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Shimla was formally acquired by the British during the tenure of Lord William Bentinck (1830s) even though Charles Pratt Kennedy was the first Englishman to be deputed to Shimla as Superintendent of the Hill states in 1822. However, it was during the tenure of Lord Auckland (1839) that Shimla started to come of age. Till then it was almost a village without a road that could be used by wheeled carriages. Till about 1840, the common mode of transport was the jampan for ladies and horses for men. The jampan was a contraption that had poles attached to a chair which was lifted by coolies on the shoulders. After the British had contained the great anti-British uprising of 1857, Shimla became a resting place for sick and injured British troops. Interestingly, it was from about this time that Shimla also developed the reputation of a place that was sought after by pleasure seekers and retirees.
It was Lord Dalhousie (1850s) who gave to Shimla its first major break in the form of a road that could be used by wheeled carriages. The Hindustan-Tibet road that came later to be known as the Cart Road was a major turning point in Shimla’s story of growth. As Dalhousie put it: "It (Hindustan Tibet road) will not be surpassed by any mountain road in the world." By the end of the 19th century Shimla’s society life’, clubs and dance parties were the talk of India’s elite. The Gaiety Theatre that was first opened in 1838 took its modern form in 1887. Peterhoff was occupied for the first time by the fashionable Viceroy couple — the Lyttons in 1876. They gave to Peterhoff its reputation for the highest quality of entertainment and lavish food. The idea of converting Shimla into the summer capital of British India is traceable to Sir John Lawrence. Lawrence was an imperialist to the core.
To him it was not Shimla’s beauty that mattered but its geographical location: "You have one foot in Punjab, another in the North West Frontier`85 yet near enough to influence Oudh". The site for what remains to this day the icon of Shimla — the Viceregal Lodge, that after Independence came to be known as Rashtrapati Nivas and finally as the Indian Institute of Advance Studies was a sight that was chosen by the Lyttons. In fact, a story goes that Lady Lytton was so impressed with the sight and its view that she impressed upon her husband to select the site. The files related to the construction of this beautiful building make fascinating reading, such was the vision of the planners. Lord Curzon, an eccentric workaholic, however, found Shimla even in 1901 as too crowded and ‘monstrous’. Unlike other Viceroys who treated Shimla as a place for rest and relaxation, Curzon often took his difficult files along to Shimla. He spent much of his time initially in the Retreat (Mashobra) and then at Naldhera. He even had a complex system to convey messages from Naldhera to Shimla by heliograph in the day and by lamps in the night. However, Shimla took its biggest and most important turn in 1903, when it was connected by rail. In sum, this meant that one could travel from Calcutta to Shimla without the strain of a road journey. The British technical staff went to great extents to make these journeys memorable and comfortable. The result of the train connection was that the summer time population of Shimla in 1905 touched close to 38,000. For those like myself who had their schooling in Shimla (BCS-1960-70), these train journeys retain till date memories of nostalgia and excitement. In the years that followed several historic decisions associated with India’s struggle for freedom were taken in Shimla. These included the final drawings for the Partition of Punjab as well as the transfer over of power. Shimla came to be known across India during the colonial period as well as the first few decades of free India as a place that was impeccably maintained and clean. Unlike most other towns of the country, Shimla was a place where the system appeared to work. My memories of Shimla having spent almost 10 years as a student are of the years of Dr YS Parmar, Chief Minister. Oldtimers would recollect that it was common to see the graceful Dr Parmar walking alone without a fuss on the Mall. As students as we raced to the Mall usually for a movie at the Ritz, Regal or Rivoli, followed by a quick meal at Maluks or Plaza many a time it was common to see the Chief Minister himself picking up litter and disposing it in the nearest dustbin. Only now does one realise the importance of leading by example. It is difficult to explain how much has gone wrong with Shimla. Perhaps no other town in the country has paid such a heavy price for what we term as development. It would be even more difficult to believe that what is today New Shimla was in the 1960s a beautiful hill side with orchards. Streams that surrounded the town often had good fish. The Himalayan Eagle and the Leopard were commonplace. Chhota Shimla was like a little village with the towering secretariat building. Summer Hill was truly a summer hill. Today different parts of the town are racing towards becoming urban slums. Some may agree, some may not but Shimla does appear to have gone the Manali way. For those who plan development polices, the wake-up call was sounded some decades ago. It has obviously been oversighted. The result is there for all to see.— The writer is Senior Professor of Modern History, Kurukshetra University
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HERITAGE
