Jhelum Cantonment (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

: ), commonly abbreviated to Jhelum Cantt (

: ) 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 ...

adjacent to the city of

Jhelum Jhelum (; , ) is a city, located along the western bank of the Jhelum River, in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city in Punjab and 31st largest in Pakistan, by population. Located in northern Punjab, it serves as the capital of the ...

, in Punjab province,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

.Overview of Cantonment Board Jhelum
Military Lands & Cantonments, Ministry of Defence, Government of Pakistan website, Retrieved 23 July 2021 It is one of the most important

cantonments 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 ...

(army base) in the country, built in 1849 during the British rule of the Indian Subcontinent, and has grown into a strategically important garrison. It is the headquarters of the 23rd Infantry Division of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

, commanded by a Major General.

Location

It is located on the

GT Road Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It r ...

(N-5) adjacent to the city of

at a distance of 121 km from the national capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

and 167 km from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, the provincial capital of Punjab. Prominent nearby cities and towns include

Mirpur, Azad Kashmir Mirpur ( ; ), officially known as New Mirpur City (), is the capital of Mirpur district located in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir ...

Kharian Kharian ( Punjabi, ), is a city in Gujrat District, as well as the Gujrat Division of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is the headquarters of Kharian Tehsil (sub-district). As of 2023 Kharian is the second largest Tehsil in the Gujrat Div ...

Sarai Alamgir Sarai Alamgir ( , Urdu: سرائے عالمگیر) is the main town of Sarai Alamgir Tehsil, located in the Gujrat district in the north of the Punjab, a province of Pakistan. Sarai Alamgir is one of four tehsils of Gujrat district. The S ...

, and Gujrat. The cantonment area is well planned and aesthetically maintained with an array of evergreen trees and seasonal flowers.

History

During the

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

was chosen as the site of a

and as the headquarters of the civil administration. For some years, it was the seat of the Commissioner of the Division, but in 1859 his headquarters were transferred to

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. Under British rule, Jhelum had steadily advanced in prosperity; and it is the hub for most of the trade of the District. Although, since the completion of the Sind-Sāgar branch of the North-Western Railway; the salt trade no longer passes through it. It is an important timber dépôt, the timber from the Kashmir forests which is floated down the river being collected here. A good deal of boatbuilding is carried on. The cantonment, which is three miles from the civil station, contains a church and a post office. The normal strength of the garrison is one Native cavalry and four Native infantry regiments. The municipality was founded in 1867. During the ten years ending 1902–03, the receipts averaged Rs. 32,100, and the expenditure Rs, 31,900. Receipts and expenditure from cantonment funds in the same period averaged Rs. 31,900 and Rs. 6,100 respectively. The main source of income of the municipality in 1903-04 was Rs.34,200 chiefly from

octroi Octroi (; , to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption. Antiquity The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in R ...

; and the expenditure was Rs. 41,000. The town has two English-medium schools, a municipal high school, and a middle school maintained by the American Presbyterian Mission. Besides the civil hospital, the mission also maintains a hospital.Gazetteer of India, v. 14, p. 159-160
/ref> The mission hospital was opened for women and children under the leadership of Winifred Heston in 1910. During the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, 35 British soldiers of HM XXIV regiment were killed by the local resistance. A

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

inside

St. John's Church Jhelum St John's Church () is a mid-nineteenth-century Anglican garrison church in Jhelum Cantonment, Punjab, Pakistan, standing a short walk north of the Jhelum River and the old rail bridge. Constructed as a memorial to British soldiers killed during t ...

the church shows the names of those 35 soldiers. ''St. John's Church'' is located in Jhelum cantonment

beside the

river Jhelum The Jhelum River is a major river in South Asia, flowing through India and Pakistan, and is the westernmost of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian-administered territory of Jammu ...

. It was built in 1860 and is a landmark of the city. It is a Protestant church and was in use during the British period. For forty years, it remained closed. Now it has been renovated and opened to the public.

Education

Jhelum Cantt. offers a number of education institutes for basic, intermediate as well as the higher education. The schools and colleges include: * Army Public School and College Jhelum Cantt. * Fauji Foundation Model School & College, Jhelum Cantt. * FG Boys Public Secondary School Jhelum Cantt * FG Girls Public Secondary School Jhelum Cantt * FG Boys High School Jhelum Cantt * Presentation Convent School, Jhelum Cantt * St. Thomas' High School, Jhelum Cantt * Cantonment Board Public School In addition, there are a number of good schools in the city of Jhelum and the neighborhood of the cantonment, including the Beaconhouse School Systems and The City School.

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

major cadet feeding institute,

Military College Jhelum Military College Jhelum (MCJ) is a feeder college to the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, Pakistan. The college is one of three military colleges in Pakistan; the others being Military College Murree and Military College Sui. History The c ...

, is located at a distance of 5 km at

Sports

The Jhelum Cantt has an eighteen-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 ...

called the River-View Golf Club, where national golf tournaments are held regularly. There are variety of sports facilities available within the cantonment which include

Cricket field A cricket field or cricket oval is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: perfect circles, elongated ovals, rounded rectangles, or irregular shapes with ...

Hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

fields, football fields,

Tennis Court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

Squash court Squash, sometimes called squash rackets, is a racket sport played by two (singles) or four players (doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow, rubber ball. The players alternate striking the ball with their rackets, directing it onto ...

s and

Swimming Pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

s are among many other sports facilities that are available.

Zamir Jaffri Cricket Stadium Zamir Jaffri Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium in Jhelum, Pakistan. It is named after Jhelum's native poet Syed Zamir Jafri. The stadium is in close proximity to Altaf Park which was built in 1994–95. It used to be a local district-level ...

is also adjacent to the ''Gul Afshan Colony'' Jhelum Cantt.

Parks

There are number of beautiful parks with exciting rides and activities for the children of all ages. There is a central park with number of attraction for the residents and people of neighbouring areas.

Health facilities

The cantonment has a military-run, "B" class standard, 500-bed teaching hospital known as

Combined Military Hospital Combined Military Hospitals (, abbreviated as CMH) are Pakistan Armed Forces hospitals situated in various cantonments of Pakistan. History During the British Raj, the British Indian Army troops depended for their medical treatment entirely o ...

(

CMH Jhelum Combined Military Hospitals (, abbreviated as CMH) are Pakistan Armed Forces hospitals situated in various cantonments of Pakistan. History During the British Raj, the British Indian Army troops depended for their medical treatment entirely o ...

). There is a plan to establish a medical college in the vicinity of the hospital.

Shopping

The

has number of markets with small to medium shopping stores offering variety of products.

References

External links

*
Cantonment Board Jhelum official website
{{Army Cantonments of Pakistan

Cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Cantonments of Pakistan