IN Shimla, just as one has to climb a steep slope to reach Jakhu, one has to go down an equally steep slope to reach Annandale. This green glade, flat, circular and three-quarters of a mile in circumference is an important landmark of Shimla. At an altitude of 1864 mt. on the outskirts of Kaithu, it is around 2 km. from the Ridge. It is a silent witness to Shimla’s history.

How did Annandale get it name? Pat Barr and Ray Desmond write in Simla: A hill station in British India: "It was .....named after Dumfriesshire glen of the same name by a homesick Scotsman or, according to another story, after the first lady who graced its solitude, who was called Anna". However, the Complete Guide to Simla and its Neighbourhood of 1881 mentions the more acceptable view that Captain Charles Pratt Kennedy, a political agent (1822-1835), was so struck by the beauty of this place that he named it Annadale after his childhood sweetheart Anna (adding ‘dale,’ meaning valley, to it). Over the years, Annadale got converted to Annandale.

Once a forest of pines, firs and cedars, Annandale was immensely liked by Britishers in Shimla because "it ideally suited their Victorian taste for romantic pastoral". It became a venue for their fun-filled activities. The glade provided "the perfect backdrop for picnic luncheons, lovers’ rendezvous and fetes champetres where ladies and gentlemen held archery competitions, played battledore and shuttlecock and danced in the cool evening to the strain of a fiddle".

Fairs and fetes which began at 10 o’ clock lingered on for 12 hours. Annandale’s first fair was held in 1833 to raise funds for a girls’ school in Subathu.

Miss Emily Eden, sister of Governor-General Lord Auckland, has vividly described a fair. She writes: "A turnpike gate with a canvas cottage was erected at the entrance, with a board announcing Charity Toll Bar, and one Captain P — dressed as funny old women collecting the dues .... You could buy a dip in a lucky bag or a painting done by the Honourable Emily herself, or have your fortune told by Captain C — disguised as a villainous-looking gypsy. You could partake of ham pasties and champagne in the marquee, and then for the fun of pony races — with old Colonel F — wearing a natty satin, jockey-jacket .... after dark there was a firework displaying and dancing on a boarded platform decorated with arches of flowers". This "merriest fete imaginable" was to raise funds for setting up a dispensary for "natives and Tibetans".

In 1839, the Queen’s Ball was organised in Annandale in honour of her birthday. On this occasion, 103 European danced to the tunes of band playing Puritani and Masaneillo, and there was feasting on the salmons of Scotland and sardines from the Mediterranean.

Another fete was the one hosted by the Prince of Prussia in 1845. Dr W. Hoffmeister, a physician travelling with the Prince, wrote: "A large floor laid with cloth had been put up in the centre of the lawn before three spacious tents, huge with elegant drapery. Dancing was carried on and a collation — so-called tiffin — was served in the middle of the tent...." Edward J. Buck further describes it, "As the evening closed in, hundreds of lamps.... suspended to every branch and twig... forming a brilliant magic illumination".

Stiggins has thus portrayed a flower fete held in May 1851:

The Annandale Club was established during the tenure of Dufferin. It consisted of a library, a sitting, a dining and dressing rooms. Its grounds had a cricket pitch, tennis court, golf course and a shooting range. The Gymkhana witnessed dog and animal shows, apart from croquet, the rage of the 1860s. Its activities were widely reported in Simla Weekly. Rudyard Kipling mentions Annandale as one of the locales in his writings.

Annandale’s popularity as a race-course grew "as captains starved themselves to jockey-weight in order to compete for the Viceroy’s Cup or the Mooltan Stakes, and there were ladies’ Hack Races, steeplechases and jinrickshaw races, with young ladies in rickshaw urging their four-native pullers towards the winning post. To add to the fun, Lord William had invented the Victoria Cross Race. Its competitors had first to race to pick up a dummy figure dressed as a nurse, soldier, ayah, war correspondents, etc. from the ‘field of battle’ and then canter back to the winning post holding the figure on their saddles". (Pat Barr and Ray Desmond)

This place was the original venue of the Durand Football Tournament. It is named after Sir Mortimer Durand, the then Foreign Secretary, who donated the Challenge Trophy in 1888. It continues to be India’s prime football tournament.

Historians opine that Allan Octavian Hume mooted the idea of finding the Indian National Congress here, which ultimately paved the way for the country’s independence. Lord Curzon and Francis Younghusband also thought of the Tibetan Expedition in Annandale.

Very few are aware that this glade was used to land planes during World War 1. Today it is used as a helipad for the defence services and VIPs, a separate airport being at Jubbarhatti for commercial flights.

Annandale also boasts of a golf course and a cricket ground. They have been maintained by the Army since the 1950s.