History of Poona Cantonment, 1818-1953

In 1953, Muhammad Hashim Moledina, who used to be a member of both the Pune and Khadki Cantonment Boards at various points of time, partnered with MN Merchant, a professional civil engineer, to write A History of the Poona Cantonment, 1818-1953, in what Moledina described as their effort to properly tell people the workings of the Cantonment over the many years it has been existence. Beyond what Moledina wrote in terms of history and other technicalities, even the typical 1950s advertisements on the book's pages — from small hotels, snack-and-cold-drink restaurants, life insurance, tailors, and even bookies asking people to place attractive bets on the Pune race course — were showing of the new and free spirit that entrepreneurs had after independence, bold, brash, creative. Moledina divided the roughly-120 page book into sections of general facilities, landmarks, a bit of history and heritage — the garrison church, or the St Patrick's Church, the monsoon races at the race course sponsored by the governor, and even the entertainment — clubs, pubs, and cinemas that were, and still are, a part of the Cantonment and its people's lives. Parts of it are also descriptive of what does not remain— a jail in what is now the Albert Edward Institute, or a gibbet on St Vincent Street, part of it later became a Jesuit missionary's bungalow and then a well-known school, the St Vincent's. Moledina's book is also the main source of information regarding the civic administration of the Cantonment in the Company years and in the 90 years of Crown-rule. The all-powerful Cantonment Magistrate — known colloquially as the Bazaar Master, or the first natives who were elected to the erstwhile Cantonment Committee — the quasi-civilian administration, all find a place in Moledina's account. Excerpted from Shiladitya Pandit's article at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/visitors-officials-kept-records-of-cantonments-history-heritage/articleshow/62320019.cms