Murree

From FIBIwiki
Revision as of 12:37, 21 June 2012 by Maureene (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
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 is a hill station in Punjab founded by the British in 1851.

There were cantonments nearby at Gharial (four miles away) and Kuldannah[1], (alternative spelling Kuldana)

Military history

Insurrection at Murree 1857

Cantonments

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".[2]

Sites of Interest

The following are sites in and around the town.

Educational Institutes

  • Convent of Jesus and Mary (originally boarding, now a day school)
  • St Thomas College, Murree, for boys, was opened in 1882[3], probably by the Capuchin Fathers, and was subsequently taken over by the (Roman Catholic) Mill Hill Missionaries [4]. 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

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"[2].

External Links

pre 1920, 1920, 1931

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
  • Punjab District Gazetteers, Volume XXVIIIA, Rawalpindi District 1907, published 1909, is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website. Table of Contents commences computer page 8.

Further Reading

  • Shaukat, Lala Rukh, "Mystique of Murree" Lahore: Ferozsons (Pvt) Ltd 2006 ISBN 969 0 01986 4

References

  1. From Kashmir to Kabul, page 59 by Omar Khan, refer External links
  2. 2.0 2.1 Page 228, computer page 251 Punjab District Gazetteers, Volume XXVIIIA, Rawalpindi District 1907, published 1909, available to read online on the Digital Library of India website.
  3. The magic mountains: hill stations and the British raj by Dane Keith Kennedy page 138 Google Books
  4. A Google Books search snippet from Into deserts: a history of the Catholic Diocese of Lahore, 1886-1986 by John Rooney c 1986 says: The Rome agreement provided that the Mill Hill Missionaries were to take over responsibility for the debts of St. Thomas College, Murree. Capuchin sources assess these at Rs.l. 00. Mill Hill sources say the debt amounted to Rs.25000.00. ... This book is available at Harvard University Library and UCLA Library
  5. Peshawar Remembered by Walter Reeve (born 1934).