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RAWALPINDI , a town of British India, which gives its name to a district and a division in the Punjab. The town is situated on the north bank of the little river Leh, 1726 ft. above the sea, i if m. E. by S. of Peshawar, and 1443 M. N.W. of Calcutta. Pop. (1901) 87,688. It is chiefly notable as the largest military station in India, and the key to the British system of defence upon the North-West Frontier. Railways radiate to Peshawar, Kohat, and the Malakand Pass, and a road runs to the Abbotabad frontier. It is also the starting-point of the cart-road to the hill-station of Murree and of the route into Kashmir. It is protected by a strong chain of forts, connected by the Circular Road. It is the headquarters of the second division of the northern army with a strong force of all arms, and contains an arsenal. Besides the locomotive works of the North-Western railway, there are gas-works, a tent factory, an iron foundry, and a brewery. An annual horse fair is held in April.
The DISTRICT OF RAWALPINDI has an area of 2010 sq. m., Attock having been separated from it and formed into a separate district in 1904. It is situated on the southern slopes of the north-western extremities of the Himalayas, including large mountain tracts with rich valleys traversed by mountain torrents. It contains the Murree hills with the sanatorium of that name, the chief hill-station in the Punjab. The Indus and the Jhelum are the chief rivers, and the climate is noted for its healthiness. The principal crops are wheat, barley, maize, millets. and pulses. The district is traversed by the main line of the North-Western railway, crossing the Indus at Attock, and also by a branch towards the Indus at Kushalgarh. The population in 1901 was 558,699, showing an increase of 4.7 % in the decade.
The DIVISION OF RAWALPINDI lies in the north-west of the Punjab. It consists of the five districts of Gujrat, Attock, Shahpur, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi. The total area is 15,736 sq. m. and the population in 190I was 2,799, 360.
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