Sainik School Ghorakhal, located near Nainital was established on 21 march 1966 on magnificent estate of Nawab of Rampur. The name 'Ghorakhal' relates the events in 1857 when a British General in a desperate bid to escape the revolutionaries of Awadh, strayed into this area and his horse while drinking water from nearby pond died, therefore the name Ghora (Horse) Khal (pond). The Ghorakhal estate was presented to General Wheeler in 1870 by the British Rulers. In 1921, then Nawab of Rampur, Maj Gen, His Highness, Alijah, Amirul Umrah, Nawab, Sir Syed Mohammed Hamid Ali, Khan Bahadur, purchased this Estate. After the abolition of the privy purses in post Independent India, the State Government (then Uttar Pradesh) purchased the Estate from the Nawab of Rampur in March 1964 and later Sainik School Ghorakhal was established on 21 March 1966 .