Shimla - Preface/Acknowledgement

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Entrepreneurs of British Shimla

 

                                                    

The Sud, Sarkar & Shimla

 

(1832 - 1932)

 

 

By

Hari Sud

 

 

 

Preface

Shimla - the city in the clouds, built by the British as home away from home, was the summer retreat & seat of governance of India for almost one hundred years.  Mahatma Gandhi popularly berated the British by terming it as "ruling from the 500th floor". This city, at 7,000 feet above sea level, touches the clouds, which gives it an average of 70-80 inches of rainfall in a year. Its bright sunshine during summer with cool gentle breeze, its bursting of flowers during spring & autumn is an ideal place for rest and recovery. Its Alps like weather and beautiful view in all directions endeared the British in 1817, when they first saw it. Shortly thereafter they manipulated the local Rajahs to acquire that piece of land, and all other lands surrounding it, to build a city, a home away from home.

 

No Rajahs could ever refuse the British request for land, although in today's terms it will be termed as land grab. The Rajahs knew the power of the British guns, as they had the first hand knowledge of the British power, when the British General Ochterlony in 1816 reduced the mighty Gorkha fortress at Malon, near Arki, into rubble.

 

The Gorkhas had not occupied Shimla area at all. In the Shimla Hills they had established their presence after being driven out of Kangra by the combined might of Kangra King & Sikh Army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1804. As an alternative, it was easier for them to occupy the hill country adjacent to Kumaon Hills. Their strong points at Arki, Sabathu, Jagatgarh (Jutog), Hatu (Kotgrah) gave them a commanding handle on the tiny hill states. Their occupation lasted about ten years when the Rajahs appealed to the British for deliverance. The route Gorkhas chose for their occupation was, crossing Sutlej River near Bilaspur and Yamuna River near its meeting with River Pabbar, about 80 miles north of Shimla.

 

After Gorkha defeat, the British occupiers were passing thru this hill feature on way to Kotgarh when they temporarily camped at the hilltop village of Shyamala[1], present day Shimla. Original writings of the British surveyors, painted a delightful picture of the spot, hence the British fascination grew. One writer described it as a spot where clouds fall in the valleys indicating imminent rain; gentle mist together with cool breeze gives it an Alpine weather. For the British, it was an ideal health spa. For them, this place was not like England, it was even better. Here the sunshine lasted all summer and unlike England, there was no North Sea with howling winds.

 

British alone could not make this spot into a city. At best they could make it into a cantonment or a sanatorium for their military personnel. To make it into a city, it needed civilian infrastructure, streets, merchants, housing and other civilian paraphernalia. None of these could be provided without the local help (whom the British scornfully called "Natives"). Shyamala or Simla as the British called it, had no large population base, hence enterprising people from elsewhere loyal to the British crown had to be brought in.

 

In the small state of Jaswan (Now in Kangra) they found a group of Sud/Sood entrepreneurs, who were grain, sugar, clothing merchants and moneylenders whom they invited to set up shop in Shimla. In the plains of Punjab (south of Sutlej), which was under British influence, they found Punjabi Muslim craftsmen - tailors, cobblers, carpenters, masons, wheeled cart repairmen etc. The British asked them to set up shop in Shimla and they willingly came.

 

Now the die for the building of the Shimla city was cast. Lieutenant Pratt Kennedy built the first pucca house in 1822. The intent was to rent this house out to convalescing soldiers of the infinite wars the British were fighting in India. The Governor General at that time Lord Amherst also came for a visit in 1827. He also loved the place. Then began the British influx to Shimla. They came for the summer in small numbers first, and then this number grew to 300 in 1827-32. They lugged supplies on horse/mule back with great difficulty from Sabathu, a distance of about 40 miles from Shimla. The mule track, wherever these existed, were in poor shape. These were built for the occasional pedestrian traffic and not for mule/horse train lugging supplies over the hills, valleys and rivulets; hence for the British wished an easier way.

 

Enter Sud/Soods of Jaswan. These enterprising young men, would ferry the supplies via Hoshiarpur, Nadaun, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Arki and the finally to Shimla, only if the price was right and proper place was given to them to house and conduct business at the hilltop village of Shyamala[2]. Their eye was in the vicinity of Shyamala Temple, which although wooded area, provided ample parking for their mule and camel trains. The British had no problem in agreeing to this request, as they had not occupied this hilltop except that one of their hot head Political Agent, who had been thru this area earlier, had made the above temple into a kitchen and threw away the Shyamala Devi idol in a Khudd (rivulet). He later relented.

Once the above request of the Suds/Soods was agreed upon, they began their long torturous route of taking mules, camel, bullock carts laden with grain and other supplies to Shyamala. They conducted their business mostly with the British but locals also found supplies at their doorsteps very helpful.

Hence began the Sud/Sood association with Shimla. The Suds/Soods, mostly from the villages of Pragpur, Girlie, Rakkar, Pirsaluhi, Jawalamukhi etc. would stay in Shimla with merchandise for eight months and depart as the British departed and returned next spring. Business prospered with the British blessings, and their prosperity began to show in the housing they began building in their home villages. Also their personal welfare took turn for the better. With these changes, more and more young men got attracted to this line of trade and they came in droves to Shimla. A few names like Rai Sahib Puran Mall, Rai Bahadur Jodha Mall, Rai Bahadur Sir Jai Lal, Rai Bahadur Mohan Lal, Rai Sahib Thakur Dass & Ram Krishan and a few more stands out. They lived and prospered during the hundred years of Sud/Sood Association with the British Raj.

 

Since then Suds/Soods have stayed in Shimla. They call it home. Their prosperity is unmatched today. They hold the strings of the purse in Shimla and Himachal Pradesh. In a way this association of theirs with Shimla, which began as a necessity some 200 years ago, has flowered into a mighty wealthy empire of Suds/Soods.

 

 

Hari K. Sud  (B.Sc., M.Sc., P. Eng.)

Toronto, Canada.

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgements

 

No writing about Shimla would be complete without acknowledging the dedicated work of Pamela Kanwar[3], Vipin Pubby[4] and Sriniwas Joshi[5], who have brought Shimla story to the limelight. They represent the British view of the Shimla's existence. At times they have copied the British view either from the Imperial Gazetteer or writings of British travellers or official correspondence. One must thank them for making an effort to locate these historic documents, even if it represented the British point of view.

 

The story would be incomplete if we kept on harping 6,000 British rulers and clerks who came to Shimla at peak and ignored 20-40,000 locals who looked after their every need. The British very carefully segregated the areas where the British would live and areas designated for the natives. They did their best to keep the two isolated and poured contempt on how natives lived. Rudyard Kipling scornfully describes the Indian habitation at Shimla "as crowded rabbit-warren that climbs from the valley to the Town Hall at an angle of forty five degrees". He ignored the fact that conditions in Britain from 1757 till 1857 were not very different; even worst.

 

Much of what is in print today is also taken from Sir Edward Buck K.C.S.I's book - "Simla - Past And Present". His book is an extract and compilation of the British civil and military personnel's correspondence about Shimla as these appeared in "Civil & Military Gazette". This compilation in a book format had the official blessings of Lord Curzon (Viceroy of India) at the time of publication in 1904. It is valuable source on the British activities in Shimla.   

 

It is interesting to note that how we read the same documents and despatches but interpret them differently. To the author, the Deputy Commissioner of Shimla 1848-52, William Edwards appear to be anti trader, anti business official of Shimla. He wished to vanish commission agents from the Edward Gunj. To the others, he appears as a saviour as he stopped some parts of the free labour system (Beggar). Hence in the following accounts there could be some differences in interpretation of the same events.

 

I wish to acknowledge all the above authors who have been writing about the Raj and also stories which I have heard from my father, my cousin and other Shimla residents. In addition I wish to acknowledge: (1). Surrinder Sud of New Delhi; (2). Janendra Lal of New Delhi (Grandson of Judge Sir Jai Lal); (3). Vishwa Nath Sood of Shimla (Newphew & son of Rai Sahib Thakur Dass, Ram Krishan and author's school classmate in fifties); (4). Shrimati Krishna Kumari Sud of Toronto (Granddaughter of Rai Sahib Puran Mall); (5). Dr. Rakesh Sood of Solan (H.P.). Their fathers and grandfathers witnessed the Raj in Shimla first hand, it is their viewpoint, which has gone unreported; their hard work should also form part of the Shimla story. Hence much of the following pages are devoted to the young entrepreneurs of Kangra who kept Shimla supplied during the Raj and even today. I have refrained from quoting official sources, all British, yet sometimes, these are the only records of the day available, hence are referred to.

 

 

Hari Sud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Index

                                                                                                                                                                          Page

 

Part A   - British Arrive in Shimla

 

Chapter 1  …….        Our Hometown Shimla                  31

 

Chapter 2  …….        Shimla Thru the British                 39

                              Eyes

 

Chapter 3  …….        Building of the British                   51

                              Shimla

 

Chapter 4  …….        1820s England for                        67

                              Comparison

 

Chapter 5  …….        Events of 1874 & 1875                 71

                              in the Upper Bazaar

                   

Chapter 6  …….        Shimla - 1817 to 1864                 77

 

 

Part B   - Suds/Soods & Other Mercantile Communities in Shimla

 

Chapter 7  …….       Trade Via Shimla                          85                                                       

Chapter 8  …….        First Mule Train Arrives                 91

                              in Shimla - 1832

 

Chapter 9  …….        Economics of Grain                       103

                              Transport to Shimla 

 

Chapter 10 …….       Suds/Soods Settle to do               113

                              Business with the British

                   

Chapter 11 …….       More Sud/Sood Enterprises                     125                                   take shape

 

Chapter 12 …….       Business Re-alignment                 153

 

Chapter 13 …….       New Beginning after Fire              153

                              of 1876

 

Chapter 14 …….       Tumultuous 1900s                       165

 

Chapter 15 …….       Rai Sahib Puran Mall                               179                                   Old & Sick

 

Chapter 16 …….       Internal Dissensions at                 187                                   Rai Sahib's Business

 

 

 

Part C   - Great Lives of Suds/Soods of Shimla

 

 

          1.                 Rai Sahib Lala Puran Mall              195

 

          2.                 Rai Bahadur sir Jai Lal                  201    

                              Judge Lahore           high Court

 

          3.                 Rai Bahadur Jodha Mall                 207

 

          4.                 Rai Bahadur Mohan Lal - MLC        211

 

          5.                 Rai Sahib Thakur Dass &               215

                              Ram Krishan

                        

 

Appendix 1                                                      219

 

Appendix 2                                 

Note:-
 

The Author regrets any errors or omissions in the stories presented in this book. His family, family friends and others passed these stories down the generations as they witnessed them.  When two people confirm the account of an incident, it is deemed as true. Some dramatization in the script has been done to enhance a particular incident. The book is not a history but borrows from the history.

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[1] Variously called Shyamala or Shyeamalay or Shumlah or Simla or Shimla now.

[2] Hence the Upper Bazaar came into existence. The British demolished it in 1876.

[3] Imperial Shimla by Pamela Kanwar

[4] Shimla, Then and Now by Vipin Pubby

[5] Sriniwas Joshi, often writes about Shimla in "The Tribune" newspaper. His journalistic style has kept the British Shimla story alive thru years. He and I share something common, he went to the same college - Rana Padam Chandra Sanatan Dharm Bhargava College, Shimla; although he was three or four years, author's senior.