Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
salubrious and picturesque. In contrast, the “eye-
sores and nuisance” of the Indian quarters and
bazaars on the slopes below were discreetly hidden
behind “attractive” buildings and hedges.
Hill stations thrived as social centers. They glit-
tered with banquets, pageants, and balls and catered
to European tastes with afternoon teas, activities at
the Club, and the frivolities of games and sport.
Indian servants graced only the background, ears
cocked for their next command. In later years, edu-
cated Indians were permitted to join the fun but
remained fundamentally disliked by the British.
The British perceived India' s climate to have
three seasons: the cold, the hot, and “the rains.”
They adjusted their schedules to suit regional varia-
tions. In the north, for example, the cold lasted
from October to March. During that time woolens
and warming fires were needed, and British ladies
remained on the plains with their husbands. By
April or May , the plains were roasting and amenity-
migration was made to the cooler hill stations,
where thick-walled bungalows reduced tempera-
tures even further. These small, one-story houses
and the name bungalow diffused from India
throughout the Western world.
Some hill stations became so popular that they
were used as summer capitals by government func-
tionaries. For instance, the governments of Bombay
repaired to Poona (Pune), Madras to Ootacamund
known by the British as “Ooty ,” and Bengal to Dar-
jeeling. In 1864, the Viceroy of India proclaimed
Simla in the Himalaya as the empire' s summer capi-
tal, and the entire government and all its files and
documents were moved there from Calcutta each
year from 1865 to 1939.
Hill stations did not boom until the opening of
the Suez Canal in 1869 and railroad construction
in the colonies. A narrow-gauge rail line carried its
first passengers to Simla in 1903. Prior to that time,
people and all their trappings were literally carried
or carted up the mountain track by their Indian
servants. As late as 1932, nearly a third of Simla' s
summer residents were porters or rickshaw
pullers, most working to pay debts at home.
Increased population stimulated commerce. In
1830, Simla had only 30 houses. By 1881, there
were over a thousand. The opening of the railway
saw the population spiral to more than 30,000 by
1898. Market gardening contributed to increased
commerce between hills and plains, and the town' s
commercial sector grew rapidly .
Indian areas frequently were targeted for im-
provements, which meant replacing their “unhealthy”
warrens with environments suitable for European
pursuits. Indians were forced by displacement to live
in even more crowded conditions.
Simla, as the Raj capital for at least eight
months a year, hosted salient political events. Here
in 1913-1914, the British, Chinese, and Tibetans
met to fix their common boundaries. It was in
Simla that the Indian National Congress was con-
ceived and shaped and that the Muslim League had
its beginnings. Here both organizations participated
in discussions leading to India' s independence and
partition in 1947. And here, too, Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi granted statehood to Himachal Pradesh
in 1971. Simla, with its viceroy' s mansion and
British architecture crowning the teeming bazaars
below , is now a popular destination for Indian upper-
and middle-class tourists and is still a popular site
for national and international negotiations.
India had been Britain' s major trading partner since
1840. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and
the expansion of railways, the route to Britain was signif-
icantly shorter and India was drawn increasingly into the
international economy . British capital was invested in rail
works and coffee and tea estates (plantations). India ex-
ported these products, along with raw cotton, wheat, and
jute (fiber). They imported machinery and textile manu-
factures (made in England from Indian cotton). Eventu-
ally an industrial base was established.
India' s industry rose and fell with British policies.
Her economy was used to make up trading deficits with
other industrialized nations. Once-renowned manufac-
tures such as cotton, brocades, and silks were eliminated.
However, raw material-based industries such as textile
mills and jute, cement, and sugar factories were eventu-
ally built. Old trading or religious centers evolved as in-
dustrial centers, attracting landless peasants as a cheap
labor supply . By 1900, Calcutta was awash with slum
dwellers and squatters. British India' s most famous author,
Rudyard Kipling, described it as the “city of Dreadful
Night.”
Indians were left to their own resources to develop
other types of industry . J. N. Tata (1839-1904) was one
of several Indian industrialists. Tata, for instance,
Search WWH ::




Custom Search