Murree

Murree
Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates:	33.906905°N 73.395367°E
Altitude:	2,291.2 m (7,517 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Murree
State/Province:	Punjab
Country:	Pakistan
Transport links

Murree (alternative spelling Murri) is a hill station in Punjab founded by the British in 1851.

The surrounding area of Murree Hills
Barian (Wikipedia) is situated in the Murree Hills, about 13 km north west of Murree, in the area known as the Galis (Gallis, Galies, Gallies, Gullies, Galiyat) where a number of small hill towns, many of which have Gali in their name, are situated along the crest of the ridge on the road that runs north from Murree to Abbottabad. Galiyat is the plural of Gali which literally means an alley but in this case it probably alludes to a valley between mountains. Barian Gali or Burean Gully is probably the same place as Barian (Bharian). In 1901 this area became part of Hazara District , North West Frontier Province
Tret is situated 40 kilometers from Rawalpindi on the main road to Muree.
The location of Cherat or Charat is sometimes described as Murree, or Murree Hills, but this description is incorrect. Cherat is located near Peshawar.

Military history

Insurrection at Murree 1857

Cantonments

"The British began to establish summer camps for the troops in the Galliat area and by the 1880 Baragali, Kalabagh, and Khairagali were occupied by various artillery units. Gora Dhaka, Khanspur and Changlagali housed infantry units. Nathiagali and Dungagali were reserved for civil servants. Thandiani served as a hill station for the civil servants in Abbottabad. These summer camps (cantonments) had a mixture of permanent and semi-permanent buildings and were supplied by small bazaars to cater for the needs of the troops"

In 1907:
"Murree is only a sanitarium. The mountain batteries go from Rawalpindi to the Hazara Galis. Clifden, Sunny Bank and Kuldannah form one cantonment. Clifden is, in summer, filled with a large number of women and children from Rawalpindi and Peshawar. A British Infantry Regiment is located at Kuldannah, and another in a temporary camp at Gharial, which also receives detachments from the summer garrison of Rawalpindi. Barian, on the borders of this district and Hazara, usually has a British Infantry Regiment from Peshawar or Nowshera".

The Army summer camp known as Barian Camp appears to have developed into a more permanent cantonment . "Barian was a lovely one-battalion cantonment at six thousand feet". In 1920 there was a RAF Hill Depot established at Lower Barian.

Bara Gali about 40km from Murree, also was a small cantonment, occupied in the hot summer months by one of the British mountain batteries which were stationed at Rawalpindi in the winter.(Spelling variants: Bara Gali/Baragully)

Changla Gali was situated on the road from Murree to Abbottabad, 9 miles from the former and 31 miles from the latter place. It was the head-quarters of the Northern Command School of Musketry, also referred to as the First Circle School of Musketry. (spelling variant Changlagali).

Ghora Dakha was a small cantonment on the road between Dunga Gali and Murree, 3 miles from the former and 15 from the latter place. During the summer months it was occupied by a detachment of British infantry. (Spelling variants Ghora/Gora Dakka/Dhaka)

Kalabagh was a small cantonment on the road between Abbottabad and Murree. During the summer months it was occupied by one of the British mountain batteries which were stationed at Rawalpindi in the winter. (Spelling variants: Kalabagh/ Kala Bagh)

Khaira Gali was a small cantonment on the road between Abbottabad and Murree, also occupied in the summer months by one of the British mountain batteries which were stationed at Rawalpindi in the winter. (Spelling variants : Khaira/ Khair/ Khyra Gali/ Galli/ Khyragilly/ Khyragully)

There was a Rest Camp at Tret.

Khanspur was a hill station where a detachment of British Infantry were stationed during the summer months. (Spelling variants Khanspur/ Khan's Pur)

Thobba, Murree Hills was a hot season destination for regiments and c 1899 there was a Convalescent Camp at Camp Thobba

Military Hospitals

In 1899 the were military hospitals at

• Bara Gali: 10 Beds
• Camp Gharial: 40 Beds
• Camp Thobba:14 Beds
• Camp Upper Topa: 16 Beds
• Camp Lower Topa: 25 Beds
• Ghora Dakha: 30 Tents
• Kalabagh: 15 Beds
• Khyragully: 10 Beds
• Kuldunnah: 60 Beds
• Murree C.D: 43 Beds

Postcards and photographs of the cantonments

A View of Cantonment General Hospital, Murree

• Postcard: Ghorrial Murree, c 1910 "History of Pakistan" on flickr.com
• Postcard: Upper Topa Murree 1910 imagesofasia.com (archive.org link)
• 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
  • The General View Murree Hill looking from Murree Depot sent 1931 with message
  • Murree Hill, The Sunny Bank Barracks sent 1931 with message
  • Bazar Jhikagali [Jhika Gali] under Snow Murree Hills post stamped 1.6.31 with message

Photographs

• 2009 Photograph of Old British Raj military HQ at Barian Cantonment. Now a military training school. flickr.com
• Photograph: 5th Battalion, The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, Barian Camp, Muree (First World War period) from Janet & Richard Mason’s The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment (archive.org link)
• Photographs of Barian: Barian: 1, Barian:2, Barian:3, Barian:4 from Photograph album of Private Henry Knight, who served in "A" Company of the 1/5th Royal West Kent Regiment in India during the Great War, from Janet & Richard Mason’s The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment (archive.org links 1, 2, 3, 4)

Also see

• Images of Murree

Sites of Interest

The following are sites in and around the town.

• The ruins of Murree Brewery in Ghora Gali

Cemeteries

• Old Cemetery
• Cliffden Road new Cemetery
• Pindi Point New Cemetery

Images and Transcriptions from above three cemeteries in external links below.

See also:-

• British Soldiers' Cemetery, Lower Topa, Murree Hills – Pakistan Video on YouTube
• Video on YouTube: Visit to a 200 Years Old British Christian Cemetery in Murree by MurreeHills1849 Part 1, Part 2

Also see "Historical books online", below.

Educational Institutes

• The Lawrence College, originally called the Lawrence Military Asylum is situated at Ghora Gali, 4 km from Murree.
• Convent of Jesus and Mary (originally boarding, now a day school). Dr Ali Jan’s Convent of Jesus & Mary Murree, now archived
• St Thomas College, Murree, for boys, was opened in 1882, probably by the Capuchin Fathers, and was subsequently taken over by the (Roman Catholic) Mill Hill Missionaries . However, it had probably closed by the 1930’s as there is no mention of this school in the entry for Murree in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, published 1909-1931
• St Denys' School was the first Anglican Protestant School for British girls in the Murree Hills, established in 1882. Dr Ali Jan’s St Denys' School , now archived.

Volunteer Regiments

G Company, 1st Punjab Volunteer Rifles, had its headquarters at Murree, and was composed of cadets belonging to the Lawrence Military Asylum at Ghora Gali, near Murree.

H Company, 1st Punjab Volunteer Rifles contained civilian residents from Rawalpindi and Murree, and had its headquarter at Murree. In 1907 G and H Companies were "in strength 121 men, exclusive of officers".

Ropeway at Patriata

There was a ropeway at Patriata of the heavy endless cable type, erected in 1910 for bringing firewood to the troops at Murree. This became the model for the Khyber ropeway erected in the Khyber Pass at the time of the 3rd Afghan War

External Links

• Cemeteries :-
  • Transcriptions and Images from website Indian cemeteries - now archived on archive.org.
  • Old Cemetery
  • Cliffden Road new Cemetery
  • Indi Point Cemetery

• Murree Wikipedia
• A letter written by Harry Beaumont, 1/6 East Surrey Regiment, No. 2297, from a collection of letters written by staff at the Audit office for the Great Western Railway (GWR) based at Paddington, London. The National Archives.

India: ‘the time of my life’ May 1915, written from Kuldana.

• "Memories of Murree" by Walter Reeve (born 1934) whose father was in the Indian Army and later Pakistan Army. Details of a visit to Murree in 1936 from the author’s father’s memoirs, and the author’s memory of visits in 1948 and 1949. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Scroll down. jang.com.pk 6, 13 and 20 November 2005, now archived websites. See Peshawar for the author’s memories of an English schoolboy growing up in Peshawar around the time of partition.
• Churches and Chapels in Murree Youtube.
• Photograph: St. Deny's Church – Murree flickr.com
• Muree and Gallies www.geocities.ws/jamshedt
• "A rock epic". An article by Ali Jan about a 1909 regimental rock carving by the Northumberland Fusiliers, at Murree from The News on Sunday 19 July 2009 (jang.com.pk)
• Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment, Kuldana, Murree 1907- 1910 by Dr Ali Jan. Details of rock carvings.
• Speech given by Mr Fakir Syed Aijazuddin, author and journalist, at the book launch of Murree: A Glimpse through the Forest by Virgil Miedema, 13 September 2002. Part 1, Part 2
• Photograph of Murree Mountain (7,600 feet) taken from Lower Topa by IshtiaQ Ahmed flickr.com
• Images of Murree from "History of Pakistan"'s collection flickr.com
• The Murree Brewery: History murreebrewery.com
• "Ale under the veil: the only brewery in Pakistan" by Jonathan Foreman 24 Mar 2012 The Telegraph. The Murree Brewery. By 1910 the company was finding it increasingly difficult to source clean water in Murree itself and transferred all its brewing to Rawalpindi.

Historical books online

• "Murree Town" Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 18, page 42.
• Map of Murree showing the cantonments, between pages 244 and 245, A Handbook for Travellers in India, Burma, and Ceylon published by John Murray, London Eighth Edition 1911 Archive.org.
• "Abstract of Medico-Topographical Report of Murree, Punjab" by Assistant-Surgeon J Reade, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, page 321 Army Medical Department: Report for the Year 1862. Google Books.
• Gazetteer Of The Rawalpindi District 1893-94. A volume in the series Punjab District Gazetteers. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

Punjab District Gazetteers, Vol.xxviiiA. Rawalpindi District 1907. Archive.org, Publicl Library of India Collection.

• Gazetteer Of The Hazara District 1907. A volume in the series N W F Province Gazetteers. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• "Murree" page 125 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. Also available Archive.org version.
• A Handbook to the North-West Frontier including Jhelum Rawalpindi and Hazara Districts by Cyril James Davey 1942. Archive.org, mirror from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Includes “Murree” from page 28 and “Other Stations in the Murree Hills” from page 29

Further Reading

• Shaukat, Lala Rukh, "Mystique of Murree" Lahore: Ferozsons (Pvt) Ltd 2006 ISBN 969 0 01986 4. Article:Queen of the hills by Zahrah Nasir August 20, 2006 Dawn.com