Empire in the Hills

Abstract

The article focuses on the transformation of the four hill stations of Simla, Darjeeling, Ootacamund and Mount Abu in the nineteenth century from summer stations to imperial capitals. The taking of hill sites was not uncontested though many official and individual English records convey an impression that it was ‘peaceable’. However, hill sites were not acquired without protracted negotiations with the local rulers. The article has used various lease documents and other incidental references to indicate the tensions involved in acquisition.

Early developments are traced to accentuate the large-scale changes wrought in the late nine-teenth century with the declaration of these sites as imperial capitals. The political ramifications of such a move are explored along with the symbolic significance of exodus and its adherence to royal protocol. The main thrust of the argument is that the British were throughout conscious of their position as rulers and every action was calculated to strengthen their hegemonic position. The construction of roads, railways and bridges aimed at showing the ‘awesome’ technological superiority of the English in the eyes of the ‘natives’.

While tracing the imperial developments, the article probes the tensions and contradictions of colonial urban development, especially with the coming of the imperial capitals. The earlier appeal of the picturesque was marred by the nature of activities undertaken by the English in the late nineteenth century. The very exclusivity which the English sought for themselves was neutralized by their need to provide urban comforts which involved the use of Indian labour. Congestion and fears of subversion and diseases, which threatened the British in the Indian plains, haunted them in the hills by the twentieth century.