Colonial urban settlements in the Shimla hills a study of the 19th and 20th century

Abstract

The Shimla hill region under the British rule was marked by a significant transformation in the degree of urbanization in the area. The advent of the British in this region in 1815 created the environment for the emergence of new urban forms and led to the establishment of Sabathu, Kasauli, Jutogh, Dagshai, Solon, Sanawar, and Shimla, which were developed into urban spaces to cater to the needs of an imported British class from the temperate zones. These new urban centres emerged in response to the political, health and social requirements of the colonial community. These new urban spaces were of different kinds, for example, Sabathu, Shimla, Kasauli, Dagshai, and Jutogh were established as sanatoriums, whereas Sanawar was established as an educational centre. Slowly these sanatoriums were converted into the cantonments and Shimla grew tremendously popular and became the summer capital of the British Empire. Shimla also happened to become the most famous and beautiful hill station in India. In the late nineteenth century, to supplement these newly created urban centres with all kinds of provisions from the plains, a transitory centre near the foothills of the Himalayas was developed-Kalka. newline