Simla

Simla
Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates:	31.137603°N 77.128143°E
Altitude:	2,900 m (9,514 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Shimla
State/Province:	Himachal Pradesh
Country:	India
Transport links
Kalka-Simla Railway

Simla (now known as Shimla) was the hill station linked with Delhi and the summer retreat of the Viceroy from 1864. In the centre of Simla is the large open space known as The Ridge. The colonial-era architecture in the town is notable for its mock Tudor style.

Railway

Simla Railway Station today

The narrow gauge Kalka-Simla Railway is still operational, having opened in 1903.

Churches

Stained Glass, St. Michael's Cathedral (1988)

• Christ Church (Anglican, built 1844-1846).
• St Michael and St Joseph's Cathedral (Roman Catholic, built 1886). Photograph (flickr.com)
• St Andrew's Church (Church of Scotland, now a library).
• St Thomas's Church (Church Missionary Society).
• All Saints Chapel.
• St Crispin's, Mashobra.

Cemeteries

• Oakover Cemetery (in use 1829-1841).
• Cart Road Cemetery (consecrated 1840).
• Kanlog Cemetery (in use 1850-1920s)
• Sanjauli Cemetery (opened 1921)
• St Bede's Cemetery (private burial ground for nuns of Convent of Jesus and Mary, also some Loreto religious)

Cemeteries from Simla, Past and Present by Edward J Buck 1904 Archive.org.

Sumit Raj Vashisht's blog, "Cemeteries In Shimla", includes a transcription of 146 MIs at Sanjauli Cemetery. He has another blog, also called "Cemeteries in Shimla" which mentions earlier cemeteries. His "Heritage Walks in Shimla" also briefly mentions some of the earlier cemeteries.

"Infusing life into British era graveyards in Himachal" WorldLatestNews.com

Schools

• Bishop Cotton School dates from 1859 and was modelled on the typical British boarding Public School of the Victorian period..
• Schools in the Simla District c 1904, page 113 Gazetteer of the Simla District 1904 Google Books
• Rare books at St Bede’s archives The Times of India. St Bede’s, a school for girls, was established in 1904.

FIBIS resources

• Members of the Himalayan Brotherhood, Simla

Related articles

• Simla Rifles
• Residents of Simla 1898

External links

• "Shimla", Wikipedia.
• "Home from Home: The Victorians in Simla" from The Victorian Web
• Christ Church Simla is one of a number of links relating to Simla in Victorian and Edwardian Architecture in British India from The Victorian Web
• "Churches and cemeteries of Himachal Pradesh", Himachal Tourism.
• New buildings in Simla 1881-1888 from Henry Irwin Architect in India 1841 – 1922
• Shimla-Heritage includes some old photographs of the town.
• History of the Viceregal Lodge
• Shimla-Chandigarh Diocese, Catholic Church
• An article about Dorothy Sanders, who was deaf and spent her childhood in India. It briefly mentions she attended a "hearing school" in Simla, (probably circa 1900/1910). The Silent Worker, Volume 32, No.6, March 1920 from the Gallaudet University Archives, WRLC Libraries Digital and Special Collections

Books online

• Simla, Past and Present by Edward J Buck 1904 Archive.org. It includes a chapter on Cemeteries
• Kennedy, Dane. The Magic Mountains: Hill Stations and the British Raj (full text, searchable). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. ISBN 0520201884. ISBN 978-0520201880
• Thackers Indian Directory 1908 is available to read online on Digital Library of India website. The Mofussil Directory entry for Simla is pages 529-539, computer pages 792-802. Includes List of Residents, page 532, computer page 795. For additional directories available online, refer Directories online.