Ambala

Ambala
Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates:	30.38°N 76.78°E
Altitude:	264 m (866 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Ambala
State/Province:	Haryana
Country:	India
Transport links
North Western Railway

FibiWiki Maps
See our interactive map of this location showing places of interest during the British period
[xxxxx Ambala]

Ambala was the headquarters of Ambala District in the Delhi Division of Punjab Province during the British period.The Ambala Cantonment was established in 1843 after the British abandoned its cantonment at Karnal, following the malaria epidemic of 1841-42.

Spelling Variants

Modern spelling: Ambala
Variants: Umballa

FIBIS resources

• Photograph: Church, Amballa Cantonment from the FIBIS Gallery Album Railways / NWR/ H V O WATERS Collection
• Postcard: St Pauls, Ambala Sidney Malins Collection, FIBIS Gallery
• Images: Ambala Cantonment Cemetery FIBIS database. Includes a photograph of a memorial erected by the 21st Hussars in 1869
• Ambala Cantonment Cemetery Index of Memorials Searchable database of names and images.

Churches

The cantonment church is called St Paul's and it has a large graveyard and war memorial. St Paul’s Church, ‘an edifice which has been much admired’ was designed by Captain George Atkinson of the Bengal Engineers, according to this Archives,org link. He was the author of Curry & rice' on forty plates : or, The ingredients of social life at 'our station' in India, published 1860, refer Society reading list, and Historical books online, below which may have been based on life in the cantonment at Umballa.

St Paul's Church was bombed in 1965 and is now in ruins.

Cemeteries

List and images of graves at Ambala Christian cemetery www.gravestonephotos.com (Scroll down for list)

Also see "Historical books online", below.

Boer War period

During the Boer War there was a Prisoner of War Camp at Ambala. See POW Camps in India.

First World War

There was a Young Officers’ School at Ambala c 1917-1919. This appears to have been associated with a similar School at Subathu and it seems likely that Subathu was the summer location of this School.

External links

• Ambala City Imperial Gazetteer of India
• Ambala Wikipedia
• Ambala Cantonment Wikipedia
• Government of Haryana: Reprinted Old British Gazetteers. Previously part of Bengal. Haryana Government website. Includes Ambala District 1883-84, 1892, 1923-24, the latter available as a searchable pdf. revenueharyana.gov.in
• St Paul’s Church Ambala by Ramesh Lalwani 4 December 2005 mangalorean.com, now archived.
• "A peep into the history of Ambala" by Lt Gen Ranjit Singh (retd) April 6, 2014. tribuneindia.com (retrieved 21 April 2014). The Ambala Cantt with tree-lined roads and open spaces owes its origin to Capt Robert Napier, a Bengal Sappers officer.
• RAF Ambala rafweb.org (retrieved 1 July 2014)

Historical books online

• Umballa in 1845 Missionary Register for 1845, page 527 Google Books
• Cavalry Experiences and Leaves from My Journal by Colonel H A Ouvry 1892 Archive.org. The author was an officer in the 3rd Light Dragoons, and later the 9th Lancers, and was based at Umballa at various periods 1846-1859
• "Curry & Rice," on Forty Plates, or, The Ingredients of Social Life at "Our Station" in India by‬ George Francklin Atkinson, with Forty Chapters, each with an Illustration (which may rotated in the Hathi Trust versions) 1st Edition 1858 Hathi Trust, 2nd Edition 1859 Hathi Trust, 3rd Edition 1860 Google Books. The author was in the Bengal Engineers, and from 1854 was Executive Engineer of the Umballa Division
• "Topographical and Sanitary Report on Umballa and its vicinity, Upper India" by Dr Kendal, Surgeon, H. M.’s 7th Hussars, page 213 Army Medical Department: Statistical Sanitary and Medical Reports for the year 1859 (published 1861) Google Books
• Umballa page 380 Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Sanitary State of the Army in India : with Abstract of Evidence, and of Reports Received from Indian Military Stations 1864 Archive.org
• Opening of the Meerut and Umballa Section of the Delhi Railway, on the 14th of November, 1868 Archive.org
• Umballa is mentioned in Around the world on a bicycle Volume 2: From Teheran to Yokohama, page 299 by Thomas Stevens 1888 Archive.org
• "Ambala District" page 33 A list of inscriptions on Christian tombs or monuments in the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir and Afghanistan possessing historical or archaeological interest Part 1 by Miles Irving (1910) HathiTrust Digital Library
• Gazetteer of Ambala District, 1883-84. A volume in the series of Punjab District Gazetteers. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.
  • The cantonment, page 64

Punjab District Gazetteers Volume VII Part A Ambala District 1923-24. 1998 reprint of 1925 original. Archive.org.

• Fringe of the Clouds by Air Marshal Sir Philip Livingston 1962 Archive.org Lending Library. Includes "Chapter 5 India with the Royal Air Force 1920-1922" page 97. The author was a medical officer with the RAF, based at Ambala. There is a description of the cantonment page 105.