Hill station

A hill station is a high-altitude town used as a place of refuge from the summer heat. Prevalent in South Asia, they are to be found throughout Southeast Asia. Hill stations are largely identified with European colonialists but the origins of many go back much further in time. Hill stations were often the summer capitals of their state, province or region; by and large the coming of air-conditioning has made this role redundant but many towns remain popular tourist destinations.

British India

Hill stations were to be found throughout British India. Queen of them all was Simla, the summer capital of the British Raj, but its ascendancy only dated from 1911 when Delhi became the Imperial capital. Each Presidency capital had its own hill station retreat: Bengal (Calcutta) went to Darjeeling, Bombay to Matheran and Madras to Ootacamund.

Burma

Hill stations established by the British in Burma included Maymyo, the "summer capital", and Kalaw.

Ceylon

See the Wikipedia link below for more information about hill stations in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Malaya

See the Wikipedia link below for more information about hill stations in Malaysia.

External links

• "Hill station", Wikipedia.
• "List of Indian hill stations", Wikipedia.
• "Category: Indian hill stations", Wikipedia.
• "Category: Hill stations in Pakistan", Wikipedia.
• "Category: Hill stations in Burma", Wikipedia.
• "Category: Hill stations in Sri Lanka", Wikipedia.
• "Category: Hill stations in Malaysia", Wikipedia.

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