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Cantonment

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This article is about a military term. For the places named 'Cantonment', see Cantonment (disambiguation).

A cantonment (/kænˈtɒnmənt/, /kænˈtoʊnmənt/, or UK: /kænˈtuːnmənt/) is a military quarters.[1] In India and other parts of South Asia, a cantonment refers to a permanent military station (a term from the Undivided India).[1] In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential section (i.e. barrack) of a fort or other military installation," such as Fort Cavazos.

The word cantonment, derived from the French word canton, meaning corner or district,[2] refers to a temporary military or winter encampment. For example, at the start of the Waterloo campaign in 1815, while the Duke of Wellington's headquarters were in Brussels, most of his Anglo–allied army of 93,000 soldiers were cantoned, or stationed, to the south of Brussels.[3]

List of permanent cantonments

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Afghanistan

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The former Sherpur Cantonment in Kabul, Afghanistan, which was the site of the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment (1879) in the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880), is now maintained as a British Army cemetery.

Bangladesh

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In Bangladesh, cantonments are residential quarters for many military personnel as well as headquarters for different army units. A wide variety of military training is provided in Bangladesh cantonments:

India

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Several cities in the Indian subcontinent, including Ahmedabad, Ambala, Bellary, Belgaum, Bangalore, Danapur, Jabalpur, Kanpur, Bathinda, Delhi, Nilgiris, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Meerut, Ramgarh, Secunderabad, and Trichy, contained large cantonments of the former British Indian Army, with Meerut and Ramgarh being two of the most important cantonments in Northern India, second only to the headquarters at Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). Meerut was established in 1803, and for 150 years was the largest cantonment in the region. Although cantonments in India were considered to be semi-permanent in the 18th and 19th centuries, by the turn of the 20th century, they had transitioned to being permanent garrisons. They were further entrenched as such, via the military reforms of Lord Kitchener in 1903, and the Cantonments Act of 1924.[4][5]

At India's Independence in 1947, India had 56 cantonments. After this India added 6 cantonments the last being Ajmer Cantonment in 1962, taking the total number to 62. They covered an area of 161,000 acres (650 km2).[6]

As of 2019, there were sixty-one "notified cantonments" in India, occupying an area of 157,000 acres (640 km2):[7] twenty-five in Central Command, nineteen in Southern Command, thirteen in Western Command, four in Eastern Command, and one in Northern Command.[8]

On 24 July 2024, a press release notified that, in order to move on from older Colonial-era concepts, Ministry of Defence has decided to give up responsibility to consider to excise civil areas of certain Cantonments and merge them with neighbouring State municipalities. As of then, there were 58 Cantonments of which 10 were to be handed over in the first phase. The administration of civil areas was to be handed over from Cantonment Boards to the neighbouring Municipalities while the military region was to remain with the Armed Forces.[9][10][11] However, on 27 April 2024, KhasYol had become the first cantonment board to be "de-notified".[12]

On 2 September 2024, it was reported that paperwork are being completed to handover civilian areas of Cantonments from the Indian Army. The Cantonments include Dehradun, Deolali, Nasirabad, Babina, Ajmer, Ramgarh, Mathura, Shahjahanpur, Clement Town and Fatehgarh. The report sain, "Indian Army’s Central Command, South Western Command and Southern Command are in the process of completing the hand over exercise in coordination with Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh governments."[6]

Major cantonments and garrisons include the following:[13]

Notified Cantonments

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  1. Central Command
    1. Agra Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    2. Almora Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    3. Ayodhya Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    4. Bareilly Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    5. Chakrata Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    6. Clement Town Cantonment, Uttarakhand (To be denotified)[6]
    7. Danapur Cantonment, Bihar
    8. Dehradun Cantonment, Uttarakhand (To be denotified)[6]
    9. Fatehgarh Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh (To be denotified)[6]
    10. Gopalpur Cantonment, Odisha
    11. Jabalpur Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh
    12. Kanpur Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    13. Landour Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    14. Lansdowne Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    15. Lucknow Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    16. Mathura Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh (To be denotified)[6]
    17. Meerut Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    18. Mhow Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh
    19. Nainital Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    20. Pachmarhi Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh
    21. Prayagraj Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    22. Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand (To be denotified)[6]
    23. Ranikhet Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    24. Roorkee Cantonment, Uttarakhand
    25. Shahajahanpur Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh (To be denotified)[6]
    26. Varanasi Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
  2. Southern Command
    1. Ahmedabad Cantonment, Gujarat
    2. Ahmednagar Cantonment, Maharashtra
    3. Ajmer Cantonment, Rajasthan (To be denotified)[6]
    4. Aurangabad Cantonment, Maharashtra
    5. Babina Cantonment, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh (To be denotified)[6]
    6. Belgaum Cantonment, Karnataka
    7. Bellary Cantonment, Karnataka (Inactive, De-notified)[14]
    8. Dehu Road Cantonment, Maharashtra
    9. Deolali Cantonment, Maharashtra (To be denotified)[6]
    10. Jhansi Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh
    11. Kamptee Cantonment, Maharashtra
    12. Kannur Cantonment, Kerala
    13. Kirkee Cantonment, Maharashtra
    14. Morar Cantonment, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
    15. Nasirabad Cantonment, Rajasthan (To be denotified)[6]
    16. Pune Cantonment, Maharashtra
    17. Sagar Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh
    18. Secunderabad Cantonment, Telangana
    19. St. Thomas Mount Cantonment, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
    20. Wellington Cantonment, Tamil Nadu
  3. Western Command
    1. Ambala Cantonment, Haryana
    2. Amritsar Cantonment, Punjab
    3. Bakloh Cantonment, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh
    4. Dagshai Cantonment, Himachal Pradesh
    5. Dalhousie Cantonment, Himachal Pradesh
    6. Delhi Cantonment, Delhi
    7. Ferozepur Cantonment, Punjab
    8. Jalandhar Cantonment, Punjab
    9. Jammu Cantonment, Jammu and Kashmir
    10. Jutogh Cantonment, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
    11. Kasauli Cantonment, Himachal Pradesh
    12. Subathu Cantonment, Shimla Hills, Himachal Pradesh
    13. KhasYol Cantonment, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh (de-notified on 2023)[12]
  4. Eastern Command
    1. Barrackpore, West Bengal
    2. Dum Dum Cantonment, West Bengal (Inactive, De-notified)
    3. Jalapahar, Darjeeling, West Bengal
    4. Lebong, Darjeeling, West Bengal
    5. Shillong Cantonment, Meghalaya
  5. Northern Command
    1. Badamibagh Cantonment, Jammu and Kashmir

Unlisted Military Cantonments

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[citation needed]

  1. Abohar Cantonment (Abohar, Punjab)
  2. Akhnoor Cantonment (Akhnoor, Jammu and Kashmir)
  3. Baddowal Cantonment (Ludhiana, Punjab)
  4. Bangalore Cantonment (Bangalore, Karnataka)
  5. Bikaner Cantonment (Bikaner, Rajasthan)
  6. Bharatpur Cantonment (Rajasthan)
  7. Bhatinda Cantonment (Bhatinda, Punjab)
  8. Binnaguri Cantonment (West Bengal)
  9. Bhuj Cantonment (Bhuj, Gujarat)
  10. Bhopal Cantonment (Madhya Pradesh)
  11. Beas Military Station (Punjab)
  12. Chandimandir Cantonment (Chandigarh)
  13. Dipatoli Cantonment (Ranchi, Jharkhand)
  14. Faridkot Cantonment (Faridkot, Punjab)
  15. Fazilka Cantonment (Fazilka, Punjab)
  16. Gandhinagar Cantonment (Gandhinagar, Gujarat)
  17. Gopalpur Cantonment (Brahmapur, Orissa)
  18. Hisar Cantonment (Hisar, Haryana)
  19. Itarana Cantonment (Alwar, Rajasthan)
  20. Jaipur Cantonment (Jaipur, Rajasthan)
  21. Jaisalmer Cantonment (Jaisalmer, Rajasthan)
  22. Jodhpur Cantonment (Rajasthan)
  23. Joshimath Cantonment (Joshimath, Uttarakhand)
  24. Kapurthala Cantonment (Kapurthala, Punjab)
  25. Khasa Cantonment (Amritsar, Punjab)
  26. Kollam Cantonment (Kollam, India)
  27. Ludhiana Cantonment (Punjab)
  28. Mamun Cantonment (Pathankot, Punjab)
  29. Missamari Cantonment (Missamari, Assam)
  30. Nagrota Cantonment (Nagrota, Jammu & Kashmir)
  31. Narengi Cantonment (Guwahati, Assam)
  32. Pathankot Cantonment (Pathankot, Punjab)
  33. Patiala Cantonment (Punjab)
  34. Pithoragarh Cantonment (Pithoragarh , Uttarakhand)
  35. Shahjahanpur Cantonment (Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh)
  36. Solmara Cantonment (Tezpur, Assam)
  37. Sri Ganganagar Cantonment (Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan)
  38. Suratgarh Cantonment (Suratgarh, Rajasthan)
  39. Thiruvananthapuram Cantonment (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala)
  40. Tibri Cantonment (Gurdaspur, Punjab)
  41. Udhampur Cantonment (Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir)
  42. Udaipur Cantonment (Rajasthan)
  43. Vadodra Cantonment (Vadodra, Gujarat)
  44. Varanasi Cantonment, Uttar Pradesh, Central Command
  45. Siliguri Cantonment(West Bengal)
  46. Shillong Cantonment(Meghalaya)

Ghana

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Babina cantonments*Cantonments, Accra

Nigeria

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Cantonments in Nigeria refer to permanent military installations which house active personnel and their families. Cantonments in Nigeria include:

  • Airforce Cantonment, Ikeja, Lagos
  • Armed forces resettlement centre, Oshodi, Lagos
  • Army Ordnance Cantonment, (also known as Abalti Barracks), Yaba, Lagos
  • Arn Cantonment, Yaba, Lagos
  • Badagry Cantonment, Badagry, Lagos
  • Dodan Cantonment, Ikoyi, Lagos
  • Ikeja Cantonment, Ikeja, Lagos
  • Marda Cantonment, Yaba, Lagos
  • Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos
  • Ojo Cantonment (also known as Palm Barracks), Ojo, Lagos,
  • Bonny Camp, Victoria Island
  • Jaji military cantonment, kaduna,
  • Dalet cantonment, kaduna,
  • Mogadishu cantonment,
  • Abiyssinia cantonment,
  • .Burma cantonment,
  • Adshanti cantonment,
  • Nigerian Defence Academy, Afaka, Kaduna

Pakistan

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Main article: Cantonment (Pakistan)

Singapore

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In Singapore, the term is used to denote a police cantonment.[17]

South Africa

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Sri Lanka

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United States

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The United States military commonly uses the term "cantonment" to describe the permanent facilities at U.S. Army training bases as opposed to the field training areas. Cantonment areas often include housing (such as barracks and maid-service quarters), dining facilities, training classrooms, exchanges, and paved air fields.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "cantonment". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  2. ^ "canton". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  3. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition Waterloo Campaign
  4. ^ a b c Sheikh, Omer; Ali, Amna (26 October 2009). "Lahore Cantonment". geocities.com. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  5. ^ "THE CANTONMENTS ACT, 1924" (PDF). indiacode.nic.in. India Code. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ray, Kalyan. "Ten army cantonments to be handed over to civil authorities". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Annual Report 2018-19: Ministry of Defence" (PDF). mod.gov.in. Ministry of Defence. p. 131. Retrieved 4 May 2022. The Ministry of Defence owns approximately 17.57 lakh acres of land throughout the country managed by the three Services and other Organizations like DGDE, Ordnance Factory Board, DRDO, DGQA, CGDA etc. The Army has the maximum of the land i.e. 14.147 lakh acres followed by Air Force 1.40 lakh acres and Navy 0.44 lakh acres. The defence land inside the notified Cantonments is approximately 1.57 lakh acres and the remaining around 16.00 lakh lies outside the Cantonments
  8. ^ "Directorate General Defence Estates Main menu". Directorate General Defence Estates. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  9. ^ "MOVING AWAY FROM THE BRITISH-ERA CONCEPT OF CANTONMENT TOWNS". Press Information Bureau. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Defence Ministry denotifies civil areas of 10 cantonments". The Indian Express. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Military Cantonments To Lose Control On Civil Areas. What This Means". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Khasyol in Dharamshala 1st Cantonment in country to lose civilian area control". The Times of India. 29 April 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Cantonment Boards". pib.gov.in. Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  14. ^ Malagi, Shivakumar G. (16 August 2017). "Ballari's jail walls have many a story to tell". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Military: Khuzdar Cantonment" Global Security
  16. ^ "Sarhad Conservation Network® Reports: Book on Peshawar Cantonment Launched". 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ^ "Singapore Police Force". Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Marseilles Training Center". www.il.ngb.army.mil. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Cantonment".

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