Most of the area occupied by present-day Shimla city was dense forest during the 18th century. The only sign of civilisation was the Jakhu Temple and a few scattered houses. The area was called 'Shimla', named after Hindu goddess Shyamala Devi, an incarnation of Kali.
Anglo Gorkha Wars
The bridge connecting Shimla with Chhota Shimla, originally erected in 1829 by Lord Combermere, Shimla, the 1850s
The area of present-day Shimla was invaded and captured by Bhimsen Thapa of Nepal in 1806. The British East India Company took control of the territory as per the Sugauli Treaty after the Anglo-Nepalese War 1814–16. The Gurkha leaders were quelled by storming the fort of Malaun under the command of David Ochterlony in May 1815.
Early British settlements in Simla
In a diary entry dated 30 August 1817, the Gerard brothers, who surveyed the area, describe Shimla as a middling-sized village where a fakir is situated to give water to the travellers. In 1819, Lieutenant Ross, the Assistant Political Agent in the Hill States, set up a wood cottage in Shimla. Three years later, his successor and the Scottish civil servant Charles Pratt Kennedy built the first pucca house in the area named Kennedy Cottage in 1822, near Annadale, what is now the home for CPWD office. The accounts of the Britain-like climate started attracting several British officers to the area during the hot Indian summers. By 1826, some officers had started spending their entire vacation in Shimla. In 1827, William Amherst, the Governor-General of Bengal, visited Shimla and stayed in the Kennedy House. A year later, Stapleton Cotton, the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in India, stayed at the same residence. During his stay, a five-kilometre three-mile road and a bridge were constructed near Jakhoo. In 1830, the British acquired the surrounding land from the chiefs of Keonthal and Patiala in exchange for the Rawin pargana and a portion of the Bharauli pargana. The settlement grew rapidly after this, from 30 houses in 1830 to 1,141 houses in 1881.
In 1832, Shimla saw its first political meeting between the Governor-General Lord William Bentinck and the emissaries of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In a letter to Colonel Churchill, he wrote
Shimla is only four days march from Loodianah Ludhiana, is easy to access, and proves a very agreeable refuge from the burning plains of Hindoostaun Hindustan.
Jakhu Temple in 1910; the temple predates the British settlement in the area
Combermere's successor Earl Dalhousie visited Shimla in the same year. After this, the town was under Nawab King Kumar Ghosal of Bally, West Bengal, and saw regular visits from the Governors-General and Commanders-in-Chief of British India. Several young British officers started visiting the area to socialise with the higher-ups; they were followed by ladies looking for marriage alliances for their relatives. Shimla thus became a hill station famous for balls, parties, and other festivities. Subsequently, residential schools for pupils from upper-class families were established nearby.
Early urban development
By the late 1830s, the city also became a centre for theatre and art exhibitions. As the population increased, several bungalows were built and a big bazaar was established in the town. The Indian businessmen, mainly from Sood and Parsi communities, arrived in the area to cater to the needs of the growing European population. On 9 September 1844, the foundation of the Christ Church was laid. Subsequently, several roads were widened and the construction of the Hindustan-Tibet road with a 170-metre 560 ft tunnel was taken up in 1851–52. This tunnel, now known as the Dhalli Tunnel, was started by Major Briggs in 1850 and completed in the winter of 1851–52. The 1857 uprising caused a panic among the European residents of the town, but Shimla remained largely unaffected by the rebellion.
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