Jalandhar Cantonment is a

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...

town in

Jalandhar District Jalandhar district is a district in Doaba region of the state of Punjab, India. District headquarters is Jalandhar city. Before the Partition of India, Jalandhar was also the headquarters of the Jalandhar Division, with constituent districts J ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. The Cantonment is located between latitude 30° 18' and longitude 75° 37' on the southwest and at a distance of 2 km from Cantonment Railway Station and 5 km from City Railway Station. It is situated beside Grand Trunk Road at a distance of 89 km from Amritsar and 371 km from Delhi. It covers an area of 5.87 square miles (15.2 km²). It is on Amritsar-Delhi Broad Gauge Main Line. A Class-I airfield at Adampur is situated at a distance of 19 km. The airfield is linked with Jalandhar Cantonment by rail and road. It has a Recruiting Office responsible for enlisting the soldiers for Army, Navy and Air Force. The first Recruiting Officer who held this post until 1952 was Col. Dilbagh Singh Minhas of Jallandhar Doab. It has very beautiful parks for the public. It has many plant nurseries selling a variety of beautiful plants. It also hosts a flower show every year.

History

It is one of the oldest cantonments in India, established in 1848 after the first Anglo-Sikh War, when the British settled in Northern India. The original scope of this cantonment was limited to troops to quell disturbances from adjoining States for the maintenance of peace and order. In 1920 the cantonment was the scene of mutiny by Irish soldiers, who were protesting against martial law in Ireland by refusing to obey orders. They took down the Union Flag and replaced it with the flag of the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

, proclaimed at the time in Dublin (See The Connaught Rangers#Mutiny in India, 1920). Camps National Cadet Corps India

The departure of British from India and subsequent partition of the country changed the complexion of the Cantonment. It has gained tremendous importance on account of its nearness to the border with Pakistan.

Units stationed

Military Hospital Jalandhar was established here to provide health care and education to troops of the Indian army and their families. It is the peacetime station and family station for the 163 Medium Artillery Regiment, 169 Field Artillery Regiment, 141 Air Defence (SAM) Regiment, 4th Battalion

Rajputana Rifles The Rajputana Rifles is the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally a part of the British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated to form six battalions of the 6th Rajputana Rifles. In 1945, the ...

, 4th Battalion of

Bengal Sappers The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) (informally the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Ben ...

and 2nd Signals Battalion. The families of soldiers and officers of the above units live in the cantonment housing.

Demographics

As of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Jalandhar Cantonment had a population of 47,845. Males constitute 59% of the population and females 41%. Jalandhar Cantonment has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 75%. In Jalandhar Cantonment, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

External Links

{{Jalandhar district Cities and towns in Jalandhar district Cantonments of India Cantonments of British India 1848 establishments in British India