How were the cantonment and civil lines laid out?
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The Cantonment and the Bungalow

Kabul Cantonment
The Cantonment was a British military settlement which was to spread out all over India wherever the British were present in sizable numbers. Originally conceived as a military base for British troops, the cantonment also began to house civilians who were associated with servicing the military, and developed into a full-fledged mini-city of its own. The second half of the 19th century saw this transformation complete. Bangalore cantonment had, for example, a population of 100,000 by the early 20th century and consisted of public offices, churches, parks, shops and schools. It was an entity distinct from the old city – traffic between the two had to stop at a toll-gate and pay entry tax. The cantonment thus developed into a European town in India, whose main house type was the bungalow.
The bungalow’s design evolved as a type over a hundred years. While the actual model for a bungalow remains controversial, it appears to have dual origins: the detached rural Bengal house sitting in its compound (from the word root bangla – from Bengal), and the British suburban villa. It was a fusion of these two types that led to a building form which would later become an enduring symbol of the Raj.
The first bungalows inhabited by the East India Company agents were initially the same as the kutchalocal ones, but gradually outstripped their origins to become an accurate reflection of hierarchy amongst the English community. The typical residential bungalow for the wealthy, for example, was set back from the road by a walled compound. The amount of land enclosed was a symbol of status. For a senior officer a ratio of 15:1, garden to built form, was appropriate, while for a beginning rank it could even be 1:1. In this sense the British showed a hierarchical system no less developed than the complex caste system which they ascribed to India.
The early bungalows had long, low classical lines and detailing. The Gothic revival in England brought about a corresponding change in bungalow design – spawning buildings with pitched roofs and richly carpentered details including such features as the ‘monkey tops’ of Bangalore. The Classical bungalow with its Doric, and later, in New Delhi for instance, Tuscan orders became a symbol not only of an European heritage but also of the military and political might of Britain. That the bungalow continues to evoke associations of wealth and power is evident from its continued relevance as a building type in India today.

Kabul Cantonment
The Cantonment was a British military settlement which was to spread out all over India wherever the British were present in sizable numbers. Originally conceived as a military base for British troops, the cantonment also began to house civilians who were associated with servicing the military, and developed into a full-fledged mini-city of its own. The second half of the 19th century saw this transformation complete. Bangalore cantonment had, for example, a population of 100,000 by the early 20th century and consisted of public offices, churches, parks, shops and schools. It was an entity distinct from the old city – traffic between the two had to stop at a toll-gate and pay entry tax. The cantonment thus developed into a European town in India, whose main house type was the bungalow.
The bungalow’s design evolved as a type over a hundred years. While the actual model for a bungalow remains controversial, it appears to have dual origins: the detached rural Bengal house sitting in its compound (from the word root bangla – from Bengal), and the British suburban villa. It was a fusion of these two types that led to a building form which would later become an enduring symbol of the Raj.
The first bungalows inhabited by the East India Company agents were initially the same as the kutchalocal ones, but gradually outstripped their origins to become an accurate reflection of hierarchy amongst the English community. The typical residential bungalow for the wealthy, for example, was set back from the road by a walled compound. The amount of land enclosed was a symbol of status. For a senior officer a ratio of 15:1, garden to built form, was appropriate, while for a beginning rank it could even be 1:1. In this sense the British showed a hierarchical system no less developed than the complex caste system which they ascribed to India.
The early bungalows had long, low classical lines and detailing. The Gothic revival in England brought about a corresponding change in bungalow design – spawning buildings with pitched roofs and richly carpentered details including such features as the ‘monkey tops’ of Bangalore. The Classical bungalow with its Doric, and later, in New Delhi for instance, Tuscan orders became a symbol not only of an European heritage but also of the military and political might of Britain. That the bungalow continues to evoke associations of wealth and power is evident from its continued relevance as a building type in India today.
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