Introduction
Ambala is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the state of Punjab. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantonment (Ambala Cantt) and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other, therefore it is also known as “Twin City”. It has a large Indian Army and Indian Air Force presence within the confines of its cantonment area. Ambala separates the Ganges river network from the Indus river network and is surrounded by two rivers – Ghaggar and Tangri – to the north and to the south. Due to its geographical location, the Ambala district plays an important role in local tourism. Ramesh Mal is the new elected Mayor of Ambala Municipal Corporation.
History
It is said that Ambala District was founded by Amba Rajput during the 14th century AD. Another version is that the name is a corruption of Amba Wala meaning the mango-village, from mango groves which existed in its immediate neighborhood. Still, another version is that the District has taken its name after goddess “Bhawani Amba” whose Temple still exists in Ambala city.
The Ambala Cantonment was established in 1843 after the British were forced to leave its Karnal Cantonment following the malaria epidemic of 1841–42 in as there were not any known effective means to control malaria epidemic in those days. The cantonment houses the 2 Corps, one of the three Strike Corps of the Indian Army.
Ambala was given the status of a district in 1847, formed by the merging of the jagir estates of hitherto independent chieftains whose territories had lapsed or had been confiscated by the British Indian Government. In its 160 years of existence as a district, Ambala has witnessed many changes in its boundaries. Previously it extended across tehsils of Ambala, Saphera, Jagadhri, Pipli, Kharar, Mohali, Ropar and Nalagarh. Kalka-cum-Kurari State, Pinjore, Mani Majra, Kasauli & Sanawar were also merged into the district at different times.
Ambala Air Force Base is one of the oldest and largest airbases that were inherited from the British by the IAF. It was from this airbase that Spitfires and Harvards flown by Instructors of the Advanced Flying Training School took part in the 1947-48 Kashmir Operations. Subsequently, Ambala was the front line airfield for many years. It was home to various aircraft that were inducted into the Indian Air Force. Vampires, Ouragans, Hunters, etc. all flew from this base. The airbase was briefly attacked in 1965 by B-57 bombers of the Pakistan Air Force. Today, the Airbase houses the 7 Wing with squadrons of Jaguars and MiG-21 Bisons. A unit of the French-made Dassault Rafale will be based at Ambala air base.
In November 1949 Mahatma Gandhis assassin, Nathuram Godse was hanged at Ambala Central Jail along with Narayan Apte, a co-conspirator. Ambala Cantt is also mentioned in Kim (novel) by Rudyard Kipling.
Demographics
As of 2011 India census, Ambala had a population of 406,784, consisting of 200,044 males and 202,740 females. Ambala has an average literacy rate of 82.9%, with 88.5% of males and 76.6% of females literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Science Market
Ambala Cantt is known as city of scientific instruments. It is a major scientific products market and is a hub for products like glass apparatus, microscopes, laboratory equipment etc. Ambala constitutes nearly 34% of the total production of scientific instruments produced in India. Ambala Cantt is a hub of scientific instruments with more than 1200 units engaged in this business. The scientific instruments industry is employing more than 5000 skilled and semi-skilled people. It is using more than 50 types of different raw materials to manufacture more than 20,000 different types of instruments, which are being used in schools, colleges, engineering institutes, medical colleges, hospitals, universities, research laboratories, quality control lab of industries and defence/space applications. The annual turnover of the industry is approx. 1000 crore with approx 300 crore being the export component.
Cloth Market
“Cloth Market” is the charm of the city, which draws shoppers from surrounding areas. The cloth market has a dense an incredible cluster of 900-1000 wholesale shops.
The market possesses a wide range of cloth items-
- Hand-loom
- Silk and Sarees
- Suitings and Shirtings
- All kinds of dress material
The areas surrounding the market thrive on this market for occupation.[citation needed] Market provides all kinds of cloth tailoring related and other transportation occupations to semi-urban areas around. This market remains closed on Thursday, Holi, Republic Day, Independence Day and Dussehra are the only other days the market remains closed.
Himachal Pradesh and Punjab are major parts from which shopkeepers come to this market. Silk and Sarees are one of the major type of cloth sold by volume. Ambala used to be a hub of hand-loom factories, man operated industry, which has almost vanished.
This market is regarded as the largest cloth trading market in the sub-continent (Asia)
Notable Residents
- Sushma Swaraj
- Parineeti Chopra
- Om Puri
- Juhi Chawla
- Navneet Kaur Dhillon
- Prem Dhawan – Music Director, Lyricist
- Hansraj Behl
- Kim Philby
- Sucheta Kriplani
- Nasir Kazmi
- Swadesh Deepak
- Karan Singh Grover
References Wikipedia