A cantonment (/kænˈtɒnmənt/, /kænˈtoʊnmənt/, or UK: /kænˈtuːnmənt/) is a military quarters.[1] In Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and other parts of South Asia, a cantonment refers to a permanent military station (a term from the colonial era).[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]
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:
Several cities in the Indian subcontinent, including Ahmedabad, Ambala, Bellary, Belgaum, Bangalore, Danapur, Jabalpur, Kanpur, Bathinda, Delhi, Meerut, Pune, 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]
There are sixty-one "notified cantonments" in India, occupying an area of 157,000 acres:[6] twenty-five in Central Command, nineteen in Southern Command, thirteen in Western Command, four in Eastern Command, and one in Northern Command.[7] Major cantonments and garrisons include the following:[8]
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.[12]
^ abcSheikh, Omer; Ali, Amna (26 October 2009). "Lahore Cantonment". geocities.com. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
^"THE CANTONMENTS ACT, 1924" (PDF). indiacode.nic.in. India Code. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
^"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
^"Directorate General Defence Estates Main menu". Directorate General Defence Estates. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
^"Cantonment Boards". pib.gov.in. Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^"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)
^"Singapore Police Force". Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
^"Marseilles Training Center". www.il.ngb.army.mil. Retrieved 7 April 2018.