Darjeeling

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Darjeeling
Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates: 27.037559, 88.263044
Altitude: 2,134 m (7,001 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name: Darjeeling
State/Province: West Bengal
Country: India
Transport links
Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway
FibiWiki Maps
See our interactive map of this location showing
places of interest during the British period
Darjeeling


Darjeeling was a hill station in Bengal.

There were military cantonments at Jalapahar (alternative spelling Jellapahar) (established 1848), Darjeeling and at Lebong, situated below Darjeeling about eight miles away. Lebong cantonment was established in 1882 as part of the Jalapahar cantonment, and became a separate cantonment in 1895.[1] There were artillery barracks at Katapahar, above Darjeeling and it appears that this was what was called the Darjeeling cantonment. The term "Darjeeling cantonment" seems at times to have also included Jalapahar, which was a convalescent depot.
Senchal was a station five miles from Darjeeling, at an elevation of about 8,600 feet.
Takdah 16 miles south east of Darjeeling by motor road was in use as a cantonment for two Gurkha battalions 1910 to 1926, when it was closed due to unsuitable climatic conditions.[2] In 1915 it was the Depot for 2nd 10th Gurkha Rifles[3] and in January 1919 was listed as a Place of Internment/Prisoner of War Camp.

Spelling variants

Modern name: Darjeeling
Variants: Darjeeling/Darjiiling/Darjiling/Dorjeling

Cemeteries

  • Darjeeling Old Cemetery darjeeling-tourism.com (This cemetery is also known as Hill Cart Road Cemetery or Hooker Road cemetery)
  • Darjeeling New Cemetery. (Singtom Cemetery] Established 1858. In the 1980s this cemetery was in a devastated condition, [4] but subsequently BACSA provided a substantial grant for restoration.[5]
  • The Jewish cemetery. The approximate location is mentioned in the comments by Peter J. Karthak on November 8, 2009 in Rebecca Bragg's article above. No records appear to have survived.
  • Jalahapar Old Cemetery
  • Jalahapar New Cemetery

A BACSA (British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia) cemetery publication is

  • Darjeeling and the Dooars: Christian Cemeteries and Memorials 1842–1995 by Eileen Hewson, 2006. A record of the cemeteries and isolated graves from this corner of India with MIs and biographical notes on the planters and other notable tombs. 93pp, 23 illustrations, and map. See BACSA Books. (BACSA are in the process of putting the indexes to its cemetery books online and these indexes are free to browse. If an indexed name is of interest then application can be made to BACSA for details of the relevant burial inscription - charges apply for this service).
The above publication is now also available as part of a pdf publication Burials In Assam & N.E. India 1793-1974 by Eileen Hewson, from Kabristan Archives.

Churches and Missions

St Andrew's Church, Darjeeling
  • St Columba's Church (Estab 1894) trekearth.com
  • Immaculate Conception Church (Catholic) - (Estab 1848)
  • Sacred Heart Church - (Catholic) - (Estab 1898)

Schools and Colleges

Loretto Convent, Darjeeling
St Joseph's School, Darjeeling

(See also Schools)

History of St. Paul's School, Darjeeling from the School website.
St. Paul’s was run on the lines of a typical British public school. C 1937 most of the teachers were British, some Anglo-Indians and two Indians. Most of the pupils were Christians, Jews and Armenians, and there were also some Hindus and a few Moslems. Whenever the students went out they wore the school cap and carried an umbrella as it rained quite often in Darjeeling.[6]

Records

Taylor’s Maps of the following Tea Districts, Darjeeling, Terai, Jalpaiguri and Dooars, Darrang, Golaghat, Jorhat Nowgong, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Cachar, Sylhet, with complete Index to all Tea Gardens, published 1910

Related Articles

External links

Historical books online

Bengal District Gazetteers - Darjeeling by Arthur Jules Dash 1947. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
Newman’s Guide to Darjeeling 1930. Pdf download Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If download link does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent.
This book is also available to download as a pdf file from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If download link does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent.
  • Catalogued as History Of The Darjeeling District by E C Dozey 1917, Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Full title as for 2nd edition. A chapter on schools commences digital page 99, and a chapter on cemeteries, with details of some burials, commences digital page 140. Note some pages appear to be missing.
A revised 2nd edition, published c 1922 is titled A Concise History of the Darjeeling District since 1835 by E C Dozey Archive.org. The chapter on cemeteries commences page 146. Another file, Archive.org, where images perhaps may be better.
  • “Darjeeling” from Bengal and Assam, Behar and Orissa : their history, people, commerce and industrial resources by Somerset Playne 1917 Archive.org
  • Notes on Tea in Darjeeling by A Planter. 1888 Archive.org.
  • "Beriberi in Lebong" [in 1914] by Major J C Kennedy, Royal Army Medical Corps, Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, page 268 September 1915
  • A trip to Darjeeling (1941) page 68 A Traveler's Tale : Memories of India by Enid Saunders Candlin 1974. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The author’s husband was a metallurgist/chemical engineer who worked in India 1941-46.
  • The Children of Kanchenjunga by David Wilson Fletcher. Link to a pdf download PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Full title: The Children of Kanchenjunga. On the lives of a tea-planter and his family in the Darjeeling Hills, Published London 1955.
Himalayan Tea Garden by David Wilson Fletcher. Link to a pdf download PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Full title: Himalayan Tea Garden: A Young Family's Adventures on a Tea Plantation Near Darjeeling. Published New York, 1955. If download links do not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent.
These two publications are probably the same book, with different titles. Elsewhere, the author was stated to be a Gurkha officer who ran a tea plantation in Darjeeling in 1953.

References

  1. Dr. Wangyal's Column : Discursive Hills November 2008 mygorkhaland.wordpress.com
  2. Page 146 Bengal District Gazetteers - Darjeeling by Arthur Jules Dash 1947 Archive.org.
  3. Page 483 The Quarterly Civil List For Bengal (1915) No.196. Archive.org. Incorrectly catalogued 1918.
  4. Sinclair, James. Destruction of graves Rootsweb India Mailing List, 26 August 1998. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  5. llewellyn-jones, rosie. Darjeeling Cemetery Rootsweb India Mailing List, 11 February 2000. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  6. "Chapter 5 St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling 1937-38" by Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin (born 1923) from his autobiography Lest I Forget.