History of Shimla

Shimla is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh and also a popular hill station. The formation of Shimla city began during the British rule. The British take the credit of identifying many hill stations in India. One among them is Shimla.
To trace the history of the city, one would have to begin with the Gurkha occupation. The Gurkhas of Nepal had occupied this region for about a decade. Prithvi Narayan Shah of Nepal had occupied Shimla in 1806.  The region was just a small area which was known for the temple of Shyamala Devi. The time was around 1804. The people of Shimla asked the British to intervene in this matter to free their land from the Gurkha occupation. Around 1815, the British evacuated Gurkha occupation from Shimla and seized the territory. The pact of Sugauli confirmed the ownership of Shimla and the British officers started building their summer houses here.

The first officer to construct a house was Charles Kennedy in 1822. Gradually the region was formed into a proper city. Soon it became the summer capital of the British officers. The Kalka-Shimla railway line was built in 1906 comprising of more than 800 bridges and more than 100 tunnels. Shimla retains most of the British structures (the Auckland house, the Kennedy house and the Viceregal Lodge) intact. In 1972 Shimla was made a district and now it is a part of Himachal Pradesh State.