History
Monday, 02 October 2006 17:08
History of Association
On February 16, 1958 a group of sixty one ex-cadets held a meeting in the College under the Presidentship of Mr. M. H. Siddiqui and formed the OLD BOYS' ASSOCIATION.
This meeting adopted the Articles of Association presented by Lt. Mohammed Iqbal Cheema. Lt. Riazullah Shad was elected as the first president of the Association for the year 1958-59.
Lt. Imtiaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Lt. Nadir Ali and Syed Shah Babar were elected as Assistant Secretaries. Mr. Siddiqui was requested by the newly elected office bearers to look after the affairs of the Association for three years.
The Association finally got registered on 7th Feb 2001 as a registered body under the Societies Act.
History of College
This was the first Cadet College in Pakistan. It was felt that an adequate number of capable and talented young men was not available for our armed forces. At the initiative of the then Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, the Government of Punjab undertook to set up an institution at Hasanabdal for pre-cadetship training.
The need to set up such a college was so pressing that pending the completion of the buildings, military wings were started in 1952 in Government College Sahiwal and Islamia College Peshawar. The first meeting of the teaching staff was held in the Punjab Cadet College Hasanabdal (as it was named then) on 1st April 1954.
The first group of cadets reported on 10th April 1954 who were first admitted into class 8th, 9th and 10th. Admissions were later done for the first year of Intermediate as well. The second year of Intermediate class was transferred from these military wings to the present premises of the College in Hasanabdal in 1954.
With the establishment of the Province of West Pakistan in 1958, the prefix "Punjab" was replaced with "Government" and the College witnessed the first "name-change" and started to be known as Government Cadet College Hasanabdal. In 1960, when the provincial Education Department decided to hand over the administration of the College to a Board of Governors, the prefix "Government" was dropped. However, the provincial government continued to finance it as before, and till today it is known as Cadet College Hasanabdal.
The founder Principal was Mr. Hugh Catchpole who was succeed by Mr. A. E. Winlaw and Mr. Chapman. In 1971, Col. N. D. Hasan was appointed as the first Pakistani Principal.
History of Hasanabdal
Hasanabdal lies in District Attock (formerly known as Campbellpur) and is situated at the 28th mile from Rawalpindi on the G.T. Road and Hazara Trunk Road junction. Its height above sea level is between 1350 ft to 2344 ft, while the temperature ranges between 31° - 110° F. There are numerous gardens and natural springs of pure water.
The town took its name in the beginning of 15th century AD., after Baba Hasan Abdal, popularly known as Baba Wali Qandhari, whose baithak (sitting place) is on the top of a hill. The place was described by Mughal historians as the lovliest and greenest spot by the roadside from Delhi to Kabul.
It was a favourite resting place of the Mughal emperors on their way to and from Kashmir and Kabul. At the north foot of the hill on a platform are a tank and a tomb built by Khawaja Shams-ud-Din Khawafi, under whose superintendence the Attock Fort was built in 1581. This tomb is the last resting place of two of Akbar's Vazirs, Abul fath Gilani and Hakim Hummam.
In a square enclosure nearby, stands the tomb of Sheikh Karim-ud-Din Baba Hasan Abdali, a khalipa of Hazrat Mujaddad Alaf Sani. This was wrongly named as the tomb of Lala Rukh in 1919. This tomb, with Bagh-e-Hasanabdal (the Royal Garden at Wah) was designed by Ahmad Maamar, the Chief Architect, who also designed the Jamia Masjid and Lal Qila of Delhi. The Panja Sahib and huge Gurdwara building around it make the place sacred for the Sikhs.
