Simla
SIMLA
SIMLA The capital (since 1966) of Himachal Pradesh, Simla had a population of 145,000 in 2001. Its name is derived from the Hindu goddess Shyamali. Located at an altitude of about 7,900 feet (2,400 meters) above sea level, it was built as a "hill station" by the British in 1819 after they had acquired the location in the Gurkha War. From 1865 to 1939 it served as the summer capital of British India. The Kalka-Simla railway, completed in 1903, links Simla with the North Indian plains.
In July 1945 Viceroy Lord Wavell convened the Simla Conference, attended by delegates of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. Lord Wavell was eager to install an interim national government, as he was faced with serious postwar problems, among them the demobilization of the large Indian army of about 2 million soldiers. The conference failed because Mohammad Ali Jinnah, president of the Muslim League, insisted on nominating all Muslim members of the national government, which the National Congress would not accept, even though its president at the time was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a prominent Muslim. Jinnah's veto, which Wavell accepted, raised Jinnah's political stature.
Another Simla Conference of historical importance was held in 1972. Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and the president of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, met at Simla after Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan in December 1971. During the war of secession, 90,000 Pakistani soldiers had surrendered to the Indian army. Bhutto had to make a number of concessions in order to repatriate them. Gandhi insisted that Pakistan settle all future disputes with India, including Kashmir, solely through bilateral negotiations. Pakistan tried to forget this promise as soon as its prisoners were returned, and Simla thus became a symbol of political frustrations.
Dietmar Rothermund
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mansegh, N., and E. W. R. Lunby, eds. Constitutional Relations between Britain and India: The Transfer of Power. 11 vols. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1970–1982. Vol. V: The Simla Conference, Background and Proceedings, 1 September 1944–28 July 1945 (1974).