Do you remember the scenes from Umballa Cantt., as described by Kipling in his immortal novel ''Kim''? Umballa - now spelt Ambala (in the state of Punjab or Panjab) is a very old cantonment town with rich history. Do you know that this lovely place with its tree-lined roads and open spaces owes its origin to Capt Robert Napier, a Bengal Sappers officer? Read all about it here: Sunday, April 6, 2014 http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140406/spectrum/main5.htm ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar

Ambala's not part of Punjab but a city in Haryana. Mandeep Bajwa Sent from my BlackBerry® on Reliance Mobile, India's No. 1 Network. Go for it! -----Original Message----- From: "Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar" <bosham@gmail.com> Sender: india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 00:06:34 To: <india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> Reply-To: Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar <bosham@gmail.com>, india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] A peep into the history of Ambala (Umballa) Do you remember the scenes from Umballa Cantt., as described by Kipling in his immortal novel ''Kim''? Umballa - now spelt Ambala (in the state of Punjab or Panjab) is a very old cantonment town with rich history. Do you know that this lovely place with its tree-lined roads and open spaces owes its origin to Capt Robert Napier, a Bengal Sappers officer? Read all about it here: Sunday, April 6, 2014 http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140406/spectrum/main5.htm ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thank you very much for sharing this story. During my army days, I was posted in Ambala (1967). Even before that I had read Kim, and was fascinated by the spelling 'Umballa'! The cantonment's old bungalows (I lived in one of them) had a lot of history as compared to the notoriety of "modern" married officers' quarters built during the notorious 'Operation Amar' project of the infamous Divisional Commander responsible for the 1962 debacle. Another thing I would like to share is the name of Lt. Gen. Rajinder Singh. There were three famous Rajinder Singhs. To distinguish, one was the "Raja Sahib" - Gen. Maharaj Shri Rajendra Singh, DSO the first COAS; the second (I think they were the course-mates) were distinguished as Rajender Singh 'Dhobi', and Rajender Singh 'Sparrow'. The former earned that nickname because, when he was annoyed with a junior, the victim officer was called, 'You Dhobi!' The second, Major General Rajender Singh was called 'Sparrow' because of his squeaky voice. He was my Div Commander in the 1st Armored Division in 1965 war. I was always under the impression that Ambala was in Punjab. I am told that it is in Haryana now.