Kakul was historically a small village in the suburbs of Abbottabad, close to the larger Nawanshehr hamlet, which was owned by the Jadoon Pashtun tribe. When the Hazara region was annexed to British India in 1849, the then District Commissioner Major James Abbott decided to build a cantonment town which was founded in 1853 as Abbottabad; and at that time, a smaller military station or tented garrison was set up close to Kakul. In 1900-1901 this site became one of the first 'concentration camps' for Boer Prisoners of War (POWs) from the Anglo-Boer War, where some 400 such prisoners were held until 1903. In 1904-1905, a part of this camp became the British Indian Armys Mountaineering and PE Camp, whereas the rest was made into the zonal headquarters of the Royal Indian Army Supply Corps(RIASC). This position lasted until 1947, when after Independence the new Pakistan Army decided to set up the Pakistan Military Academy here, which was done in 1948.