Rawalpindi
Military station, 1849–1947
پنڈیراولپنڈیਰਾਵਲਪਿੰਡੀ
Today Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. Same place, same name.
Key facts
- Historical name
- Rawalpindi
- Type
- Military station
- Coordinates
- 33.6007° N, 73.0679° E(seed dataset)
- Governance
- Directly administered
- Record confidence
- High confidence
- Identifiers
- Q93230
Directly administered by the Governor-General of India, and therefore part of British India in the statutory sense of the Interpretation Act 1889, s.18.
Location
Pin placed at the coordinates recorded for this place. Colonial-era boundaries are not drawn.
Description
Divisional and district head-quarters of northern Punjab and the largest military cantonment in British India before 1947.
Historical notes
Site of the 1849 surrender of the Sikh army ending the Second Anglo-Sikh War and of the 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi with Afghanistan; colonial spellings include Rawal Pindi. Became Pakistan's army headquarters and interim capital 1959-67.
Administrative history
Administrative parenthood changed over time. Each row states the years it is recorded for, and the source it comes from.
| Years | Relation | Unit | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| from 1901 | Part of | PunjabProvince · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | High confidencesource |
| from 1901 | Part of | RawalpindiDistrict · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | High confidencesource |
Recorded names
Every documented spelling and transliteration held for this place. The historical name is canonical; modern names redirect to it.
| Name | Script | Type | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rawalpindi | Latin | Historical English | — |
| Pindi | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| Rawal Pindi | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| Rawalpindi City | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| پنڈی | Arabic | Indigenous | — |
| راولپنڈی | Arabic | Indigenous | — |
| ਰਾਵਲਪਿੰਡੀ | Gurmukhi | Indigenous | — |
Records and references
- Imperial Gazetteer of India
- Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31), Vol. 21 (21)
- Census of India
- Census of India, 1901, Vol. XVII (17): Punjab, its Feudatories and the North-West Frontier Province
Sources
- Encyclopedia· generalCC BY-SA
Wikipedia: Rawalpindi, Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Gazetteer· administrativeLicence unverified
Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago — the 1908–31 text is public domain, but DSAL's digital presentation states no licence; link-out only
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Database· identityCC0
Wikidata (Q93230), Wikimedia Foundation
Wikidata, CC0 1.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Archive· descriptionPublic domain
Internet Archive scan: in.gov.ignca.31019, Internet Archive
Scanned volume of a pre-1929 publication (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908–31 / Census of India 1901); public domain. Digitisation courtesy of the Internet Archive.
Retrieved 2026-08-29
Sources tagged “Licence unverified” are linked to rather than reproduced. Scans and images are only displayed inline where the licence is confirmed permissive.