Simla
Hill station, 1864–1947
شملہशिमला
Today Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. Same place, renamed.
Key facts
- Historical name
- Simla
- Type
- Hill station
- Coordinates
- 31.1033° N, 77.1722° E(seed dataset)
- Governance
- Directly administered
- Record confidence
- High confidence
- Identifiers
- Q83786
Directly administered by the Governor-General of India, and therefore part of British India in the statutory sense of the Interpretation Act 1889, s.18.
Location
Pin placed at the coordinates recorded for this place. Colonial-era boundaries are not drawn.
Description
Himalayan hill station that the Imperial Gazetteer describes as 'Head-quarters of Simla District, Punjab, and summer capital of the Government of India'.
Historical notes
Declared the summer capital of British India in 1864; the Government of India and the Punjab administration migrated there annually until 1939. Spelling officially changed to Shimla in 1972.
Administrative history
Administrative parenthood changed over time. Each row states the years it is recorded for, and the source it comes from.
| Years | Relation | Unit | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| from 1901 | Part of | PunjabProvince · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | High confidencesource |
| from 1901 | Part of | SimlaDistrict · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | High confidencesource |
Recorded names
Every documented spelling and transliteration held for this place. The historical name is canonical; modern names redirect to it.
| Name | Script | Type | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simla | Latin | Historical English | — |
| Queen of Hills | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| Shimla | Latin | Modern English | — |
| Simla | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| Simla Town | Latin | Alternative spelling | — |
| شملہ | Arabic | Indigenous | — |
| शिमला | Devanagari | Indigenous | — |
Records and references
- Imperial Gazetteer of India
- Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31), Vol. XXII (22), p. 382
- Census of India
- Census of India, 1901, Vol. XVII (17): Punjab, its Feudatories and the North-West Frontier Province
Sources
- Encyclopedia· generalCC BY-SA
Wikipedia: Shimla, Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Database· identityCC0
Wikidata (Q83786), Wikimedia Foundation
Wikidata, CC0 1.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Gazetteer· administrativeLicence unverified
Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago — the 1908–31 text is public domain, but DSAL's digital presentation states no licence; link-out only
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Archive· descriptionPublic domain
Internet Archive scan: in.gov.ignca.31019, Internet Archive
Scanned volume of a pre-1929 publication (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908–31 / Census of India 1901); public domain. Digitisation courtesy of the Internet Archive.
Retrieved 2026-08-29
Sources tagged “Licence unverified” are linked to rather than reproduced. Scans and images are only displayed inline where the licence is confirmed permissive.