Ambala

Ambala अंबाला
—  city  —
Ambala Cantonment Railway Station
Ambala Location in Haryana, India
Coordinates: 30.38°N 76.78°E / 30.38; 76.78
Country	India
State	Haryana
District	Ambala
Established	14th century CE
Founder	By Amba Rajput
Named for	Bhawani Amba (Goddess)
Area
• Total	1,568.85 km2 (605.74 sq mi)
Elevation	264 m (866 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,136,784
• Density	Bad rounding here720/km2 (Bad rounding here1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	1330xx,1340xx
Telephone code	0171
Vehicle registration	HR01(private), HR37(commercial)
Sex ratio	869/1000
Website	ambala.nic.in

Ambala (Hindi: अंबाला Ambālā) is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border to the state of Punjab. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantonment (Ambala Cantt) (छावनी ) and Ambala City(अम्बाला शहर), 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.

History

Grand Trunk Road, at Ambala Cantonment, during British Raj.

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 abandoned its cantonment at Saphera, following the malaria epidemic of 1841–42. 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 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.

In November 1949 Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse was hanged at Ambala Jail along with Narayan Apte, a co-conspirator.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Ambala had a population of 1,136,784, consisting of 640,044 males and 532,740 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.

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. 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).

Science Market

Ambala 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.^{[citation needed]}

Education

Ambala has a number of colleges.

Schools affiliated to the ICSE

• St. Paul's High School

Schools affiliated with CBSE

• Springfield Public School
• Chaman Vatika Sr. Sec. School
• Convent Of Sacred Heart International
• Convent of Jesus & Mary(CJM)
• S.A. Jain school
• SD Vidya School
• L.S.S.D Girl's high school
• Bhartiya Public School
• P.K.R.Jain Senior Secondary Public School
• D.A.V.Public School
• A.S. Sen. Sec. School
• Riverside D.A.V. Public School
• Army Public School
• Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School
• Air Force School
• Saint Joseph School
• Tulis Public Senior Secondary School
• K.V no 1
• K.V no 2
• K.V no 3
• K.V no 4
• DC model high School
• Miki Model Senior Secondary School
• Major R. N. Kapoor D.A.V. Public School

Kurukshetra University affiliated colleges

• Arya Girls College
• DAV College
• Gandhi Memorial National college
• Government College
• S.D. College Lahore
• Shri Diwan Krishna Kishor Sanatan Dharma Adarsh Sanskrit College, Ambala Cantt.
• MDSD Girls College
• Govt. Girls College

Engineering colleges affiliated to Kurukshetra University

• Ambala College of Engineering & Applied Research (Est. 2002)
• E Max
• Guru Nanak
• Galaxy Global SAHA
• Hindustan
• ICL
• Kalpi
• Ram Mulakh IET
• Shivalik
• Haryana Engineering College

Engineering colleges affiliated to MM University

• MM Engineering college Mullana
• MM Engineering college Sadopur

Management colleges

• MM Institute of Management
• AIMT College of Management

Medical college

• MM University
• civil hospital
• vardhman hospital

Education College

• Sohan Lal College of Education

Transport

Ambala is connected to all of the other major cities of north India including Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar and Shimla. It is a big interchange for various commuters for all neighbouring states. The Ambala Cantt bus stand sees roughly 50,000 commuters daily.^{[citation needed]}

Apart from the Interstate service, Ambala also houses one of the oldest local bus service in Haryana, which is run by both Haryana roadways and private companies. Other means of local transportation include auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws.

Railways

Ambala is a divisional headquarters of the Northern Railway Zone and is an important railway junction. The city is served by three railway stations:

• Ambala Cantt [UMB] (Junction on Delhi-Amritsar-Meerut-Kalka lines)
• Ambala City [UBC] (On Ambala -Amritsar/Jammu line)
• Dhulkot [DKT] (on Ambala Chandigarh/Kalka line)

The Ambala Cantonment railway station was founded on the junction of the Delhi-Kalka and Ludhiana-Saharanpur lines. The historic Delhi-Ambala-Kalka railway line dates back to 1889 while the Ludhiana-Saharanpur line was built in 1870. Situated 200 km north of Delhi, this town is well connected by the rail and road network.

=Notable residents

• Sushma Swaraj
• Parineeti Chopra