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

FibiWiki Maps
See our interactive map of this location showing places of interest during the British period
Simla

Simla was the headquarters of Simla District in the Delhi Division of Punjab Province during the British period. It 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.

The current name is Shimla.

Kaithu near Simla, was a small community c early 1930s, but included a small Bazaar, Post Office, and a fairly large Convent of Jesus and Mary run by the Loretto Nuns. A troop of Gurkhas was stationed there, about six hundred yards lower down the hill. Mrs. Oliver's private school operated then, about thirty pupils between the ages of five and eight were taught by her, both in Simla in the summer and Delhi in the winter.

Railway

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) (See individual fibiwiki article)
• 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.
"Simla District" page 43 A list of inscriptions on Christian tombs or monuments in the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir and Afghanistan possessing historical or archaeological interest Part 1 by Miles Irving (1910) Hathi Trust Digital Library
Inscriptions from Sanjauli Cemetery in Shimla and Kenlog Cemetery in Shimla shimlawalks.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
• Images of Simla

Related articles

• Simla Rifles
• Residents of Simla 1898

External links

Simla Railway Station today

• Simla Town Imperial Gazetteer of India
• 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

• New buildings in Simla 1881-1888 from Henry Irwin Architect in India 1841 – 1922
• Shimla-Heritage, now archived, includes some old photographs of the town.
• History of the Viceregal Lodge iias.org, now archived.
• Surrey in Tibet [Simla] by William Dalrymple 1997. travelintelligence.com, now archived. Also an episode in the 1997 TV documentary series Stones of the Raj, available YouTube.
• Deodar Tales: Shimla: Heritage Homes OutlookIndia.com 19 April 2010, now archived.
• Shimla, India: The queen of hills telegraph.co.uk 16 October 2011, now archived.
• 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, page 155. Archive.org, Gallaudet University Collections.
• "An officer in Simla" Part 1 Part 2 An album of photographs and other items from Ian Hamilton's time in Simla, India 1885-1887 from "The Serving Soldier" collection, King’s College London
• The dakiya and the dak ghar by Sarita Brara September 20, 2012 The Hindu. The Shimla General Post Office opened in 1883.
• "Ripon’s heritage: Din Dayal’s gain" by Shriniwas Joshi September 24, 2008, HimachalPlus Chandigarh. Ripon Hospital opened May 14, 1885. The female wards of the Ripon were subsequently converted into a separate hospital, ‘The Lady Dufferin Hospital’.

Historical images online

• Panorama of Simla watercolour by Lady Elizabeth Tennant c 1865 University of Cambridge Digital Library.
• Album of scenic views of India contains a number of views of Simla from page 4 of the images, mostly dated 1863. The J. Paul Getty Museum.

Historical books online

• 1909 Map of Simla Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 26, Atlas 1909 edition, page 61.
• 1931 Map of Simla Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 26, Atlas 1931 edition, page 63.
• Gazetteer of the Simla District 1888-89 Archive.org. Also available as a pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India]. Note: this latter volume had been catalogued 1988-89, but it is believed this should be 1888-1889. Published by the Punjab Government.
• Punjab District Gazetteers Volume VIII A. Simla District 1904 Archive.org. Also available to download from DSpace Lahore School of Economics
• Punjab States Gazetteer Volume VIII Simla Hill States 1910, published 1911. Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.
• ‪A Guide to Simla: With a Descriptive Account of the Neighbouring Sanitaria, Subathoo, Dugshaie, Sunawar, Kussowlie, Kotegurh, Chini, &c., &c., &c‬ by W H Carey 1870 Google Books
• Simla, Past and Present by Edward J Buck 1904 Archive.org. It includes a chapter on Cemeteries. Missing pages noted. 2nd file, 1904 with images correctly rotated, but also missing pages. Archive.org, CSL Collection.

Simla, Past and Present 2nd edition [with new chapters] and different illustrations by Edward J Buck 1925. Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection. 2nd file, 1925 which appears to contain an additional Map of Simla District between pages 58-59. Archive.org, CSL Collection.

• Simla in Ragtime: an Illustrated Guide Book by "Doz", elsewhere stated to be pseudonym of D. O. Sullivan, an American. 1913. Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi] Digital Repository.
• Thackers New Guide To Simla by Beresford Harrop 1925 Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi].
• Simla - A Hill Station in British India by Pat Barr and Ray Desmond 1978. Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

• 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. The Mofussil Directory entry for Simla is pages 529-539, digital pages 792-802. Includes List of Residents, page 532, digital page 795. For this and additional directories available online, refer Directories online - Thacker's Indian Directory.
• Reminiscences of the Residencies of the Commanders-In-Chief in India in Simla, Old and New Delhi by Field- Marshal Sir W R Birdwood 1930 Archive.org