Overview
- There are 62 Cantonments in India, with 7 located in Himachal Pradesh.
Distribution by District
- Solan: Dagshai, Subathu, Kasauli.+1
- Shimla: Jutogh.
- Chamba: Dalhousie, Bakloh.
- Kangra: Yol.
Subathu
- Established in May 1815.
- Served as a Military camp of Gorkhas in 1814-15.
- Site of the 1st Gorkha Regiment.
- Following the Gorkha defeat at Malaun, the Nasiri battalion was raised.
- Held significance before the construction of the Hindustan Tibet Road.
- Notable figures:
- Lt. Ross (Political Observer).
- Kennedy stayed here before Shimla.
- William Bentick visited in 1829.
Kasauli
- Established as the 2nd Cantonment in 1842 due to the possibility of the Anglo-Sikh war.
- The idea was proposed by Colonel HT Tapp, who was the political agent to the Shimla Hill States from 1836 to 1841.
- 1857 Revolt: 80 soldiers of the Kasauli guard revolted after hearing of the rebellion of the Nasiri Battalion in Jutogh.
- The Kasauli guards looted the Treasury.
Jutogh
- Established as the 3rd Cantonment in 1843.
- The Nasiri battalion revolted here under Subedar Bhim Singh.
Dagshai
- Established in 1847 by acquiring 5 villages from Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.
- Mughal prisoners were kept here.
- Became a Central Jail in 1849.
- 4 Freedom Fighters from the Komagata Maru Incident were hanged here.
- Irish soldiers rebelled here in 1920.
Other Cantonments
- Bakloh: Established in 1866.
- Dalhousie: Established in 1867.
- During the 1857 Revolt, Sri Singh sent Mian Avtar Singh to help the British at Dalhousie.
- Yol: Originally a British Army Camp in 1849, it received Cantonment status in 1942.