Chakrata

Chakrata
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Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates:	30.69°N 77.86°E
Altitude:	2,118 m (6,949 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Chakrata
State/Province:	Uttarakhand
Country:	India
Transport links

Chakrata is located in the Dehra Dun District, between Mussoorie and Simla. It was established as a cantonment in 1866 and first occupied in 1869.

Kailana which is located nearby, was established at the same time as an Army Convalescent Depot. Its function may have changed changed, as circa 1891, "The troops here consist of two bodies of men. A whole regiment is quartered upon two hills known as Chakrata proper. On an adjacent hill, called Kailana, which is about two-and-a-half miles from Chakrata , some 750 men (small detachments from several regiments and batteries), known as "details" are located. The "details" generally march up some ten or twelve days later than the regiment".

The station was isolated and the hills considered to have particularly steep gradients.

There was a brewery located a few miles down hill of Chakatra, the Cart Road Brewery.

Spelling Variants

Modern name: Chakrata
Variants: Chakratta/Chakrauta/Chuckrata/Chhuckrowta

FIBIS resources

• Transcriptions of summary data from gravestones in Chakrata taken from IOR/R4/539 FIBIS database

Kailana in 1933

550 men of the 1st Black Watch spent three months at Kailana in 1933. The first part of the journey from Meerut to Kailana was made by train to Dehra Dun. From here the trip uphill was by bus, to Kalsi via Jumnipur. Kalsi rest camp lay in a perfect setting at the bottom of the thickly clad lower slopes of the Himalayas. Kalsi was also well known for its bat like mosquitoes. All of the baggage would be offloaded from the buses on to A.T carts and then in the cool of the evening a route march was begun to Saiah. Saiah rest camp was besides an ice cold stream, which had its source in the Pindari glacier. An early start the next day brought the troops to the bottom of the infamous "Short Cut" - a narrow and very steep hill road leading to Kailana camp.
As usual sport dominated the activities here along with Khud walks but there was unfortunately only one football pitch. Soldiering was confined to route marches and musketry, which were often interrupted by torrential rain or made impossible by the terrain. Other amusements were few. The Bazaar was indifferent and the Soldiers Club many weary miles away which was made worse by the complete absence of the "tat".

External links

• Chakrata www.chakrata.in
• Chakrata Hill resorts of U.P. Himalaya: a geographical study, page 81 by Nutan Tyagi 1991 Google Books
• Photograph: St Hugh’s Church, Chakrata 1917 Church of England. gettyimages.com. Note: the church does not appear to be the same church as the following photograph titled Garrison Church 1917, raising the possibility it may be incorrectly titled.
• Photograph: Garrison Church Chakrata 1917 gettyimages.com
• From a collection of postcards at the ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, sent by F.G. Prew, a soldier, probably in the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment to Adolf Feller of Switzerland.
  • Kailana Bazar post stamped 30.7.1928 with reverse side
  • Kailana, Siaha Rest Camp post stamped 23.10.1928 with reverse side

Historical books online

• "Chakrata Tahsil" and "Chakrata Town" Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 10, p. 125.
• "Special Reports With Reference To The Proposed New Site For Military Cantonments On The Pokree Range In The Himalaya Mountains, East Indies" by H. M. Fraser, M.D., Surgeon, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade. Army Medical Department: Statistical, Sanitary and Medical Reports, Volume VII for the Year 1865. Presented to both Houses of Parliament
• Some details of the construction of the buildings for the Convalescent Depot at Kailana Report on the Administration of the N.-W. Provinces for the year 1867-68, page 130, 1868 Google Books
• "Modification of Standard Plan of Barracks for Married Soldiers in the Hills", page 109 Abstract of the proceedings of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India, for the months of January, February, March and April 1870.
• Guide to Mussoorie, Landour, Chakrata and Dehra Dun, etc by Robert Hawthorne published at Mussoorie by Beacon Press 1890 is available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, under the title The Beacon’s Guide to Mussoorie. Also see Mussoorie for other online books which may possibly mention Chakrata.
• "On the Cause of Enteric Fever in India" by H Skey Muir M. D. Transactions of the Epidemiological Society of London: Volume 10, page 22 1891 Archive.org
• Enteric fever at Chakrata 1897 page 243 Enteric fever in India and in other tropical and sub-tropical regions : a study in epidemiology and military hygiene by Ernest Roberts, Major Indian Medical Service 1906 Archive.org
• "Khud Climbing at Kailana" page 62 The Rifle Brigade Chronicle for 1902 (Thirteenth Year), published 1903 Archive.org. The 3rd Battalion Rifle Brigade
• There is a section on Chakrata in Guide to Mussoorie with Notes on Adjacent Districts and Routes into the Interior, published 1907 by F Bodycote of the Mafasilite Printing Works Mussoorie which is available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, located under Books, Indian Subcontinent, 1907.