Queen of hill stations

This mountain gem, which is in the news for the centenary of the landmark Central Hotel, has an exotic history

R. V. Smith

Darjeeling, the Queen of Hill Stations, owes its eminence to the British, who built the Eden Sanatorium here in the early 19th century.  It was here that Vivien Leigh was born as Vivien Mary Hartley on November 5, 1903, and later made her mark in such films as Gone With The Wind.  

The name Darjeeling is derived from the Tibetan Dorje-ling of the Thunderbolt Dorji.  Some, however, believe that it was the thunderbolt of Lord Indra, the ruler of the skies.  Darjeeling is the focus of attention again because of the centenary of the Central Hotel.  To mark the occasion, ITC has brought out a beautiful coffee table book which throws light on the development of Darjeeling since 1839, when the East India Company took over what was termed by it as Observatory Hill.  Only 20 mud huts existed on the hill then but now the town boasts of a population of  9 lakh, besides the thousands of tourists who visit it every year.

Situated in the Himalayas at a height of 7,500 ft, Darjeeling is justly famous for its tea gardens, schools, hotels, toy train track, rock garden, and botanical and zoological gardens. 

Before the advent of the British, the area was part of Nepalese territory. A frontier dispute led to two wars, in the second of which the Nepalese Army was defeated by Gen. Ochterlony (Luni Akhtar). By a treaty in 1816, this area of 4,000 square miles was ceded by Nepal. A year later, it was handed over to the Raja of Sikkim, according to the Concise History of Darjeeling by E.C. Dozey.  In 1828, Capt Lloyed and J.W. Grant, ICS, visited the place and liked it so much that they decided to acquire Darjeeling Hill for the recuperation of British soldiers. 

During Lord William Bentinck’s tenure as Governor General, Darjeeling was transferred to the East India Company in February, 1835 by the Raja of Sikkim, in lieu of an allowance of

Rs 3,000 which was subsequently raised to Rs 6,000.  Sixty-nine years later, in 1905, pioneer hotelier JF Madan set up his Central Hotel here, which is now known as Fortune Resort Central.

Writing in 1876, Nina Elizabeth Mazuchelli has this to say in her Indian Alps and How We Crossed Them: “At one period of my Darjeeling career I haunted the Bhootia village or Busti….and I may say….that I almost became a part of it myself till the very pigs began to recognise and greet me with a contented sort of grunt, as I sketched the tumble-down tenements, getting to know the dwellers and their rosy-cheeked children.”

In 1840, Dr A.D. Campbell of the Indian Medical Service first grew tea bushes in Darjeeling. In 1857, the year of the “Mutiny”, the earliest tea estates, Makaibari and Aloobari gardens, were planted, followed by Takvar Tea Company, Mundakori and Darjeeling Tea Companies.  More came up in 1862 and the latest at Kureson in 1971.

Satyajit Ray shot his Kanchenjunga here because of the fabulous view of this majestic peak above the other snow-capped summits. Other film producers followed suit.  On Birch Hill is situated the famous Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, once graced by Pandit Nehru and Everest conqueror Tenzing Norgay.  Among the other famous people who left their mark on Darjeeling were Aurobindo Ghosh, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose (much of whose life-long work was done in Darjeeling), Rabindranath Tagore and Sister Nivedita (who died here and was cremated on the hill).

Today, Darjeeling holds pride of place with its educational institutions, places of worship, pleasure resorts, fashion centres, hotels Mount Everest and what not!