Ambala

For other places with the same name, see Ambala, Bangladesh.

Ambala
—  city  —
Ambala Location of Ambala in Haryana and India
Coordinates	30°23′N 76°47′E
Country	India
State	Haryana
District(s)	Ambala
Sex ratio	921 ♂/♀
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 264 metres (866 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 1330xx,1340xx • Telephone • +0171 • Vehicle • HR01(private), HR37(commercial)
Website	http://ambala.nic.in/

Ambala (Hindi: अम्बाला, Punjabi: ਅੰਬਾਲਾ,Urdu: امبالہ} is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt (छावनी ) and Ambala City(अम्बाला शहर), approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other. It has a large Indian Army and Indian Air Force presence within the confines of its cantonment area. 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.

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. Its boundaries previously extended across tehsils of Ambala, Saphera, Jagadhri, Pipli, Kharar, Mohali, Ropar and Nalagarh. Kalka-cum-Kurari State, Pinjore, Manimajra, Kasauli & Sanawar were also merged into the district at different points of time.

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 Pakistan Air Force's B-57 bombers. Today, the Airbase houses the ‘7 Wing’ with squadrons of Jaguars and MiG-21 Bisons.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,Ambala had a population of 11,36,784, constitute 6,40,044 of Males the population and 5,32,740 females. Ambala has an average literacy rate of 82.9% with 88.5% of the males and 76.6% of females literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Industry

Ambala is known as city of scientific instruments.^{[citation needed]} It is a major scientific products market and is a hub for products like glass apparatus, microscopes,laboratory equipments etc.Ambala constitutes nearly 34% of the total production of scientific instruments produced in India.^{[citation needed]}

Ambala is also famous for its clothes market, which draws shoppers from surrounding areas. The market possesses a wide range of custom-made clothes for men and women.

Education

Ambala has a number colleges, medical college. Ambala had very few colleges during British India period.After the partition of India in 1947 Punjab University,Lahore (now in Pakistan) one of the most prominent university of North India of that time was newly established in Chandigarh,India under the same name Punjab University,Chandigarh. All the colleges in the region were affiliated to Punjab University until the in the year 1956 when the kurukshtera University was formed.

Engineering colleges Affiliated to Kurukshetra University

1. Ambala College of Engg. (Estb 2002)
2. E Max.(Estb 2008)
3. Guru Nanak.(Estb 2008)
4. Galaxy Global.(Estb 2009)
5. Hindustan.(Estb 2008)
6. ICL.(Estb 2008)
7. Kalpi.(Estb 2008)
8. MM Engineering college(Estb 1995)
9. MM Sadopur.(Estb 2010)
10. Modern.(Estb 2008)
11. Ram Mulakh IET. (Estb 2007)
12. Shivalik. (Estb 2007)

Medical College

MM University, Mulana

Kurukshetra University Affiliated Colleges

1. ARYA girls College
2. DAV College
3. GMN (Gandhi memorial national) college
4. Government College,Ambala
5. S.D. College (Lahore)
6. S.A. Jain college
7. MDSD College

Education College

1. Sohan lal colledge 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

• Urvashi Butalia
• Monish Arora
• Parineeti Chopra