Aurangabad Cantonment (Chawni), is a

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

town in Aurangabad district in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

The Aurangabad City was founded in 1610 by Malik Ambar, the Prime Minister of Murtuza Nizam Shah II, on the site of a village called Khadki. In 1653, Prince

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

son of

Shahjahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked th ...

, the Emperor of Delhi was appointed Viceroy of

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

. Aurangzeb became emperor in 1658. From 1681 till his death in 1707, he was in the Deccan. Most of his time in the south was spent in Aurangabad. Along with Aurangzeb many

RAJPUT Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

Princes came from the north as his allies. Such princes were called ‘

Rajas ''Rajas'' (Sanskrit: रजस्) is one of the three '' guṇas'' (tendencies, qualities, attributes), a philosophical and psychological concept developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy.James G. Lochtefeld, Rajas, in The Illustrated ...

’. These Rajas settled around Aurangabad in small camps called 'Puras'. One of these was Rao Karansingh, the king of

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

(Rajasthan). He supported Aurangzeb in the Battle of Samugarh (1658) to annex the throne. Impressed by his act, Aurangzeb granted him three villages. He named them as Karanpura, Padampura & Kesrsingpura. After the decline of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

in the early eighteenth century, Aurangabad was ruled by Subedars of

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

. One of them, Kamruddin Chin-Kulich Khan, famously known as Nizam Ul Mulk formed his own kingdom. He shifted his capital from Aurangabad to

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. Since Aurangabad was near the Maratha's kingdom the Nizam always had conflict with the

Peshwas The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave ...

. For a century Aurangabad was only an Army base. But after conclusion of Anglo-Maratha War in 1819 the

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

formed the Cantonment with many European officers who came to train the Nizam's Army. This was not a Cantonment but an administrative area under

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

supervision. Here artillery and cavalry were established by the Nizam for the protection of his kingdom. The expenditure incurred on this account was borne by the Nizam and the Nizam owned the Cantonment. Up to 1836, the Nizam's Cantonment was located somewhere in the Osmanpura side. Then the camp shifted to the area between Harsul and

Bibi Ka Maqbara The Bibi Ka Maqbara (English: "Tomb of the Lady") is a tomb located in the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was commissioned in 1660 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's son, Prince Azam Shah, in the memory of his mother ...

. Aurangabad Cantonment Board was established in 1890 under the Ministry of Defense for administration of the Cantonment area. In 1903, a treaty was signed between the

and the

and it was decided to establish a proper Cantonment. All villages belonging to Bikaner Riyasat (namely Karanpura, Padampura, Kesarsinghpura and Konkanwadi) were transferred to the British. The area was approximately . In view of military convenience, an area of out of the above land was exchanged with an area of 1044

Acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

of Banewadi village and other Khalsa area of the Nizam's dominion in 1913. Hence the military authorities had at their disposal a total area of in Aurangabad. Out of the above land some land was used for purely

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

purpose with some remaining for agricultural and residential purposes. In the future the civil area was developed and the Cantonment was defined under the Cantonment Act, 1924. Today the Cantonment is spread across with a civil population of 19,274 as per 2001 census.

Aurangabad Cantonment Board

The Aurangabad Cantonment Board was established in 1890 is the municipal organization under the Ministry of Defense for the Cantonment area.
Cantonment Boards are special local self Government bodies created to administer the Cantonments in India. These institutions have an historical past associated with military administration in India.

Organisation

Cantonment Boards are a special form of municipal bodies for civic administration in the Cantonments in India. There are 62 Cantonments in India defined under the Cantonment Act, 1924. These Cantonment Boards are autonomous bodies set up and controlled by the Central Government under the provisions of the Cantonments Act, 1924. While the responsibility of direct field administration of the Cantonments is discharged through the Cantonment Boards, supervisory and control functions over the working of these bodies are exercised through the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Command with the advice of the Principal Director Defence Estates at the intermediate level and by the Central Government at the highest level. The Cantonments have been set up for quartering troops and, therefore, have to serve the basic civic amenities of the Armed Forces as are required in relation to the residential area for officers and men, open spaces for training, sports and recreation facilities and other establishments. In addition to providing the civic services to these areas the Cantonment Boards are required to provide municipal and civic services to the civil population of the Cantonments as well. Because of the nature of Cantonments, a high degree of efficiency and municipal performance level is expected from the Cantonment Boards. The Cantonment Boards are Statutorily constituted corporate bodies. The Boards generally comprise the democratically elected representatives of the civilian population and nominated members from the Armed Forces and District administration.

Functions of the Cantonment Board

*1. Water supply to the Civil Area, *2. Sanitation and Health services to both civil and armed forces, *3. Maintenance and development of roads, *4. Management of Defence land (Old Grant/Leased/Freehold/Private) **• Mutation and transfer, **• Conversion of old grant properties into freehold, **• Sanction of building plans for repairs and reconstruction, **• Dealing with any litigation regarding Defence Land. **• Prevention and removal of encroachment on the Government land., *5. Education: Run the Schools and provide civic amenities to the schools in the Cantonment Area. The Aurangabad Cantonment Board does not run any school. *6. Public improvement works : **• Development and maintenance of gardens **• Tree planting **• Development and maintenance of culverts and drainage lines **• Establishing and maintaining civil defence services *7. Conducting elections of the Cantonment Board as per CER, 1945. *8. Registration of births & deaths, *9. Town planning, *10. Monitoring trade and markets, *11. Group housing and shops, *12. Providing street lighting, *13. Providing conservancy services to the Armed forces, *14. Maintaining Defence land and land records under the management of the Cantonment Board,

Achievement

The Cantonment is the greenest area of Aurangabad city. Animals like Deers, Monkeys, Mongoose Field Rats and few leopards have taken a shelter in the vast green region of the Aurangabad Cantonment.
The Cantonment Board Aurangabad is traditionally known for maintaining a high standard of civic administration. In the field of public health and sanitation the Cantonment Board Aurangabad has a specially demanding task to accomplish particularly in the context of the welfare of the citizens of Cantonment Area. Not a single epidemic out-break has taken place in the history of the Cantonment Board Aurangabad.

Army Golf Course

Aurangabad cantonment houses Sarvatra Ecological Park and Training Area (SEPTA). Besides several other training facilities, the park also has a nine-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

. It is the only course in the Marathwada region. It is a sought after facility with

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

and

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

officers also seeking membership. This golf course was laid by the British and finds mention in the old revenue maps of Aurangabad Cantonment. The golf course was realigned and relaid in 1985. Since then this course has been improved further.

References

External links

Aurangabad Cantonment Board website

Aurangabad District website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurangabad Cantonment Cantonments of India Cantonments of British India Cities and towns in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra Populated places established in 1819 Aurangabad, Maharashtra Hyderabad State 1819 establishments in India