Old Christian Cemetery, Abbottabad
{{Short description|Cemetery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=February 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
The Old Christian Cemetery, locally referred to as the Gora Qabristan ({{Langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|گورا قبرستان}}}}, {{Literal translation|white cemetery}}), is a cemetery located in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was established in 1853 during East India Company rule and stayed in regular use following the British Crown's assumption of direct rule over India.Tarin,O & Najumddin, S, 'Five Early Military Graves at the Old Christian Cemetery, Abbottabad, 1853–1888' in The Kipling Journal, UK, Vol. 84, No. 339, December 2010, pp. 35–52; {{ISSN|0023-1738}}
File:A grave from 1853 at the Old Christian Cemetery Abbottabad.jpg
History
The cemetery was established in 1853Tarin & Najumddin, p. 38 when the modern city of Abbottabad was founded by James Abbott, a British military officer and administrator. It remained the main Christian cemetery in the town and for the nearby Galyat hill tracts,Although some few scattered graves are to be still found in several places in the district and was later attached to St. Luke's Church when it was completed in 1864.Tarin & Najumddin, pp. 38–39 The cemetery contains many interesting old graves and memorials.Irving, M & de Rhe-Philipe, Inscriptions on Christian Tombs and Monuments in Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir and Afghanistan, Orig. 1910–1912, 2 Parts; Reprint Aldershot, UK: Naval & Military Press, 2009, Part I, p. 17 Most of these have Frontier military campaigns' connections and significanceIrving & de Rhe-Philipe, Part II, p. 19 for military historians, including the graves or tombs of Major Hugh Rees James,Irving & de Rhe-Philipe, Part II, p. 183 Major Leigh Richmond BattyeIrving & de Rhe-Philipe, Part II, pp. 21–22 and Colonel A W Crookshank, as well as others.For detailed list of tombs see Abbottabad, in Cemeteries List on main FIBIS UK Database http://new.fibis.org/frontis/bin/index.php{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Retrieved on 15 April 2012 The Rev. Henry Fisher Corbyn, of the Bengal Ecclesiastical Establishment, who spent long years here as Vicar, and who had previously served in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and established a 'charitable home' there at Ross Island (Andaman)'Corbyn's Cove' there is also named after him. See George Weber Pioneer Biographies of the British Period to 1947, np, nd, Appendix A is also buried here. Also buried here is Lady Julia Helen Palmer (née Aylmer; died 1896) first wife of General Sir Arthur Power Palmer, a former Commander-in-Chief, India.FIBIS Cemeteries List, aa
Present status
Since Partition and Independence of Pakistan in 1947, the Old Christian Cemetery has suffered considerable neglect, due to various financial constraints upon the Church of PakistanTarin & Najumddin, p. 46 and maybe around 70–80 of the older graves dating back prior to 1947, still survive and can be properly verified.Whereas local church records show more than 300 burials between 1853 and 1947 A family of Muslim caretakers lives within the precincts of the cemetery, who have been traditional caretakers of the site since circa 1902–1903,Old church records, St. Luke's Church, Abbottabad prior to which time two retired Gurkha soldiers of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles used to tend to it, from around the 1870s onwards.
See also
References
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{{coord missing|Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
Category:1853 establishments in India
Category:Cemeteries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa