Shimla/ Simla District, 1908
Contents |
Simla District
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Shamla
District in the Delhi Division of the Punjab, consisting of nine small tracts lying among the SIMLA HILL STATES, between 30 58' and 31 22' N. and 77 f and 77 43' E., with a total area of 101 square miles. The town lies on the spurs which run down from Jakko hill, and occupies an area of only 6 square miles. North-east of it lie the parganas of Kot Khai and Kotgarh, the former 32 miles by road from Simla in the valley of the Giri, the latter 22 miles (50 by road) on a northern spur of the Hatu range overlooking the Sutlej valley. The Bharauli tract is a narrow strip of hill country, extending from Sabathu to Kiarighat, about 8 miles long and from 2 to 6 wide. Besides these tracts, the cantonments -of JUTOGH, SABATHU, SOLON, DAGSHAI, and Sanawar, the site of the Lawrence Military Asylum, are included in the District.
Physical aspects
The hills and the surrounding Native States compose the southern outliers of the great central chain of the Western Himalayas. They descend in a gradual series from the main chain itself in Bashsbr State to tne general level of the Punjab plain in Ambala District, thus forming a transverse south-westerly spur between the great basins of the Ganges and the Indus, here represented by their tributaries, the Jumna and the Sutlej. A few miles north-east of Simla the spur divides into two main ridges, one of which curves round the Sutlej valley towards the north- west, while the other, crowned by the town of Simla, trends south- eastward to a point a few miles north of Sabathu, where it merges at right angles in the mountains of the Outer or Sub-Hinmlayan system, which run parallel to the principal range. South and east of Simla, the hills between the Sutlej and the Tons centre in the great peak of CHAUR, 11,982 feet above the sea. Throughout all the hills forests of deodar abound, while rhododendrons clothe the slopes up to the limit *of perpetual snow. The scenery in the immediate neighbourhood of Simla itself presents a series of magnificent views, embracing on the south the Ambala plains, with the Sabathu and Kasauli hills in the foreground, and the massive block of the Chaur a little to the left, while just below the spectator's feet a series of huge ravines lead down into the deep valleys which score the mountain-sides. Northwards, the eye wanders over a network of confused chains, rising range above range, and crowned in the distance by a crescent of snowy peaks, which stand out in bold relief against the clear background of the sky. The principal rivers of the surrounding tracts are the Sutlej, Pabar, Giri Ganga, Gambhar, and Sarsa.
The rocks found in the neighbourhood of Simla belong entirely to the carbonaceous system and fall into four groups the Krol, the infra-Krol, the Blaini, and the infra-Blaini, or Simla slates. The Simla slates are the lowest beds seen ; they are succeeded by the Blaini group, consisting of two bands of boulder-slate, separated by white-weathering slates (bleach slates), and overlain by a thin band of pink dolomitic limestone. The Blaini group is overlain by a band of black carbon- aceous slate, which follows the outcrop of the Blaini beds. The overlying beds consist of a great mass of quartzite and schist, known as the Boileauganj beds ; they "cover the greater part of Simla and extend to Jutogh. Above these is the Krol group, consisting of carbonaceous slates and carbonaceous and crystalline limestones, with beds of hornblende-garnet schist which probably represent old volcanic ash-beds ; they are largely developed in Prospect Hill and Jutogh. Intrusive diorite is found among the lower limestones of the Krol group on the southern slopes of Jutogh. No fossils have been found in any of these rocks, and in consequence their geological age is unknown 1 .
In the Flora Simlensis (edited by Mr. W. B. Hemsley), the late Sir Henry Collett has enumerated 1,237 species of trees and flowering plants but this number would be raised considerably if a botanical census of the smaller Native States were available, and if the alpine region in Bashahr including Kanawar, with which the work does not deal, were added. Deodar, pines, and firs, several oaks and maples, a tree-rhododendron, the Himalayan horse-chestnut, and different kinds of buckthorn and spindle-tree (Rhamnus and Euonyimts\ and of Mats with Celtis, are common j climbers such as ivy, vines, and hydrangea are frequent, with a host of shrubs and herbs belonging to familiar European genera. In Bashahr the alpine flora is varied and plentiful} while that of Kanawar is almost purely Tibetan.
The leopard and bear are common in the Simla hills. The aimu or serow, the gural, the kakar or barking-deer, and the musk deer are found. Pheasants of various kinds are found in the higher ranges, while chikor and jungle-fowl abound in the lower.
The climate is admirably adapted to the European constitution, and the District has therefore been selected as the site of numeious sanitaria and cantonments. There are four seasons in Simla. The winter lasts from December to February, when the mean maximum temperature ranges from 49 to 44, while sharp frosts and heavy snow bring the mean minimum sometimes down to 34. The temperature rises rapidly from February to March, and from March to June hot- season conditions prevail, the mean maximum ranging from 56 in March to 74 in June. The maximum recorded during recent years was 94 in May, 1879. The rainy season extends from July to Sep-
1 McMahon, 'The Blaini Group and Central Gneiss in the Simla Himalayas,' Records; Geological Swvey of India, vol. x, pt. iv ; Oldham, * Geology of Simla and Jutogh,' ibid., vol. xx, pt. ii; Manual of Geology of * India , second edition, p. 132 (The Carbonaceous System). tember. About the middle of September the monsoon currents withdraw, and during October and November fine weather prevails with rapidly falling temperature. Cholera visited Simla, Sabathu, and Dagshai in 1857, 1867, 1872, and 1875, though one or other station escaped in each visitation. In 1857 the death-rate among Europeans from cholera was 3-5 per 1,000, and in 1867 it was 4-2 per 1,000, Goitre, leprosy, and stone are prevailing endemic diseases, and syphilis is said to be very common amongst the hill people.
The annual rainfall averages 65 inches at Simla, 46 at Kotgarh, and 40 at Kilba. During the three monsoon months the average fall at Simla is 41 inches.
History
The acquisition of the patches of territory composing Simla District dates from the period of the Gurkha War in 1815-6. At a very early time the Hill States, together with the outer portion of Kaiigra District, piobably formed part of the Katoch kingdom of Jalandhar (JULLUNDUR) ; and, after the disruption of that principality, they continued to be governed by petty Rajas till the beginning of the nineteenth century. After the encroachments of the Gurkhas had led to the invasion of their dominions in 1815, the British troops remained in possession of the whole block of hill country between the Sarda and the Sutlej. Kumaon and Dehra Dun became a portion of British territory ; a few separate localities were retained as military posts, and a portion of Keonthal State was sold to the Raja of Patiala. With these exceptions, however, the tract conquered in 1815 was restored to the hill chiefs from whom it had been wrested by the Gurkhas. Garhwal State became attached to the United Provinces * but the remaining principalities rank among the dependencies of the Punjab, and are known collectively as the SIMLA HILL STATES. From one or other of these the plots composing the little District of Simla have been gradually acquired. Part of the hill over which the station of Simla spreads was retained by Govern- ment in 1 8 1 6, and an additional strip of land was obtained from Keonthal in 1830. The spur known as Jutogh, 3-| miles from the centre of the station, was acquired by exchange from Patiala in 18435 as the equivalent of two villages in Bharauli. Kot Khai and Kotgarh, again, fell into our hands through the abdication of the Rana, who refused to accept charge of the petty State. Sabathu hill was retained from the beginning as a military fort; and the other fragments of the District have been added at various dates. As a result of some administrative changes made in 1899, Kasauli and Kalka, which till then belonged to the District, were transferred to Ambala.
The District contains 6 towns and 45 villages. The population at each of the three enumerations was: (1881) 36,119, (1891) 35,851, and (1901) 40,351. It increased by 12-6 per cent, in the last decade.
Population
These enumerations having been made in the winter do not give an adequate idea of the summer population, which in Simla town alone in the season of 1904 amounted to 45,587 (municipal limits 35,250, outside area 10,337). The District is divided into the two sdb-tahstls of SIMLA-^;;/-BHARAULI and KOT KHAI-^/W-KOTGARH, with head-quarters at Simla and Kot Khai respec- tively. The only town of importance is SIMLA, the summer head- quarters of the Government of India ; the cantonments have already been mentioned. The village population is almost entirely Hindu, the few Muhammadans which it includes being for the most part travellers. The density of population is 399-5 persons per square mile. The language spoken in the villages is Pahari.
The Kanets (9,000) are by far the most important element in the rural population. Like all hill tribes, they are a simple-minded, orderly people, quiet and peaceful in their pursuits and submissive to authority. The Dagls and Kolls (4,000) are the principal menial tribes. About 39 per cent, of the total population are returned as agricultural.
The Simla Baptist Mission was started in 1865. The American Presbyterian Mission has an out-station at Sabathu, occupied in 1837, and supports a leper asylum and various schools. The Kotgarh branch of the Church Missionary Society, established in 1840, is an itinerant mission to the hill tribes. The Church Missionary Society also has a branch, with a mission church, in Simla, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Zanana Mission has a station. In 1901 the District contained 368 native Christians.
Agriculture
Cultivation is carried on in all the lower valleys. Wherever the slope** of the ground will permit, fields are built up in terraces against the hill-side, the earth often having to be banked up with considerable labour. The only classification of fitrlc Ure " soil recognized by the people is that depending on irrigation and manure ; lands irrigated or manured generally yield two crops in the year, while the poor sloping fields lying at some distance from the homestead, and neither irrigated nor manured, yield only catch-crops either of wheat or barley in the spring or of the inferior autumn grains. Every husbandman has, besides his plot of cultivated land, a considerable area of grass land, which is closed to grazing when the monsoon rains begin, and reaped in October and November.
The area dealt with in the revenue returns of 1903-4 was 77 square miles, of which 36 per cent, were not available for cultivation, 44 per cent, were cultivable waste other than fallows, and 9,956 acres, or 20 per cent., were cultivated. The chief crop of the spring harvest is wheat, which occupied 3,586 acres in that year; the area under barley was 1,534 acres ; practically no gram is grown. There were 274 acres under poppy. Maize and rice, the principal staples of the
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autumn harvest, covered 1,560 and 875 acres respectively. Of millets china and mandal (Ekusine coracand)^ and of pulses mash (Phaseohts radiatus) and kulthl (Dolichos uniftorus\ are the most common. Potatoes, hemp, turmeric, and ginger are largely cultivated. Tea is grown at Kotgarh, where 51 acres were picked in 1904. No increase worth mention has occurred in the cultivated area during the last ten or fifteen years; the demand made by the expansion of Simla town on the surrounding hills being rather for grass, wood, and labour than for agricultural produce. Practically no advances are taken by the people from Government. The cattle are of the small mountain breed. Very few ponies are kept, and the sheep and goats are not of importance. Of the total area cultivated in 1903-4, 745 acres, or 7 per cent., were irrigated by small channels, by which the waters of the hill streams are led to and distributed over the terraced fields.
Forests and c
Forests of timber abound, but only a small part of the Simla Forest division lies within British territory, the greater portion being leased from the Rajas of the various States. In 1903-4 the
District contained 13 square miles of reserved and 510 acres of 'unclassed' forest under the Forest department, and 33 square miles of 'unclassed' forest and Government waste lands under the control of the Deputy-Commissioner. It also contains 457 acres of 'reserved' and 2,678 of c unclassed 3 forest belonging to the Simla municipality, which are preserved as the catchment area for the Simla water-supply. In 1903-4 the total revenue of the forests under the Forest department was Rs. 10,000.
Trade and communications
The only mineral product of importance is iron, which is found in the Kot Khai tract and smelted roughly by the natives.
Most of the artistic industries of Northern India are represented in Simla town by artisans who come up for the season, but ver y few rea11 ? belon S to the District - Shawls " are made at Sabathu by a colony of Kashmiris ; basket-weaving and some rough iron-smelting at Kot Khai are the only indigenous arts.
There is a considerable trade with Chinese Tibet, which is registered at Wangtu, near Kotgarh. Most of the trade, however, is with Rampur in Bashahr. Imports are chiefly wool, borax, and salt ; and the exports are cotton piece-goods. The principal imports from the plains are the various articles of consumption required by the residents at Simla.
The Kalka-Simla Railway (2 feet 6 inches gauge) has its terminus at Simla, which is also connected with Kalka by a cart-road and a road through Kasauli The Hindustan-Tibet bridle-road leads from Simla to Rampur and Chmi in Bashahr, and a road from Sultanpur in Kulii joins this at Narkanda, forming the easiest line of communication between Simla and LeL A road to Mussoorie branches off from that to Rampur. Another runs westwards to Bilaspur, whence it leads to Mandi and Suket on one side, and to Nadaun and Kangra on the other. Sabathu, Dagshai, Solon, Sanawar, and Kasauli are all con- nected by cross-roads.
The District has never been visited by famine, the rainfall being constant and the crops always sufficient for the wants of its small agri- cultural population.
Administration
The two sub-tahsila, SIMLA-CUM W-BHARAULI and KOT KHAI-CUM-W- KOTGARH, are each under a naib-tahsildar* The Deputy-Commissioner, who is also Superintendent of Hill States, is aided . , by two Assistant or Extra-Assistant Commissioners, ministration. of whom one is in charge of the District treasury. Simla and the Hill States form an executive division of the Public Works department, and also a Forest division.
The Deputy-Commissioner as District Magistrate is responsible for the criminal justice of the District ; civil judicial work is under a District Judge; and both officers are supervised by the Divisional Judge of the Ambala Civil Division (who is also Sessions Judge). The District Judge is also Judge of the Small Cause Courts of Simla and Jutogh. The Cantonment Magistrate of Kasauli, Jutogh, Dagshai, Solon, and Sabathu has jurisdiction throughout the District. He also has the powers of a Small Cause Court in all these cantonments except Jutogh. The station staff officers of Dagshai, Solon, Sabathu, and Jutogh are appointed magistrates of the third class in the District, but exercise powers only within their own cantonments. The District is free from serious crime.
Little is known of the revenue systems which obtained in the Simla hills before annexation. After various summary settlements made between 1834 and 1856, a regular settlement was made between 1856 and 1859, the rates varying between Rs. 5-14 per acre on the best irrigated land and R. 0-3-8 on the worst kind of 'dry ' land. In 1882 the assessment was revised by Colonel Wace ; an increase of 36 per cent, in Kotgarh and Kot Khai, and of 20 per cent, in Bharauli, was taken, while the assessment of Simla was maintained. The people are prosper- ous and well-to-do, and the revenue is easily paid. The demand in 1903-4, including cesses, amounted to Rs. 21,000. The average size of a proprietary holding is 1-2 acres.
SIMLA is the only municipality in the District, though the Deputy- Commissioner exercises the functions of a municipal committee in KASUMPTI, and those of a District board throughout the District. The income of the District fund, derived mainly from a local rate of Rs. 9-5-4 per cent, on the revenue, except in the Simla and Kotguru parganas, where the rate is Rs. 8-5-4, amounted in 1903-4 to Rs. 2,767 ; and the expenditure was Rs. 1,971, more than half being devoted to edu- cation.
The regular police force consists of 315 of all ranks, including ri cantonment and 128 municipal police, under a Superintendent, who is usually assisted by two inspectors. There are three police stations and one outpost. The District jail at Simla town has accommodation for 44 male and 12 female prisoners.
The District stands first among the twenty-eight Districts of the Province in respect of the literacy of its population. In 1901 the pro- portion of literate persons was 17-4 per cent. (22-2 males and 8-5 females). The number of pupils under instruction was 827 in 1880-1, 2,077 in 1900-1, and 1,881 in 1903-4. In the last year the District possessed 12 secondary, 16 primary (public) schools, and 10 elementary (private) schools, with 492 girls in the public and 42 in the private schools. Most of these are in Simla town. The Lawrence Asylum at Sanawar, founded in 1847 by Sir Henry Lawrence for the children of European soldiers, and now containing some 450 boys and girls, is supported by the Government of India. The total expenditure on education in the District in 1903-4 was 3-7 lakhs, 1-6 lakhs being derived from Provincial revenues and i-i lakhs from fees.
Besides the Ripon Hospital and the Walker Hospital m Simla town, the District has one outlying dispensary at Kot Khai. In 1904 these three institutions treated a total of 26,032 out-patients and 1,365 in- patients, and 2,399 operations were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 68,000, derived almost entirely from municipal funds and sale of securities.
The number of successful vaccinations in 1903-4 was 641, repre- senting 1 6 per 1,000 of the population. Vaccination is compulsory in Simla town.
[D. C J. Ibbetson, Gazetteer (1883-4, under revision) ; E. G. Wace, Settlement Report (1884); H. F. Blanford, The Silver Ferny of Simla and their Allies (1886); Sir H. Collett, Flora Simlensis (1902); E. J. Buck, Simla^ Past and Present (1904).]
