SIMLA, a small district in the lieutenant-governorship of the Punjab, India, situated among the hills of the lower Himalayan system in 31° 6' N. lat. and 77° 11' E. long. It consists of several detached plots of territory, together comprising an area of only 18 square miles. The mountains of Simla and the surrounding native states compose the southern outliers of the great central chain of the eastern Himalayas. They descend in a gradual series from the main chain to the general level of the Punjab plain, forming a transverse south-westerly spur between the great basins of the Ganges and the Indus. A few miles northeast of Simla the spur divides into two main ridges, one following the line of the Sutlej in a north-westerly direction, and the other, crowned by the sanatorium of Simla, trending south-eastwards, till it meets at right angles the mountains of the outer Himalayan system. South and east of Simla the hills between the Sutlej and the Tons centre in the great peak of Chor, 11,982 feet above the sea. Throughout all the hills forests of deodar abound, while rhododendrons clothe the slopes up to the limit of perpetual snow. The principal rivers here are the Sutlej, Pabar, Giri Ganga, Chambar, and Sarsa. The scenery of the immediate neighbourhood of Simla is very grand and picturesque, presenting a series of magnificent views. The climate is considered highly salubrious and admirably adapted to European constitutions; the district has therefore been selected as the site of numerous sanatoria and cantonments. The average annual rainfall amounts to about 72 inches....
The population of the district in 1881 was 42,945 (males 27,593, females 15,352); Hindus numbered 32,428, Mohammedans 6935, and Christians 3353. Cultivation is widely carried on in all the lower valleys of the hills, and the fields are sown with maize, pulses, or millet for the autumn and with wheat for the spring harvest. Poppy, hemp, turmeric, ginger, and potatoes form the principal staples raised for exportation to the plains. The trade of the district centres mainly in the bazaars of Simla, which forms a considerable entrepôt for the produce of the hills. Another important trade-centre is the town of Rampur on the Sutlej, from which the great part of the shawl-wool (pashm) finds its way for exportation to British India.
The acquisition of the patches of territory forming the district dates from various times subsequent to the close of the Gurkha War in 1815-16, which left the British in possession of the whole tract of hill-country from the Gogra to the Sutlej. Kumáun and Dehra Dun were annexed to the British dominions, but the rest, with the exception of a few localities retained as military posts and a portion sold to the raja of Patiala, was restored to the hill rajas, from whom it had been wrested by the Gurkhas. Garhwal state became attached to the North-Western Provinces, but the remaining principalities rank among the dependencies of the Punjab, and are known collectively as the Simla Hill States, under the superintendence of the deputy-commissioner of Simla, subordinate to the commissioner at Ambálá.
SIMLA, the administrative headquarters of the above district, and the summer capital of India, stands at an elevation of 7084 feet above sea level. Since the administration of Sir John Lawrence (1864) it has been the resort, during the hot weather, of the successive governorsgeneral of India, with their secretaries and headquarters establishments. In 1881 it had a population of 13,258.
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