Khandallah

History

Khandallah is named after Khandela, Rajasthan, or may be Khandala and supposedly means "Resting place of God" in an unspecified language. It is noteworthy that KhānAllāh means the hostel of God in Arabic. Hence the suburb and those surrounding it have many place names connected with the Indian subcontinent; e.g. Calcutta Street, Ganges Road and Simla Crescent. The name may have come from a homestead built in the area in 1884 by Captain James Andrew, who had recently returned from duty in India and had been consul in Baghdad. When the railway was laid through the area by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, Andrew is reported as insisting that the railway station be named Khandallah with the h on the end of the name, and reportedly gave land for the Khandallah station provided all trains stop there. However, Edward Battersbee (also spelt Battersby) was listed in the 1864–1865 Province of Wellington electoral roll as living at Khandallah, Porirua Road on 23 April 1864 some 20 years earlier than Andrew. In addition Battersby had worked for the East India Company as a veterinary surgeon in the Bombay Light Cavalry, thereby making him the more likely originator of the suburb's name. In January 1868 Battersbee placed his 450-acre property, named in the advertisement as Khrandalah, on the market for sale. Another settler from the British Indian Army was Captain Charles Sharp of the Bombay Native Infantry who lived elsewhere but bought land around the Khandallah railway station and let it to sheep farmer Captain John Kirwan. In 1894 Robert Hanna bought it for subdivision. When the formation of the Borough of Onslow was proposed in 1889, Khandallah was already described as a District, and was a part of the Onslow Borough until it merged with Wellington in 1919.…

Most-observed species

• Tui

  Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  21,068
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,312
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  17,173
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,761
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,442
• Silver-eye

  Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  10,776
• New Zealand Fantail

  Rhipidura fuliginosa (Sparrman, 1787) · Aves
  10,076
• Gray Gerygone

  Gerygone igata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) · Aves
  9,272

Most recent

• M 5 — 2026-06-28
  65 km W of Foxton Beach, New Zealand
• M 4.4 — 2026-06-16
  30 km W of Titahi Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-12
  27 km E of Marybank, New Zealand
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-12
  12 km NNW of Renwick, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2026-06-02
  28 km W of Titahi Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2026-05-29
  42 km SE of Witherlea, New Zealand