India during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 and during the two World Wars. Paper coupons were used in these camps to prevent the prisoners from misusing regular currency. The Boer War camps were situated in the fortified towns of Bellary, Ahmednagar, Trichinopoly and Kaity in Nilgiris. The only known coupons are from the Trichinopoly and Kaity camps. The Central Internment Camp at Ahmednagar and Dehradun housed civilian political prisoners from the ‘Quit India’ movement of 1942. There were Civil Internment Camps at Dehradun and Deoli. Several Prisoners of War camps were set up in India during World War II for German, Italian and Japanese prisoners captured in Burma. These camps were located in Ahmednagar, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bikaner, Premnagar, Ramgarh, Yol, Clement Town in Dehradun, Delhi and Deoli. The Prisoners of War from Pakistan captured during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 were housed in one such camp at Gaya in Ranchi.