Dalhousie Cantonment
| Dalhousie Cantonment | |
|---|---|
| city | |
 Dalhousie Cantonment
Dalhousie Cantonment
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| Coordinates: 32°32′N 75°59′E / 32.53°N 75.98°ECoordinates: 32°32′N 75°59′E / 32.53°N 75.98°E | |
| Country |
 India
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| State | Himachal Pradesh |
| District | Chamba |
| Elevation | 1,954 m (6,411 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 1,962 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Dalhousie cantonment is a town in Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.
In the wake of the 1857 War, the Military Department of the Government of India, expanded its survey of lower Himalayas, to identify suitable locations for building ‘sanitaria and cantonments’ for ‘quartering’ British soldiers and military units. The move to locate cantonments in ‘cool and healthy hill stations’ was justified on strategic, and health grounds. In the following decade several cantonments, including in Balun(Dalhousie), Bakloh, Chakrata, Ranikhet, in the western lower Himalayas, were established. In 1863 it was decided that one third of the British troops in India should be located in the hill station cantonments. By the 1890s almost twenty five percent of the British troops in India were located in hill stations.
The Cantonment area in Dalhousie is called Baloon, also spelt as Balun. Dalhousie was first surveyed in 1853, and was acquired as a convalescent depot for European troops, in 1866, the same year as Bakloh was acquired as a Goorkha Cantonment, from the Raja of Chamba. In 1868, British troops moved into barracks in Baloon. By 1878 an 18 foot road connected the new cantonment to the plains.
In August 1954, during the Dalhousie centenary celebrations, Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, visited Baloon, Dalhousie Cantonment. He was accompanied by Lt General Kalwant Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Command.
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