Kohat Cantonment is one of the eight cantonments in the Peshawar region of Pakistan. It is adjacent to

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

History

Kohat was annexed by the British in 1849 from the Sikhs, along with the rest of Punjab. The British made Kohat an Army Divisional Headquarters, and the military cantonment still exists today. Reports from 1882 describe the strength of the Kohat garrison to be nearly 3,000, consisting of three regiments of native infantry, half a regiment of cavalry, a mountain battery, and a garrison battery for the fort. All these troops belonged to the Panjab Frontier Force. The battle between the

Sikh Army The Sikh Khalsa Army (), also known as Khalsaji or simply Sikh Army, was the military force of the Sikh Empire. With its roots in the Khalsa founded by Guru Gobind Singh, the army was later modernised on Franco-British principles by Maharaja Ran ...

led by Maharaja

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

defeated the

Afghan Army The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be tr ...

in 1823 occurred here, too.

Raids on British Cantonments

Kohat is also recorded in history books for two incidents involving attacks on British cantonments by local raiders. In November 1920, raiders attacked the house of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Howard Foulkes who was shot dead. His wife was dragged some distance, but survived. She later died in December 1920 from injuries. His house, which was in Kohat Cantonment was also looted. Col. Foulkes was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Another incident occurred in 1923, where the house of Major Ellis was attacked, where his wife was murdered and his daughter was kidnapped (but later recovered).

Railway Station

It also has a Kohat Cannt Railway Station served by Pakistan Railways. The railway station too goes to the British era, with a famous story about the kidnapping of the railway stationmaster. and it has had a chequered history of being shut down and reopened. The broad gauge railway line connected Kohat to

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

. The Kohat-Rawalpindi train was relaunched in 2018.

References

Kohat District Cantonments of Pakistan {{Pakistan-mil-stub