THE RAJ TOUR

Rawalpindi used to be the HQ of the Northern Command of the British Indian Army and a large base of supporting infrastructure.

Your first stop will be St. Paul’s Church on the ‘Pindi Mall that was constructed in 1908, making it the second-oldest church in Rawalpindi. A short drive away is Christ Church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1852, only 3 years after the arrival of the first British troops.  This makes it one of the oldest buildings in Rawalpindi and in its compound is a marker of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India which stretched from the southernmost tip of the subcontinent till the mountains in the north. Its again, a short drive to the Harley Street Cemetery which is one of five cemeteries and the largest. As you enter through the lychgate you will be met by its cool calm atmosphere.

It contains the graves of people from many walks of life as well the memorial of Lt Gen Henry Marsham Havelock, who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the rebellion of 1857 and killed in the Khyber Pass. His father, Major General Sir Henry Havelock lifted the Siege of Lucknow and his uncle Colonel William Havelock died at the Battle of Ramnagar in 1848.

Next to it is a cemetery maintained by the Commonwealth War Grave Commission that contains 257 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, connected mainly with the operations on the North-West Frontier. There are also 101 burials from the Second World War. Our next stop will be the Garrison Mess which was originally the Rawalpindi Club and has been tastefully restored to its former glory. Here you will be given a talk by Ali Akbar who has encyclopedic knowledge on the History of Rawalpindi Garrison, followed by lunch. In the afternoon we will take a welcome change and be guests of the Murree Brewery which was established in 1860 at Ghora Galli near the resort town of Murree. It met the beer requirements mainly of the British troops and after its original brewery was burnt down its main distilling is done at ‘Pindi.

After a 2-hour drive down the motorway we will arrive at the St. Mary Magdalene Church in the Lahore Cantonment.

Originally known as the Mian Mir Cantonment Church, it was initially constructed from wood. In 1849, the British Army commissioned an engineer from the Bengal Regiment, to design a new church. The construction began in 1854 and was completed in 1856, at a cost of Rs. 90,000.​ Architecturally, the church features Gothic design elements, with its exterior finished in fine lime mortar plastered to resemble white stone tiles. The flooring includes white marble flagstones, that it is believed were taken from the Lahore Fort. The church is being restored by the Walled City of Lahore Authority.​

The Lahore Cantonment Cemetery also known as the Lahore Cantonment British Infantry Cemetery has many graves of military personnel and members of their family. It also has a number of memorials including the Lahore Cholera Memorial of 1861. Out of approximately 2,452 European residents, nearly 900 contracted Cholera, resulting in over 500 deaths.

Our last visit for the day is the Sacred Heart Cathedral near the Lahore Mall. Built with Belgian aid and materials, the cathedral was consecrated in 1907. It was designed by a Belgian architect, Edouard Dobbeleers of Antwerp and was based on the Roman Byzantine-style with intricate stained-glass windows and a soaring central nave.

This is going to be one of our most interesting days as we head north out of Islamabad on the GT Road. It’s a relatively short drive to the Nicolson’s Memorial, a 40 feet high granite obelisk, that stands on a rocky prominence. A soldier-administrator, John Nicholson became the Victorian “Hero of Delhi” and inspired several books, ballads and generations of young British boys to join the army. After an hour’s drive we cross the mighty Indus and turn downstream under the shadows of the Attock Fort to one of the first memorials raised after the Great War. This 25-foot-tall memorial, shaped like a .303-inch rifle-cartridge, was unveiled on April 26, 1919, the fourth anniversary of the Second Battle of Ypres, where the 40th Pathans suffered significant casualties.

Through another garrison town of Nowshera, we turn right and head to Mardan, and what used to be the home of the Corps of Guides which was a legend in the British Indian Army. Within the preemies of the Punjab Regimental Center is the Guides Memorial, the chapel and cemetery where some distinguished officers are buried. From here it’s a 40 minutes’ drive to the top of the Malakand Pass which was the scene of bitter fighting during the Relief of Chitral Expedition (1895) and the Great Pathan Uprising (1887).

Next to the fort is the Malakand Cemetery that has over 100 graves of British officers and soldiers and was restored in 2024/25 with funding from UK. A short distance back, we will hit the Motorway to take us to Peshawar where we will be spending two nights at The Barracks, a heritage hotel set in tastefully restored barracks of the British era. At dinner you will meet Dr Ali Jan, who is an authority on the history of Peshawar and its surroundings and he will be accompanying you on the tour the next day.

First on today’s agenda is a tour of the Taikal Cemetery, the largest of two cemeteries which was established in 1851, and contains marble crosses and headstones with inscriptions that reflect the history of the Raj on the Northwest Frontier.

We then visit the Cathedral Church of St John which is located in the cantonment next to the Peshawar Club. It was formerly a garrison church and called St. John’s Church. It took 10 years to be completed because halfway the structure was demolished by an earthquake.  Buried within the premises of the Cathedral are bodies of some British officers who were killed in action while fighting on the frontier, including that of Lieutenant Colonel James O’Bryen.

  He was KIA while commanding the 31st Punjabis in an attack during the operations of the Malakand Field Force 1897. His death in action Churchill eloquently mourns within the pages of his book – The Story of the Malakand Field Force. But the indiscriminating bullet settles everything. As the poet somewhat grimly has it – Stone-dead hath no better.

Nearby is the Mackenson Tomb.  Col Frederick Mackeson (1807-1853) was one of Henry Lawrence’s “Young Men” whose reputation was enhanced during the First Anglo-Afghan War. He was described as an “excellent officer, first-rate linguist, a man of such temper that no native would disturb and of untiring energy”. In 1850, he was selected to escort the Koh-I-Noor diamond to Britain which was to be presented to Queen Victoria as a gift from the East India Company. He was murdered by a fanatic while listening to appeals in his veranda.

From the dead to the living, we head to the vibrant Qissa Kahani Bazaar – the Bazaar of the Story Tellers. En route we stop by the tomb of Nawab Sayed Khan, which was the first HQ of the Corps of Guides. At the entrance to the bazaar is Chowk Yadgar or Remembrance Square. It was originally built as the Hasting Memorial in 1884 in remembrance of the first British Commissioner of Peshawar, Col E.C. Hastings, Bengal Cavalry, who in 1880 accompanied General Robert’s Kabul Field Force to Cabul as chief political officer.

Further ahead is the Cunningham Clock Tower which was constructed in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897). However, it was later named after Sir George Cunningham, who served as governor of the province. Embedded on the tower is a WW1 memorial that records that from Peshawar City 200 went fight in the Great War and 7 died. In the evening you will be entertained to a traditional BBQ.

We depart Peshawar on the Motorway for 2 hours scenic drive to Abbottabad at an elevation of 4000 feet. At one time the small town was the HQ of the Punjab Frontier Force and in the early 20th century, it became an important military cantonment with a brigade of the Northern Army Command and the training center of a Gurkha Regiment.

Following a tour of St Luke’s Anglican Church which took 10 years to be completed because of shortage of funds and the interruption by the rebellion of 1857, we head to the Old Christian Cemetery. It contains many interesting graves and memorials many connected with the Frontier military campaigns including the graves of Major Leigh Richmond Battye whose murder by a tribesman, precipitated the 1888 Black Mountain Expedition. He was one of the Battye brothers/cousins, a legendary military family with deep ties to the Punjab Frontier Force. Several members of the family served in elite regiments & were often described as “handsome, gallant, and doomed” — a Victorian-era phrase acknowledging their frequent early deaths in combat.

Next to the cemetery is the Piffer’s Memorial that was originally erected in Kohat to commemorate those who lost their lives in the two World Wars. Following a light lunch courtesy of the Piffer’s Mess we depart for the hill station of Nathia Gali. Located at a height of 8,200 feet, it used to be the summer capital of the British Northwest Frontier Province. At Nathia we will visit St. Matthew’s Church.

It was built entirely of cedar wood in 1914 and was designed by Colonel Hope Waddell Kelsall. Its caretakers are a Muslim family. Night stay in Nathia Gali.

We will take the old road down to Islamabad and en-route visit the Lawrence College at Ghora Gali which was established in 1860 and is one of the oldest residential educational institutions in Pakistan.

Within its ground is the College Chapel established around 1868. This stone-brick chapel features a clock tower and is a significant architectural and historical landmark. A small British cemetery dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries is next to its outer wall.

Arrive Islamabad and catch outbound flights home.