Thandiani is a hill station in the

Galyat Galyat () region, or hill tract, (also written Galliat and Galiyat) is a narrow strip or area roughly – north-east of Islamabad, Pakistan, extending on both sides of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border, between Abbottabad and Murree. The word ...

area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, about northeast of

Abbottabad District Abbottabad District (Hindko, ) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is part of the Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km2, with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town. Neighbouring districts incl ...

in the foothills of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

and about above sea level.

History

Thandiani was originally granted as a lease to some members of the Battye family in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, who were Christian missionaries and also worked in the British civil service and military. The Battyes subsequently gave the site to the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, where a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

and various other facilities were set up 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 ...

. It also contained some private European houses, a camping ground, a small bazaar, and a small seasonal church of Francis Xavier in the Wilderness which were occupied only during the summer months.

Forests and wildlife

The mountains around Thandiani are more thickly forested than most other hill stations in the area, which have undergone more deforestation. The local wildlife includes leopards, monkeys, several kinds of

pheasants Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Euras ...

and the rarer

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe (biology), tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family (biology), family Squirrel, Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight i ...

and

pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red Lis ...

2005 earthquake

The area and its surrounding villages were damaged by the

2005 Kashmir earthquake An earthquake occurred at on 8 October 2005 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, a territory under Pakistan. Its epicenter was 19 km northeast of the city of Muzaffarabad, and 90 km north north-east of Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, ...

References

External links

* {{Wikivoyage-inline, Murree Galyat of Pakistan Populated places in Abbottabad District Abbottabad District Hill stations in Pakistan Tourist attractions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa