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33-507: The district is named after Major James Abbott , the first deputy commissioner of Hazara (1849–1853). During British rule, Abbottabad became the capital of the Hazara division, which was named after and contained the Hazara valley, a small valley in the outermost Himalayas , between the Indus in the west and Kashmir in the east. The current Abbottabad District was originally a tehsil of Hazara,

66-610: A British agent in Khiva and to travel to Russia to negotiate between the two powers. He had no authorisation to serve as the Khan's agent, but had no way to communicate with his superiors in India. In March 1840 Abbott set off from Khiva to Fort Alexandrovsk on the Caspian Sea . His caravan was attacked by Kazakhs and he was wounded in the hand and taken hostage, but he and his party were released because

99-734: A post with a local battalion in Mewar before becoming assistant to the Resident in Indore in 1842. Following the conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, Abbott was hand picked to become one of Sir Henry Lawrence's "Young Men" , also known as The Paladins of the Punjab. These were East India Company officers sent to act as "advisers" to the Sikh ruler. Sir Henry Lawrence remarked of him: Made of stuff of

132-636: A small town and military cantonment which was to grow over time. Abbott himself could not long witness the growth of his town, which was later named after him by his colleague Herbert Benjamin Edwardes . In April 1853 he was removed from his post in the Hazara region and transferred back to the Bengal Army , where he was placed in charge of a gunpowder factory in Calcutta . His transfer came amid concerns from Lahore over

165-511: Is 69%. James Abbott (Indian Army officer) General Sir James Abbott , KCB (12 March 1807 – 6 October 1896) was an English military officer in the Bengal Army and an administrator in British India . The city of Abbottabad , in present day Pakistan , was founded by and named after him. James Abbott was the third son of Henry Alexius Abbott, a retired merchant of Blackheath , Kent , and his wife Margaret Welsh,

198-807: The Siege of Bharatpur under the command of his older brother Augustus. In 1827 he was promoted to lieutenant and made adjutant to the Sirhind division of artillery. During this period he saw little action, and between 1835 and 1836 was assigned to the revenue surveys in Gorakhpur and later Bareilly . In June 1838 he was promoted to brevet captain. In November 1838, Abbott served in the army of Sir John Keane , who had been tasked with supporting Shuja Shah Durrani in his bid to wrest power from Dost Mohammad Khan in Afghanistan . The British had been eager to secure Afghanistan ,

231-600: The Black Mountain following the murder of Mr Carne and Mr Tapp, collector and sub-collector of the salt tax by a party of sixty Hassanzais in the Hazara region . Abbott's original seat of government in the Hazara was at Haripur with Jagirdar of Nara but he eventually decided to shift this up into the hills in 1851 for climatic and strategic reasons. Thus, a site was selected and acquired in late 1852, and Abbott thereafter shifted his headquarters there in January 1853, founding

264-705: The Defence Staff . It ranks above lieutenant-general and, in the Army, is subordinate to the rank of field marshal , which is now only awarded as an honorary rank. The rank of general has a NATO-code of OF-9 , and is a four-star rank . It is equivalent to a full admiral in the Royal Navy or an air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force . Officers holding the ranks of lieutenant-general and major-general may be generically considered to be generals. A general's insignia

297-542: The First Anglo-Sikh War, Hazara and Kashmir were to be transferred to Raja Gulab Singh ; Hazara, however, proved an intractable charge and was returned to the Lahore government by Gulab Singh in January 1847, in exchange for Jammu . Abbott was appointed assistant to Chattar Singh Attariwalla to quell unrest and undertake a survey of revenues. Abbott succeeded in this by learning the language, culture and religion of

330-648: The Imperial Gazetteer of India described it as follows: Tahsīl of Hazāra District, North-West Frontier Province, lying between 33°49' and 34° 22' N. and 72°55' and 73° 31' E., with an area of 715 square miles (1,850 km). It is bounded on the east by the Jhelum, which divides it from Pūnch and the Punjab District of Rawalpindi; and it comprises part of the mountain valleys drained by the Dor and Harroh rivers, together with

363-619: The Kazakhs feared British retribution. He reached Saint Petersburg but the attempt at mediation failed. His bravery was recognised through promotion to full Captain. In May 1840 Lieutenant Richmond Shakespear of the Bengal Artillery went from Herat via Merv to Khiva . He was successful and escorted 416 Russian captives to the Caspian. Shakespear was knighted for this undertaking. In 1841, Abbott returned from Britain to India. He first held

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396-475: The Kohistani (11,744), are also spoken in this district. As of the 2023 census , Abbottabad district has 236,789 households and a population of 1,419,072. The district has a sex ratio of 100.77 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 77.34%: 86.20% for males and 68.42% for females. 334,274 (23.92% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 332,315 (23.42%) live in urban areas. The major language of

429-584: The announcement by the Election commission of Pakistan that elections would be held on 8 January 2008, more than a dozen candidates filed their nomination papers in Abbottabad. Abbottabad was the centre of the Sooba Hazara movement that started after the national assembly passed the 18th amendment to change the name of the province from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . The former governor of

462-535: The area is Hindko , which in the 1981 census, was the mother tongue of 95% of households. The variety spoken in the city of Abbottabad has formed the basis of a literary language. It is very close to the Hindko varieties of Mansehra : the two share 86% of their basic vocabulary. In the Galliat region in the southeast of the district, the language is still known as Hindko but becomes more distinct and gradually transitions into

495-455: The birth. He later married Anna Matilda de Montmorency in 1868, who died shortly after having given birth to a son, James Reymond de Montmorency Abbott. The Pakistani city of Abbottabad as well as the district is named after him. The city itself was founded by him in January 1853 and later grew from a small military outpost to a hub of trade. A portrait of James Abbott dressed as an Afghan noble and relating to his Central Asian journey,

528-759: The daughter of William Welsh of Edinburgh . Abbott was educated at a school in Eliot Place, Blackheath and at the East India Company Military Seminary in Addiscombe , Surrey . A number of his siblings achieved distinction, notably Augustus Abbott , Sir Frederick Abbott , Saunders Alexius Abbott and Keith Edward Abbott . He was commissioned as a cadet in the Bengal Artillery at the age of sixteen, arriving in India in 1823. He first saw action at

561-491: The dialects of Pahari . Other languages, such as Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi, are found more in urban than rural areas. Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act of 1975, two areas have been designated with the district: Ayubia National Park and Qalandarabad game reserve. Both areas cover only 6% of the landed area of the district. The Ayubia National Park

594-653: The gateway to India, in light of increasing Russian influence in Central Asia . In 1839 the British learned that Russia was planning an invasion of the Khanate of Khiva . In December 1839 acting Captain Abbott was sent from Herat to Khiva in an attempt to negotiate the release of Russian slaves and thereby deny the Russians a pretext for invasion. If war had already broken out, Abbott

627-440: The hill country eastward. The hill-sides to the north and north-east are covered with timber forest. The population in 1901 was 194,632, compared with 175,735 in 1891. It contains the towns of ABBOTTABAD (population, 7,764), the tahsil and District headquarters, and NAWASHAHR (4,114); and 359 villages. The land revenue and cesses amounted in 1903-4 to Rs. 97,000. In 1976, the tehsils of Mansehra and Battagram were separated into

660-469: The local Hazaras was noted by his successor Herbert Edwardes who wrote: He had literally lived among them as their patriarch – an out of the door, under tree life. Every man, woman and child in the country knew him personally, and hastened from their occupations to salute him as he came their way. The children especially were his favourites. They used to go to "Kaka Abbott" whenever their mouths watered for fruit or sugar plums. He spent all his substance on

693-566: The local people and promoting their social and economic interests. He made himself popular with Pashtun elders by permitting the call to prayer, which had been banned by the Sikhs. During the Second Anglo-Sikh War , cut off from all communication with British troops, and dependent upon his own resources, Abbott held the Margalla Hills with a vastly inferior force until the conclusion of

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726-449: The methods of his governance, fears of divided loyalty, and antagonistic relationships with certain fellow officers. His last public act as Deputy Commissioner was to invite every person in the district to a party he was holding at Nara Hills. The party lasted three days and nights and was attended by 'a large and lamenting crowd of people'. Abbott reportedly spent all of his savings on the party save for one month's pay. His affection for

759-416: The new Mansehra District , while the tehsil of Haripur became a separate district in 1991. Languages of Abbottabad district ( 2023 Pakistani census ) At the time of the 2023 census, 87.43% (1,221,957) of the population spoke Hindko , 5.85% (81,731) Pashto , 3.06% (42,734) Urdu , 11,744 Kohistani, 10,401 Punjabi, 1,971 Shina, 1,722 Saraiki, 1,080 Kashmiri as their first language. Other languages, namely

792-456: The people. Before he left he also penned an ode to his new settlement: I remember the day when I first came here And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air The trees and ground covered with snow Gave us indeed a brilliant show To me the place seemed like a dream And far ran a lonesome stream The wind hissed as if welcoming us The pine swayed creating a lot of fuss And the tiny cuckoo sang it away A song very melodious and gay I adored

825-432: The place from the first sight And was happy that my coming here was right And eight good years here passed very soon And we leave you perhaps on a sunny noon Oh Abbottabad we are leaving you now To your natural beauty do I bow Perhaps your wind's sound will never reach my ear My gift for you is a few sad tears I bid you farewell with a heavy heart Never from my mind will your memories thwart. In 1857, Abbott

858-500: The province has been vocal in this opposition to the new name The district is represented in the provincial assembly by four elected MPAs (PK-36 to PK-39): According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2015 , Abbottabad is ranked 31 out of 148 districts in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 72 out of 148.The literacy rate of Abbottabad

891-457: The true knight errant, gentle as a girl in thought, word and deed, overflowing with warm affection, and ready at all times to sacrifice himself for his country or his friend. He is at the same time a brave, scientific and energetic soldier, with a peculiar power for attracting others, especially Asiatics to his person. As part of the terms of the Treaty of Lahore signed after the defeat of the Sikhs in

924-518: The war, a feat for which he was thanked by the Governor-General , The Earl of Dalhousie : It is a gratifying spectacle to witness the intrepid bearing of this officer in the midst of difficulties of no ordinary kind, not merely maintaining his position, but offering a bold front, at one time to the Sikhs at another to the Afghans. He must have secured the attachment of the wild people amongst whom he

957-496: Was established in 1984, this park covers an area of over 3,312 ha. The Qalandarabad game reserve was established in 1980 with an area of 8,940ha. Abbottabad district is divided into four tehsils , Abbottabad Tehsil , Havelian Tehsil , Lora Tehsil and Lower Tanawal Tehsil as well as one urban administration area – Nawanshehr . There are fifty-one Union Councils in the district, 38 in Abbottabad tehsil and 13 in Havelian. With

990-459: Was instructed to attempt to negotiate a settlement. Abbott reached Khiva in late January, a week or so before the Russians were forced to turn back due to an unusually cold winter. The Khivans knew little of Britain and he was hampered by a lack of understanding of Khivan language and culture. The attempt to release Russian slaves failed. He did agree with the Khivan ruler, Allah Quli Khan , to establish

1023-721: Was painted in watercolour in 1841 by B. Baldwin (see illustration), now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, though it is not currently on display. General (United Kingdom) General (or full general to distinguish it from the lower general officer ranks) is the highest rank achievable by serving officers of the British Army . The rank can also be held by Royal Marines officers in tri-service posts, for example, Generals Sir Gordon Messenger and Gwyn Jenkins , former and current Vice-Chief of

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1056-740: Was promoted to lieutenant-colonel , made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 24 May 1873 and a general on his retirement in 1877. He settled in Ryde on the Isle of Wight in 1890 and was made a Knight Commander on 26 May 1894. He died on the Isle of Wight in 1896. He is buried with his second wife in Guildford , Surrey. Abbott married Margaret Anne Harriet in 1844. She gave birth to their daughter Margaret but died in connection to

1089-528: Was thrown by his mild and conciliatory demeanour in times of peace, as well as by his gallantry as their leader in action, thus enhancing the credit of our national character. After the British had annexed the Punjab in the aftermath of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Abbott was promoted to brevet major and appointed First Deputy Commissioner of Hazara in 1849. In 1852, he successfully commanded an expedition to

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