A peep into Shimla’s history through sketches, pictures

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 27

A book entitled “200 years of Shimla Deputy Commissioner’s Office”, unfolding various aspects of the administrative history of the Queen of the Hills, will be released tomorrow.

Replete with illustrative pictures and sketches of Shimla, the book is about the journey of the town. Over 160 pages of the book containing informative articles by 20 prominent personalities have been complied by writer Raja Bhasin.

The Deputy Commissioner’s office set up in 1815 was then known as the “Office of Assistant to Governor General”. Before Independence, it was renamed — “Office of Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Hill States”. The book gives an insight into the history of Shimla, its heritage buildings, administrative set-up, memoirs of authors and growth.

Contributors include former advocate general Geetali Tare, IAS officer Avay Shukla (retd), Saddharth Pandey, Srinivas Joshi, writer, IPS Satwant Kaur and Deputy Commissioner of Shimla Dinesh Malhotra.

The write-up by Geetali Tare, who has served as the Accountant General of HP, will take readers on a trip down memory lane while the DC has written about the evolution and responsibilities of the office of DC. Raja Bhasin has thrown light on the way the town is shaping up.

Known as “Simla” earlier, the tourist destination remained the summer capital of British India and undivided Punjab. It was transferred to Himachal Pradesh on November 1, 1966.

The town is witness to Indo-Pak summit in 1972, Partition of India, Treaty on McMohan line (1914) and several events that changed the course of history. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will release the book at DC office.

The administration has identified about 36 persons who had served in the DC office during the British rule, but most of them are above 90 years.