Chapter
3
Building of the British Shimla
After Lieutenant Ross built his first ramshackle cottage
of wood and thatch, his successor Lieutenant Pratt Kennedy built larger
commercial enterprise of a house. He built it to rent it out to the
convalescing soldiers and civilians who could afford it. This was a highly
successful business venture. Officers of the armed forces away from England or
Calcutta and who could afford it began to rent it. Soon the Kennedy House, as
it was called, had the look of a sanatorium. The admirable climate made
patients recover faster. The famous French traveller Victor Jacquemont also stayed at the Kennedy house.
He reports in his papers from 1822-33 (Published by American Philosophical
Society) that tourists also began pouring in from the plains as the word of the
Shimla's climate spread. They made that difficult climb from Kalka to Kasauli,
then to Sabathu and then via Sirri to Shimla. A great panoramic view of the
Himalayas awaited them. Not to be left behind Lord Amherst and Lord Combermere
the then Governor General and Commander-in-Chief also paid Shimla a visit in
1827 & 1828. They both stayed at the Kennedy House. They were the first few
from the higher levels of the British establishment to realize the importance
of Shimla. They both agreed that a lot more cottages and infrastructure
improvements had to be made to give it an English look.
As a deliberate act and also as a successful business
enterprise, the cost of staying at the Kennedy house was kept high. In his few other acts, Lord Combermere ordered the
building of a 12 ft wide pathway around Mount Jakkho on the south side. In
finishing this construction, a seasonal water stream with a deep ravine stood
in the way. He decided to bridge it. That wooden bridge of materials procured
locally, mainly pine & deodar has been called the Combermere Bridge, the
road built by him was known as Combermere Road, later it was called the Mall
Road. The Bridge has been rebuilt several times since then and still it is
called the Combermere Bridge. This road & the bridge extended and improved
the pathway, which the natives had used before. Now it was good for vehicular
traffic of carriages and horse drawn buggies.
By 1829-30, Lieutenant Pratt
Kennedy, who oversaw the hill states also opened negotiations with Maharaja
Patiala & Rana of Keonthal to acquire about 10,000 hectares of land
including northern & Southern slopes and all the interconnecting spurs that
make today's Shimla. Later British administrators acquired other hill features,
which drained into small rivulets within eight miles of Shimla to gain full
control of the water sources in the area. Concurrently they persuaded the Raja
of Baghaat to part with some land in the area of Solan so that a horse drawn
carriage road could be built. Hence the British had made access to Shimla and
its water sources independent of outside interferences. The land transactions to acquire Shimla
lands were completed in 1830-31 except dealings with Baghaat state, which were
completed later. Now they were free to fell tree and slaughter cows, ox or
bulls as they wished.
By about 1831, the British began to clear the land and
build houses. Since trees were in abundance much of the housing construction
was of wood. Every small/medium cottage required twelve large trees to be
felled. Larger houses required many more. But nobody was minding that, as trees
on both sides of the slopes and on the ridge area were plentiful. It was later
that public & private construction took off exponentially that shortage of
wood developed. As described later, it was fulfilled by denuding Sanjauli hill
and later from the hill states of Shimla.
Five short years after Shimla land acquisition was
completed in 1831, the Auckland House was built into Governor General's
residence and the Barnes Court was built into Commander-in-Chief's residence.
Now, the importance of Shimla had grown several folds. The initial sanatorium
like environment changed as people came for a holiday for an extended period of
time. More holiday seekers in the area resulted in Suds/Soods going into
variety store type of business on the Ridge called the Upper Bazaar area. Other
British entrepreneurs from Calcutta surveyed the area for high-end speciality
stores. Pretty soon the Upper Bazaar had a decent look. The 1842 rough census
indicates that there were 334 British subjects in Shimla, of which 120 males,
130 females and 84 children. They all required high-end housing; which required
in addition to local building materials, some materials procured in England.
Quality was maintained by bringing skilled labour from Calcutta and England.
Pretty soon those 100 houses in 1841 increased to 300 houses by early 1860s and
many more were built until the end of the century.
Since this was high-end holiday, cum sanatorium, cum
government residency area, most of the houses built were British Tudor style
houses. These houses were large, with additional grounds to relax and stroll.
They named these houses reminiscent of their English heritage. Some were given
the most fanciful names like Stirling Castle, Primrose Hill, Snow View Cottage,
Bellevue, Rockwood, Swiss Cottage, Bantony and Auckland House, Peterhof, Barnes
Court etc. In all by the turn of the century one could count about 1200 British
built houses, all high-end and all commanding huge rent or a huge price if
these were bought or sold.
Concurrent to 1830 to 1864 British construction in Shimla,
about 7,000 natives also lived[1]
on the southern slopes. Enterprising Sud/Sood entrepreneurs had not only
established their presence in the Upper Bazaar, but also acquired land on the
southern slopes facing the rising sun. Although bulk of the merchandising
business was conducted at or near the present day Ridge in the Upper Bazaar,
the bulk trade was centred on what is present day Edward Gunj. The latter was
small clearing where camels, horses, mules and bullock cart stopped for turn
around and servicing.
Since the Suds/Soods and other communities timed their
arrival and departure from Shimla with the British every season, they lived in
poorly built wood shacks on the little lower reaches of the southern slopes. In
addition, the Suds/Soods had realized the importance of the Cart Road, under
construction around 1848-52. Its proximity to the Edward Gunj had persuaded
them to build housing for themselves in the vicinity that included area west of
Ripon Hospital and slopes above the Edward Gunj.
Timber for the Huge Building Activity
The initial effort to clear land by cutting trees (and use
them for building housing) ran into difficulty, hence by 1860 they forbade to
cut any more trees including trees on the Jakkho Hill feature. Yet wood as
building material had to be procured some how and that too from the vicinity
hence the authorities turned their attention to area beyond Jakkho. To the
northeast lay the Sanjauli and its hill feature with Dhinghu Devi Temple on the
top. This hill was not part of the ban hence trees on this hill feature could
be cut except transporting them to Shimla proper was a problem. A bullock cart
road, at least 12 feet wide had to be built around Jakkho hill feature on the
northern side. That would be the shortest distance to the Ridge. When connected
to the Combermere road, which was on the south side, it would make a circular
road around Jakkho Hill feature. This work began around 1860 and was completed
soon there after. It was an urgent requirement. The wood on the Dhinghu Devi
hill was harvested without any restrictions and using the new Ridge-Sanjauli
Road, was transported to the nearest point, near the Ridge. This point
popularly called Lakkar Bazaar became the Wood/Timber market. It continued to
be dominant market till all the trees on the Sanjauli hill had been harvested.
This harvesting was so complete that, the mountain became bare. The trees had
been clear-cut. All the forgoing happened from about 1860 till 1875. These bare
mountains are a distinct contrast to the lush Jakkho Hill next door. After the
wood from Sanjauli had been harvested, the newly built Lakkar Bazaar no longer
remained the prime market place for Wood/Timber; it was relocated to the area
on the motorway, which later was built around the Elysium Hill. Future Wood/Timber needs were met from the
interior of Shimla Hills. So when Viceregal Lodge, Western Command complex, and
other major government buildings were built at the turn of nineteenth century,
wood was harvested and transported on the newly built Hindustan-Tibet road.
Water Needs of Shimla
From 1822 till 1875, potable water was procured from
springs, Baolis (shallow well), and other sources. It was good clean water
unspoiled by urban sprawl, hence the natives used this water as is. The British
mostly filtered it further. For 350 British households and 12-14,000 natives in
Shimla in 1870s, water supply problems had developed. There was not enough
water in Baolis or springs to satisfy the town's needs. Sinking a deep wells
was out of question; hence urgent search began to bring water from rivulets in
the Shimla area. One source of water was the "Dhalli"
catchment's-area. It is located only seven miles away. It could supply
sufficient water for a population of 14,000 souls. The real issue was to raise
this water to an elevation a bit higher than Shimla and then let it flow by
gravity. This issue had an immediate solution. Steam driven pumps were in
operation in England, which pumped water to 1,300 feet head. The forgoing would
require a large reservoir in the Sanjauli Area. Then a gravity fed pipeline
would take it a Shimla reservoir. It took British six years to design and
figure out all the implications of water transport. Finally, the scheme
included, damming the water source in Dhali catchments-area, after
filtering and treating it, pump it to a reservoir in Sanjauli area. From there
using a pipeline of less than two miles distance, take it to Shimla.
It was easy to locate the Sanjauli reservoir, but was an
uphill task to locate the Shimla reservoir. The most suitable location was the
"The Ridge" area. It was at this clearing that the Upper Bazaar was
located. The merchants both British & native were not ready to move. Rather
they would resist any such move, but a God's act or a deliberately planned act
of man intervened, to help the British cause. A fire incident in the Upper Mall
provided the British an excuse to relocate the Upper Bazaar. The whole Ridge
area was cleared, any left over trees removed, the area flattened and dug up to
accommodate a fair size (4 million litre) tank. From here the water flowed
freely to South & North side housing. The forgoing was good for next three
years and then again the water supply began to run short. Hence additional
sources of water had to be found. First
addition to water supply came when the same rivulet, which was dammed earlier,
was dammed downstream and water supply augmented. Thirty years later with
rising population additional water sources were required, which were found and
water supply augmented, much more.
Native Construction from 1840 till 1864
Whereas the British subjects acquired prime land at
minimal cost from 1822 to 1864, its acquisitions was restricted to the natives.
No land transfers to the natives occurred until 1845. Then only natives were
permitted to build in limited areas. Construction by the natives near the
pathways, which connects Observatory Hill to Chotta Shimla, was not allowed. On
the south side where the native presence was already there, they reserved the
nearest area along the above pathway, for the Anglo-Indian officials of the
company who came from Calcutta every season. The next tier was reserved for the
Indian clerks, who also who came from Calcutta, every year. It was the later
tiers on the slopes that the natives were allowed to build. The Political Officer
initially did the allocation of land from Sabathu, but later Shimla Municipal
Committee took over this responsibility after 1851. Land to the natives was
allocated to build small side-by-side, row houses. This is not unusual. The
aristocracy all over the world lives in houses where they have place to stroll
and plant gardens. Commoners are relegated to row houses with high population
density. Shimla was no different except commoners were sons of the soil. The
natives initially built wood-thatched roof houses near their place of business
in the Upper Bazaar and area near Edward Gunj. These houses, they used to live,
cook as well as storage Godowns. In winter, if they did not return to their
native homes, they spent winter there. In this way, the British carefully
separated the communities with land allocation.
There were no connecting links between the various tiers.
Only makeshift pathways allowed the residents to go from one tier to the other.
Much later these communicating pathways became many 45-degree sloped
steps/stairs, which interconnected the Lower Bazaar with the Mall. There are a
number of these at Shimla, mostly connecting the Lower Bazaar with The Mall
Soon after 1876, a 20 feet wide road connected an
organized row of houses on the tier, known today as "The Lower
Bazaar". It was here that natives, mostly Sud/Soods built shops and places
of business after the fire incident. Here again, what was ramshackle
construction prior to 1876 became a durable construction. By then corrugated
sheets, cement and other building materials were also available. Within 5
years, Lower Bazaar, although no more than 500 yards long at that time and
still unconnected to the Mall Road took a new turn for the better. It centred
around; where the Lower Bazaar tunnel exists today. For the builders, the
proximity of the wholesale market at the Edward Gunj helped. Business was
conducted at the ground level with direct access to the newly built 20 feet
wide road. The upper floors were reserved for housing. Other houses were built
directly above this sub-tier level, and then next and next as the population
expanded. Architecturally the builders took full advantage of the 45-degree
slope of the hill. Hence person living on a top floor of this sub-tier, could
directly converse with a person living on the next sub-tier and so on. In all
about 12-14,000 natives lived in 1880s but not in so wretched conditions as
Kipling described. (Rudyard Kipling forgot about England or Scotland where if
there is any habitation on hillside sloping at 45-degrees, this is how the
housing is built even today.)
In a way, the British cleverly segregated the population.
They themselves would reside on the top, next would be people of mixed ancestry
(Anglo-Indian), then the clerks and other office workers from Calcutta would
reside. Native businessmen were last on
their priority for land allocation.
Other communities of lesser importance (menial workmen - load carriers,
street cleaners, washer men etc.) were allocated land still further down the slopes.
In all seven tiers of residency cum businesses were created in Shimla.
The British vacated all their housing construction on the
southern side of slopes. That area was thrown open to be carefully utilized to
build Ripon Hospital, military command complex and other civilian as well as
military complexes.
Rajahs & Princes come to reside in Shimla
When the British were building elegant houses, the Indian
aristocracy and feudatory lords were not to be left behind. From 1822 to 1864,
they made no attempt to acquire land and build housing. But, by the late 1880s, one-seventh of the large estates in
Shimla were owned by the Indian princes; the Raja of Cooch Behar owned four
properties, the Maharaja of Faridkote owned two whilst the Raja of Nahan owned
fourteen prize estates. The scarcity of housing and the reality of British
officials obliged to pay rent to Indians, albeit of noble birth, ruffled
feathers and later resulted in the tightening up of property sales rules in the
late 1880s. In-spite
of the tightening, the Maharaja Patiala was at the forefront. He initially
built at Shimla but later relocated to his own lands in Chail. Other Rajas of
Kapurthala, Nabha, Jind, Darbangha, Jubbal, Bushahar, Tiwanas and Yahya Khan
from Lahore and many other of Indian aristocracy, began to build fine houses.
Others houses acquired houses from the British as, these came for sale. All
these aristocrats came for the summer and left as the British left.
Seeing a business opportunity, the Suds/Soods also began
to build on much larger scale along the Lower Bazaar. They very carefully
expanded their own business and real estate holdings[2]
and bought into cottages & premises, which came for sale and rented them
out at high rent. The British were obliged to pay high rent as they were the
only show in town.
Mail, Electricity & Railway Come to Shimla
Mail after Gorkha defeat in 1816 reached Sabathu from
Calcutta & Agra on horse pulled carriages (Tongas) and then on ponies.
Their major obstacle to reach Sabathu was the rainy season and crossing the
River Ghaggar. This was done on elephants. Then, mail reached Shimla thru a
difficult route of Kakkarhatti, Sirri and then to Shimla. Mail for the Governor
General & Commander-in-Chief camped at Shimla came in sealed bags from Ambala.
It took much longer to arrive until the construction of Hindustan-Tibet Road
(1848-52). In the 1870s, Rai Bahadur Daulat Ram, an entrepreneur of Punjab had
the contract of transporting mail. This Ekka/Tonga transport of mail continued
till 1904, when Lord Curzon inaugurated the first train service. First major
Post Office Building in Shimla was built on The Mall in 1883-86. Later sub-Post
Offices were built at number of places. Postal carriers delivered the mail to
the British houses and the offices. Natives collected their mail at the post
office.
Telegraph lines had already been laid along the Grand
Trunk road up-to Ambala by mid 1840s. Later after British victory over the
Sikhs, telegraph lines were extended to Lahore. Shimla was serviced from Ambala and no effort had been made to
branch the lines at Ambala to Shimla until 1857. General Anson, the then
Commander-in-Chief received the word of the Mutiny (as the British called it)
at Shimla via two horse riders from Ambala who rushed to Shimla after looking
at the important communication addressed to General Anson. Two days later he
received the official communication and Shimla's British subjects went into a
Panic. After the turmoil was over, four years later telegraph lines were laid
to Shimla. The Telegraph office known as "Shimla" was a wooden
structure initially. It was upgraded a number of times. Then in 1923-26 the
present Telegraph building was built. This building also houses Asia's first
automatic phone exchange and other newer technological improvements.
Hydroelectric power did not come to Shimla first. It was
at Darjeeling that the first hydroelectric plant was built. Later another power
plant was built in Mysore. Third plant was built at Chabbha, Shimla in 1904 on
River Sutlej. It was 2MW unit big enough to supply electricity, first to the
Railway Station, then to important government offices and then to other British
interests. Expansion of Chabbha plant was mooted but abandoned. Imported
equipment for expansion was abandoned and left to rust at various spots on way
to Chabbha in 1940s. Some of it laid at Mashobra for decades. Although there
was need for further electrification, supply from other sources got
supplemented in 1936. It was then with improved supply situation that the
Shimla town and native housing were fully electrified.
Railways came to Shimla in 1905. It was Lord Curzon, who
flagged the first train himself. The narrow gauge line, whose routing was done
by an illiterate native surveyor named "Bhalaku". He is known to have
disappeared for years with a compass to survey the route. He re-appeared a few
years later and produced the blue print of the plan to link Kalka with Shimla.
Once the routing was finalised rest was either to flatten or tunnel the
mountains to make way for the rail line. In all 103 tunnels, big and small were
built to reach Shimla. There are 800 big and small bridges on way to Shimla. It
was a marvellous feet of engineering at that time when it was built. It is now
UNESCO World Heritage project.
The rail line, served the passenger traffic well, but it
became the major goods carrier. More and more goods came by the rail system;
hence the passenger cum goods terminus built earlier became inadequate. The
railway system immediately decided to build a goods godown (Maal Gudaam) closer
to the Edward Gunj on Cart Road. One additional was added later. This caused a
huge influx of coolies either from Kashmir (Hatos) or sturdy Jats from
the plains of Punjab (Palle Daar) to carry goods to the Edwards Gunj. In
addition mules supplemented their effort. It created a traffic hazard on their
route. Hence in 1920s, the Shimla Municipal Committee decided to build a
ropeway system to Edward Gunj. From the British point of view, it would limit
the number of coolies in the city. Hardly had they built the ropeway that its
hazard of accident over the populated areas was realized. Soon the whole
project was abandoned. As per Viceroy's statistics, the porter/coolie
population in Shimla multiplied thereafter. There were as many as third of Shimla
population in 1931 of porter/coolies only. This included coolies needed to
shuttle the Sahibs/Mem Sahibs in and around the city in rickshaws. Unlike Hatos
& Palle Daar, the rickshaw pullers came from Kangra & Bilaspur. Alarmed
by the high population of coolies, the British decided to limit native entry
into the city by building a barrier for human entry at Tara Devi although a
goods barrier at Boileauganj always existed. Their excuse was to save Shimla
from diseases of the plains. A bit later after local protests, this new barrier
was abandoned.
Tunnels in the City
The hills and spurs of Shimla are not easy to climb. For
commerce and pedestrian traffic to go from one point to other, it is an uphill
task. Moreover natives together with mules were unsightly scene for the British
Sahibs. Still the commerce had to go from one place to another hence tunnelling
was resorted to. At places like Lower bazaar, where bulk of the commerce
originated and headed to other places within the city, a mountain stood in the
way. Alternative to letting the mule trains pass thru the very exclusive, The
Mall, it was easier to bore a tunnel thru it. Therefore the Lower Bazaar tunnel
came into existence. It was built in 1905. Now the goods traffic passed from
Lower Bazaar/Edward Gunj to Longwood Loop without going thru the Mall.
To cut down travel inconvenience on the west side cottages
and localities, the Bemloe tunnel was built in 1920. Its commercial usage was
not the greatest, hence it stayed lesser and lesser used.
The Sanjauli Tunnel on Hindustan-Tibet road was completed
in 1860. It was a strategic construction to make travel on Hindustan-Tibet road
possible. It benefited the hills states of the northeast, most. Now commerce on
mule trains could reach as far as Rampur. It also made travel on this road much
easier.
The other tunnels within the city limits, The Elysium
Tunnel cut short the Longwood loop distance by a third. It was completed in
1906. Last to be built, the Victory Tunnel was completed on the circular road to
cut travel time to Sanjauli in 1940s. All these tunnels have hugely benefited
Shimla.
The Mall in 1860s
It is a sheltered walk for which the concept was borrowed
from the West. It is distinctly built in two parts. The larger part, begins at
Boileau Ganj and ends at Chotta Shimla. This is a six miles distance which is
bordered with trees, neatly built stone wall (to hold off sliding rocks), Tudor
style homes sheltered by wooden fences, a great view with changing landscape
every mile and link to important buildings like Peterhoff, Viceregal Lodge,
Cecil Hotel, Gorton Castle, the main shopping Promenade, Clarks Hotel, Barnes
Court etc. These six miles began as a Kuccha pathway only 12 feet wide
(to let two horse drawn buggies to pass) and connect one part of Shimla with
the other. It was built in 1860s at the instance of Lord Lawrence to make horse
ride easier. To a buggy traveler or the person on foot or on a horse, it is a
fabulous treat for the eyes with panoramic view of the snow clad Himalayas. The
whole six miles were given a name of "The Mall Road".
As it reaches the Telegraph building, this Mall Road took
a whole new meaning. From this point onwards to the Combermere Bridge, this
road from 1876 onwards formed the elegant main shopping district exclusively
for the British. Shops lined on south side of this walk and these were mostly
British owned. The Shimla Municipal Committee after the fire of 1876, had
prohibited natives building anywhere near this road, hence it became the
exclusive preserve of the British. A British army officer or a civil servant
could source his grocery from the British owned storekeepers or buy clothing
materials and get them tailored from civil or military tailors or get their
hair dressed in the latest style or buy or visit a druggist or a photographer
or a general merchandiser or a shoe maker etc. A lot of stores sold merchandize
to the ladies taste. Along the walk, the new Municipal Offices were built
together with the Gaiety Theatre and the General Post Office; also most banks
had their offices along the route. This pathway branched out near the Municipal
Offices and lead to the Ridge where on the flat land stood the Christ Church. A
Band Stand was built later. These neatly decorated shops continued until the
Combermere Bridge. There was an occasional plot or two, which was not built,
otherwise stores and other businesses, continued the whole length of a mile.
Beyond laid the Clarke's Hotel and Barnes Court in the middle of the Deodar
trees. This portion of the shopping promenade came to be known as "The
Mall".
This portion of the road, all thru its length was widened
to 40 feet at few places, at the turn of the century. That required that the
45-degree sloping mountainside be dug up and excess stones and rocks removed. A
temporary trolley line was built to take the stone and dirt away and dump it
near Sanjauli area. To eliminate the hazard of falling rock or landslides
during the rainy season, stonewall; at places 20 feet high, was erected. It
stabilized the rock formation and added to the gaiety of the whole walk along
this road. This wall has lasted more
than a century and would last a lot more. This feet of engineering guaranteed
that Sahibs would not be inconvenienced during any weather.
There was one problem to which the British had not paid
attention. By building three level high shoulder-to-shoulder stores along the
mile and a half, they blocked the Sun. As said before, any native who
occasionally walked past this promenade found the walk cooler. They gave it the
name of "Thandi Sarak". The British did not mind this cooler aspect
and lovingly called it "The Mall".
Native entry to The Mall was restricted. Later the rules
were relaxed to 11.00AM to 3.00PM, when the natives could go to The Mall, not
for a leisure walk but to conduct business.
Mahatma Gandhi was probably the first Indian Leader who
during his visits to Shimla, freely walked from Firgrove in Jakkho to Viceregal
Lodge. No other Indian had ever dared it before him.
The Mall today is same as it was a hundred years back, but
it is in need of restoration to its original elegance. Its decaying buildings
are in need of a huge restoration effort.
Beer Making in Shimla
Beer came on ships from
England in barrels which during shipment got spoiled hence they experimented
with different recipes to get beer into India in a reasonable drinkable
condition. A factory blend, which reached India with a reasonably good taste,
was given the name "India Pale".
Later Mr. Edward Dyer established a brewery at Kasauli to supply the
three thousand Englishmen stationed from Kasauli to Shimla in 1820s.
Later he combined his
resources with H G Meakin to continue bear making and marketing. In 1937, it
was renamed as Dyer Meakin breweries. The operation got shifted to Solan later,
where the beer making operation continued until independence. Under a new
management the operation continues to date with other products. It is now
called Mohan Meakin Breweries.
Hotels in Shimla
During Shimla's early days, other than Kennedy House, three
hotels came into existence. Staying in a hotel was an expensive proposition
even for the British gentry hence a few boarding houses started functioning for
the less privileged amongst them. The well-known large hotel in 1830s was
Lawries hotel. It stood where Rani Jhansi Park is today. Its description as
given by the traveller of that era is as follows:
"Lawries.
Built in the 1830s, it was the oldest and largest hotel in Simla. It was also a
favourite with long-term visitors. The
three-storey building was situated just below the Ridge and fronted the Mall, where most of the shops were
located. It prided itself on its
central location and excellent view. Breakfast was served at 9 am, Tiffin at 2
pm and dinner at 7 pm. Extra charges
were levied for kerosene lamps, wax candles, kettles
of hot water and quarts of English porter. It had a comfortable and well- stocked lounge where copies of the
Himalayan Advertiser and the Simla Advertiser could
always be found."
Lawries Hotel, Simla (Today's Rani Jhansi Park)
Later Corstophan Hotel came into existence
followed by Titla Hotel. Last two hotel buildings ceased to be hotel after
independence. During 1840s more hotels like Royal Hotel, Fountain Hall Hotel,
Grand Hotel (Bentinck Castle) also existed during different times. The more
popular Cecil Hotel started as a modest cottage in 1883. By the turn of the
century, it became a respectable Shimla hotel. By 1922, it was the favourite
place for the rich and very rich to stay. Another heritage hotel of the era is
Clarke Hotel, which began its life as Carlton Hotel. It was renamed in 1922 to
Clarke and still conducts its business under the name of Clarke's Hotel.
Station Ward & Bazaar Wards
The Shimla Municipal Committee was set up to look after the civic interest of British Shimla. In 1851 when the appointed Shimla Municipal Committee was set up, its mandate was to provide civic services to the isolated residences over 6 miles stretch of the Observatory Hill to Chotta Shimla. Homes along the Mall Road were not built in any organized manner but wherever the settlers pitched their tent became their land and they began to build temporary cottages there. Then he would apply permission to convert that makeshift residence into a wooden and stone construction. The British settlers always picked either a hilltop or proximity of water stream or a stretch of flat land on a sloping hill as their favoured site. All this presented a major challenge to provide the civic services to the residents. It was the job of the Municipal Committee to provide these services. Its existential history is as follows:
About Shimla Municipal Corporation, It was first constituted as Municipal Committee in December of 1851, under the provisions of Act XXVI of 1850. Initially appointed Municipal Commissioners were Government officials. The first elections were held on August 26, 1855 following the first meeting of the committee composed of the Deputy Commissioner; Senior Assistant Commissioner; Medical Officer; and an Executive Engineer; together with house proprietors. Shimla Municipal Committee was declared as Class I Municipality on July 31, 1871. In 1874, it was brought under the Punjab Municipal Act (IV of 1873) but there were grave objections to this constitution. In 1884, with the introduction of the Punjab Municipal Act, XIII of 1884, the town was divided into two wards viz.- the Station and the Bazaar. The Committee passed through different reconstitution procedures till the Independence. After Independence there was demand from the Public for extending franchise to the whole population. Then Shimla was divided into fourteen single member wards and one double member ward.
From: All India Institute of Local Self Government
For the first 30 years of its municipal history, it was a tool used by the British to segregate the Europeans from the natives. In 1882 they divided Shimla into two wards. The Station Ward and the Bazaar Ward. The Station Ward was where the British/Europeans lived and the Bazaar Ward was where the natives were expelled to after to fire of 1875. The latter was mainly the Lower Bazaar, Chotta Shimla, Boileauganj, Kaithu and Lakkar Bazaar[3]. These divisions were so cleverly made that the word segregation did not appear anywhere in the records. At first native construction was prohibited anywhere where the British/Europeans lived and later amount of rent or municipal taxes paid was used to give voting rights. This tool stayed in place until independence. Some relaxation occurred in 1930s, when Gandhi and other national leaders began to come to Shimla to talk to the Viceroy. At that time a bit of rules relaxation occurred with natives from Bazaar Ward (highly educated or wealthy kind) were allowed to move into the Station ward and or own property. Prior to that, natives could own property but were not allowed to live there. This seclusion as they called it, instead of segregation, towards the end of the nineteenth century became subject of the Crofton Plan. The latter was segregation minded British citizen who sat on the Municipal Committee deliberation wished to demolish and remove all of Lower Bazaar and hand it back to the Shimla Municipal Committee for re-planning. The Crofton Plan was dumped and the Lower Bazaar stayed where it is today.
[1] Number of
houses in Shimla 1830 to 1881:
1830 - 30
1841
- 100
1866
- 290
1881
- 1141
Population in Shimla:
January
1868 – 7,656 January - Winter
July
1869 - 14,848 (of which 1,434
European) - Summer
Feb
1881 - 13258 – (winter time)
February
1881 - 9,881 (Males), 3,771 Females.
Population
breakdown in 1881 - 8377 Hindus, 3153 Muslim, 164 Sikh and 1550 Europeans.
(Imperial Gazetteer Of India 1887 Volume 12
[2] Rai Sahib
Puran Mall was at the forefront after 1876. He built or lent money to other
Suds/Soods to build. Until about 1920, he owned or had money tied into most of
the real estate on the Lower Bazaar.
Thank you for an excellent summary. great list! Awesome post
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