Read, how a small town of Himachal Pradesh became the capital of the state.
Shivaksh Sharma
District Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh and also a major district. Just like Himachal Pradesh has its own history, similarly Shimla city also has its own history. Shimla was earlier a small town, from where the present Shimla got its name. The name of Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh is associated with Hindu deities. A temple was built in Shimla named Shyamala Devi and it is believed that Shimla is named after this mother. This temple was built in 1816. Shimla is situated on top of seven hills. Although Shimla gradually developed and spread in other directions as well, it started from these seven hills only – Prospect Hill, Observatory Hill, Invaram Hill, Summer Hill, Jakhoo Hill, Elysium Hill and Bantony Hill.
The credit for the discovery of Shimla goes to Lieutenant Rose. In 1819, he discovered a city called Shimla by collecting about 28 princely states. Lt. Rose was the first to build a wooden house here. The pucca house in Shimla was built in 1822 AD. The pucca house in Shimla was built by Charles Petty Kennedy. This house still exists in Shimla which is known as Kennedy House. There was a war between the British and the Gurkhas for the possession of Shimla.
The Gurkhas started building several forts around Shimla. The Jagatgarh fort of Shimla is one of these. This fort was built at a place called Jatog. The cantonment of the Indian Army is still present there. It was in 1808 when the Gurkhas expanded their attacks and captured all the forts between the Yamuna River and the Sutlej River. He captured this region and made Arki his capital. Arki is today a tehsil of Solan district. Gorkhas made Arki the capital and started brutal rule over there. Eventually the people there and the hill states turned to the British rule to avoid the tyranny of the Gorkhas and the British army sent a small British force under the leadership of Major General Sir David Ochterlony there in view of the tyranny of the Gurkhas. The hill kings supported the British in this. The Battle of Ramgarh was a fierce battle between the Gorkhas and the British which was fought at Nalagarh. Nalagarh is today a tehsil of Solan district. Ultimately the decisive battle between the British forces and the Gurkhas is considered to be the Battle of Mala on 15 May 1815. In this the British army used cannons and attacked the Gurkhas fiercely. The battle put an end to all the forts of the Gurkhas and brought most of Shimla under their rule.
Shimla became a district of Himachal Pradesh on 1 September 1972. Himachal Pradesh had its own districts in 1972, they were reorganized. In this Mahasu district located in Shimla lost its existence and this part was merged with Shimla district. One important thing is that when the Shimla district was merged with the Indian Union. Then the ruler there was Digvijay Singh. The present existence of Shimla is believed to be from 1 September 1972 only.
Shimla is the headquarter of Shimla district. Presently Shimla district has 11 sub-divisions, 17- tehsils, 17 sub-tehsils and 12 blocks.
The city of Shimla is situated on Jakhu hill, Prospect hill, Observatory hill, Samar hill and Elysium hill, of which Jakhu is the highest hill. Jakhu peak of Shimla city. Siah peak of Chail, Chudhar of Chaupal tehsil, Chansal peak of Rohnu tehsil, Shali peak of Sunni tehsil and Hatu peak of Kumarsain tehsil are the famous peaks of Shimla district. The city of Shimla is situated on Jakhu hill, Prospect hill, Observatory hill, Samar hill and Elysium hill, of which Jakhu is the highest hill. Jakhu peak of Shimla city. Siah peak of Chail, Chudhar of Chaupal tehsil, Chansal peak of Rohnu tehsil, Shali peak of Sunni tehsil and Hatu peak of Kumarsain tehsil are the famous peaks of Shimla district.
By the name of ‘Queen of Hill Stations’, the country attracts people from abroad as well. Shimla is one of the favorite tourist destination of India. Shimla can be visited any time of the year, it looks beautiful in every season. Shimla is full of tourist places like Summer Hills, Jakhoo Hill, The Scandal Point, The Ridge, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, The Shimla State Museum, Annandale, Naldehra and Shelly Peak, Chadwick Fall, Kufri, Chail, Daranghati Sanctuary
, Christ Church, Tara Devi Temple etc.
After the Indo-Pak war of 1971, a treaty was signed in Shimla, India.[2] This is called Shimla Agreement. It included Indira Gandhi from the Indian side and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from the Pakistani side. This agreement was made after the war between India and Pakistan in December 1971, to make this agreement, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto along with his daughter Benazir Bhutto came to Shimla on 28 June 1972. From 28 June to 1 July both The parties held several rounds of talks but could not reach any agreement. The bigotry of Pakistan was mainly responsible for this. Then suddenly on July 2, before lunch, an agreement was reached between the two sides. The Simla Agreement of 1972 is called a ‘political mistake’ of Indira Gandhi.
At present Shimla has eight assembly constituencies.
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