Bakloh
| Bakloh | |
|---|---|
| Cantonment | |
 Bakloh
Bakloh
|
|
| Coordinates: 32°27′56″N 75°55′32″E / 32.46549°N 75.925623°ECoordinates: 32°27′56″N 75°55′32″E / 32.46549°N 75.925623°E | |
| Country |
 India
|
| State | Himachal Pradesh |
| District | Chamba |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 1,805 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 176301 |
| Telephone code | 1899 (Chamba) |
| Vehicle registration | HP 73 (Chamba) |
Bakloh (or Bukloh (archaic spelling)) is a cantonment town. It is a hill station, 4584 feet above sea level, in Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.
Bakloh and Balun, Dalhousie Cantonment, along with a sliver of territory to connect the two cantonments, was acquired in 1866 from the Raja of Chamba for a sum of rupees 5000. Bakloh was meant for a 'Goorkha Cantonment' for the 4th Goorkha Regiment, raised at Pithoragarh, (Uttar Pradesh), in 1857. Balun, the cantonment in Dalhousie, was for British troops. Bakloh remained the home and the Regimental Center and Depot, of the 4th Gorkha Rifles(GR), known as the 4th Prince of Wales Own Gurkha Rifles, for 82 years, from 1866 to 1948. 2/4 Gorkha Rifles was raised in Bakloh on 22 April 1886; 3/4 Gorkha Rifles on 15 November 1940; and 4/4 Gorkha Rifles on 15 March 1941. In 1934, the 5 km long cart track from Bakloh to Tannu Hatti, on the Dalhousie road, was converted into a motor-able road. The first car, belonging to Captain TDC Owens, arrived in Bakloh in the same year.
In the wake of the Partition of India, in 1947, the regimental centres of the Indian Army were reorganized. The 4th Gorkha Rifles (GR) Regimental Center and Depot (GRRC), was shifted from Bakloh, first to Dharamshala,the Centre of the 1st Gorkha Rifles, and then to Chakrata, and finally to Sabathu, Shimla Hills. In Sabathu the 4th Gorkha Rifles Centre was merged with the 1st Gorkha Rifles Centre to become the First and Fourth Gorkha Training Centre (14 GTC).
In the wake of the move of the 4 GRRC from Bakloh to Sabathu, Indian Army Headquarters, in Delhi, on the prompting of senior officers of regiment, was "ready to consider" locating one battalion of the regiment in Bakloh to look after regimental pensioners, property, and widows. The idea, of reserving Bakloh for a battalion of the Regiment, however, did not find favour with many officers, including Commanding officers and "nothing came of it." The main objections raised against Bakloh being designated as reserved location for the Regiment was lack of educational facilities, and sources of "entertainment of big cities".
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