Encyclopaedia Darjeeling Ver 1.0.2007

ENCYCLOPÆDIA
DARJEELING
BARUN ROY
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BARUN ROY
Mandalay Books Pvt. Ltd, India

This edition of ‘Encyclopædia Darjeeling’ is the result of a grant made by Mr. John Fergusson, who, upon meeting the author in
Darjeeling in the Spring of year 2002, had contemplated on publishing his works. Mr. Fergusson, however, died on the 3rd of
December 2002 in Cologne... This book is in part dedicated to his memory.
Legal Notices
This book has been conceptualized, designed and written by Barun Roy and all the works herein thus, are entirely of His unless
otherwise stated.
All Copyrights © belongs to Mrs. Parbati Roy as the sole and only inheritor during and after the death of Barun Roy.
Be Warned
Apart for fair dealing and for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical,
mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise in existence or to be in the future, without the prior written permission
of the copyright owner.
No person shall also copy the name of the book, its title design, matter and illustrations in any form and in any language totally
or partially or in any distorted form. Anybody doing so shall face legal action and will be responsible for damages.
Disclaimer
This book is a result of a long and painstaking research work carried out by the author and hence, all events, facts, stories,
anecdotes and others are based on historical documents, interviews, witness reports and physical evidences. However, the author
does not make any representations about the suitability of the information contained in this book.
This book also involves a multitude of individuals, dead or alive, hailing from different associations, race, creed, religion or
region; some of whom may have been projected in rather unreasonable manner based on the facts available. The author hereby
wants to make it clear to all that the same has been done without any personal vendetta or in motives to cause knowing harm to
their prestige. If some one, individually or as a party to an association, race, creed, religion or region feels offended they are
kindly excused, for the same had to be presented as a matter of historical occurrence.
Contents
This book contains encapsulated and summarized versions of the unknown facts of Darjeeling. Though it had been the ambition
of the author to come up with a detailed treatise, due to financial restraints the same could not be possible.
This book also comprises of the author’s original works already published in his earlier book – Fallen Cicada. The author has
used his previous research to fuel and supplement this book.
Photo Evidences
All the photographs, drawings, pictures and paintings featured in this book are very rare and genuine evidences of history – some
dating back to more than a hundred and fifty years. However, due to their age, most of the photographs have either faded or are
close to extinction. Hence, in order to ‘bring out their original glory’ most of the originals had to be digitally re-mastered or
‘retouched.’
Copyright Declaration
All photographs featured in this book have been incorporated as per the following:
i) With due permission from the respective copyright owners
ii) As a matter of historic occurrences/rarity/age whereby the photo itself becomes historic evidence and all copyright
therewith of an individual or an institution ceases to exist.
iii) Voluntary submission of photographs by individuals. The author was flooded with photographs which were submitted
by individuals due to their possible historic relevance. Most of these photographs have been in the family possession
for generations and hence, as a matter of recognition the copyright of these photographs have been acknowledged in
the favour of these individuals until otherwise contested. (The author thence does not claim any responsibility on the
said issue.)

iv) A number of photographs have also been submitted by individuals through the ‘net.’ Copyrights have been thence,
acknowledged as per the information available thereof.
Disclaimer on Submitted Photographs
The author has taken care to acknowledge the copyright of all photographs which he himself does not possess. All copyrights of
the individual copyright owners have thence been maintained. THIS BOOK ONLY FEATURES THESE PHOTOGRAPHS AS
A MATTER OF ‘HISTORIC EVIDENCES’. The author, thence, cannot be made liable for any copyright infringement. And if
at all, any wrongful copyright depictions are discovered, the author would like to be intimated immediately, whereby the said
could either be corrected in the coming edition or summarily deleted.
Objective
This book celebrates the spirit of Darjeeling HIlls that was, is and shall be. This book also celebrates her children who
overcoming all misfortunes and setbacks laid down a glorious history and in doing so became a part of that spirit of Darjeeling.
Comments/Reviews/Feedback
Email: roybarundarj@yahoo.com
Postal Address: Encyclopædia Darjeeling, P. O. Box. No 41, H. P.O., Darjeeling – 734101
Publisher - Published by Mandalay Books India (P) Ltd, 18 Jogodyan Lane, Kolkata

Let the holy Horse of Luck be charmed upon thee and all big and small have good fortune,
health and wisdom…
THE PEGASUS – HORSE OF LUCK

LÜNG-TÂ FLAG
Sikkim - 17th Century A. D.

To,
The Future,
Which still remains unknown…..

CONTENTS
One. An Introduction by Dr. Penelope Whitaker
Two. Some things I must say…
Three. Acknowledgement
Four. Things to ponder
Five. Transliteration Key
1. Unknown facts about Darjeeling
a) The evolution of Darjeeling
b) The influx of early settlers
c) The evolution of ‘support towns’
d) The evolution of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
e) The evolution of Hydo-Electric Power in India – the Sidrāpöng Hydro-Electric Power Station
f) Darjeeling Hills plunges into the Independence Movement
g) Darjeeling during the Second World War
h) The dawn of independence - A Gőrkha at the Constituent Assembly
2. Time Capsule
3. En-route to the yore
4. Photo Essays - Historic Personalities
a) R.shi Aurobindo
b) G. Gagrat
c) Dalbâhâdur Giri
d) Iswardass Thirami
e) Seth Parasram
f) Aribâhâdur Gurung
g) Deshbandhű Chitranjan Das
h) Swami Avedananda
i) Acharyā Jagdish Chandra Bose
j) Hêm Lata Sarkâr
k) Tula Bâhâdur Pun
l) Pragatîsîl Nepąli Sahi.t.ya Parîshād
m) C. Rajago.pậ.lachari
n) D. B. Pradhan
o) Shiv Kumar Rai
p) Tenzing Norgay
q) S.K. Sanyal
r) Mahapundit Rahul Sankritayana
s) Deoprakash Rai
t) Amitabh Bachchan
u) Indira Gandhi
v) Prof. Sudhîr Biswas
w) Jitendra Bardewa
x) Raghunath Prasad
y) Christopher Mũkhia
z) R. Venkataragavan
aa) Subash Ghising
bb) Charles Dunne

cc) Mother Teresa
dd) Deo Nâ.râ.yâ.n Pradhan
5. Historical Snippets
a) Prince Frederick Ferdinand

b) Thomas Elva Edison
c) Vivien Leigh
d) The Rampage
e) G. D. N. S.
f) Darjeeling Municipality (1932-33)
g) The Raj Bhawan
h) The Baby Austin’s
i) The Railway Workers’ Union
j) Mani Printing Press
k) Student’s Standard Dictionary (English-Nepąli)
l) The Communist Party
m) Heinrich Harrer and his ‘Seven Years in Tibet’
n) The Nepąlese Royal Family
6. Prominent Visitors
a) KORösI CSOMA SANDOR – Csoma de Koros, Alexander

b) Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
c) Clemens, Samuel Langhorne/ Mark Twain
d) Swami Vivekananda
e) Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
f) Mahatma Gandhi
g) Bhowal San.ya.si – Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy
7. Nomenclature of places and tribes
a) Limbűs
b) Lap.cheé
c) Bhutia
8. Our Forefathers
a) Rai Sahib Khargā Bâhâdur Cheţtrî

b) Thakur Das Shresta
c) Swami Prabuddhananda
d) Sardar Bâhâdur S. W. Laden La
e) Punya Prakash Rai
f) Dr. B. S. Bist
g) Pundit Parmanand Sharma
h) Aruna Lama
i) Santosh Kumar Gurung
j) Ba.rey Master Shamsuddin
9. Unknown facts about places in and around Darjeeling
a) Lal Khoti
b) The evolution of the Town Hall

c) The Lloyd Botanic Garden
d) Keventer’s
10. Photo Essays… Moments frozen in time

11. The Legacy of the Unsung Saga
One. Historical References and Sources

Two. Glossary

An Introduction
H istory at best is a treacherous ground to tread. Those who do are either brave people or
simply wanting to invite trouble… When Roy, approached me to review his work, I was
at first apprehensive of his ability to indulge in historical analysis. Of course, he is well
known to me given his brilliance in computer science and literature and our remarkable meeting
in East Africa, his indulgence in history was still a bit scary. However, when I received the
manuscript, the work beyond the fancies of a ‘great story teller’ that he is, was truly brilliant. He
has swayed between the different facets of history yet remaining true to the basic theme and that
is the history of the district of Darjeeling. And another remarkable thing is that he has been able
to remain honest with the facts, which is of great importance in such ‘historical endeavours’.
Heartily and unreservedly thence, I recommend this work to all readers of both the East
and West desiring a deeper, more comprehensive and authoritative grasp on the history of the
paradise called Darjeeling.
Dr. Penelope Whitaker1

Santa Barbara, California
Autumn, 20032
1
Dr. Penelope Whitaker is a well known historian and Indologist based at Santa Barbara, California.
2
As the major portion of this book is based on the author’s previously published bestseller ‘Fallen Cicada’, the
original introduction to the said book by Dr. Penelope Whitaker has also been incorporated in this book.

Some things I must say…
I had hardly imagined that the book released at a restaurant among the fewest of guests would
be such a hit. Only two of the invitees had cared to turn up. For an author who had spend
much of his time writing in different parts of the world, to be received in such a manner at
his own hometown was not a least bit encouraging. But as fate would have it, the despair of the
day was to be soon rewarded with recognition. The readers loved the book and sought more.
Within a year and a half all the copies were sold. If any history was made this was certainly the
one. I thank the readers for accepting Fallen Cicada so whole-heartedly and for making it
possible to work on this book. Without you, the history of Darjeeling remains unwritten!
Some practical comments now: My partnership with Mr. Sanjay Biswas has been fruitful in
the sense that it was through him that I was introduced to the readers in Darjeeling Hills.
However, Fallen Cicada was a partnership where I wrote the book while he published it. The
surmise that Fallen Cicada is merely my translation of his previously published work is utterly
false! All that had been translated by me and included in the book was a section titled – ‘Down
the Lane’ (Pg 210 – 215) showcasing Mr. Sanjay’s personal experiences as a journalist. The rest
222 of the 235 pages of the book had been researched and written by me. They comprised of my
original works and were not based on any of Mr. Sanjay’s previously published book/s.
All said and done, I hope ultimately that the readers will also appreciate this work and
inspire me to indulge in more historical investigations.
Barun Roy
Spring 2007
Clarke Road, Darjeeling
Email: roybarundarj@yahoo.com

Acknowledgement
must at the beginning of this book, thank a group of very special people without whom this
I book would not have been possible. Anita Ghosal and Sarah Pearson in Dhaka and London
respectively, who upon an urgent request on my part sent me copies of the documents
surrounding the case of the Prince of Bhowal and most importantly of course, the copy of the
Privy Council Appeal No. 17 of 1945, Bengal Appeal No. 15 of 1943, [1946] A.C. 508 etc.
Truly, without these documents, this book would have lacked documentary proofs and evidences
which were so very crucial. I must also thank my father, Nirsu Roy, who has been helping me
since my first book. And of course, my mother who always made me feel special. Thank you all.
All glory, however, rests with our Lord, whose wisdom is infinite. This individual is but
a dust seeking to be worthy of clinging on the sole of his feet.
Barun Roy

Things to Ponder
W hile researching for this book, I faced numerous problems vis-à-vis Nepąli-English / Bengali-
English Transliteration3. Some of which were thus:
1. All languages effectively have their own connotations, phonetics and norms of translation. While
Bengali stresses heavily in the maintenance of its sweet syntax, Nepąli dances like a young
nymph in the myriad music of its sounds. A study of its Phonology will lead to realization that
Nepąli is so rich in Phonemes and its syllable structure and Prosodic features are so complicated
that it becomes almost impossible to find their equivalent value in any other language. Words
like ‘jũrũk.kąî, hũrũk.kąî, fũ.trũk.kąî, thyąs.şą, fyâs.sâ, khũrũ.khũrũ, pîlįty.y’ and so on are
purely sounds. And hence, meanings of these words are to be felt not understood; just like the
faint blow of the autumn breeze felt not measured. Words like these do not have an English
equivalent and it is a problem that I cannot wholly solve. On the other hand, Bengali words,
especially nouns, read one thing while being pronounced another. Its rich vocabulary and
especially localized and ancient connotations, sometimes is hard to understand as to what it truly
means. A writer may be saying something while we tend to understand it entirely differently.
2. Another very important problem that I have been encountering in my numerous endeavours
involving Nepąli to English translation is that in all these years we have not been able to come to
consensus as to the standard Nepąli-English transliteration scheme4. In fact, we have not yet
been able to come to consensus as per the Universal Generalization of the Nepali
language itself. The Nepalese language basically in India (Darjeeling Hills, Sikkim,
3
Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another
writing system.
Technically, from a linguistic point of view, it is a mapping from one system of writing into another.
Transliteration attempts to be exact, so that an informed reader should be able to reconstruct the original spelling of
unknown transliterated words. To achieve this objective transliteration may define complex conventions for dealing
with letters in a source script which do not correspond with letters in a targetted script. This is opposed to
transcription, which maps the sounds of one language to the script of another language. Still, most transliterations
map the letters of the source script to letters pronounced similarly in the targetted script, for some specific pair of
source and goal language.
Transliteration is not to be confused with translation, which involves a change in language while preserving
meaning. Here we have a mapping from one alphabet into another.
If the relations between letters and sounds are similar in both languages, a transliteration may be (almost) the
same as a transcription. In practice, there are also some mixed transliteration/transcription systems that transliterate
a part of the original script and transcribe the rest.
Sources:
1. Transliteration of Non-Roman Scripts - Collection of Transliteration Tables for many Non-Roman Scripts
maintained by Thomas T. Pedersen.
2. Transliteration of Indic Scripts - ISO 15919
4
The International Congress of Orientalists and the Harvard-Kyoto Convention has laid down numerous universally
accepted transliteration schemes involving many oriental languages such as Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta), Devanâgarî,
Chinese, Sinhalese, Japanese etc. But due to lack of our own effort Nepąli-English transliteration still remains an
uncharted territory. And hence, as a result all Nepąli-English transliteration have been at best incomplete affairs
leading to mass confusion not just among scholars, but authors, translators and readers alike.

Assam, Garhwal, Himachal Pradesh and others) have grown and evolved independently.
And much like the American English which was once deemed a mere distortion of the
The Queen’s Language, Indian Nepali has, for one reason or the other, been denied all
Literary and Linguistic recognitions by Nepal. The problem thus is enormous – linguists
and intellectuals in both the countries have chosen varying paths. Spellings, thesaurus
and words themselves vary to a considerable extent in both the versions of Nepalese
language. Words common in Nepal are no longer applied in Nepalese speaking regions
in India. And above all to say the least, the speaking and writing of the language in both
flavours of Nepali even among the common men varies to such an extent that to
successfully formulate a transliteration scheme acceptable to both is at this moment
impossible5.
Now to be able to profoundly surpass all these problems, no matter how much I have tried was and is
still not universally accepted. However, I have in my part made all the efforts that were possible to at
least begin to address these numerous and rather persistent problems. True, it would take some time to
perfect it and for the process itself to evolve. But then again, at times a beginning is all that is required.
The important aspects of the process applied thence, are thus:
1. Adoption of Gorkhāli as an independent language: I shall henceforth in this book deal with
Gorkhāli and Nepali independently
2. Added clarification and discussion of my own on the subject: This has been done with the
intention that it will help the readers understand better. At times I have even attempted to be your
own unofficial introducer to the Bengali/Nepąli/Gorkha language and Bengali/Nepąli/Gorkha
customs, by pointing out at certain places, certain things where a non-Bengali, non-Nepąli or a
non-Gorkha would feel at a rather loss of imagination.
3. Explanation of obscure words or words that are now extinct in Bengali, Nepąli and
Gorkhāli: An effort has also been made to replace these words suitably in English.
4. Introduction of Gorkhāli-English transliteration scheme: This scheme is based on the

Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta) – English transliteration Scheme of the International Congress of
Orientalists. While formulating the said transliteration scheme I have also closely studied the
style of such scholars as Thomas E. Wood and Dr. Kelly L. Ross. [I am particularly grateful to
Dr. Penelope Whitaker and Prof. Jean Austin for going through my scheme and endorsing it.]
(The formulation and usage of the said transliteration scheme has been done in order to
maintain the original pronouncements and Prosodic values of Gorkha words, which are
otherwise not possible.) Nepąli-English Transliteration has been based on the ITRANS6 model.
5
In order to solve this predicament, I had for some time now been of the view that Indian Nepali or more
speciafically Gorkhāli be treated as an independent language and that it should no longer be seen or observed vis-à-
vis Nepali. Gorkhāli has its own history, literary evolution and now can proudly stand among the languages of the
world on its own. This book thus, is perhaps the first to treat Gorkhāli as an independent language. I have even
formulated a Gorkhāli-English transliteration scheme which I had in the previous edition of this book applied as
Indian Nepalese-English transliteration scheme.
6
ITRANS is a lossless transliteration scheme of Devanāgarī into American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (ASCII) that is widely used on Usenet. It is an extension of the Harvard-Kyoto scheme. In ITRANS,
the word Devanāgarī is written as "devanaagarii". ITRANS is associated with an application of the same name that
enables typesetting in Indic scripts. The user inputs in Roman letters and the ITRANS pre-processor displays the
Roman letters into Devanāgarī (or other Indic languages). The latest version of ITRANS is version 5.30 and was
released in July, 2001.

5. Incorporation of an entire section titled ‘Transliteration key’: This section has been
incorporated in the hope that it would help in briefing the reader as to how the Gorkhāli-English
transliteration scheme works. This section, it is hoped will also make the readers understand as to
what transliteration is and why is it necessary. Further, examples, including a pictographically
engineered chart have been added to help in a better understanding of the subject.
6. Footnotes and notes to the texts: Footnotes and notes to the texts have been used amply to
further augment the understanding of certain words, phrases, events, persons, locales and so on.

Transliteration Key
orkhāli7 and Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta) alphabets are mostly the same and their consonants
G and vowels have very precise pronunciation which is not found in the English language
(or any other language for that matter). This is the reason why, the exact pronunciation
of Gorkhāli or Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta) cannot be transliterated into English.
In the English language itself, all the words (even the very simple words like, a, an, the,
one and two) have a history of how they originated from proto-Germanic, Latin, Greek
languages or Old English, and then how they took the modern shape. During that period their
spelling and pronunciation and also their meaning were changed a number of times. Every letter
of English language has a sound which further changes according to the style of the
pronunciation of a particular word. Thus, sometimes a letter has more than one sound, and
sometimes more than one letter has the same sound. For example: In the words cat and kitten, c
and k (lh, ds) both have the same sound; in the word apart, a has both sounds, short and long (v,
vk); in the words finish, finite and liter, i is pronounced differently; (as b, vkb and Ã ) in the
words center and sentence, c and s (lh , ,l) both have the same sound; and in the words free,
freak and frequency, long e (Ã) is written in three styles, ee, ea, and e; and so on. Thus, the
English letters do not have a fixed and precise sound that could be used in all the situations,
whereas Gorkhāli and Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta) letters have a definite and precise sound. For these
reasons the exact pronunciation of a Gorkhāli or Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta) word cannot be correctly
transliterated. True, linguists and translators have tried to do some modifications in their style of
transliteration, but it has instead worsened the situation. For example: the “Sanskrit - English
Dictionary” by Sir Monier (Monier-Williams) suggest ‘c’ for (p) (ch) like church, which is very
unusual for an English knowing person to pronounce ch for c in transliteration. “Practical
Sanskrit Dictionary” by Arthur A. MacDonnell fully worsens the situation when it suggests
pronouncing (p ch, N ch, t j and > jh) as k, and kh, g and gh, which resembles (d ka, [k kha, x
ga, and | gha). It is certain that nobody would pronounce ch for k. It further transliterates (r, Fk,
n, |) as ta, tha, da, dha, and also (V, B, M, <) as ta, tha, da, dha without giving any example or
explanation.
Considering these difficulties and misinformations and to give a ‘general idea’ of the
pronunciation of a Gorkhāli word for an English knowing person, who doesn’t know the Gorkhāli
alphabet, I have transliterated Gorkhāli words in a very simple way that follows the general
pronunciation of the English letters; and, for a Gorkhāli knowing person, as s/he already knows
the pronunciation of the Gorkhāli words, s/he can easily and correctly pronounce the
7
Essentially following the Devanâgarî (Gr) script... in fact to my utter surprise Gorkhāli was already recognized as
an independent language by European Linguists right since the dawn of the twentieth century. Ralph Lilley turner in
his celebrated book – A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Languaguage writes in his
introduction – “Nepali, now the chief language of literature, administration, and general intercourse in the Kingdom
of Nepal, has from time to time received various other challenges (appellations). These are (1) Gorkhāli, as the
language of the Gorkhās (Gr) or Gǔrkhās (Np) who from their seat about the town of Gorkhā (Gr), under their King
Prithwi Narain Sah (Pŗthivī Nārāyan Sāh - Gp) in the year 1769, finally made themselves masters of the Valley of
Nepal and the present capital Kathmanu; (2) Khas-kura, or ‘Language of the Khas’, to whom may have been due
the introduction of the particular form of Indo-Aryan; Parbatiya or ‘mountain language’, as opposed to the Newari
of the Valley or the Aryan languages spoken on the Plains of Hindustan…..

transliterated words. The Gorkhāli -English Transliteration scheme followed is thus given in this
pictographically engineered chart:
NOTES:
1. It was found that the pronunciation of vowels in Gorkhāli and Sanskrit (Sam.skr.ta) is closer
to Deutsch (German) usage of vowels than to English. Hence, the same style has been
adopted. [Following the same surmise, it was further found that ‘R.â’ in words such as Rshi,
bRhad etc., based on Deutsch style offered perfect transliteration of the Nepąli/Sam.skr.ta
originals. While Rishi, Brihad etc., as previously based on English style remained
incomplete and incorrect.] Also RR and lr has been included for the sake of completeness.
2. The avagraha sign (indicating an elided ‘ā’) is depicted as ‘-’ an apostrophe. (This sign is
not included in the above chart.)
3. (³~, ¥~~, Uk~ ) are all transliterated as ‘ń’, ‘ň’, and ‘ņ’.
4. Visarga (: ) is used only in quotations.
5. Aspirated and non-aspirated consonants are indicated by separate signs in Indian scripts.
Thus, ‘p’ is always non-aspirated, while ‘ph’ is always an aspirated sound.

6. Upper-case letters are used in both the vowel and consonant lists for transliteration.
Generally, an upper-case vowel, e.g. ‘A’, is a longer version of the corresponding lower-case
vowel, here ‘a’. Upper-case letters are avoided, in order to be unambiguous and to maintain
uniformity.
CAUTION:
As it has been the ambition of this author to transliterate Gorkhāli words as closely as it is
possible in English by applying the above mentioned scheme, almost all traditionally accepted
spellings (including those of local Gorkhāli pronunciations of places) have undergone a
tremendous metamorphosis. This is deliberate and hence, should not be taken by the reader to be
otherwise. A complete list of the glossary of the same has been included at the end of the book
which the reader will find particularly helpful. A simple example of the said glossary is given
here:
Kurseong = K.rsǽng
Krishna = Kr.s.na
Nepali = Nepąli
…etc., etc.
[REMEMBER: This Transliteration Scheme however, has not been applied on subjects quoted
from various sources. The readers thence must not be confused. This has been done to maintain
the originality of the ‘quoted works’.]

THE EVOLUTION OF
DARJEELING HILLS
“Too bad, the history is not what I want it to be…
It is merely what it is!”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
While the history of Darjeeling Hills cannot be independently traced back to a significant period of time,
it can be safely and correctly surmised that before the formation of ‘hBras-gShongs’ or the Kingdom of
Sikkim and the subsequent demarcation of boundaries thereof which included the Darjeeling Hills; the
same had always been the part of the Nepąlese Kingdom. The Nepąlese crown thence never accepted nor
recognized the ‘theoretical sovereignty’ of Sikkim over the Hills. The proof of which can be found in the
frequent march of the Nepąlese Army into the Hills and the subsequent attacks on Sikkim when Sikkim
persisted on her claim. However, while the fiasco on the sovereignty of the Hills continued it must be
understood that while Nepal ruled the Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim subsequently claimed and later ruled
the Hills, the Darjeeling Hills itself was merely a forested area without any significant mass civic
settlements. The Lepchas8 (Lap.cheés) themselves, who were the original inhabitants of the said land and
sole inheritor of its rights lived in scattered hamlets and had no political influence whatsoever. Thus, the
credit of effectively populating it and giving it its present form cannot be given to the rulers of either of
the nations. In fact, the credit goes to the Buddhist monks, enterprising Néwars, Limbűs, Rais and of
course, the British Settlers, who realized its great potential and made it what it is today.
The facts encapsulated and summarized below thence, tries to trace back the said history of Darjeeling
and especially the people and events that helped shape it into the legend that it is today.
The evolution of Darjeeling
In 1763, a group of monks traveled from the Pemî.iộng.chî Monastery9 to Darjeeling. Though it is still
unknown as to the real objective behind their travel; today, it can be safely assumed, that they were
searching for a suitable place to build a monastery. And indeed they did find such a place: The monks
upon coming to the ‘Observatory Hill’, where the present ‘Mahâkâla Temple’ is situated were so
fascinated by the site that they decided to build a monastery right there.
A contingent of monks and Bhutia tribesmen were thus, hastily sent for and as soon as they arrived, the
construction of the monastery started. It had been the ambition of the monks to construct the monastery
in a strictly ‘Vihār’ architectural style, whereby, a ‘Stupā’ would be surrounded by residential caves. In
8
Lepcha as a word is a phonetic distortion of the original word -‘Lap.cheé’. This book thence, will henceforth
maintain the original ‘Lap.cheé’ instead of the now common – Lepcha. Only the names of persons however shall be
ignored.
9
There is much controversy as to which monastery these scholars were actually associated with. Some scholars
believe that these monks were from Rālāng, the first Karmapā Monastery in Sikkim. This postulate finds some
support from the fact that the present Bhutia Busteé Monastery is actually a branch of the Rālāng Monastery and is
now known as the “Phődāng Monastery” or ‘a chapel of ease’. However, there are other scholars who believe that
the monks were actually associated with the Pédõng Monastery. Some others still, believe it to be the Dāling
Monastery in Sikkim. The authors of this book however, believe that the said monks were actually from the
Pemî.iộng.chî Monastery.

1765, meanwhile the monastery was completed and duly christened as ‘Dorŕ.jéeling10.’ A small
population of monks and Bhutia tribesmen from North Sikkim was also invited to populate the area
surrounding the monastery.
The Observatory Hill where the original Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery was situated
(A photo taken in 1950)
However, the Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery was not to enjoy a long and glorious history. In 1780, the Nepąlese
army attacked and raged the monastery to the ground and instead built a makeshift temple11 dedicated to
10
Dorŕ.jée– originally the sceptre of Lord Indrâ [in Taittirîya Brâhman.a, Indrâ is described as the ‘God of thunder’,
who, with the thunderbolt as his sceptre, brought rain]; Ling – place. Dorŕ.jéeling thence, originally meant – ‘here
where lies the Dorŕ.jée’, which was later transformed into ‘The Land of the Thunderbolt’.
An interesting submission can be found in Kőppen’s Die lamaische Hierarchie und Kirche, Berlin, 1859,
subsequently forwarded by A. W. Paul during the time of Sir Joseph Hooker – according to the said submission -
Dorŕ.jéeling could actually have owed her name to the tertőn Dorŕ.jée-lingpa. [We do not know much about
Dorŕ.jée-lingpa beside the fact that he was a great proponent of the Nyingma-pa (rnying-ma-pa) ‘the old school’
sect of Lamaism in Tibet and that he had visited the Kartok-pa Dộ-ling monastery in Sikkim between 1600 – 1700
A. D.]
11
The construction of a monastery on the revered ‘Observatory Hill’ which is taken in the Nepalese mythology to
have been the home of Lord Mahâkâla himself purported to the declaration of the taking over of the Darjeeling Hills
by Sikkim. The Nepalese army hence, in a move to nullify it marched over the Hills, raged the monastery to the
ground and built a temple dedicated to Lord Mahâkâla as a proof of its eternal sovereignty over the Hills.
Meanwhile, the only evidence of the monastery present today is the cave, which the monks must have used as a
residential chamber. However, due to a massive landslide in the late 1890s the cave was partially covered by rocks.
The cave till date also remains unexplored.

their patron deity – Lord Mahâkâla, which stands till date magnificently overlooking the town, 223 years
after it was built. The monks of the monastery meanwhile, were able to save the relics kept at the
Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery.
The Bhutia Busteé Monastery in 1955
Eventually, they took the relics with them and hid at the forests of Chūn.g.thū.ng. By 1810, the Nepąlese
army eventually left the Hills and as a result the monks began to move in. But in a rather surprising move
the Monks did not reclaim the ‘Observatory Hill’ where their ‘Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery’ had been recently
razed to the ground. Truly, the monks could have ‘replaced’ the temple built by the Nepąlese Army with
the ‘Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery’ but they didn’t. Why they did not do so is still unknown. Possibly, the fear
of another invasion, or possibly, the Mahâkâla deity himself, who along with Goddess Kalî is greatly
respected in Tantric Buddhism12 which these monks could have been followers of. The monks thence,
reasons still unknown, moved to the present Bhutia Busteé13 where a monastery was envisaged to be
constructed. This monastery today known as the Bhutia Busteé monastery was constructed between 1808
12
Kalî is worshipped as Goddess Dölmā in Tibetan Buddhism.
13
The Bhutia Busteé can in fact, safely claim to be the first ‘foreign settlement’ of the Darjeeling hills as it was
established as early as 1775 by monks and Bhutia tribesmen from North Sikkim. This Busteé also holds great
importance in the history of Darjeeling as this was where the present Darjeeling actually evolved from.

and 180914. The populace which had earlier lived in and around the Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery also shifted
to the new Monastery. Though it is not known as to what this new monastery was originally christened
as, a legend has it, that the monks and the people never forgot the ‘Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery’ and
unofficially always referred to the new monastery as the ‘replaced’ Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery15. Truly, this
was indeed Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery merely replaced.
This monastery enjoyed a long and glorious history. It was never attacked or threatened. Instead it
became one of the great learning centers of Buddhism in the region. Eventually a steady influx of monks
and Bhutia tribesmen also ensured that the habitation soon covered a large area and began to take a form
of a ‘Busteé16’. The population of the ‘Busteé’ in due time also mingled with the native Lap.cheés17 and
soon a thriving population, with a centralized civic life and a semi-prosperous economy evolved. The
‘Busteé’ thence, began to be known as Dorŕ.jéeling for the simple fact, that it was where the Dorŕ.jéeling
Monastery was situated. Truly, the beginning of the evolution of the present Darjeeling had begun.
The eventual transformation of Dorŕ.jéeling into Darjeeling also was a result of an interesting paradox. In
September, 1800, 28 years before Captain G. A. Lloyd and J.W. Grant were debuted to Sikkim to settle
internal disputes; a young British official by the name of Andrew Princeton came to know of Darjeeling
for the first time, while he was traveling to Tibet in an official mission. Though it is still unknown
whether he visited Darjeeling or not, the fact remains that he reported the existence of ‘what the natives
calls Shangri La18’. His letter to his superiors in Calcutta distinctly featured Darjeeling and Sikkim as a
14
It must be remembered here that while the Nepąlese Conquest of Sikkim effectively ended in 1810, Nepal never
did accept the tract which constitutes present Darjeeling to have belonged to Sikkim at any point of time. This land
wedged between Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and British East India Company was indeed crucial and a determining
factor in the foreign or more precisely the frontier policy of the four nations - While Nepal and Sikkim both claimed
suzerainty, the British East India Company though not yet interested in securing the land for itself was very
concerned over Nepal’s growing power. Nepal which was then under the successors of legendary King Prîth.vî
Nâ.râ.yâ.n Shah, a Gőrkha originally from a village itself called Gőrkha in western Nepal, had already conquered a
major part of northern India, Sikkim and Bhutan and, was hence in due control of lands from Kashmir to the edge of
Bhutan. Nepal had indeed even attacked Tibet and lay seize to the Royal Pötala Palace in Lhasā forcing the Tibetan
Government to settle for a peace treaty. Thus, in an effort to win over the Rajah of Sikkim as an ally and
subsequently destroy the might of the Nepąlese King, the British East India Company went into war with Nepal in
1814 solely to gain back the tract comprising of present Darjeeling and hand it over to Sikkim. And indeed in 1816,
by the ‘Treaty of Sű.gaulî’, the Nepąlese were forced to cede the land to the British East India Company, who
through the ‘Treaty of Tîtal.liy.a’ on the 10th of February, 1817 handed it back to the Rajah of Sikkim. Now with the
endorsement of the suzerainty of the Sikkim over the tract by the British East India Company, the question over the
ownership of the land effectively ended at least for a while. Meanwhile, the entire tract though a hotbed between
Nepal, Sikkim and the British East India Company, was only in the process of being effectively populated in a sense
of a modern civilization.
15
There still remains some controversy as to where the original ‘Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery’ was actually shifted.
Some scholars even believe that it was shifted to the present ‘Âloó.bareé’. However, a majority of scholars and the
authors of this book being party to the same ‘school of thought’ are convinced that the present Bhutia Busteé
Monastery was where the Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery was originally shifted
16
A small hamlet
17
Before this, the scattered Lap.cheé populace lived in villages hidden in the innumerable forests and inaccessible
mountain valleys. We do not have any conclusive evidence proving that they took an effective part in either the
establishment of the Monastery or in populating the emerging settlements thereof. It must also be remembered here
that the Lap.cheés were not Buddhists, they were instead worshippers of the mother goddess Iŧbū.de.bū.rūni and as
result their participation in either the building of the monastery and the villages thereof would have been a
blasphemous act to say the least.
18
Shangri La as a word was thence, introduced to the Western World. Today, Shangri La is applied to almost every
place imaginable on the planet, while the real Shangri La remains unknown. Truly, to state today that Shangri La
actually evolved from the Lap.cheé word ‘Mayāl Ly.ang’ is as paradoxical as it is to say that the first blood that was
shed in the name of Communism was that of the United States nationals.

possible bulwark between the Chinese Empire and the now evolving British Indian Empire. It would not
be entirely blasphemous thence, to postulate here that transliterated ‘Darjeeling’ as a word was actually a
result of a rather curious transliteration of the English pronunciation of the word ‘Dorŕ.jéeling’ by
Princeton himself19. Hence, undoubtedly, Princeton must be given the credit or discredit for unknowingly
transforming Dorŕ.jéeling into Darjeeling.
The transformation meanwhile was eventually made official in 1814, when British East India Company
went into war with Nepal. In 181620, when the Nepąlese were forced to secede from the Darjeeling hills
and the Terai21, the British version of the treaty which the Nepąlese were forced to sign read ‘Darjeeling.’
The subsequent treaty between the Rajah of Sikkim and British East India Company by which the
Company handed back the sovereignty of the ‘Darjeeling Hill and the Terai’ to the Rajah of Sikkim also
referred to the22 said tract of Land as “Darjeeling…” This treaty came to be known as the Treaty of
Tîtal.liy.a and was signed on the 10th of February 1817.
And ultimately in 1835, the Sikkimputee Rajah Cho-phoe Namgyé while handing over the ‘Darjeeling
Hills and the Terai’ to the British East India Company, also for the first time referred to Dorŕ.jéeling as
Darjeeling giving his ultimate sanction to the transformation of Dorŕ.jéeling into Darjeeling. Truly,
Darjeeling was now ready to rule the imagination and dreams of the rest of the world.
A rare painting depicting legendary Gőrkha King Prîth.vî Nâ.râ.yâ.n Shah fighting in a battle
(Painter unknown – contributed by John Brunswick23)
19
While traveling in South Africa, Kenya and Russia, I (Barun Roy) had frequently carried a rather interesting
experiment to prove my theory of ‘Darjeeling’ being a transliterated distortion of ‘Dorŕ.jéeling’ especially based on
its western pronunciation. The experiment itself was simple and was actually a rather enjoyable game. I would write
‘Dorŕ.jéeling’ on a piece of paper and ask a friend of mine to repeat it continuously in a loud voice. Then after a
while I would ask another of my friend to write down the word that he or she had heard our friend repeat so
continuously. Almost 98 times out of 100, the written version would be Darjeeling and not Dorŕ.jéeling. Most of the
subjects chosen would also be those who had not heard of Darjeeling, this effectively helped as one who already
knew of Darjeeling even as a name or a word, would have distorted the results.
20
The Treaty of Sű.gaulî. According, to the treaty, Nepal was to i) Accept a British Resident, ii) Cede districts of
Garhwal and Kumaon iii), Withdraw from Sikkim.
21
The Terai has been described by J. D. Hooker in his Himalayan Journal 1846, pg 91 as “…….That low malarious
belt which skirts the base of the Himalay, from the Sutlej to Brahma-Koond in Upper Assam.…..”
22
gTSUG-PHUD-rNAMGYAL - Chophoe Namgyé was born in 1785 and succeeded his father to the throne in
1790.
23
All copyrights of the said painting are retained with the original copyright owner

A reproduction of the ‘Deed of Grant’ issued by the Sikkimputee Rajah conveying Darjeeling Hills and the Terai
into the hands of the British East India Company is given below:
“The Governor General24 having expressed a desire for the possession of the hill of Darjeeling on
account of its cool climate, for the purpose of enabling the servants of his Government suffering from
sickness to avail themselves of its advantages. I, the Sikkimputee Rajah, out of friendship to the said
Governor General, hereby present Darjeeling to the East India Company, that is all the land south of the
great Rangeet River, east of Balasan, Kahail and Little Rangit Rivers, and west of the Rungpee and
Mahanuddy Rivers.”
Seal of the Sikkimputee Rajah,

Dated 9th Maugh, Sambat 189125
The influx of Early Settlers
In 1839, by the time the Eden Sanatorium was built, a first batch of 76
British residents arrived in Darjeeling. The population effectively rose to
10026. Within the next ten years, there was so much influx of people
especially from the South of Bengal that the population was raised from
100 to 10,000.
This period also witnessed the most notable development of the

Darjeeling Hills without which progress in any direction was not
possible. Work on the Grand Trunk Road, which was to connect Siligūrî
with Darjeeling was started. Lieutenant Napier of the Royal Engineers was deputed to oversee the laying
of this vital road. The work on the laying of road in
the town itself was also started and within six
months, Darjeeling boasted of a 16 mile long drive,
a broad road indeed, named after the then Governor
General of India, Lord Auckland as the Auckland
Road27. Truly, Auckland Road was the first
motorable road in Darjeeling. (Inset above – A rare
photograph of an English Memsahib sitting on a
chair somewhere in Darjeeling in the early 1850s ©
Peter Charlesworth)
In 1842, 40 miles of the Grand Trunk Road

connecting Darjeeling with Siligūrî was also
completed. A total expenditure of Rs. 8 lakh28 was
incurred. However, traveling on this road was still at
its infancy and a traveler would invariably had to
prepare himself to spend up to Rupees Four for the
fares of the various means of transportation he had to make himself avail of. Certainly, the amount was
exorbitantly high. If the fare were taken to be same today, we would then have had to spend up to Rupees
24
Lord William Bentick
25
A. D. 1835
26
Read British Population
27
Presently known as the Mahatma Gandhi Road situated above the ‘Capitol Hall’ and stretching towards the
‘Oberoi Mount Everest Hotel’
28
A Lakh also sometimes denoted by ‘Lac’ is equivalent to 100,000.

4,50029. Of course, the British settlers were not unnerved by such expenditure; they traveled because they
knew that it was to be an experience of a life time. Accounts of the early travelers like Joseph Dalton
Hooker and Mark Twain are indeed fascinating stories of travel in this route. (Inset previous page: The
first anniversary advertisement of the Darjeeling Eden Sanatorium. Perhaps also the only remaining
photo of the original Eden Sanatorium still preserved today)
By 1843, a hotel had also been started at K.rsǽng and another at Darjeeling; three private houses had
been erected and nearly the same number of building sites had taken up30. The foundation stone of the St.
Andrew’s Church was laid on St. Andrew’s day on the 30th of November 1843 and the first divine service
was held in October 1844. Incidentally, a Hyn.du Temple by the name of Go.pậ.l Mandir already existed
right at the centre of the market place since the 1830s. As to, precisely who built it and when, is still
unknown. But it is certain that it dates back to the 1830s.
The Go.pậ.l Temple

situated at the centre of
the Market 31
(The temple is marked in
this photo by the white
dome)
In 1845, buildings like

Rockville, Lloyd Bank,
Oak Lodge, Vernon
Lodge, Chevermon,
Woodlands, Dale,
Colington, Glen and Salt
hill were started and
completed within two
years. The present Jammā
Mas.jîd which is today
also known as the Barā Mas.jîd came into being between the years 1851 and 1862.
The Barā Mas.jîd which was originally known as the Jammā Mas.jîd along with the Anjűman Islamiā
29
As per bullion conversion rate
30
Incidentally, a spur situated just below the town of Darjeeling at an elevation of 5, 970 feet above sea level,
known as ‘Alǽbong’ (among the native Lap.cheés meaning ‘the tongue-shaped spur’) or as Lebonġ today, was one
of the first places in Darjeeling to have attracted the European settlers. Why? Because, it was found that Lebonġ
was about 10 degrees warmer than Darjeeling and enjoyed more sunshine. Locations were thence, accordingly
taken up on it before the same was done in ‘proper’ Darjeeling town. The cultivation of tea also began for the first
time in this area.
31
This photograph is the part of Das Studio postcard taken out in the early twentieth century. © Das Studios,
Darjeeling

We still do not know the exact date of its construction and the above assumption is based on the fact that
it has been mentioned for the first time in the official map published in 1862. This map was prepared by
Colonel Sherwills. The earlier maps do not mention it. The period thence, between the earlier maps and
‘the Sherwills map’ has been taken to be the possible period of its construction.
The Evolution of ‘support towns’
By 1866, Darjeeling had 39 tea gardens and the product from these gardens was transported to the
markets of Calcutta via Siligūrî, which was then no more than a hamlet. The process of transportation
itself to Calcutta was arduous and the journey entailed traveling through bullock carts, boats, donkeys,
horses and on foot. The following description of the said journey perfectly paints a vivid picture:
“Until 1878, the year when the Northern Bengal State Railway was opened for traffic, the route from
Calcutta to Darjeeling, available for those who had the time, money and energy necessary to undertake
so formidable a journey, was by rail from Howrah, the terminus of the East India Railway on the West
bank of the Hooghly to Sahebgunge, a distance of 219 miles; then by steam ferry across the Ganges to
Carragola, thence by bullock cart to the river opposite Dingra Ghat; after crossing which, again by
bullock cart or Palkee gharry to Purneah, Kessengunge, Titalya, and Siliguri, whence the ascent
commenced via the Punkabaree Road, which joins the present cart road at Kurseong. The whole journey
took from five to six days, and was about as exhausting and uncomfortable a journey as can well be
imagined…32”
It was not a surprise thence, that the British took the initiative to introduce trains in different parts of
Bengal33. The Eastern Bengal Railway was entrusted with the work, which by January 1878, it duly
32
An extract from a brochure titled ‘The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – An illustrated guide to Railway and
Darjeeling’ published by Hood and Company in England in 1911
33
Solely to facilitate the transportation of tea from Darjeeling

completed, linking Calcutta with Santarhāt. On the 19th of January, 1878, the then Lieutenant Governor
of Bengal Sir Ashley Eden also formally opened the break in the metre-gauge line between Porậdah and
Atraî via Bhaîrậmara, thus establishing a continuous communication between Sealdậh and Jậlpaîgūrî.
The line was eventually extended to Siligūrî and formally opened for traffic on the 10th of June 187834.
Of course, the towns which underlay in the route of this line of communication, were still either in the
process of evolution or were still yet to evolve. Siligūrî itself was a mere hamlet surrounding the railway
station. The evolution of the other towns especially on the said route meanwhile, was about to result from
the following: Soon after the opening of the line connecting Calcutta with Darjeeling via Siligūrî was
established, numerous services were started. The first among which were – the North Bengal Express, the
Darjeeling Mail, the Goalando express and the ‘Mixed Trains’ which were operated between Sealdậh
station and Darjeeling. Truly, these services were meant to handle the massive influx of settlers and
visitors to Darjeeling apart from the transportation of tea, which in turn brought business to the
‘emerging towns on the route… leading to the emigration of native population from the adjoining
villages to these centers of commerce35’. Siligūrî itself steadily developed as a ‘Support Town’ acting as
the dumping ground for tea before being transported to Calcutta. Even a closer town like K.rsǽng36
which, until the commencement of service of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was an insignificant
hamlet, began to evolve as a ‘support town’ and indeed as a complimentary town to Darjeeling. “The
prospect of K.rsǽng evolving as a complementary hill station to Darjeeling is tremendous… because of
its climate being similar to Darjeeling, but much milder and the place being conveniently situated for
those who dislike the higher altitude or the severe winter of Darjeeling…” wrote O’Malley. Truly,
thence, the establishment of a permanent line of communication, and the prosperity in the business of tea
added with the influx of settlers and tourists to Darjeeling, the entire route consisting of insignificant
hamlets prospered and subsequently swelled in population; hence, themselves evolving into small towns
whose economy was based on the rail route, whose economy itself was based on the Darjeeling Tea and
the Darjeeling Tourism. No other town perhaps thence, in the history of this planet, except the
establishment of the first ‘Puritan Settlement’ in the Americas or the first diamond mine in Africa, can
boast to have lead to the evolution of an entire pro-modern civilization based on just one constant – and
that is itself!
The Evolution of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
A rare photo of Nepąlese bearers stationed at Gidhēpâhâar dating

possibly back to either the 1890s or the early 1900s
© Peter Charlesworth
Though by the 10th of June 1878, the line from Sealdậh to

Siligūrî had been established and formally opened, the
journey from Siligūrî to Darjeeling via the Pankhabareé
Road was still a great challenge to say the least. The
monstrous climb towards the hills, whereupon a traveler
was still forced to embark upon a myriad means of
transportation; which included a bullock cart, palkeé
bearers and a Tön.gā. Those unfortunate mortals on the
other hand, who could not afford the said means of transportation as it incurred a total fare of almost Four
Rupees, had to travel on foot. Truly, thence establishing a better means of transportation at the very
Darjeeling hills was of paramount importance.
34
As the Sealdậh to Jậlpaîgūrî line was formally extended and opened for traffic on the 10th of June, 1878, the same
date is also taken to be the official birth date of the town of Siligūrî.
35
O’Malley, L. S. S., Bengal District Gazetteers, Darjeeling, Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1907
36
K.rsǽng was constituted a Municipality in 1879 and its affairs were administered by a Board consisting of 12
Municipal Commissioners, of whom one, the Civil Medical Officer was an ex-officio member, while 6 were elected
and 5 nominated by Government.

Hence, as soon as the Siligūrî station was inaugurated plans were set afoot to work on getting a ‘train’ up
to Darjeeling. Of course, no ordinary railway system could do so and as a result something effectively
had to be reinvented. Thus, at the end of 1878, Messrs Tom Mitchell of London was asked to work on a
system of railway which would achieve such a feat. Messrs Tom Mitchell set on the mission and in due
time came up with a ‘tiny’ version of the rail and the engine, which of course, was passed after much
comprehension. But as soon as the designs were passed, the Eastern Indian Railway workshop situated at
Jamalporé (Jamalpur) was assigned to construct the first engine. And indeed the first engine was
constructed and due to it size instantly christened as ‘Tiny37’. Meanwhile, in 1879, the Darjeeling Stream
Tramway Company was established, which for the first time decided to put the ‘Tiny’ into service on the
line extended from Siligūrî to K.rsǽng. The company invited the then Viceroy of India, Lord Lyton, who
arrived duly in the March of 1880 to inaugurate the same. The ‘Tiny’ it is said, when the grand occasion
arrived did make its first journey up the hill towards K.rsǽng but was barely workable. What happened
was that, as Lord Lyton had arrived with a massive entourage and the subsequent extra baggage, the
‘Tiny’ was not able to pull through the steep slope and as a result, an army of coolies had to be
immediately impressed upon... Such a mêlée ensured that the coolies at places were also used ‘to assist
the engine in pulling through certain places’. Actually to be blunt, the coolies are said to have pulled the
engine and the two carriages for a distance of 18 miles; whereupon the Viceroy being impressed by the
‘hardy Gurkhas’ christened the point where they rested as the 18th Mile.
The Tiny Engine which rules the imagination of all travelers as the ‘Toy Train’
Thus, with the very first experience of the ‘Tiny’ on the Siligūrî – K.rsǽng Route being an important
lesson, the fathers of the Darjeeling Stream Tramway Company had to go back to the drawing board and
seek to ‘re-plan’ the entire route, which took almost another six months to be practically translated. In the
August of 1880 thence, ultimately, the line was opened to the general populace. At this period the line
which was actually called tramline worked up a zigzag from Ghya.barié to Gidhēpâhâar and did not
worm 5 miles round the spur as at present, and as the gradient was severe only very light carriages were
run on the line.
37
The terminology ‘Toy Train’ was never an official term denoting the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Toy Train
was the in fact, just a popular expression found in literature and perhaps was even an invention of a writer.

In the early months of 1881, the tramline was extended to Toońg, from which station the traveler either
rode in, or drove in a Tön.gā to Darjeeling, until July 4th, 1881, when the tramline was ultimately
extended to the Darjeeling Town. The Darjeeling Stream Tramway Company at the same time was also
rechristened as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Company. In 1885, the rail-line was further extended
to the Bazaar and as a result the ‘Tiny’ now ventured right into the heart of the town well beyond the
present railway station. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was thus, ultimately completed.
A German map of 1895 showing the

major railway routes of India. Note the
German spelling of
Darjeeling - Dardschiling!38
The evolution of Hydo-Electric Power in India – the Sidrāpöng Hydel Power Station
The 10th of November 1897, was an epoch-making day in

the history of power sector in our country. On this very day
the first hydel39 power station in India and in Asia was
commissioned at Sidrāpöng. This was also the first power
unit to be run on commercial basis for use of general
public, heralding the electrical-energy-era in the Indian
sub-continent, and ushering in a revolutionary change in
the socio-cultural and economic life of Indian society. How
this station came into being and evolved is as interesting as
it is important in the evolution of Darjeeling and indeed the
nation itself.
38
“Weltverkehr: Die Entwicklung von Seeschiffahrl, Eisenbahn, Post und Telegraphie, by Michael Giestbeck,
Freiburg/Brsg. 1895 (2nd edition)”. Average gradient of the Darjeeling railway line then was 1:36.
39
A mix-match of Hydro –Electricity

The fateful meeting of the Municipal Commissioners of Darjeeling held on the 11th of February, 1896
presided over by R. T. Greer, I.C.S., the then Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling and the Chairman of
Darjeeling Municipality, resolved to set up a Hydro Power Station to light up Darjeeling town by seeking
a loan of Rs. 1 lakh from the Government. A site for the power station was also selected at the foot of the
Arya Tea Estate at Sidrāpöng, what was then a fine orchard of the Maharajah of Burdwan and
considering the importance of the scheme in the public interest, Maharajah Sir Bijoy Chand Mahatab
Bâhâdur, G. C. I. E. K. C. S. I., I. O. M. was pleased ‘eventually’ to make it over to the Municipality. The
work of installation of power station thence, started immediately. The machines and equipment were
brought from Britain. And as there were no proper road communication in the Sidrāpöng area, all the
equipment, machineries and construction materials had to be transported manually – a Herculean task
indeed, quite inconceivable in the present day. (Inset above: the Sidrāpöng Hydel Power Station)
The first plant consisted of two 65 KW Crompton-Brunton single phase, 2300 volts and 83.3 cycles
alternators coupled with two Günter’s Turbines. The country’s first Hydro-Electric Power Station with 2
X 65 KW capacity thence, was commissioned on the 10th of November, 1897 by C. C. Stevens, the then
Acting Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. It is a noteworthy fact that the first power utility run on
commercial basis for use of general public in India was developed in public sector under state patronage
and that the total initial cost of installation of this power station had been only Rs. 1.2 lakhs.
For the first few years Darjeeling Municipality had to run Sidrāpöng H.P.S. at a loss, there being not
many takers of electrical energy then. But as the demand started growing one 135 KW set was added in
1905 and a 3rd 135 KW set was installed in 1909 in the same power house. The place being too small a
new power house was built in 1916 at a higher location, now known as Jubilee Power House40. In this
way the total capacity of the station grew from 130 KW to 1000 KW. But owing to the limited supply of
water the generation could not be increased to match the growing demand of the town and of the
neighboring tea gardens to run their factories with electricity. Various schemes thence were prepared to
install larger power station elsewhere.
In the meantime, the demand for power grew rapidly. The old single phase system of supply being out-
dated, unsuitable for a modern supply system and wasteful, the Municipal Commissioners thence,
resolved in a meeting held on 9th of June, 1931 to replace all the old machines and re-condition the
system of supply from single-phase 83 cycles to three-phase 50 cycles.
In 1931, in place of old 7 machines in single-phase system, five 200 KW units in the new 3-phase system
were installed, of which one was installed at the Lower Power House. Since water was found insufficient
to run 4 sets of 200 KW each in the main power house, one 200 KW set was later in 1942 shifted to a still
lower location at Singtam Power Station, which may be called 3rd stage of Sidrāpöng since it ran in
tandem with Sidrāpöng power House utilizing the discharge water from its Tail Race. Ultimately, the
installation, therefore, consisted of 3 sets of 200 KW at Sidrāpöng power house besides one D. C. hydel
generating set of 20 KW for auxiliary power.
WBSEB41 inherited Sidrāpöng Hydel Power Station while taking over the Darjeeling Electric Supply
Undertaking from Darjeeling Municipality on January 30, 1978 and had then been smoothly running the
power station till early 1990s when it was considered that the aging power station needs thorough
revamping for its economic operation, which had now matured. Sidrāpöng Power Station was ultimately,
shut down and converted into a Heritage site in 1998.
40
In 1914 G. P. Robertson, the then Municipal Engineer, while out on survey was drowned in the great Rungeet
River.
41
West Bengal State Electricity Board

Darjeeling Hills plunges into the Independence Movement
In the early months of 1934, a group of young revolutionaries met at a local club house in Calcutta. The
small club house situated at the Park Street was ordinary to say the least and only used by the local boys
of the neighbourhood as a means to spend time playing various indoor games. At around 7 pm of the
fateful day, a group of individuals walked in. Among them were Bhawani Bhattacharya, Rabindranath
Banerjee, Manoranajan Banerjee, Ujjwal Majumdar, Madhusudan Banerjee, Sukumar Ghosh and Sushil
Chakroborthy. A conspiracy to assassinate the Governor of Bengal John Anderson was subsequently
hatched by these individuals and Bhawani Bhattacharya and Rabindranath Banerjee chosen for the same.
As per the plan, both Bhawani Bhattacharya and Rabindranath Banerjee left for Darjeeling and on arrival
began to live in the town incognito. Though it is not clear as to where they lived or who hosted them, it is
known that they met frequently with the underground revolutionaries and supporters at the ‘Nipendra
Nâ.râ.yâ.n Hyn.du Public Hall’ and practiced firing at the forests below the Shrubbery Park. On the 8th of
May 1934, the assassination attempt on the Governor however, failed when both the revolutionaries were
arrested and the Governor saved by the local police. Bhawani Bhattacharya was later sentenced to death
and Rabindranath Banerjee sentenced to life in prison. Later other revolutionaries who were found co-
conspirators were also sentenced to prison. Among those who were indicted were all those who had
conspired at the ‘club’ in Calcutta - Manoranajan Banerjee, Ujjwal Majumdar, Madhusudan Banerjee,
Sukumar Ghosh and Sushil Chakroborthy.
Darjeeling was truly humbled by the blood of these great revolutionaries. A great spurt thence was
noticed among the local people who took up the cause of the motherland. Names of the great Nepąlese
freedom fighters like Helen Lepcha, Gaga Tshering Dukpa, Mitra Sen Thapa, Major Duŕgā Malla, Dal
Bâhâdur Giri, Chabilal Upadhyay, Captain Dal Bâhâdur Thapa, Jungbir Sapkota, Ram Singh Thakuri and
Pushpa Kumar Ghising are today, legendary. During the call of the Netaji also, the Gőrkhas gave up
everything to rally behind him and die for the motherland. The Indian National Army was filled with
Gőrkhas willing to fight.
Freedom Fighters Putaliya Devi, Helen Lepcha, Jung

Bir Sapkota, Gaga Tshering Dukpa, Kr.s.na Bâhâdur
Mũkhia and Pushpa Kumar Ghising respectively
While Helen Lepcha and Gaga Tshering Dukpa42

became ardent followers of Mahatma Gandhi and plunged into the nationalist
movement, Pushpa Kumar Ghising participated in the 1946, Naval Uprising. Puspha Kumar Ghising had
actually got into the naval ammunition dump alone and taken its control after bringing down at least three
British soldiers stationed there. The weapons thus procured then from the ammunition dump were used
by the Indian sailors to hold back the British for 5 days. Ultimately on the fifth day, Ghising and his
friends were arrested and taken to the Mulűndî Jail
where he was court-martialed but acquitted during
the trail. He resigned from the Navy on September 8,
1946 to plunge into the independence movement now
on its ultimate stage. Truly, for such a small district,
to have so many of Freedom fighters is remarkable to
say the least.
42
Gaga Tshering Dukpa, it is said used to travel all around the Darjeeling Hills on foot spreading Gandhiji’s words.
The only thing that he would be armed with was a copy of the ‘Modern Yug’ edited Ramnath Chaterjee.

Darjeeling during the Second World War
During the Second World War, Darjeeling besides being a recruiting centre for the British Gőrkha
Regiments was also a hill resort and convalescence centre for the military. And hence, the town used to
be packed with soldiers, mostly British and Americans. The town would present such a carnival look that
the Rink and Capitol cinemas would bring out clearly printed notices showing the daily films going on,
and the houses used to be packed with soldiers and sailors. Dr. T. Y. Pemba in his article,
‘Reminiscences of Darjeeling’ describing the environment then wrote: “I remember very clearly sitting
with some British sailors in the cheapest seats in the Capitol cinema… and the sailors made loud ribald
remarks at every thing and we had a most boisterous time.” Certainly due to the World War, Darjeeling
enjoyed great prosperity. Dr. T.Y. Pemba further writes, “There were three famous ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’
restaurants serving delicious Chinese food. The present Shangri La was the Park restaurant, famous for
its Chinese prawns and ice-creams. The present ‘Washington’ restaurant was a famous Chinese restaurant
where all soldiers had to queue up and line up outside for food as they waited patiently for a table.
Outside were the Union Jack, American and Kuomintang43 flags crossed in amity and fluttering in the
breeze. The present Deshbandhű District Library was the Chinese ‘Carlton’ restaurant where people ate
on their way to have fun at the Gymkhana Club... I do not remember power cuts or much shortage of
water. In fact, when prolonged power cuts occurred, it was so rare that people wondered whether it was
the work of the Japanese parachutists! The battle of Imphal and Kohima were then being waged and
Calcutta bombed.”
Dudley Patrick Ward (extreme

left) along with his friends at a
holiday near the Teesta River.
All the three men were in the
Royal Indian Air Force and
locals from K.rsǽng.)
The dawn of independence
-
Gőrkha at the Constituent Assembly
Damber Singh Gurung was the only Gőrkha in the nation’s Constituent Assembly, which was setup to
draft the Constitution of Independent India. Damber Singh Gurung gave numerous speeches on the floor
of the Constituent Assembly expressing the problems and aspirations of the Gőrkhas all over the nation
besides taking active part in the formulation of the Constitution of our motherland. His speeches are of
great historic value today and hence, one of his speeches has been reproduced here44.
43
The Kuomintang was the ruling Nationalist Party in China which identified itself by purging the Communists.
44
The said speech is included from the Government Archives of the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly.

Thursday, the 19th December 1946: The Constituent Assembly of India
met in the Constitution Hall, New Delhi, at eleven of the Clock, Mr.
Chairman (The Honourable Dr. Rajendra Prasad) in the Chair.
Damber Singh Gurung (Bengal: General45): Mr. Chairman, Sir, I stand
here today as the only representative of 30 lakhs of Gurkhas
permanently domiciled in India. It is 30 lakhs, near about the population
of the Sikhs; still I am the solitary representative here in this House. I
need not give any introduction as to who these Gurkhas are. They have
made themselves sufficiently known to the world by their excellent
fighting qualities. It has been proved to the hilt during the last World
War No. I and No. II that they are the greatest fighting race in the
World.
It is on behalf of these valiant Gurkhas that I, as the President of the All

India Gurkha League, wholeheartedly support the Resolution moved by
Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. It is high time that we should take such a
strong step. If we adopt the policy of wait and see as has been
advocated by Dr. Jayakar and supported by Ambedkar, we will never reach our goal46. The Interim
Government which is functioning today would not have come into existence if we had adopted that
policy. Fortunately these two Doctors are not Doctors in Medicine; otherwise they would have killed the
patient by delaying the operation (Laughter). We have waited too long and we should not wait any
longer. It will be simply our weakness.
Sir, it has been very often said that the Gurkhas have been the stumbling block on the path to freedom. It
may be true if it is viewed from that angle of vision but it must always be remembered that, especially in
the Military Department, duty first and duty last, and the discipline is the most essential thing without
which no nation can rule. Now in Free India you will ask us to do the same thing as we were asked to do
under the British Government, if there be any disrupter of the constitutionally established Government,
and you will praise them for maintaining that discipline.
Sir, the problem of the Gurkhas is quite different. They are scattered throughout India. It is only in the
district of Darjeeling and the Province of Assam that they are concentrated to a certain extent. Their
number in these two areas is about 14 lakhs and the rest are scattered throughout India. They are very
very backward educationally and economically. Though we were made to do the dirtiest work in India for
which we have been even called butchers by Indians; (and) though hundreds and thousand of Gurkha
lives were sacrificed to keep the British rule in India and elsewhere, nothing has been done by the British
Government so far for the uplift of the Gurkhas. We have been very sadly neglected. Only at the time of
war they remember the Gurkhas. It has always been the policy of the British Government to keep us
backward and ignorant so that we may be sacrificed any time, anywhere they liked.
The Gurkhas are apprehending (apprehensive) whether the same policy will be followed by the Congress
too. There is strong ground for this apprehension. Before the election of Members to the Constituent
Assembly, the All India Gurkha League approached the Congress High Command to give adequate
representation to the Gurkhas too in the Constitution Assembly but our claim was totally ignored and not
a single seat was given for 30 lakhs of Gurkhas, whereas as many as 3 seats were given to the Anglo-
Indian whose population is only 1 lakh 42 thousand in India. I do not think that Gurkhas will, any more,
tolerate this kind of injustice. I have, very recently been to Nepal, leading a delegation of the All India
Gurkha League to His Highness the Maharaja of Nepal and I hope Nepal will not allow any such
exploitation of the Gurkhas. Sir, the demand of the Gurkhas is that they must be recognized as a minority
community and that they must have adequate representation in the Advisory Committee that is going to
be formed. When the Anglo-Indians with only 1 lakh 42 thousand population have been recognized as a
45
From the General Quota
46
‘Watch and wait’ as was purported by Jayakar on the question of the formation of Pakistan.

minority community, and Scheduled Castes among the Hindus have been recognized as a separate
community, I do not see any reason why Gurkhas with 30 lakhs population should not be recognized as
such. The Gurkhas whose total population including Nepal is 15 millions shall have to play a very
important part in Free India. I request the leaders to consider this very seriously.
Lastly, I would like to say a word, Sir. If Mr. Jinnah47 thinks himself to be an Indian, I would request him
to come to India and settle the differences here, as this is our domestic quarrel. Why should he seek the
help of those who kept us in slavery for centuries? I would think that a kick from a brother is more
palatable than a hypocrite pat from an outsider. If the major party does not do any justice to the cause of
the minorities, we will combine together and revolt and make India a hot bed and I am afraid, the ancient
history of India may be repeated. But I must make one point clear, that no minority will support the
fantastic claim for Pakistan of Mr. Jinnah. We stand for a United India.
In spite of all this, if Mr. Jinnah goes on throwing the challenge of civil war, I ask the country-men to
accept that challenge and let us fight it out. As for the Gurkhas, we will fight along with those who want
one India and oppose those who want to divide it.
47
Mohammed Ali Jinnah

TIME CAPSULE
Important events in the History of Darjeeling Hills
1641 Penchoo Namgyé (PHUN-tSHOGS rNAM-rGYAL) is declared as the first Buddhist Gyalpo
(King) of the nation of hBras-ma-lJongs or Sikkim.
1706 Bhutanese Army captures a part of Sikkim
1730 The great Dutch Traveler Van De Putte, after his travel of Tibet and the fringes of Sikkim
publishes his sketch map where he calls Sikkim ‘Brama-scjon’ a phonetic distortion of ‘hBras-
ma-lJongs’.
1763 Monks from the Pemî.iộng.chî Monastery arrives at Darjeeling.
1765 The construction of the Dorŕ.jéeling Monastery is completed.
1814 The Nepąlese War – Between British East India Company and Nepal
1815 Treaty with Nepal and the start of Gőrkha recruitment in the British Army.
1816 The transfer of land captured by Bhutan back to Sikkim
1835 Lord William Bentick is given the entire of Darjeeling Hills through the Deed of Grant by the
Sikkimputee Rajah Chophoe Namgyé.
1840 The Declaration of the Nepąlese Army Revolt
1841 The Sikkimputee Rajah Chophoe Namgyé receives 3,000 Rupees as emoluments on lieu of
partying away with the Darjeeling Hills
1842 The emolument is increased to Rs. 6, 000
1850 Darjeeling Superintendent Dr. Campbell declares the population of Darjeeling to be 10,000
1865 British defeats Bhutan and captures Kalimpong and the Doars
1869 Population of the Darjeeling town declared to be 22,000
1870 First Tea Plantation in the region
1879 The Darjeeling Steam Tramway Company commences work on the Darjeeling Himalayan
Railway
1880 (March) Lord Lyton, the Viceroy of India becomes the first individual to travel on the ‘Tiny’.
1880 (August) Services of the ‘Tiny’ opened formally for the general populace.
1881 (July) Line is extended from K.rsǽng to Darjeeling. The Darjeeling Steam Tramway Company is
renamed Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Company.
1885 (June) Line is extended from the Darjeeling Railway Station right to the Market Square /
Gundreé Bazaar.
1887 (8th March) Dalbâhâdur Giri is born.
1895 A map showing the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway route is published in a German book called
Die Entwicklung von Seeschiffahrt, Eisenbahn, Post und Telegraphie, in Berlin. Darjeeling is
quoted as ‘Dardschilling’ and the average gradient of the Himalayan railway given as 1:36.
Darjeeling becomes a ‘must visit’ place for the Europeans and Americans.
1897 (10th November) The first Hydro-electric undertaking in the Indian sub-continent, Sidrāpöng
Hydro-electric station is inaugurated by C. C. Stevens, acting Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.

1899 Hajji48 Ghurmiya and his wife become the first pilgrims from Darjeeling to travel to Mecca.
1913 (November 5) Vivien Leigh is born at the Eden Sanatorium.
1915 A Branch of the railway is opened from Siligūrî to Kalimpong Road and named as the Teesta
Valley Line.
1917 A memorandum for the declaration of a separate state (region) of Darjeeling Hills (Jậlpaîgūrî and
Doars amalgamated) is submitted to the Secretary of State and the Viceroy of India.
1919 The famous Batasia Loop constructed.
1923 Treaty with Nepal
1924 (9th March) Dalbâhâdur Giri, Mahatma Gandhi’s close associate and an ardent freedom fighter
dies. Mahatma Gandhi fasts and prays for the ‘great patriot’.
1925 Mahatma Gandhi arrives in Darjeeling
1926 (16th June) Deshbandhű Chitranjan Das dies at his Step Aside residence at the age of 55. The
nation plunges into mourning.
1928 A memorandum is submitted to the Simon Commission for the separation of Darjeeling Hills
from Bengal and the creation of an autonomous province / state.
1940 Sushil Chaterjee, Satyendranath Majumdar, Dr. Sachin Das Gupta, Ratanlal Brahmin and
Bhadrabâhâdur Hamal establishes the Communist Party in Darjeeling Hills
1942 Communist Party seeks for a separate ‘Gőrkhasthan’.
1943 All India Gőrkha League established. Darjeeling becomes the ‘Hill Bangkok’. As a recruitment
centre for the Gorkhas and the sanatorium for the allied forces, Darjeeling is filled with British,
Irish, Australian and American Soldiers. American, British and the Kuomintang Flags adorn the
streets. The town prospers as war rages on.
1946 Ratanlal Brahmin seeks for the establishment of an autonomous administration for the economic
upliftment of Darjeeling Hills
1946 (9th May) Communist Party writes to the All India Gőrkha League stating its stance on the
Gőrkhasthan
1948 Pragatîsîl Nepąli Sahi.t.ya Parîshad established. The likes of Mahakavī Bal Kr.s.na Sam, Pundit
Dharnidhar Koirala (Sharma), Parasmani Pradhan, Laxmī Prasad Deokata, and Agam Singh Giri
for the first time brought together in one platform. Agam Singh Giri declares the beginning of the
Golden Era of Nepąli language and literature.
1948 (20th October) Indian Government purchases the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and absorbs it
into the Indian Government Railways Organization.
1950 (21st July) India signs a treaty with Nepal. The Teesta Valley branch of the Darjeeling Himalayan
Railway closes following major washout. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway comes under the
management of the Assam Railways Organization.
1952 M. B. Gurung leads a delegation of All India Gőrkha League leaders and submits a memorandum
to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Assam Railways including the Darjeeling Himalayan
Railways and Oudh and Tirhut Railway regrouped into the North Eastern Railway zone.
Chandan Singh Rawat becomes one of the first footballers from the Hills to play in Europe. He is
dubbed as the ‘Human Locomotive’ by the Hamburg press. (May 29th) Swami Prabuddhananda
dies.
48
It is one of the duties of all followers of Islam that at least once in their life time; they are supposed to go in
pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca and Medina. All those who do so thence, are known as Hajji. Hajji Ghurmiya
came to be known as Hajji Ghurmiya after he went on pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca and Medina.

1954 (May 29th) Tenzing Norgay unfurls the United Nations, England, Indian and the Nepąlese flag on
Mount Everest. The soft spoken and humble ‘Sherpa’ from Darjeeling becomes a hero world
wide. Darjeeling braces to become the spring board for Himalayan Expeditions.
1958 Darjeeling Himalayan Railways and ex-Assam lines transferred to the newly created North East
Frontier Railway zone.
1962 Railway line realigned and extended from Siligūrî to New Jậlpaîgūrî for freight.
1963 (14th April) Pundit Rahul Sankritiyayan dies.
1964 (April) The New Jậlpaîgūrî – Darjeeling Rail line opened for general populace.
1969 The United Front Government of West Bengal gives recognition to use Nepąli language as an
official language in the three sub-divisions of Darjeeling.
1978 Morarji Desai’s anti-Nepąlese statement brings life in Darjeeling Hills to a standstill.
1980 (30th July) Gőrkha National Liberation Front established
1981 (13th April) All India Gőrkha League submits a memorandum demanding for a separate state to
Home Minister Zail Singh
1986 (13th March) Gőrkha National Liberation Front demands for the nullification of 1950 Indo-Nepal
Treaty and for the formation of a separate Gorkhaland at its Ghoom session.
(12th May) The first 72 hours strike called. One of the first casualties of the Gorkhaland
Movement occurs in the police firing – One dies, seven are injured.
(25th May) Police fires at GNLF cadres at K.rsǽng – 5 are killed and 22 injured.
(26th May) K.rsǽng plunges into indefinite strike. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi declares – The
Central Government would support the State Government on the question of Gorkhaland.
(24th July) Home Minister Buta Singh during the ‘Question Hour’ in the Rajya Sabha answering
to a question declares that without the State Government’s approval the Central Government
could not act on the Issue.
(27th July) 9 protestors killed in police firing in Kalimpong. The town plunges into curfew.
(28th July) Six people succumb to injuries at hospital increasing the number of casualties to 15.
108 hours strike is called to protest the death.
(1st August) The 108 hours strike is increased to 120 hours strike.
(4th August) Police fires at protestors in Tindharia
(18th September) Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi declares – Bengal will not be divided.
(26th September) Chief Minister Jyoti Basu makes the statement – As long as I am the Chief
Minister, Bengal will not be divided.
1987 (July 10) GNLF passes the resolution on the acceptance of an Autonomous Council.
(August 22) The Darjeeling Gőrkha Hill Council Accord is signed.
1992 (20th August) Nepąli Language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
1999 Darjeeling Himalayan Railway granted World Heritage status by UNESCO

En-route to the Yore
A road guide of the Darjeeling Town during the British Raj
THEN TODAY
1. Calcutta Road Tenzing Norgay Road

2. Old Military Road I.N.A. Bypass49
3. Ghoompahar Road Kharga Bâhâdur Road
4. Mackintosh Road A.J.C. Bose Road50
5. Auckland Road Gandhi Road
6. Commercial Road Nehru Road
7. Salt Hill Road Swami Prabhudananda Road
8. Jalapahar Road Dr. Zakir Hussein Road
9. Banesteed51 Road Bina Kumari Gongba Road
10. Tön.gā Road D. B. Giri Road
11. Beechwood Road Tshering Gongba Road
12. Theatre Road S. M. Das Road
13. McKenzie Road Laden La Road
14. Ferndale52 Road R. N. Sinha Road
15. Marian Road Accha Rai Rasik Road
16. Bringwin Road Dr. S. K. Paul Road
17. Conservancy Road Sudhîr Kumari Road
18. Goode Road Pt. Dharnidhar Road
19. Waddell Road N. C. Goenka Road
20. Morgan Road T. B. Monastery Road
21. Mount Pleasant Road H. D. Lama Road
22. Daroga bazaar Road B. M. Chaterjee Road
23. Dispensary Road Dr. Yen Singh Road
24. Kutchery Road Rahul Sankritayana Road
25. Lal Dhiki Road Mas.jîd Line
26. Lochnagar Road Padri53 Ganga Pradhan Road
27. Victoria Road Pamphawati Gurungni Road
28. H. L. Ghosh Road Sonam Wangdi Road
29. Singtam Road Kailoo Lama Road
30. Birch Hill Road West/East Jawahar Road
31. Meadow Bank Road Bishop Eric Benjamin Road
32. Mall Road Bhanu Bhakta Sarini Road
33. Rungeet Road C. R54. Das Road
34. Lloyd Road N. B. Singh Road
35. Lebonġ Circular Road R. B. Gurung Road
36. Apple Tree Road J. N. Yadav Road
37. Herman Road Coochbehar Road
38. Old Post Office Road Robertson Road55
39. Elysee56 Road Eden Falls Road
49
This road before being christened the Indian National Army Bypass was briefly known as the Gandhi Road
50
Acharyā Jagdish Chandra Bose Road
51
Band steed
52
Distorted locally as Farendale
53
Nepali distortion of the word – Padre
54
Chitranjan Das Road
55
Also Sahid D. B. Thapa

Photo Essays
Historic Personalities
R.shi Aurobindo was sent to Darjeeling by his father Kr.s.nadhan at an early age of five years to study at
the Loreto Convent. He arrived in Darjeeling with his brothers Binoy and Manmohan. Not much has
been recorded though of the young Aurobindo, however, Darjeeling had a deep impact on the young boy,
who spent many years in the town. He is once said to have told his disciples that it was in Darjeeling that
he had felt close to spirituality. How far this is true however, cannot be ascertained. The photo depicts a
young Aurobindo in his Loreto Convent uniform. This was perhaps one of the few photos taken of young
Aurobindo. All other photographic evidences of Aurobindo in Darjeeling are extinct. [The photo above is
undated].
56
or Elsie

G. Gagrat was one of the first Parsi Businessmen to author a success story in Darjeeling Hills. Gagrat is
seen here posing for a photo at the Chowrasta in 1898.

Dalbâhâdur Giri
A great freedom fighter, Dalbâhâdur Giri was born on the 8th

of March 1887. He died on the 9th of November 1924. [This
undated charcoal portrait is undated]
The first Rai Bâhâdur among the Marwari Community in

Darjeeling, Seth Parasram [the photograph is undated].
Aribâhâdur Gurung
Aribâhâdur Gurung along with Damber Singh Gurung was one of the first
barristers from Darjeeling Hills. They were both also the founder leaders of
All India Gőrkha League

Deshbandhű Chitranjan Das
on his death bed at Step-Aside
Chitranjan Das, originally a

barrister suddenly entered into
the political scenario in order to
save Aurobindo Ghosh from the
hanging noose when he got
implicated in the Alipore Bomb
Conspiracy Case. His wit and
powerful handling of the case
was the reason behind
Aurobindo's freedom. Born in a
well to do Bengali family on the
5th of Nov 1870, he was highly
educated and received a degree
in Law from England.
Chitranjan Das, whose life is a
landmark in the history of India's struggle for Independence, was endearingly called ‘Deshbandhű’. C. R.
Das died on the 16th of June 1925, in Darjeeling at the age of 55 at his residence known as Step Aside
below Chowrasta.
Swami Avedananda meditating in Darjeeling in 1936
Swami Avedananda established two centers of the

RamaKr.s.na Vedanta Mtt.h, one in Calcutta and one in
Darjeeling. The Swami was very much in love with
Darjeeling and meant to uplift the hill-people by spreading
among them religious, moral and intellectual education.
Swami Prabhudananda was one of his disciples.
Acharyā Jagdish Chāndrāỉ Bose one of the greatest scientists to

have ever been born in this country lived much part of his in
Darjeeling. Most of his works were based and carried in Darjeeling.
He was absolutely in love with Darjeeling and believed it to be a
paradise for Botanists all over the world.
Born 30th Nov. 1858

Died 23rd Nov. 1937

Hêm Lata Sarkâr
Hêm Lata Sarkâr was the founder of the Maharani School. She was also the first
female commissioner of Darjeeling Municipality. Her contribution to education in
Darjeeling is truly of great importance. Hêm Lata Sarkâr also had a close
relationship with the likes of Jagdish Chāndrāỉ Bose and Rabindranath Tagore,
both of whom had graced her residence frequently. [The above portrait is undated]
A portrait of Tula Bâhâdur Pun, Victoria Cross (VC)
Pun was awarded a VC for the valour shown at the battlefield of

Mogaung on the night of 6/7th June 1944. After his comrades were
killed around him, he had single handedly charged upon a group of
Japanese who were dug in 30 yards away, across open ground, firing
his bren-gun from the hip. The enemy shocked by his valour thus,
giving up to be taken in by one man.
Mogaung is considered as the 3rd Gőrkha Rifle's most glorious day as

it won two Victoria Crosses (the second was a posthumous award to
Captain Michael Allmand), one DSO (Distinguished Service Order),
one IOM (Indian Order of Merit), three MCs (Military Cross), two
IDSMs (Indian Distinguished Service Medals) and 9 MMs (Medal of
Merit).
Legendary Pundit Dharnidhar Sharma in conversation with the great Nepąli Littérateur Paras
Mani Pradhan [undated]

Pragatîsîl Nepąli Sahi.t.ya Parîshād welcomes Mahakavī BalKr.s.na Sam and Laxmī Prasad
Deokota. The welcoming committee includes G. N. Pradhan, Pt. Dharnidhar Sharma, Luckhi Devi
Sewa (Sundas), Benu Singh and Agam Singh Giri among others [1951]
Governor C. Rajago.pậ.lachari with Jwalaprasad Sharma and D. E. Avari at the Chowrasta Park
in Darjeeling [Undated]

Governor Katju visiting the Goenka School - Among the entourage are – The Maharajah of
Burdwan, N. C. Goenka, B. P. Agarwala and R. N. Agarwala [Undated]

D. B. Pradhan, an ardent social worker and senior Congress Leader, addressing a festival
gathering at Pull bazaar in the early 50’s

Famous
Writer
turned
Minister
Shiv
Kumar Rai
with
Padam
Bâhâdur
Pradhan,
Ratna
Bâhâdur
Pradhan
and D. B.
Pradhan at
the
Hanging
Bridge in
Pull
bazaar

Tenzing Norgay being welcomed by the people at Pull bazaar in 1954, after his conquest of Mt.
Everest - Present among the populace are D. B. Pradhan, M.N. Giri, and Shiv Charan
Farewell to Sub-Judge S.K. Sanyal in 1960 (Sitting 1st Row L - R): T. K. Pundit, L. P. Roy, S.
C. Gupta, S.K. Sanyal, A.C. Chaterjee, N.K. Kusari (Standing 2nd Row L-R): S. B. Mitra, S.P.
Sinha, S. Roy, D. K. Chowdhury, P. L Subba, R.N. Prasad, B.B. Dewan, J.D.S. Rai, M.P.
Pradhan, V. Sinha, Tarang Pundit among others

Mahapundit Rahul Sankritayana, a
scholar, traveler, writer, philosopher
and a great lover of Darjeeling died in
Darjeeling on the 14th of April 1963.
WB Congress President Atul Basu, Senior Congress

leader Bijoy Singh Nahar and Gőrkha League Leader
Deoprakash Rai, with the then CM Prafulla Chāndrāỉ Sen
on way to Turnbull High School in 1965.

Gajendra Gurung (State Minister), Manish Gupta (DM) and prominent journalist Dilip Bose
witnessing the 1975 All India Brigade of Gőrkha Gold Cup at the St. Joseph's Ground,
Darjeeling, with the Cinestar Amitabh Bachchan
Charles Dunne
Charles Dunne also known popularly as Charlie Dunne

was a great lover of cricket among other games. He
was born in 1900. He was the Health and Sanitation
officer during the British Raj. He was also an ardent
social worker.

Deo Nâ.râ.yâ.n Pradhan
Veteran Congess Leader, Freedom Fighter and a

social worker from Bijanbari

Historical Snippets
 In 1893, the Crown Prince of Austria, Prince Frederick Ferdinand had visited Darjeeling and stayed
at the Woodlands Hotel57. Prince Frederick Ferdinand had also absolutely fallen in love with the ‘Toy
Train’, as it is said that he would often book the entire train and make a journey down to Siligūrî and
back just to enjoy the ride.
 In 1905, Thomas Elva Edison had gifted Swami Avedananda, one of the gramophones he had
invented. Swami Avedananda brought it along with him on his return journey to Darjeeling. The
gramophone is still preserved today at the RamaKr.s.na Vedanta Ashrâma in Darjeeling58.
 The famous Hollywood actresses Vivien Leigh was born in Darjeeling at the Eden Sanatorium on
November 5, 1913. Her maiden name was Vivian Mary Hartley. Her father Ernest Hartley was a
businessman with a rather adventurous personality and her mother Gertrude Robinson Yackje was a
dedicated mother and housewife. Vivien herself was a very happy little nymph absolutely in love
with Darjeeling. In one of her final interviews, Vivien is quoted as saying, “I had perhaps the best
childhood any child could ever have, simply because I was born in Darjeeling. I would frolic around
the gardens and forests, play with butterflies and talk with birds and have the most glorious time. It
was definitely the happiest part of my life.”
(Inset previous page: Vivien at the age of six. This photo was taken weeks after she had left
Darjeeling. Right: Vivien with her mother Gertrude. This photo was taken in Darjeeling at the local
studio.)
57
Now where the Government Circuit House is situated
58
However, as per recent communiqué from the Ashram, the same has been transported to the Ashram’s Calcutta
headquarters.

A movie poster of the now memorable Waterloo Bridge starring Vivien Leigh and Robert
Taylor
And it was in Darjeeling itself that Vivien had her first acting experience. When she was three she
was supposed to sing ‘Little Bo Beep’, dressed as a Dresden shepherdess, but once onstage she
announced that she was going to recite it59. However, when Vivien eventually grew up to attain the
age of six, her mother decided that it would be better for her to go to school in England and thus,
very sad at having to leave Darjeeling, Vivien is said to have spent a week weeping. She was
ultimately taken to England and enrolled into the Catholic Convent of the Sacred Heart in Roe
Hampton.
 The 10th May 1922 issue of ‘Darjeeling Advertiser’ published a rather interesting story of a wild
animal rampaging around the heart of Darjeeling. The story is thus:
7th May Darjeeling: The entire town today was witness to the madness of an animal which caused
many injuries and loss of property. Spotted at the very dawn, among the dense foliage surrounding
the St. Paul’s School by native milkmen, the animal as big as a wild buffalo upon being hit by stones
ran down towards the residential areas. In a short period it was at the very heart of Chowrasta
where it drank from the fountain near the Bellevue Hotel causing great havoc among the populace.
Mr. Price who had then been leaving for Lebonġ miraculously escaped when the beast running down
toward Lebonġ nearly ran over him. A poor native labourer meanwhile was not that luckily as the
beast hit him throwing him far away, perhaps as far as 20 feet. The residence of the Busteé
meanwhile ran to protect themselves. It was only at the foot of the hill when the beast disappeared
towards the Phoobtshering Tea Estate that Mr. Price was able to take a good look at it. The beast
was a massive rhinoceros that had appeared out of nowhere. Incidentally, two of the most well
known hunters of the Doars valley Mr. Ward Wilson and Mr. Pascal were present at the Damried
Hotel in Darjeeling and upon being impressed into service shot the rampaging rhinoceros at the
59
As to exactly when and where we have not been able to ascertain the facts

Phobtshering Tea Estate. The rampaging rhinoceros left fifteen natives wounded and numerous
houses and shed thoroughly destroyed.
 When the Gőrkha Dukh Niwarak Sangha (G.D.N.S) was established in 1932, its main objective
besides maintaining unity among the Nepąlese people were to cremate disowned corpses with full
rituals, offer financial help to students and create cultural awareness among the general populace.
Eminent intellectuals and social workers of the period like Harshdwaj Lama, Dhanbir Mũkhia and
Ratanlal Bra.hma.n popularly known as ‘Mai.la Ba.z.æ’ had played a prominent role in its
establishment.
 In 1932-33 the population of the Darjeeling Municipality was 19, 903. L. G. Pinel and S. Sanyal
were Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively. The four ex-officio commissioners were Major S.
A. Max (Civil Surgeon), J. Chambers (Executive Engineer), F. W. Kid, (Police Superintendent) and
F. J. Hut (Deputy Conservator). Among the non-governmental members were Rev. Frederick, J. D.
Caldera, Rev. K. S. Peters, Khan Bâhâdur D. F. A. Aziz, Ramdas Prasad and T. P. Banerjee. The 18
duly elected Municipal Commissioners were: Ward No. 1 (Ghoom) R. Sen, Ward No. 2 (Collington)
Sachidanand Sanyal, Ward No. 3 (Woodlands) A. A. Price and Padam Prasad Pradhan, Ward No. 4
(Chandmari – China Town) Jitendranath Mitra, Harenchandra Bose, Ward No. 5 (Butcher Busteé)
Haney Hingan, Ward No. 6 (Rockville) Dr. S. N. Chaterjee and (Capstan) G. Ranhas Hardy, Ward
No. 7 (Market Square) Rai Sahib Bhuwanmohan Chaterjee and Niranjan Sen, Ward No. 8 (Birch
Hill) Sardar Bâhâdur S. W. Laden La, D. E. Avari, S. Thapa and F. W. Betman, Ward No 9 (Bhutia
Busteé) W. V. Laden La, Ward No 10 (Kutchery) Rai Sahib Hari Prasad Pradhan.
 The Raj Bhawan was earlier the property of the Maharajah of Coochbehar and the present
‘Shrubbery Park’ was the ‘courtyard’ of Sir Thomas Tartan’s bungalow which was called ‘The
Shrubbery’. This bungalow had been constructed in 1879; however it was destroyed in the
earthquake of 1934.
 The ‘Baby’ Austin 7’s was the most popular car among the British planters in Darjeeling. In the early
1940s, these ‘Baby’ Austins’ would dot the roads of the Town.
A Martin Austin HP at the Peshok Road View Point in 1948

 The ‘Railway Workers Union’ started in 1944 through the efforts of M. N. Rai of the Radical
Democratic Party was one of the first Railway Workers union to be started in the Sub-division. The
main objective behind its establishment was to work towards securing ‘appropriate’ wage for the
workers. Securing of medical benefits and allowance was also high in their list of priorities. The
Union while still in its infancy had to call for a strike in order to put forward its demand. The strike
resulted in along struggle between the Union and the establishment. Later a Bollywood movie
inspired from this struggle at Tindhariā was also made. This movie was starred by the then cine
superstar Yusuf Khan popularly known as Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar acted as a young Nepąlese
Railway worker who starts a union to fight for the right of the workers.
[Dilip Kumar during the shooting of the film ‘Saguna Mahato’ with Nayan Prakash Subba at
Tindharia]
 In December, 1947, Mani Printing Press was established by Littérateur Paras

Mani Pradhan. In the month of June, 1949, the first issue of Bhāratỉ, perhaps the
first Nepąli literary magazine from Darjeeling was also released. Paras Mani
Pradhan was its editor and his son Sahitya (Sahi.t.ya) Akademi Award winner
Nagendra Mani Pradhan was its publisher. Roop Nâ.râ.yâ.n Sinha, one of the
most prominent Nepąli writer of the time, wrote its editorials.

 The Student’s Standard Dictionary (English-Nepąli) authored by Paras Mani Pradhan and edited by
his son Nagendra Mani Pradhan and eventually printed at the Mani Printing Press in 1948 was one of
the first English-Nepąli dictionaries to come out of Darjeeling Hills. In a letter dated 11th of March
1948, Swami Prabhudananda writes, “I am delighted to see the Students’ Standard Dictionary
(English-Nepąli) by Shri Paras Mani Pradhan and Shri Nagendra Mani Pradhan. It will be of
immense benefit to our Nepąli students of the English language. Every student, nay, every teacher
should possess a copy of it which has removed a long felt want. May it have a wide circulation
among those for whom it is specially meant.”
 In 1949, the Communist party was banned by the Central government and hence, as a result all
leaders of the party were arrested. However, some of the eminent leaders of the party were able to
run away from Calcutta and hid in Darjeeling in order to escape persecution. Among these leaders
were Jyoti Basu, Sushil Chaterjee and Satyen Majumdar who stayed incognito at Singamari. Leaders
like Nripen Chakravorthy who later became the Chief Minister of Tripura lived as a tourist at the
Munda Khoti locality in Sonada. Almost thirteen years later, during the Indo-Sino War, the
Communist Party once again came under the heavy hand of the Central Government, as its leaders
and party workers began to be arrested en-masse under the ‘Indian Security Act’. Leaders like
Ratanlal Bra.hma.n, Anand Pathak, S. P. Lepcha, Bhadrabâhâdur Hamal, R. B. Khatiwada,
Kr.s.nabhakta Paudyal, Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, Soren Bose, Biren Bose, B. B. Lama, Satyen
Majumdar and Rajen Sinha were all arrested from Darjeeling. One eminent leader, H. B. Rai had
gone underground for 3 months; however when he came out to take a walk at Chowrasta thinking
that things had melted down, he was immediately arrested. All these leaders were kept at Alipore,
Presidency and Berhampore Central Jail. A total of 95 leaders from Darjeeling Sub-division alone
had been arrested. Most of these leaders had to stay in prison for almost three and a half years.
 While on his way back home to Austria Heinrich Harrer had stayed at the Himalayan Hotel in
Kalimpong. It was here at this hotel that he had also started working on his book ‘Seven Years in
Tibet.’ This book eventually became a best-seller and even spawned a block-buster movie. Later, in
1982 Heinrich Harrer returned back to Kalimpong and stayed at the same hotel. The entire intention
behind the trip was to start working on his second book ‘Return to Tibet’.
(Photo: Dressed in parka and pants bought in a Lhasa bazaar, Heinrich Harrer sits on the
flank of 23,996 foot Chomo Lhari, a scared peak on the Tibetan Bhutan border).

 The Nepąlese Royal Family has always had a long and a close relationship with Darjeeling. (Late
King) Birendra Bir Bikram Shahdev, the present King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shahdev and their
brother Dhirendra Bir Bikram Shahdev were all the students of St. Joseph’s School. They studied in
the said school for a period of six years. It is said that they very much like other kids and ‘scared to
death’ of Chandan Singh Rawat, who was then their Football Coach. While both Gyanendra and
Dhirendra were football enthusiasts, Birendra was not fond of the game and found the drills and the
practice sessions revolting. (The present Bhutanese King Jigme Singyé Wangchuk was also a North
Pointer. He is said to have been a good footballer during his school days. Wander he plays football
these days!)


Prominent Visitors
KORösI CSOMA SANDOR - CSOMA DE KOROS, ALEXANDER (c. 1790—1842)
Most scholars, who metaphorically (or otherwise) sit down to study the delightful tenets of Tantric Yoga
and Tibetan Buddhism in whole, probably do not know that they have a 5 foot tall masochistic Hungarian
scholar to thank for their ready access to all things Tibetan. But when Alexander Csoma de Koros,
otherwise known as ‘Skander Beg the Armenian’, or Phyi-glin-gi-grwa-pa60, arrived at Zanskar, on the
fringe of the Tibetan plateau, in 1823, his single-minded devotion or should one say obsession would not
be too strong a word - to absorb the then unknown Tibetan language, let alone a deluge of esoteric
doctrine that hasn’t stopped more than two centuries later.
For 16 months, its is said that Csoma de Koros and the monk Phuntsog crouched in a freezing cell and
laboured over adding Tibetan to Csoma de Koros’ already huge repertoire of languages61. Nudging each
other to turn the page in shivering sub-zero weather and without a fire62, the two subsisted mainly on
tsampa, the Tibetan staple, made of water, tea, salt and yak's blood. Csoma de Koros was nothing if not
thoroughly determined, and in 1834 his grammar and dictionary of the Tibetan language, hitherto as
closed to European minds as were Tibet’s own borders was published in Calcutta. Today there stands a
statue of Csoma de Koros at the Buddhist University of Japan, where he sits in the lotus position,
befitting the bodhisattva he had been declared in 1933.
Like the American Lafcadio Hearn, another short man, Csoma de Koros had cast off his western soul and
sank into the mystic East. But unlike Hearn, Csoma de Koros' early years at a gruelling Hungarian
boarding school left an irreparable bruise on his psyche. He slept on a hard floor at all times, starved,
even when he had ample money for food, and, for the most part, over a period of 14 years, walked from
Nagy-Enyed in Hungary, to Darjeeling, taking in Arabia, much of Central Asia and Ladakh along the
way.
Csoma de Koros’ impetus for his incredible trek was the romantic nationalist belief that the origin of the
‘alien’ Hungarian people were to be found in the remote fastness of Yarkand, on the northern side of the
Karakorum mountain range, and which, in his last days, he hoped to reach. He never made it, dying in
Darjeeling on the 11th of April 1842. Csoma de Koros rejected the now accepted notion that the
Hungarian people are linked to the Finns, saying scornfully that such a theory stank of fish oil.
A meeting with the equally fascinating horse-breeder and travel diarist William Moorcroft led Csoma de
Koros to his Tibetan undertaking which, he believed would provide support for his nationalist fantasies.
Edward Fox's brief but utterly absorbing account of one of scholarship's sublime madmen is a much
welcomed alternative to the blissfully serene reports of cotton candy jaunts amidst the rooftop of the
world that litter many a mind, body and spirit. Edward writes, “Csoma de Koros was, undoubtedly, a nut,
but he was also a genius, and without him we probably wouldn't know a chakra from a hole in the head.”
A Brief Biography
KORösI CSOMA SANDOR (Csoma de Koros Alexander) was born in about 1790 at Körds in
Transylvania and belonged to a noble family which had sunk into poverty. He was educated at Nagy-
Enyed and at Gottingen; and, in order to carry out the dream of his youth and discover the origin of his
countrymen, he divided his attention between Medicine and the Oriental languages. In 1820, having
received from a friend the promise of an annuity of 100 Forms (about $10) to support him during his
60
Tibetan for ‘foreign pupil’
61
By the time Csoma died he had mastered 17 languages
62
It is said that the smoke hurt Csoma de Koros' eyes and hence he would not allow fire inside the room.

travels, he set out for the East. He visited Egypt, and made his way to Tibet, where he spent four years in
a Buddhist monastery studying; the language and the Buddhist literature. To his intense disappointment
he soon discovered that he could not thus obtain any assistance in his great object; but, having visited
Bengal, his knowledge of Tibetan obtained him employment in the library of the Asiatic Society there,
which possessed more than 1000 volumes in that language; and he was afterwards supported by the
government while he published a Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar (both of which appeared at
Calcutta in 1834). He also contributed several articles on the Tibetan language and literature to the
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and he published an analysis of the Kah-Gyur, the most
important of the Tibetan Buddhist sacred books. Meanwhile his fame had reached his native country, and
procured him a pension from the government, which, with characteristic devotion to learning, he devoted
to the purchase of books for Indian libraries. He spent some time in Calcutta, studying Sam.skr.ta and
several other languages; but, early in 1842, he commenced his second attempt to discover the origin of
the Hungarians, however, the second attempt could never be successful as he died in Darjeeling on the
11th of April 1842. Csoma de Koros rests today, peacefully at the Old Catholic Cemetery near the
Darjeeling Government College.
Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
In 1846, Joseph Dalton Hooker a botanist, biogeographer and traveler obtained a government grant for the
trip to India. And as fate would have it, he was granted free passage on the ships taking Lord Dalhousie,
the newly-appointed Governor General, to India.
After visiting Calcutta, Hooker came to Darjeeling where he met Brian Houghton Hodgson, an expert on
Nepąlese culture, Buddhism and collector of Sam.skr.ta manuscripts who was also a passionate
naturalist. The two became close friends and Hodgson helped Hooker prepare for his trip into the
Himalaya. However, by the time Hooker was ready to set off for Sikkim in 1848, Hodgson was taken ill
and hence could not accompany him. Dr. Archibald Campbell, a British government agent, went instead.
Sikkim, a small and impoverished state, was then bordered by Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, as well as British
India. Its King was understandably anxious not to annoy any of his powerful neighbours so he and his
chief minister, the Dewan, were particularly suspicious of travelers like Hooker who surveyed and made
maps during their travels63. When Hooker first sought permission to enter Sikkim, the Dewan made
considerable efforts to prevent him, and even after pressure from the British administration forced the
Dewan to submit, he obstructed their progress in various ways.
63
Their suspicions actually proved well-founded, as Hooker’s maps later proved to have both economic and
military importance to the British

Hooker in Darjeeling Hills
He particularly urged them not to cross the northern border with Tibet during their explorations, but
Hooker and Campbell knowingly ignored his order and the border violation was used by the Dewan as a
pretext to arrest and imprison them in November 1849. The British government secured their release
within weeks by threatening to invade Sikkim. The elderly King was punished with the annexation of
some of his land and the withdrawal of his British pension; a response that even some of the British
thought excessive.
Following his release, Hooker spent 1850 traveling with Thomas Thomson in Eastern Bengal and the two
returned to England in 1851. Together they wrote the first volume of a projected Flora Indica (1855),
which was never completed because of a lack of support from the East India Company (although Hooker
eventually produced the Flora of British India, 1872–1897). However, the introductory essay on the
geographical relations of India’s flora was to be one of Hooker’s most important statements on
biogeographical issues.
Altogether Hooker collected about 7,000 species in India and Nepal and on his return to England,
managed to secure another government grant while he classified and named them. The first publication

was the Rhododendrons of the Sikkim-Himalaya
(1849–51), edited by his father and illustrated by
Walter Hood Fitch, whose fine drawings enriched
many of both Hookers’ publications. Hooker and
Campbell’s travels added 25 new rhododendron
species to the 50 already known and the spectacular
new species they introduced into Britain helped create
a rhododendron craze among British gardeners.
Hooker’s journey also produced his Himalayan
Journals (1854), which were dedicated to Darwin.
Charles Darwin – Hooker shared a mutually

admiring relationship with Darwin.
Hooker’s place in history
According to his son in law, William Thiselton-Dyer,

Hooker was “five feet eleven inches in height and
spare and wiry in figure64” and “in temperament he
was nervous and high-strung”. Thiselton-Dyer also attested to Hooker’s capacity for hard work, a claim
borne out by the full list of his publications, which fills twenty pages65. Some of the more important later
ones include: ‘Outlines of the Distribution of Arctic Plants’ (1862 ); the Student’s Flora of the British
Isles (1870); Genera Plantarum (with George Bentham, 1860–1883); the Flora of British India (1855–
1897); editing the Journal of Joseph Banks (1896); completing Trimen’s Handbook of the Flora of
Ceylon (1898–1900); and, finally, writing ‘a sketch of the life and labours’ of his father (1902). As well
as writing, he continued to travel and visited Syria (1860), Morocco (1871) and the Rocky Mountains of
Colorado and Utah (1877).
Hooker was highly-regarded in his lifetime and received numerous honorary degrees including ones from
Oxford and Cambridge. He was created C.B. in 1869; K.C.S.I. in 1877; G.C.S.I. in 1897; and received
the Order of Merit in 1907. The Royal Society gave him their royal medal in 1854, the Copley in 1887,
and the Darwin in 1892. He received numerous prizes and awards from both British and foreign scientific
societies; the full list of his honours runs to ten pages66.
Although botanists have long-recognised Hooker’s taxonomic skills and his pioneering work on
distribution, his wider reputation has been somewhat obscured by his close relationship with Darwin.
When Hooker appears in histories of nineteenth century science, it is almost invariably as a minor
character in Darwin’s story and his own work, attitudes and opinions have been neglected as a result.
However, recent scholarship has begun to recognise that Hooker’s preoccupations especially taxonomy,
botanical distribution and the disciplinary status of botany are central to understanding the material
practices of nineteenth century natural history, particularly in its imperial context. Hooker’s
correspondence with his colonial collectors illustrates how the practices of nineteenth century natural
history need to be seen as a complex series of negotiations, rather than in terms of straightforward
64
There are portraits of him at the Royal and Linnean Societies and numerous photographs and drawings at Kew
65
Huxley 1918: 486–506
66
Huxley 1918: 507–517

metropolitan dominance as much existing as historiography had assumed that those in the colonies were
passive servants of imperial science. Hooker’s career also casts doubt over standard accounts of the
professionalisation of British science, particularly the assumption that he and the other young
professionalisers (especially those in the X Club), were determined to replace institutions based on
patronage with those based on merit: Hooker inherited Kew from his father and bequeathed it to his son
in law – and the role of patronage in these transitions is unmistakable. Likewise, Hooker’s equivocation
over Darwinism undermines the assumption that it functioned as a unifying ideology for the
professionalisers. While he welcomed and embraced natural selection as allowing naturalists to form
‘more philosophical conceptions’, he also stressed that both Darwinists and non-Darwinians, “must
employ the same methods of investigation and follow the same principles67”. This apparent ambivalence
probably resulted from his need to maintain good relations with his diverse collecting networks, whose
members were often deeply divided over the species question. As is illustrated by the Ayrton
controversy, conflicts over Darwinism were potentially dangerous to a man in Hooker’s position.
Hooker died in his sleep at midnight at home on 10 December 1911 after a short and apparently minor
illness. He was buried, as he wished to be, alongside his father in the churchyard of St Anne’s on Kew
Green. His widow, Hyacinth, was offered the option of burial alongside Darwin in Westminster Abbey,
but perhaps she understood that despite the importance of his relationship with Darwin it was botany,
Kew Gardens and his father who should determine his final resting place.
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne/ Mark Twain
Mark Twain’s Visit to Darjeeling
February 25, 1896: Mark Twain was much pleased with his visit to Darjeeling and with the
fairly good house the inhabitants afforded him for his ‘At Home’ discussions. A good many
planters came up from K.rsǽng and the Terai to hear the great humorist and had no reason to
regret the journey, as he was very good and filled his audience with enough laughter to last for a
few years. He spent a couple of hours at the club on Sunday, and had a peg, and was genial and
entertaining and kept the billiard room so jolly that though it was full of members, no one could
play. He was the guest of the club at dinner the same evening. The weather had not been nice,
and the fog obstructed the view and hid away the beauties of Darjeeling, but Monday, the day of
his departure, was clear and fine again, and Mr. Clemens68 had a good sight of the white snows
and old Kinchinjunga69 before leaving. He was accompanied to the station by several members
of the club and before bidding them good-bye, said that he “had intended to tell the many people
in Calcutta who had told him of the grandeur of the snows that he had seen them, whether he
had or not, and he was glad to be saved the pain of telling a lie".
- Darjeeling Standard70
Mark Twain71 was already 61 years of age when he arrived at Darjeeling in the month of February 1896.
However, his age was no hindrance as his exuberance surpassed his frail structure. He was so excited
67
Hooker 1859: iv
68
Mark Twain’s actual name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. His books including ‘The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin’ are today, the classics of English Literature
69
Kanchenjunga was then spelled as Kinchinjunga
70
From the library of the University of Phoenix

about the journey and at arriving in Darjeeling, that he documented every single detail in his diary72. In
one of such entries, describing the ‘Toy Train Journey’ from Siligūrî to Darjeeling, he wrote:
…The railway journey up the mountain is forty miles, and it takes eight hours
to make it. It is so wild and interesting and exciting and enchanting that it
ought to take a week. As for the vegetation, it is a museum. The jungle seemed
to contain samples of every rare and curious tree and bush that we had ever
seen or heard of. I think, that the globe must have been supplied with the trees
and vines and shrubs that it holds precious… The road is infinitely and
charmingly crooked. It goes winding in and out under lofty cliffs that are
smothered in vines and foliage, and around the edges of bottomless chasms;
and all the way one glides by files of picturesque natives, some carrying
burdens up, others going down from their work in the tea-gardens… By and
by we were well up in the region of the clouds, and from that breezy height we
looked down and afar over a wonderful picture -- the Plains of India, stretching to the horizon, soft and
fair, level as a floor, shimmering with heat, mottled with cloud-shadows, and cloven with shining rivers.
Immediately below us, and receding down, down and down... (Inset above: Mark Twain. This photo was
taken three years after his visit to Darjeeling i.e., in 1899. No photographic evidence of his visit to
Darjeeling exists. It is said he simply did not find a time to stand still so that a photograph could be taken.
A number of photographs however, must have been taken by the people who hosted and entertained him,
none though could be found.)
Mark Twain was also very much fascinated by the people of Darjeeling. In his diary, he wrote:
…We had passed many a mountain village on the way up, and seen some new kinds of natives, among
them many samples of the fighting Ghurkas (Gorkhas). They are not large men, but they are strong and
resolute. There are no better soldiers among Britain's native troops. And we had passed shoals of their
women climbing the forty miles of steep road from the valley to their mountain homes, with tall baskets
on their backs hitched to their foreheads by a band, and containing a freightage weighing -- I will not say
how many hundreds of pounds, for the sum is unbelievable. These were young women, and they strode
smartly along under these astonishing burdens with the air of people out for a holiday. I was told that a
woman will carry a piano on her back all the way up the mountain; and that more than once a woman
had done it…
Describing the hotels and the native English settlers of Darjeeling, he wrote:
…We found a fairly comfortable hotel73, the property of an indiscriminate and incoherent landlord, who
looks after nothing, but leaves everything to his army of Indian servants. No, he does look after the bill --
to be just to him -- and the tourist cannot do better than follow his example. I was told by a resident that
the summit of Kinchinjunga is often hidden in the clouds and that sometimes a tourist has waited twenty-
two days and then been obliged to go away without a sight of it. And yet went not disappointed; for when
he got his hotel bill he recognized that he was now seeing the highest thing in the Himalayas. But this is
probably a lie…
Mark Twain’s observations are certainly very humorous and interesting as it records an unknown facet of
19th Century Darjeeling and also gives an interesting insight to the social life of both the British settlers
and the native people. However, one of Mark Twain’s last entries of Darjeeling is rather surprising.
71
Though it cannot be proved, Mark Twain could have been accompanied by his wife and daughter in his journey
to Darjeeling
72
Parts of his entries were later incorporated in his book ‘Following the Equator: A Journey around the World’
73
Mark Twain never used names of Places in his diary and as no present records exist, it has certainly been
impossible thus far to ascertain as to the name of the hotel in which he was lodged while in Darjeeling

Whether his sense of direction was comical or that he had never had had a look at the map of the sub-
continent is unknown. The entry reads:
…After lecturing I went to the Club that night, and that was a comfortable place. It is loftily situated, and
looks out over a vast spread of scenery; from it you can see where the boundaries of three countries
come together, some thirty miles away; Thibet74 is one of them, Nepaul75 another, and I think
Herzegovina76 was the other...
Swami Vivekananda
In a letter dated 25th of February 1897, Swami Vivekananda writes to one of his disciples Mrs. Wool,
who was then a resident of Darjeeling, “I have been lately very busy and as a result my health has
deteriorated. Hence, I have decided to leave for Darjeeling posthaste where I can rest and recuperate.”
However, Swami Vivekananda was not able to travel to Darjeeling that soon. He instead arrived in
Darjeeling on the 5th of May, two months later. He stayed for a month and fully recuperated. However, he
returned back to Darjeeling again on the 4th of April 1889 almost a year later. In a letter to another of his
disciples Mrs. Alibul, he writes, “Truly, the magnificence of Darjeeling is such that one is allured as a
bee to the nectar.”
In another letter dated 23rd of April 1898, he writes to Swami Brahmananda, “Alas, the time has come for
me to leave this blessed land. I will be back in Calcutta soon. However, I feel that I should stay at
K.rsǽng for a day, perhaps to soak up for a little while in the misty dreams of these hills.”
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

Gurudev had a special bonding with Darjeeling hills and frequently visited places like Mungpoo,
Kalimpong and K.rsǽng besides staying in Darjeeling. In 1922, inspired by the cascading waters of
Pagla Jhora, a stream near K.rsǽng, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore had penned one of his finest plays
titled Muktadhara or the Free Current. Muktadhara, described by the poet as “a representation of a
concrete psychology”, was translated in English by the Nobel Laureate himself in 1922 and was
published with the title ‘The Waterfall’.
In Darjeeling meanwhile, the Casselton which is now a hostel for the student of Darjeeling Government
College was booked for the Gurudev at the monthly rent of Rs. 243. Gurudev would recite poems of
Tennyson and Browning among other poets here. He also composed many of his poems at Casselton.
The Gurudev had for the first time come to Darjeeling in 1882 and returned back in 1887 and 189577. In
his October 1896 visit he penned a story titled ‘Dur.a.sa’ at Casselton. It is believed that explaining the
inspiration behind the story to Bipinbihari Gupta, he had said, “One day, we were having our routine
poem recitation at the Casselton when all of a sudden the Maharani of Coochbehar suggested that they
will all write a story, given that the first line of same would be written by me. We agreed and I promptly
gave them the first line, which was of course in my mind for a long time. The first line was such - The
cloud has unambiguously covered everything on the Darjeeling-Calcutta road, revealing only a young
Indian girl crying in the dream like haze. Of course, the girls eventually rather betrayed me and I had to
sit down and write the story myself.”
74
Tibet
75
Nepal
76
Herzegovina is situated in the now divided Yugoslavia
77
We do not however, know much about these visits

In 1914, Gurudev accompanied by his son Rathindranath Tagore and his wife had come to Darjeeling
again. We do not have much detail on this visit however. Even the place where he stayed at seems to be
debatable. Most scholars believe that he had stayed at the Woodlands, while some believe that it was
‘Ashantulli78.’ Both remain inconclusive.
Later, in the month of June 1931, Gurudev arrived in Darjeeling and stayed at ‘Ashantulli’ which this
time we are confirmed by our findings: Among many of his letters written from ‘Ashantulli’, in one letter
dated 10th June 1931, he writes, “It is because of the exploitation of the innocent people of this country
that this country is in such a situation. While I was traveling in Gayâ, I had come across a rather strange
or should I say comical incident. A Queen from West India had arrived and upon meeting a poor priest
had put on his feet a load of wealth. I laughed, didn’t that wealth belong to the poor man and hadn’t the
Queen been able to be a Queen after taking that wealth from him?”
On the 27th of April 1933 Gurudev

visited Darjeeling for the last time. Of
course, it does not mean that he never
came to Darjeeling Hills again. He just
did not come to Darjeeling again. It
seems by this time due to his age and
the subsequent love affair with
K.rsǽng, Kalimpong and especially
Mungpoo, Darjeeling was somewhat
forgotten. On the 13th of May 1933
Gurudev wrote to Hemantwala Devi, “I
have taken shelter in the laps of
Himalayas.” Describing about his
journey, Gurudev writes in the same
letter, “I was also certainly very lucky
because I did not had to even pay for
the fare for the whole journey.
However, my ambition of being alone
here remains somewhat unfulfilled as I
am as much surrounded by people as I
am in Calcutta79”.
An interesting part of the letter is the
paragraph where he describes
Darjeeling perhaps for the last time.
“Cabbages and various vegetables are
abundant here”, he writes. “Fruits
however, seems to be a bit elusive.
Flowers are everywhere. The days are
cold and the sun almost seems to play
hide and seek with us.”
78
Now Saradeswari Girl’s High School
79
It is even believed that the reason behind Gurudev’s eventual migration to Mungpoo was massive public
adulation that he received in Darjeeling. Darjeeling in those days, was filled with Rajahs and Maharajahs, as also
the elite members of the Bengali community, who made it a point to offer all courtesy to the Gurudev, which of
course, had the Gurudev seeking some place else where he could not be recognized and hence, not offered such
courtesy. Mungpoo thence, was a great discovery for Gurudev, who eventually adopted it as his private holiday
destination and the place where he could recuperate his soul and concentrate on his writing.

During the same period, Mâitreya Devi was also staying at the Stewart Lodge which was around 2 miles
away from the Glen Eden where the Gurudev was staying. In her book, ‘Near Heaven’, Mâitreya Devi
writes, “I would daily, visit Gurudev. In these two months I was also able to be close to him. Such an
understanding prevailed in due time that when I used to reach their house, Pratima Devi would leave for
the market armed with a jute bag and a Japanese umbrella. Meanwhile, I was invariable understood to
take care and accompany him (Gurudev) in the period of her absence.”
On June, days before Gurudev was to leave Darjeeling, he was felicitated by the Gymkhana Club. A
seminar was also organized and Gurudev recited many of his Bengal and English poems. (Inset - Gurudev
reciting ‘Jan.modin’ over the All India Radio at his Gauripur house on the 25th of April 1940)
After 1933, Gurudev never came to Darjeeling, but he frequently visited K.rsǽng, Kalimpong and
Mungpoo where he wrote many of his poems. On the 25th of April 1940, Gurudev recited his poem
‘Jan.modin80’ over the All India Radio. Special arrangements had been made for the Gurudev to recite his
poem from where he was staying. And hence, the AIR transported all their instruments to the Gauripur
House81 where the Gurudev was staying. The telecast was a great success.
Gurudev visited Darjeeling Hills sixteen82 times. Given below is the year chronology of his visit:
Darjeeling: 1882, 1887, 1895, 1896 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1931, 1933
K.rsǽng: 1896, 1938, 1940
Mungpoo: 1935, 1938, 1940
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhiji at the Hill Cart Road near Kak Jhora with Anne Beasant and Deshbandhu Chitranjan Das in 1925
(One can see the Toy Train track running alongside the road)
80
Birthday
81
At present the Gauripur House is used as a Co-operative Training Centre
82
Recorded

Mahatma Gandhi visited Darjeeling only once in 1925. However, he is said to have completed most of
the 80 km of journey from Siligūrî to Darjeeling on foot. At times he did use a rickshaw and a bullock
cart but according to Deshbandhű Chitranjan Das, the scenery so enthralled him that he (Mahatma
Gandhi) declared that ‘the best way to travel through such a beautiful land was on foot’. Mahatma
Gandhi was accompanied by Chitranjan Das and Anne Beasant on his journey.
Mahatma Gandhi is also said to have been ‘rather amused’ by the Toy Train, but it is still uncertain and
inconclusive that he traveled in it. “The Mahatma was not at all fascinated rather amused (by the Toy
Train83). Indians still had to make the journey huddled in the general coaches, while the Europeans were
given the honour of traveling like Kings in the well furnished first class coaches. The toy train was the
embodiment of the British domination of innocent people of India. Mahatma knew that all the while and
perhaps that was the reason why he did not travel on it.” Larker Fischer, a young scribe from Calcutta
who initially accompanied84 Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his diary.
All records of Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to Darjeeling beside the above photograph and Larker Fischer’s
entries are sketchy to say the best. We do not know where in Darjeeling he stayed. We also do not know
how long he stayed and what was his main objective behind his visit. Though most scholars believe that
his visit to Darjeeling was a part of his journey across the nation, there must have been some concrete
reasons behind his visit besides being just a stop-over as some scholars however, stress.
Swami Avedananda meanwhile is said to have interviewed the Mahatma in Darjeeling. In the Swami’s
Bengali Biography by Swami Sankrananda85, the following conversation between Swami Avedananda
and Mahatma Gandhi which took place in Darjeeling86 has been recorded.
Swami Avedananda, “I have come from America to become personally acquainted with you and your
movement.”
Gandhiji, “Why have you come from America to see me?”
Swami Avedananda, “To learn the truth of the Non-cooperation movement which you have started in
India. My friends in America asked me about it but I could not get correct idea from the scanty reports
which were published in American newspapers. I came just before you were put in the jail, but the things
have changed since?”
Gandhiji, “How have the things changed?”
Swami Avedananda, “At first you were a non-cooperator, but now you are only a social reformer. Is not
it a big coming down?”
83
Emphasis added by the author
84
Fischer was rather strangely dismissed from his job. We do not know any more about him. The above portion of
Fischer’s diary was sent to me (Barun Roy) as post-scripts by Lyla Romanenko in Moscow. She had meanwhile
picked the same from an online news board while in New Jersey. The authentification of the said postscripts
remains pending.
85
The author has also mentioned Gandhiji’s presence in Darjeeling to be the result of C. R. Das’s illness and his
visit to see him. It must be remembered that C. R. Das’s died soon after the Mahatma’s visit i.e., on the 16th of June
1925. So it could be possible that the Mahatma had come to see him. But the only photograph of the Mahatma’s
visit features C. R. Das at close proximity and in healthy state. Did he accompany Gandhiji during his journey from
Siligūrî to Darjeeling as this photograph is said to depict, or is this photograph just a part of a sightseeing trip
organized by C. R. Das for the Mahatma? We have no answers!
86
Incidentally, this was the first time that both of them had met.

Gandhiji, “My principles are still the same but as the country is not ready so some portions of my work
have changed.”
Swami Avedananda, “In America you have many friends who admire you because you have started the
Non-Cooperation movement among the mass which nobody had done before you.”
(The subject changes suddenly!87)
Swami Avedananda, “You are doing the work started by RamaKr.s.na and Vivekananda in the lines of
removing untouchability and in encouraging cottage industries, therefore, I bring to you blessings. You
know that though a high caste Brahmin by birth, RamaKr.s.na once prayed to the Divine Mother to take
away Ah.ang.ka.ra88 from his mind that a Brahmin is superior to a sweeper on account of his birth and to
enable him to realize that the Âtman of a sweeper is just as divine as that of a high cast Brahmin, and in
order to realize that grand truth he practically went to the door of lowly sweeper and wiped the dirt of the
door with his flowing long hair which he then had on his head. Thus he set an example of the removal of
untouchability which is higher religion of this age…”
Whatever the fact may be, as to the real objective behind the Mahatma’s visit, one thing is for sure that
Gandhiji was so enthralled by the beauty of the hills that he covered most of the hills on his feet so that
he could observe every part of her in that short period. It is also a known fact that Gandhiji had a special
place for the Gőrkhas in his heart and it is said that years later when he was presented with oranges from
Darjeeling by Madan Bihari Varma, the then District Committee Secretary of the Indian National
Congress at the Ramgarh session89, Gandhiji had smiled and cried, “Oh! How sweet and tasty the
oranges are.” Upon being asked by Varma as to how he had known that the oranges were sweet even
before tasting it, Gandhiji had replied, “They are sweet because they are from Darjeeling and carry the
feelings of the sweet people of those hills.”
Bhowal San.ya.si
“But indeed such a story must truly be found in a novel ... Reality seems to be rather unaccomplished to
conceive such a plot again...”
Truly, whenever one comes across the most incredible story of Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy one is
baffled and thoroughly mesmerized. It is said that truth at times runs stranger than fiction; the story of
Bhowal San.ya.si must thence have been the progenitor of the same.
On the 18th of April 1909, Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy, heir apparent of the 1/3 of the Kingdom of
Bhowal, along with his wife Bivawatidevi, brother-in-law Satyendranath Banerjee, friends Biren
Banerjee, Anthony Morel and a Doctor by the name of ‘Asu’ arrived in Darjeeling. The Prince was also
accompanied by a huge entourage which consisted of his personal servants, guards, cook, bearers and
helpers among others. Of course, in Darjeeling such excursions of Princes and Kings were not
uncommon, however, for Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy this was his first and as fate would have it, his last.
87
Author
88
Bloated pride
89
This session is important in the history of India because this was when a rift was observed between Mahatma
Gandhi and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose for the first time. Netaji who was then the President of the Indian National
Congress ultimately resigned and created Forward Block and much later disappeared from K.rsǽng to eventually
make way to Germany to meet Adolf Hitler.

Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy
The Prince along with his family, friends and the entire entourage settled down for a blissful holiday at
the now famous ‘Step Aside’. It is said that the Prince would invariably spend his day’s riding horses,
gambling and playing snooker at the local clubs. He would at times also mingle with English women and
indulge in immoral activities. His relationship with his wife at best could be said to be ‘estranged’ and as
a result the Prince neither talked with his wife nor ever spent time with her. Meanwhile, it is said that a
local English settler told the Prince of the abundance of game and even mountain bears at the Tiger Hill
forests, the knowledge of which had the Prince seething for undertaking a hunting expedition to the same.

It is in the period of this perpetration that the Prince suddenly and rather inexplicably suffered from
severe stomach ache while sleeping at his bed-room in Step – Aside at precisely 11 pm. Thereafter, a
horde of Doctors including the Prince’s private Doctor and the then Civil Surgeon of Darjeeling Dr. J.V.
Calvert were put into service, who in turn treated the same of Gastronomic sickness. The Prince’s
brother-in-law Satyendranath Banerjee on his 7th May 1909 dairy entry writes, “Ramendra is very sick.
He has fever and stomach aches. Last night he could not sleep and as a result asked us to take him to
another room.” The Prince died the next morning. As per Bengali traditions, the Prince was cremated at
the local Hyn.du Burning Ghat90 on the same day, i.e., 8th of May 1909. Meanwhile, all rituals completed
the entire family, friends and the entourage of the Prince left for Jaidebpur, the capital of Bhowal in
present Bangladesh. The Royal family given to the death of such a young Prince91 sank into mourning.
And on the 18th of May 1909, the last rites of the Prince was read and one of the ‘Dãs.ha.Sąmąs.ka.ra’
(Ten Rituals ordained by the Vedas) the ‘Shr. ãdh’ completed by Royal Priests. (Inset previous page:
Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy in the later part of his life)
However, within a short period as if cursed by a serpent the Prince’s elder brother and the younger one
died, Ranendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy on 14th of September, 1910 and Ravindra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy in the month of
Sept. 1913 respectively. The three Princes who effectively made the Royal Hierarchy ceased to exist and
hence, as a matter of convenience the Kingdom of Bhowal, which then was a protectorate under the
British Rule began to be administered by the lawyers as nominated by the widowed Princesses
themselves. Bivawatidevi after appointing her representative also had the ‘power of attorney’ invested on
her brother Satyendranath Banerjee, who had been Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy’s good friend and
companion. Years passed and Bhowal essentially was amalgamated as a district to the greater Bengal.
The widowed Princesses began to live away from Jaidebpur in cities like Dacca and Calcutta and the
subject of the expired Princes now effectively began to live a miserable life under greater taxes,
‘lagaans’, surcharges and so on. Even the Royal Palace at Jaidebpur where the three Princes’ mother,
sisters and their families lived lost all glory and turned into a rather gloomy ‘palace of memory’. Twelve
years thus went by. The Royal Family at Jaidebpur without any kingdom and authority begged of mercy
from the Gods and the people of the same begged for mercy from the new rulers. If today we are to
investigate deeply into what then took place, the truth that can be derived can only be called a miracle.
By the end of the year 1920, a strange rumour began to float in the entire of Bhowal. From one farmer to
another, from one Zamindar92 to another, a whisper began to be heard – ‘The Prince has returned’. “In the
beginning it was not clear as to what they were talking about,” writes F. W. Nedhon the then
Superintendent of Police, Jaidebpur. “Truly, they could not have been talking about any of the dead
Princes.” Nedhon was of course, entirely wrong; the whispers were talking about one of the dead Princes.
The rumours within days took the shape of a gale and thence a tempest and swept the entire of (United)
Bengal. The rumour now rather more elaborate and informative than previous one was thus – ‘Prince
Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy has arrived back from the dead to rule his Kingdom and set free his people’. In
a ‘confidential memo’ dated 5th May 1921, sent to J. H. Lindsay, the then Collector of Dacca by F. W.
Nedhon the following is found: “A mysterious incident has occurred here leading to generation of
mischievous ideas and rumours among the natives. Around five months earlier a holy man had arrived in
Dacca. It is said that he had arrived from Haridwar. The holy man started residing at the backlands near
the house of one Mr. Roopbabu. Later the Zamindar of Kasimpur, Atul Prasad Rai Chowdhury took him
to Kasimpur from where the holy man was taken to Jaidevpur. The holy man now is residing at ‘Madhav
bari’ in the precinct of the Royal Palaces. It is a tradition here in Jaidevpur that all holy men are given
refuge…
Every day a great multitude of people comes to see the holy man and every one seems to believe that this
holy man is actually Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy. The natives from all over the state and indeed from
90
Though, ghat as such does not exist in Darjeeling. But as Hyn.du Burning grounds comes with a certain
‘trademark – ghat’, the same in Darjeeling hence have been known to be called the Hyn.du Burning Ghat.
91
The Prince was only 21 years of age at that time.
92
Landlord

outside are coming to see this holy man. The holy man also is said to have claimed that he is indeed
Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy. This has generated mischievous feelings among the natives…
Thus, in this situation, it is of utter importance that a strong stance be taken in this case and that an
investigation be undertaken. The natives here are getting out of control and hence, if suitable action is not
taken right now, it might get totally out of our control. I am in wait of your orders. Yours truly, F. W.
Nedhon.”
No more further needs to be added on the situation besides the fact that within months, the people of
Bhowal effectively rose up in the favour of the ascetic who proclaimed to be Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n
Roy, who had himself originally died in Darjeeling. The situation now turned for worse as a great
number of clashes between the supporters of the ‘Returned Prince’ and those against him began to take
place in which a number of people were also injured and killed. The ascetic93 thence, in a move
universally praised, resolved to fight not on the streets but in the Court of Law as an educated man that he
was.
Incidentally and rather surprisingly, those who ardently supported him were the members of the Royal
family including the Queen mother and the late Prince’s sisters and their families, while at the same time
those who were opposing him were also the members of the Royal family including the widowed
Princess Bivawatidevi. Who would of course, if proven that the ascetic indeed was the Prince would have
the same fighting for justice with his own lawfully wedded wife. And truly, this is what exactly happened
when the famous Bhowal San.ya.si case was submitted at the Dacca Court. On one side stood, an ascetic
by the name Bhowal San.ya.si and facing him was the widowed Princess Bivawatidevi, who according to
the ascetic was his wife, which the widowed Princess herself vehemently denied and protested.
Today, the Bhowal San.ya.si case and the proceedings of the same in the Dacca Court has achieved
legendary status. The proceedings itself took an excess of 970 days (almost two years and eight months).
All those who had been associated in the case one way or other also achieved legendary status. And on
the 24 of August, 1936, when the honourable Judge Pannalal Basu ultimately passed down the
judgement, the same consisted of 632 pages. The case had been filed at the court on 27th November 1933.
The case proceedings finally coming to an end on the 21st of May, 1936. 1,584 witnesses had been
produced on the court to bear witness in the said period. Even a Commission had been constituted to
discuss on how many witnesses should be produced at the Court. 1, 069 witnesses had thence borne
witness in favour of the defendant while 515 had borne witness against the defendant. Ultimately, when
the verdict was read, the world was astonished. Bhowal San.ya.si an ascetic was declared to be Prince
Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy and the heir of Bhowal. The entire of Bhowal was thence passed onto him,
which effectively liberated Bhowal from the rule of scrupulous lawyers who had been hired by his wife
to rule the same on her behalf. While the verdict was a great success on the part of the ‘believers of the
Bhowal San.ya.si’, the Court proceedings also laid bare a sinister conspiracy to have the Prince killed by
his own wife, brother-in-law and close friends.
The conspiracy thence, as it was discovered had been hatched long before the Prince planned to visit
Darjeeling. Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy was then a young and a rather spoilt Prince. True as for any
teenager to be spoilt by unburdened pleasure, authority and riches, Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy grew
up to be an utterly spoilt Prince. By the age of seventeen itself, the Prince secretly had a harem of sorts,
where he had unnumbered girls most of them much elder then him and much experienced in the art of
immorality. The Prince would also be always surrounded by friends who were themselves no less spoilt.
Besides this, the Prince would invariably go for hunting trips accompanied by his friends and immoral
women, who would in the forest amidst the flow of costly alcohol and meat from the hunt, create a
unholy paradise. The Prince was also said to have had similar women ‘stationed’ in different cities
including Dacca and Calcutta, where the same would ‘service him in the arts of pleasure’. Thus, with the
pride, honour and the wealth of the great descendants of Kalî Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy, going down the drain, the
93
Now increasingly, coming to be known as the Bhowal San.ya.si

Queen mother, Bilasmoni Devi had thought it well to have the young Prince wedded to Bivawatidevi
who could in turn put some sense of responsibility in the Prince. The Prince meanwhile agreed to marry,
in order not to make his mother unhappy, while at the same even after the marriage taking course to his
own misdeeds. It is even said, that on the night of the marriage, the Prince actually left his newly wed
wife alone in the bed only to sneak away to make love with another woman. Bivawatidevi thence, is
never said to have forgotten that nor the years of maltreatment that followed. Meanwhile, in a rather
classic case of revenge the Princess’ younger brother Satyendranath Banerjee is also said to have
befriended the Prince only to at last betray him and cause his death.
When Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy arrived in Darjeeling, he had been administered poison, though
we cannot exactly say, how, when or by whom. The entire excursion to Darjeeling inspired upon the
Prince by Satyendranath Banerjee and the itinerary of the same made by him was entirely a part of the
conspiracy. When the Prince ultimately fell to the ‘slow poison’, he was hurriedly taken to the Hyn.du
burning ground/Ghát for cremation. However, as fate would have it, a freak storm caused the people at
the burning ground to leave the ‘corpse’ and seek shelter. It is said that when Satyendranath and other
arrived during the brief lull in the rain, the body had disappeared. The story after this is not clear.
Satyendranath is said to have procured someone else’s body and have it cremated, some also believe that
as the entire people gathered in that funeral procession were essentially handpicked by Satyendranath
himself and were hence all co-conspirators the group returning ‘without a candy to buy’ only to proclaim
that they had indeed cremated the Prince. According to another theory, all of those in funeral procession
is said to have returned back home after the body had been lost. This theory is supported by the
Maharajah of Burdwan himself who was then present at the scene as a part of the funeral procession. The
Maharajah in a letter to the Queen Mother of Bhowal writes, “I had witnessed the gathering of some
people around the body after the sudden mysterious storm had subsided. However, I cannot say for fact
that the Prince’s body was cremated that day, because it was not done so in my presence. I did hear, later
that the Prince’s body had been ultimately cremated as according to the Vedic rituals in the evening or
the next morning. I cannot not again precisely, say as to when it could have taken place.” Whatever the
fact might had been, as to how Satyendranath was able to fool such a multitude of people among whom
being the Maharajah of Burdwan, lawyers, intellectuals and British friends of the Prince from Darjeeling
– Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Roy was found by a group of ascetics who thought that the man had been
abandoned by his family members because of their inability to finance his funeral. The ascetics however,
realizing later that the young man was alive and had only sunk into a ‘deep sleep’ took him with them.
For twelve years thence, the young Prince is said to have roamed the entire of the Himalayas, blissfully
unknown to ‘who he really was’, learning the ways of the ascetics and perhaps even as the Lord would
have it, paying for the sins he had committed. Prince Ramendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n only came to know about his
real self when by chance he landed upon the backwaters of Dacca, where the people at once recognized
him. Thence, it was only a long process of faith and love shown by his elder sister Jyotirmeydevi and
mother Bilasmoni Devi that he was ultimately able to know who he was and what had been done to him.
The rest as they say is ‘a thriller written by God himself.’


NOMENCLATURE OF PLACES AND TRIBES
The study of the origin of words and especially the names of places and tribes is most interesting. These
studies give us a rare insight into an almost unknown side of the history of the land and as Koppel had
once said, “The names are indeed the determining factor to the question of the sovereignty of the land.
Truly, either the owner or the one who first lays claim to a land names it, beyond that everything is
irrelevant…” The study of the origin of names of the different places in an around Darjeeling Hills
thence, are not just interesting, they are also of great importance.
The following are the Lap.cheé names for rivers:
‘Rang-nyét’ (Rungeet): Rungeet mean ‘the two streams’, comprising of the Little Rungeet and the Great
Rungeet94.
‘Rang-nyu’ (Lap.cheé name for Teesta): Rang-nyu means ‘the straight river’.
Māhaldi Ung is the Lap.cheé name for the Mahananda River. Māhaldi Ung means ‘the bent over moving
water’.
Ratong means ‘the surging swallowing one,’ the reference perhaps being based on the fact that Ratong is
the main source of the Rungeet River, being itself a glacier-fed rapid torrent subject to sudden and
destructive flooding.
Rilli pronounced Ri-li means ‘the twisting one.’
Rungneac pronounced ‘Rung-nyak’ means ‘the black or dark stream’. In Nepąli this is known as the Kalî
Jhora.
Hills/Mounds and Peaks
[Though the origin of the following names cannot be strictly taken to be entirely Lap.cheé, unless further
contested they can be taken to be as one – Authors]
Senchal pronounced ‘Shin-shel-hlo’ is derived from the Limbű words ‘Shin’ meaning cloud or mist-
envelopment; ‘shel’ meaning wet or dank; and ‘hlo’ meaning a mountain or a hill. Thus, in entirety the
word would invariable be said to mean ‘the damp misty hill.’
Phalut pronounced ‘Fok-lut’ means ‘the bare or denuded peak’.
Singalila pronounced Singli-la means ‘the hill or pass or land of the wild alder95’.
Sandakphu though today is said to mean ‘the height of the poison plant’ a translation which Dr. Waddell
is said to have come up with in the beginning of the twentieth century; a rather recent surmise however,
puts the place to be a derivative of a Limbű word ‘Sindok-kok-ma96,’ meaning ‘the high ridge.’
94
If, however, the name is pronounced as Rung-nyēēt, the word would mean ‘the good river.’
95
Betula Bhojpattra
96
The Lap.cheé name for Sandakphu is ‘Tam’ which means a plateau

Tendong which means ‘the up-raised horn,’ is the mountain where the Lap.cheés are said to have
gathered when the world was floated by water. Actually, a legend, perhaps a later interpolation identical
to Noah’s Arc, further suggests that when the world went under water, a boat containing a few persons
(Lap.cheés of course) and hordes of animals were the only few to survive the rampaging flood. It is
further said in the Legend that the hill rose up like a horn and then subsided to its present form. To this
day at the commencement of the rains a monk is sent from the neighbouring monastery of Niamtchi to
the top of Tendong, where he has to remain during the wet season, praying hard that a second flood may
not be sent. This tradition of a flood is traceable in another Lap.cheé name.
Rong-li meaning ‘the hut of the Lap.cheé’ is today still applied to several Lap.cheé settlements.
Pashok or more popularly Peshok and originally ‘Pa.zok’, means a ‘jungle’ or ‘forest’, or the place where
bamboos are split, thus corresponding to the common Nepąli appellation Chatai-bans given to many
places where mats are plaited from strips of bamboo.
In mountains and passes we have such names as Kanchenjunga derived from the word, ‘Kang-chhen’
meaning, ‘great snow’, ‘mDzöd’ meaning ‘treasure’ and ‘lňa’ meaning ‘five.’ Thus, in entirety, meaning
the ‘five mountains of treasure’. Though these words are said to be of Tibetan origin, a rather recent
surmise of this writer himself puts the etymology of the name ‘Kanchenjunga’ to have originated from
the Nepąli words ‘Kanchaan’ meaning ‘purity’ and ‘Jaga’
meaning place, thus, in entirety again meaning ‘the land of
eternal purity’. Of course, the said surmise is being contested to
say the least.
Further, an interesting Tibetan word which comes closer to

‘Kanchenjunga’ is ‘Kang-chhen-dsö-nga’ who essentially is the
manifestation of the ‘chief country-god97’. In Tibetan paintings
Kang-chhen-dsö-nga is always dressed in red colour, with a
‘gyaltshén’ or banner of victory on one hand and mounted on a
white lion. ‘Kang-chhen-dsö-nga98’ literally means “the five
repositories or ledges of the great snow,” and the god is also
physically descriptive of its five peaks.
Chumulhari (properly pronounced as Jo-mo-lha-ri) means ‘the

hill of Our Lady Goddess.’
Cho-la (properly pronounced kTso-la) means ‘the principal

pass,’ being the main pass between Lower Sikkim and Chumbi.
Jelep-la means ‘the easy, level pass,’ a very appropriate name indeed if this pass is compared with others.
In many quarters this is also said to mean ‘the smooth beautiful pass.’
Mirik means ‘The Burnt Hill’, being originally derived from ‘Mi.rek’, which is the Lap.cheé word for the
burning of foliage on the hills.
97
Patron deity seems to be more appropriate
98
Lhā-tsűn Chhembo gave the name a mythological meaning. According to his stories the mountain was made to
become merely the habitation of the god of that name, and the five “repositories” were real store-houses of the
god’s treasure. The peak which is most conspicuously glided by the rising sun, is the treasury of gold, the peak
which remains in cold grey shade is the silver treasury, and the other peaks are the stores of gems and grain of sorts
and holy books. This idea of treasure naturally led to the god being physically represented somewhat after the style
of “the god of wealth.” He is on the whole a good-natured god, but rather impassive and is therefore less
worshipped than the more actively malignant deities.

‘K.rsǽng’ derived from the Lap.cheé ‘Kharsǽng’ mean’s ‘the dawn’s pole star’.
Kalimpong derived from the words ‘Kalim’ meaning ‘King's Minister’ and ‘Pong’ meaning ‘the
stronghold’; thus, in entirety meaning ‘the stronghold of the King’s Minister’. However, according to a
more localized surmise Kalimpong could also have been derived from ‘Kalibong,’ a Nepąli word for a
black spur. ‘Kalipong’ on the other hand in local dialect stands for ‘Kaulim’ which is a fibrous plant
growing in abundance in the region. However, the most favoured etymology till date has been in the
favour of the Lap.cheé word meaning ‘ridge where we play’99.
Gantok or more popularly Gangtok means ‘the burnt hill’. Though it is uncertain as to who should be
given the credit for naming the same.
Lebonġ originally known as ‘Alǽbong’ means ‘the tongue-shaped spur’.
Darjeeling: While the origin of the name Darjeeling has been explained and deliberated upon this book in
great detail, according to some scholars Darjeeling still could have been derived from Dorjeling which
itself could have been a derivative of the name Dôrjelingpa100. .
Among the Nepąlese names, the most striking is Chiabhangan, “the hollow where one peeps over,”
referring to the main pass between Sikkim and Nepal. Bhangan or Bunjang means a hollow or depression
in the ridge of a mountain chain.
Laldiki – Though it cannot be ascertained as to how Laldiki came into being due to the lack of evidences,
a local legend however seems to come to our aid - Among the Muslim residents of Darjeeling there is a
legend that when Sultan Mohammed Bin Tughlaq invaded Tibet101, his army was hopelessly scattered all
over the present North Bengal. Incidentally, three soldiers of the Sultan’s army found themselves in
Darjeeling. The name of the three soldiers was Lal Khan, Kalu Khan and Samsher Khan respectively.
These soldiers rested at the place which is today popularly known as Laldiki. The soldiers is also said to
have offered their prayers here. Some people believe that these soldiers settled in Laldiki and the
neighbourhood was eventually named after the eldest and the most honourable of the three soldiers – Lal
Khan. The legend however, does not end here; most of the Muslim residents of Darjeeling believe that
these three devote soldiers also laid the foundation of the Bara Mas.jîd (Big Mosque). The Bara Mas.jîd
is thence, said to date back to the rule of Sultan Mohammed Bin Tughlaq102.
Tea: Before the British Raj, tea in Sikkim including the Darjeeling Hills was not grown and as a result
had to be imported from Tibet in the form of Brick tea. Tea was then known by various names among the
populace. Some of these names were hdong-rna-mchogs, dbya-li, rang-spo-mchu-dog, phi-chung-skyag-
ko, rtsi, sim-rtsi, aru, skyi-hdabs, shing-skyur, spempordo-hkyabs, cha-ru, mi-tog-dbyang-hzin and rgen-
mtsen-idan. (All the names consist of a mix match of Tibetan, Limbű, and Lap.cheé).
99
It is said that these local tribesmen used to organize field sports while not engaged in agricultural pursuits, hence
the name
100
Dôrjelingpa was one of the famous Lamas to have visited the Kartok-pa Dô-ling monastery in Sikkim
101
There is absolutely no historical truth to this legend.
102
Again the legend is hopelessly inaccurate with reference to historical facts.

Tribes
Limbűs
‘Limbű’ as a word is essentially Nepąlese in origin and rather inaccurate. The Limbűs meanwhile never
refer to themselves as Limbűs. Their actual name is ‘Yákthumba’ which means ‘Yak Herders’. The
Lepchas and the Bhutias on the other hand call the Limbűs as ‘Tshong’ meaning ‘a merchant103’.
Legend104 tracing the origin of the Limbű tribe
The origin of the Limbű tribe is veiled is great obscurity. Though the most received account relates them
to have come from Kasî (i.e., Beneras), the following folktale taken from an old Limbű manuscript, point
to a rather interesting concept of the origin of the Limbűs and as matter of fact the entire human race.
According to the Yákthumba105 tradition, in the beginning, there existed only the Almighty God Tagyerā
Nîngwa Pűma. His spirit one full moon night entered into Műbűk Wa-ma106 which caused him to create a
woman out of bamboo ashes and fowls’ droppings107. He named this woman Muzinā kyé-ong-ma, and
had her wed to the wind. Eventually out of the wedlock blessed by the almighty God himself, the couple
had a son whom they named Sāsu-weng hara-weng. Sāsu-weng hara-weng grew up and one day while in
a hunting trip met two women108. These two women bore him respectively a son named Suwangbé-ba,
and a daughter named Laha-dang-mā: these two later married each other and hence became the
progenitors of the whole human race.
Meanwhile, after creating Muzinā kyé-ong-ma, Tagyerā Nîngwa Pűma is said to have seated himself on
the right side of Khamba-karma109 and proceeded to invent four different kinds of alphabets. These were
(i) Shyang-bed, (ii) Athar-bed, (iii) Jajur-bed, all written on paper, and (iv) Riki - bed110 which was
written on a doe-skin.
While the four books containing four different kinds of alphabets were lost for centuries, it was
eventually found by four separate people: (i) Shyang-bed by Bishu Karma111, the protecting deity or ruler
of the Kamis; the (ii) Athar-bed by Mahisur, a Bhutia Lāma; the (iii) Jajur-bed by Bishun Raja, the head
of the Brahmans, and (iv) Riki - bed by the two Limbű Rajas. Unfortunately the Riki - bed written on the
103
This must be because the Limbűs were the chief cattle-merchants and butchers at that time.
104
Though legends cannot be proved convincingly they however, form an interesting source of history. Similarly,
folk tales and even old wives’ tales form important sources of history.
105
The original word for the ‘Limbű’
106
Trance like stage
107
It is believed that Muzinā kyé-ong-ma was born a ‘young yet already matured woman’
108
The origin of these women is unknown. If Muzinā kyé-ong-ma was the only woman, these women could not
have existed!
109
Limbű for Kanchenjunga
110
It would not be wrong to suggest here that these four kinds of alphabets are actually only the phonetic distortions
of the four Hyn.du Vedas – Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda and Rig Veda respectively.
111
Almost identical to the name of the Hyn.du God - Vis.wâ.karmâ also the architect of the world in the Hyn.du
mythology

doe-skin was damaged. And it was only when many generations later the great Limbű Siri-jungna, also
known as the Dorze Lāma of Yangrup, saw Mubuk Wa-ma in vision, pointing out the other copy of the
Limbű writings, inscribed on stone... that the Riki bed could be found again. Siri-jungna was, however, in
this betrayed to the Raja of Sikkim and the Tasong monks, who in jealousy or from fear of the Limbűs,
now becoming a united and separate people, tried to kill him by shooting an arrow. In this they however
failed, as also in an attempt to drown him; so finally capturing him alive, they filled his mouth with
fowl’s dung, whereupon his spirit fled away in the form of a bird. Singha Raja112 was at that time said to
be reigning as the King of Nepal.
Lap.cheé
Nomenclature
An interesting surmise is presented by Dr. Waddell in his ‘The Gazetteer of Sikkim113’ which effectively
puts to rest the question of the origin of the word ‘Lap.cheé’. Dr. Waddell writes, “The derivation of
word ‘Lap.cheé’ cannot be correctly ascertained. It must, however, be remembered that the English form
of spelling the word is incorrect and out of keeping with the local pronunciation, which is ‘Lap-cha’ or
‘Lap-che’, the former being the more common and probably the correct one.” Dr. Waddell further writes:
“As the term “Lapcha” is of Nepąlese origin, and the Nepąlese language consisting mainly of pure
Sam.skr.ta roots, the word “Lapcha” may perhaps be derived from ‘lap’, speech, and ‘cha’, vile which
leads to the denomination ‘the vile speakers’ a contemptuous term (indeed) with reference to their non-
adoption of the Nepąli language like the rest of the Nepąlese’ tribes.”
Another authority however, enquires whether it may refer to the Hyn.di ‘Lap-thi’, the name of a kind of
skate fish, ‘i.e., of a flat fish’, a term which may have been applied to the Lap.cheés on account of the
flatness of their faces. This surmise however, remains inconclusive.
Early History
The people of the Lap.cheé tribe were the original inhabitants of Sikkim114
including the Darjeeling Hills. According to a legend115, the Lap.cheés
were the children of ‘Iŧbū.de.bū.rūni116.’ In the early 12th century, the
Lap.cheé Kingdom is said to have stretched from the foothills of the
Himalayas to the Mahanadeé River. It is also said that in the 12th century,
Punu117 Terbū and his son Lawang in an attempt to acquire more land to
the Kingdom fought a battle with the King of Magadh.ā who eventually
defeated them. Punu Terbū died in the battlefield while his son Lawang
was forced to accept defeat and surrender a great part of the land to the King of Magadh.ā. After the
112
H. H. Risley believed that it was actually Prîth.vî Nâ.râ.yâ.n Shah who was then the King of Nepal but then if
this is true all authentic history of Siri-jungna should have been lost in less than 100 years. [S. C. Das in his
‘Narrative of a Journey’, (Pg 6) states that the famous Siri-jungna, the defied hero of the Limbűs, appeared probably
in the 9th century, and is identified by the Himalayan Bhutias with an incarnation of Padma Sambhava. It is also said
that he was born 95 years after Bikramjit’s era, i.e., about 38 A. D.
113
Waddel, L A., The Gazetteer of Sikhim, Low Price Publications, N. Delhi, 1999
114
The Lap.cheés call the entire of Sikkim including the Darjeeling Hills as ‘Mayāl Ly.ang’.
115
Stated in Chűnakh-Aak-hen
116
The Great Creator in Rong
117
King

fateful campaign of the late Punu Terbū, the Lap.cheé Kingdom was never able to regain the same glory
again. (The inset is a portrait of a 13th century Lap.cheé Punu called Gaboõ Âchõk.)
Legend tracing the origin of the Lap.cheé tribe
The origin of the Lap.cheés 118 and their subsequent history is surrounded in the mist of legends and
folklores. The Lap.cheés due to their primitive language119 and subsequent domination by other races
especially the Bhutias120 never could find in themselves to put their history in black and white. Thus,
whatever stories we have of their origin, social evolution and exploits are based on legends121 and
folklore, which though interesting and very much readable are at best contested stories. However, still we
can gain a good deal of insight into the early life of the Lap.cheés through these legends and folklores.
Some of the more interesting folklores and legends thence, have been laid down in the following
paragraphs.
The legend of Khäabi-Lõngstõk
It is said that such a courtesy was offered by the Lap.cheés to visitors that - long after the death of Punu
Terbū , a Bhutia by the name of ‘Khyé Bum.sa122’ came from Tibet and befriended the then Lap.cheé
Punu Khõngték123. The Lap.cheé Punu Khõngték being charmed into friendship eventually decided to be
sworn as a brother to the Bhutia. A blood-brotherhood ceremony hence was duly performed at a place
called Khäabi-Lõngstõk. It was supposed to be a treaty of belief and friendship among two brothers but in
course of time the Lap.cheé Punu was killed and his subjects massacred. The Bhutias now effectively
gained suzerainty over the Lap.cheés and their land and hence, the Lap.cheés were reduced to scattered
tribes and the subsequent Lap.cheé Punus mere Tribal Chiefs who were supposed to pay tribute to the
Bhutia rulers who now ruled the entire of the ‘Mayāl Ly.ang’.
Interestingly, this legend is contested by the Tibetan version of the same legend124 which states that
twenty-five generations after Thi-Sron-De-Tsan125 there was born a prince, who went with his five sons
118
Lap.cheé as a word is actually a phonetic distortion of the Nepąli word ‘Lâp.ché’ meaning ‘a vile speaker’.
Róng or Róngkup ‘children of the Róng’ or in full - Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup ‘Children of the Róng and of God’,
is what the Lap.cheés always recognize themselves as.
119
Though ‘primitive’ might not be a good word to use as the Lap.cheé language or more precisely Róng-ríng or
simply Róng is today, spoken in Sikkim, Darjeeling, Ilam (Nepal) and in a small enclave in south-western Bhutan,
altogether by almost 50,000 people. However, still the Lap.cheé literature though certainly rich in folklores, legends
and anecdotes lacks seriously in any credible works vis-à-vis their history. While the ancient ‘Chűnakh-Aak-hen’,
may purport itself to be the history of the Lap.cheé people, it can best be said to be merely an anecdotal thesis and
not a concise book on the history of the tribe.
120
The Bhutias actually are of great importance in the study of the region. Though relatively a new comer compared
to others, the Bhutias originally came from the Kham province of Tibet. They were thence, originally known as
Kham-ba or Kham-pa. Due to intermixing with the other races of Tibet, the Kham-pas eventually began to be
collectively known as Bhutias.
121
Many legends afloat today are modern interpolations and hence, one has to be very much careful in dealing with
them.
122
Actually Jo-khyé-Bum-sar
123
Elsewhere Khõngték is referred to as Tekong-tek
124
We cannot exactly believe this to a Lap.cheé legend as it has a distinct flavour of being a Bhutia/Tibetan story.
This legend certainly gives another explanation to the Khäabi-Lõngstõk issue which is so very important in the
history of the Lap.cheés

westwards on a pilgrimage to the Guru Chooi-wang at Lho-brag126: owing to that visit he received his
first appellation Zhal-nga-Guru-Tashe. He next went to Lhasa, where Jo-vo-Rimpoche told him that he
should proceed to south-west, where he would ultimately lay foundation of a country called
Demo.shong127. Zhal-nga-Guru-Tashe abided by Jo-vo-Rimpoche’s word and proceeded towards the
south-west of Tibet along with his four sons. In the meantime, at the border a multitude of monks was
then engaged in building the great hall of the hPhrul-pahi-Lha-khang monastery, which is supported by
four immense wooden pillars,128 besides 160 small ones: the building itself was seven stories high. These
four pillars that had defied the efforts of several thousand men to be raised, Tashe’s eldest son succeed in
erecting them in their proper positions. For this exploit his name was changed to Jo-khyé-Bumsa129.
Tashe and his sons then settled down in the north-west of Khambagong, called Pa-shi, where they built a
monastery. Tashe eventually died at Pa-shi. In Sakya130 Khyé-Bumsa is later said to have married his
cousin sister Gurumo. Three of his brothers, Se-shing, Tsendong, and Kar-tshogs, thence migrated
towards Hah in Bhutan, while Khyé-Bumsa proceeded first to Khang-bu Takloong, on the western
branch of the Mochu, and then finally settled at Chumbi, where he built a house [The site alone of which
now remains, to the north of the present palace].
Several stories are told of the miraculous strength of Khyé-Bumsa, and his victory over Ngag-wang-ge-
pű-pul-bar, a rival Bhutanese hero, which resulted in the present worship of Mt. Massong by the
inhabitants of Chumbi and Hah. However, being childless, Khyé-Bumsa had to consult his Lāmas who
told him that he had to propitiate the heads of the Lap.cheé people. Accordingly, with a following of
seventeen persons only, he crossed the Yak-la and Penlong and reached Sata-la near Rankpo131, where he
enquired about the heads of the Lepchas, and was informed that they were Thekong Tek and his wife,
Nyekong Nal. However, Khyé-Bumsa and his entourage were not able to find out as to where the couple
lived so they proceeded further towards Guntuk.132 In Guntuk Khyé-Bumsa came across a very old man
quite black from tilling his recently burnt field, but was not able get anything out of him. Suspecting that
he might know more than he chose to tell, Khyé-Bumsa and his party hid themselves, and when the old
man left, followed him secretly to a house which he entered. When Khyé-Bumsa entered the house he
found the old man clad in a robe adorned with animals’ heads and seated on a dais, worshipped by the
other inmates, this was in fact the veritable Thekong Tek he was so desperately searching for. Khyé-
Bumsa offered him many presents, and finally through an elaborate ritual at the Khäabi-Lõngstõk
obtained a promise that he should become the father of three sons133. With this assurance he returned to
Chumbi, where three sons were born to him.
125
Thi-Sron-De-Tsan was one of the most illustrious kings of Tibet. He was born in 730 A.D. In his reign the great
Indian sage S’ánta Rakshita and Padma Sambhava from Udyayana went to Tibet and found the great monastery of
Samye.
126
Southern Tibet
127
The Tibetan name for Sikkim
128
These four pillars are called collectively as “Ká-wa-ming-Ches-zhĩ;” individually the first pillar, called Karpod
Zum-lags (white), came from Khongbu; the second, Serpod-Zum-lags (yellow), from the Mochu valley; the third,
Marpo-Tag-dZag (red), from Nyanam (near Nepal); and the fourth, Nakpo-Khun-shes (black), from Ladakh.
129
Jho-vo-Khyed-hBum-bSags ( Jo-khyé-Bum-sar) “the superior of 10,000 heroes”
130
Read in Sakya legend
131
Rungpo
132
Komos talks of Guntuk which is evidently the present Gangtok
133
He is also said to have prophesied that Jo-khyé-Bum-sar’s descendants would become the lords of Sikkim while
his own people would become their subjects.

Bhutia
A great many people came from the Tibetan province of Kham to settle in Sikkim. These people began to
be known as Kham-pa or Kham-ba. Among these Kham-pas many Tibetans from the other provinces of
Tibet were later added and hence as a result these people began to be collectively and commonly known
as Bhutias. Some of the most important families or more importantly clans among these people in Sikkim
including the Darjeeling Hills are: (i) Pu-Tsho-po-pa, (ii) Lag-lDingpa, (iii) rGod-Rong-pa, (iv) Gyeng-
pa, (v) sTod-pa, (vi) Shar-pa, (vii) hBar-Phong-Pu-Tsh-po (Barphungpuso) and (viii) A lDan-Pu-Tsha-po
(Adinpuso). The name of these families was either based on their place or manner of origin which of
course, we do not exactly know.
However, the more interesting thing about these different clans was their rather curious traditions which
today, at best can only be remembered as legends.
The Legends of Lal-lDingpa and rGod-Rong-pa Clan
It is said that south-east of Pema-kod-chen laid the country of Lho-tawa, inhabited by cannibals; at their
weddings it was customary to kill and eat the bride’s father or mother, should the hunters, sent to forage
for the feast, return empty-handed. According to an interesting tale, the sons of Guru Chhod-wang and
his friend, another learned Lāma went on a pilgrimage to Tsari and Pema-kod. One evening they arrived
at an old woman’s hut at Lho-khabta and took shelter there. The woman informed them that the owner of
the hut had gone out hunting in order to procure some game to celebrate the marriage of his son, and
added that if the hunters were unsuccessful, she would be killed and eaten at the first day’s feast; while if
they continued unsuccessful, the two Lāmas would be killed and eaten on the second and third days of
the ceremony. On hearing this the travelers were naturally very much alarmed, and begged the old
woman to show them some means of getting away and so saving their life. She instructed them that at the
distribution of her remains the men of the house would probably offer the Lāmas one of her arms to be
cooked in a curry: that if they did so, the Lāmas should beg for the hand instead, on pretence that in a
previous existence the old woman had been a great hero and the hand was more precious. If the Lāmas
obtained the hand, then there was hope for them, and they should that very day at midnight decamp from
the house, taking with them the dead hand. Matters turned out as predicted: the old lady was killed for the
feast to welcome the bride’s arrival, and the Lāmas succeeded in obtaining the hand, and escaping with it
that night. In the morning the men of the house, missing the Lāmas, followed on their tracks, tracing
them like dogs by the scent. Seeing them coming, the Lāmas climbed up a high tree: soon the hunters
with their noses to the ground came to the foot of the tree and there lost all further trace. The others with
those hunting by scent got angry with the latter and threw them down on their backs to kill them: in this
position the hunters were obliged to look up and so saw the Lāmas in the tree, and pointed up with their
fingers, taking this as a sign of resistance, the others cut off the hands, before an explanation of the signs
could be given. Learning however, where the Lāmas were, the men began to cut down the tree. Rather
than fall alive into the hands of such barbarians, the Lāmas determined to kill themselves by flinging
themselves off the tree. They tried to do this, but the one who held the woman’s hand was miraculously
wafted through the air, still clinging to the hand, and safely transported to Lhobrak. The other was
transformed into the semblance of a vulture and flew into some thick forest, whence he subsequently
made his escape. In commemoration of this event the first Lāma obtained the name of Lag-lDing-pa ‘the
hand-flyer,’ and the later of rGod-Rong-pa, ‘the wild bird (the lammergeyer) of the crags.’
The first La-ding-pa connected with Sikkim was called Lāma Thampa Phur-gyel, literally the Holy
Flying King: he is said to have been able to fly all over the Tumo valley, Rinchingong and Nyam-nag-
tsho. This miraculous power of flight is however, attributed to more than one Lāma.


Our Forefathers
Every society is based on the legacy of its forefathers. Every society is also based on the legacy of its
heroes. Of course, both at times are intermittingly the same as in the case of our land. Our forefathers
were our true heroes for as writers, builders, professionals, politicians, statesman, social workers,
scholars and others they laid the foundations of our society, our customs, and our beliefs. Truly, thence,
their stories are remarkable.
This section dedicates itself to the stories of achievement of our forefathers. However, the authors would
like to stress that due to the restrictions imposed upon them by the limitation of the pages in the book, a
great many stories of great many heroes could not be incorporated. Hence, as a result this section only
bears witness to the few of the same.
 Rai Sahib Khargā Bâhâdur Cheţtrî

Rai Sahib Khargā Bâhâdur Cheţtrî, a Khargā amongst the Cheţtrî
clan was born in the village of Gűmű in the District of Dőlokhā,
Eastern Nepal on the 3rd of May 1859. Khargā’s parents were poor
farmers and eked a miserable living. Hence determined to change
the fortune of the family, Khargā at the tender age of sixteen itself
resolved to earn money and thus migrated to Darjeeling where it
was said that - ‘money grew on top of the tea bushes’.
In Darjeeling, Khargā started doing odd jobs and studying. He

eventually learnt all the intricacies of the construction business and
was also able to achieve a certain mastery over the English
language which put him ultimately in a favourable position with
the British overseers. Within a short period thence, due to his hard
work, enthusiasm and certain knack for business, Khargā became a
first class contractor of the Darjeeling Municipality, Public Works
Department of Government of Bengal and the Military Engineering
Service. He also became one of the trusted employees and a close
friend of the Maharaja of Dighāpatî.
As a first class contractor Khargā built monumental buildings which today make the skyline of the
Darjeeling Town. Among the many of the constructions that he personally undertook, most like those
stated below have truly become synonymous with the town itself.
The buildings he constructed include: The Darjeeling Municipality Office and the Clock Tower
(popularly known today as the Capitol), State Bank of India, Alexandria,134 the Sidrāpöng Power House
and the Senchal Lake among many others.
Rai Sahib Khargā Bâhâdur Cheţtrî, one of the greatest sons of Darjeeling died on the 7th of December
1930 at his residence at Ghoom Bhan.jyāng. After his death, the Darjeeling Municipality christened the
name of the road from the end of Ghoom Pahar Bazaar to the end of Bhan.jyāng after his name as Khargā
Bâhâdur Road. (Inset: The Capitol)
134
The present B. T. College Hostel

Khargā Bâhâdur Cheţtrî had earlier also been conferred the title of ‘Rai Sahib’ by the then Viceroy and
Governor General of India on the 1st of June 1925, in recognition of his selfless services in connection
with the development of Darjeeling.
Truly, for a lad who arrived in Darjeeling without a penny and an education to rely upon, dying a ‘Rai
Sahib’ with the legacy comprising of perhaps some of the best construction works in the nation is
thoroughly remarkable.
 Thakur Das Shresta
The History of 19th Century Photography in India curiously or

rather interestingly portrays Darjeeling as a hotspot for the
pioneering photographers. Indeed pioneers like Samuel Bourne,
Lala Deen Dayal, John McCosh, Felice Beato, John Burke, Dr.
John Murray and Edmund David Lyon had nurtured and honed
their expertise in the hills of Darjeeling. Such was the
popularity of Darjeeling as a favourite haunt for photographers
that in 1856, when the Photographic Society of Calcutta was
established one-third of its members were Bengalis and almost
all of them were based in the Darjeeling hills. The studios in
Darjeeling were themselves one of the first in the nation, and
only the cities of either Calcutta or Bombay could compete
with them.
Among these great pioneers thence, was a home grown lad

called Thakur Das Shresta, who in 1925 or thereabout
persuaded his grandmother Duŕgā Devi Shresta to sell of their
curio business to start a studio. Of course, the curio business
established by his father Govind Das Shresta was in no way
running at a loss, it was instead the ‘bug of photography’ that had bitten young Thakur Das Shresta
which forced him to make such a decision. While still a teenager he had nursed his passion of
photography after getting his hands on a 15” X 12” studio plate camera and since then had been
determined to start a studio of his own. In 1925, thus Das Studio became one of the first Studios to be
own and managed by a ‘native’. The Studio being located at the Mt. Pleasant Road135.
The main business then initially comprised of selling postcards and large view prints to tourists from all
over the world. By 1935, the business was fully established and Thakur Das Shresta took up a shop at the
Commercial Road from where on he became well known for his studio portraits. In 1938, due to certain
problem with the landlord, the shop was relocated at the address of 15A Nehru Road, where the shop
stayed for 16 years. In 1951, the shop was ultimately moved to the present location.
Thakur Das Shresta’s contribution to Darjeeling and especially to the photographic recording of the
evolution of Darjeeling must be traced in his photographs and the postcards of Darjeeling which have
become famous the world over.
135
H.D. Lama Road

 Swami Prabuddhananda
The founder of the RamaKr.s.na Shiksha Parishad which manages and runs a gamete of schools
including the R.K.S.P School, Saradeswari Girls’ High School and Shree Bir Balbhadra School; Swami
Prabuddhananda, was the true harbinger of education and intellectual consciousness in Darjeeling. Born
as Narendra Sutrādhar at Sylhat, Assam in a lower middle class Sutrādhar Bengali family, Swami
Prabudhhananda was a bright student. He obtained a scholarship and joined M.C. College as a student of
1st year Science. But when Gandhiji gave the call of ‘Purna Swaraj’, Swami Prabudhhananda gave up his
academic pursuits and joined the Independence movement. However, his stint in the independence
movement was short-lived as he had to give in to a greater calling. And indeed, the calling this time was
greater then the motherland and mortal pursuits. One day, Swami Prabudhhananda heard Swami
Avedananda’s136 speech, which stirred up his soul and Swami Prabudhhananda then after decided to
spend his life in helping the poor and needy.
It was this awakening that brought him to Darjeeling in 1930. Swami Prabudhhananda joined the
Darjeeling Vedanta Ashrâma and started learning Nepąli. He was apparently a good learner for in short
period he also started teaching Nepąli in the primary section of the Ashrâma. However, there was much
he wanted to do and achieve. Hence, he started giving coaching to the boys and girls who wanted to
pursue higher studies. In due time, he started a primary school for girls. For his hard work and selfless
service, Swami Avedananda christened him as Swami Prabuddhananda. However, Swami
Prabuddhananda had to take leave of the Ashrâma which he had so much come to love due to certain
internal politics. Still, determined to carry on his work, Swami Prabuddhananda, started a school
independently at Bara-Kak.jh.ora near the Victoria Falls in 1946. But as fate would have it, his new
school was burnt down to ashes. Swami Prabuddhananda however, knew that he could not give up for the
Lord would not want it that way. He thus, raised the school again single-handedly with sheer
determination.
136
Swami Avedananda was Swami Vivekananda’s disciple

The advent of Swami Prabuddhananda was a great chapter in the history of Darjeeling for he not only
brought the light of education to the people of Darjeeling; he also brought with him intellectual
consciousness among the people and especially, the local youths. Wall magazines were started; debates,
painting exhibitions, sports, theatres and literary seminars were organized by young intellectuals wherein
Swami Prabuddhananda presided. Swami Prabuddhananda was also a good writer and authored
numerous books including ‘RamaKr.s.na Upadesh, K..ye Murti-Puja Nagarnu, Na.yabodh, and The Song
of the Himalayas among others.
The Swami died on the 29th of May, 1952 in Darjeeling.
 Sardar Bâhâdur S. W. Laden La, C.B.E.

In the September of 1936, a scribe from ‘The Whip’, a political weekly sought to interview S. W. Laden
La in Calcutta. Laden La given to unparalleled modesty refused to oblige. The scribe however,
determined to find more about this humble man who had become a key player in His Majesty’s Tibet
policy among other things came to Darjeeling to know more about him. The following was published in
‘The Whip’ on the 7th of September, 1930137:
AN OUTSTANDING RECORD OF PUBLIC SERVICE
No figure has been better known to residents of and visitors to Darjeeling for many years than
that of Sardar Bâhâdur S. W. Laden La, C. B. E., who retired from Government service a few
years ago and continuous to lead a life of unexampled activity, both physically and mentally.
The Secretary of State for India, the Government of Bengal and the Governments of China,
Tibet and Nepal know something of the outstanding achievements which the Sardar Bâhâdur has
placed to his credit.
[Laden La] Retired [as the] Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling, after 33 years’ service in June,
1931. For his valuable, faithful, and loyal services he was awarded the King’s Police Medal in
1913, the titles of Sardar Bâhâdur in 1917 and C. B. E. in 1930 for conspicuous service in
connection with Nepal and Tibet.
His services were [also] lent to the Tibetan Government in 1923, and there he organized the
Tibetan Police Force and Army for which service the Tibetan Government raised him to the rank
of Dzasa (a Tibetan Peer). For his valuable services to the Tashi Lama he was [also] awarded the
title of Lord Chamberlain of the Tashi Lama’s Court, and the Dalai Lama conferred on him the
rank of a General in the Tibetan Army and also awarded him a Gold medal…
… He is a popular leader of the Buddhist of Darjeeling as well as of the other hill people. He
devotes much of his time and energy for the benefit of the hill-people and helps the local. Some
of his valuable public services are enumerated in the attached brief note which shows that he is a
philanthropist and the founder of many religious and charitable institutions by spending his own
money. He is devoting much of his time and energy on public work, and helping the
Government and Government Officials.
1. President of the General Buddhist Association, Darjeeling founded by him in 1907.
137
The name of the scribe could not be ascertained. ‘The Whip’ meanwhile, is extinct.

2. Founder President of the Sikkimese, Khombuwa, Lap.cheé, Tâmaņg (Nepąlese), Yulmowa,
Tibetan and Sherpa Buddhist Associations in the Darjeeling District.
3. Founder President of the Himalayan Children Advancement Association, founded in 1909.
Over 600 orphan and poor boys have been educated and trained by the above institution and
sent out into the world as good citizens.
4. He founded the Himalayan Children Advancement Association with Rs 5, 000 donations to
start with and he still maintains the same with his own money. He has spent already over Rs.
25,000 for this institution.
5. President of the Hillmen’s Association, which office he has held since 1931. The
Association is recognized by Government, and the future of the Hill people solely depends
on its.
6. Founder President of the Hill People’s Social Union, Darjeeling in where there are about 400
members in the District.
7. President of the Anti-Terrorist League, Darjeeling, which is affiliated to the Central Anti-
Terrorists League, Bengal.
8. President and Founder of ten Buddhist Monasteries at Ghoom, Aloobari, Chitaray, Rimbick,
K.rsǽng and Darjeeling. In 1923, he was instrumental in reconstructing the Ghoom
Monastery which was opened by Lord Lyton, the then Governor of Bengal. In this
reconstruction he himself contributed nearly Rs. 4,000. Then again in January, 1934, the
earthquake badly damaged the above Monastery which was remodeled and repaired at a cost
of about Rs. 6, 000 which was of course paid by Sardar Bâhâdur Laden La. This monastery
is one of the most interesting places of Darjeeling for visitors. He also built a Mahayana
Chapel near the Ghoom Monastery, at a cost of Rs. 5, 800, which he has given to the public
for their religious purposes.
9. Vice-Chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality since 1932, and he devotes considerable time
everyday to Municipal work. His work is much appreciated by the Commissioners, and he
has brought in many improvements in the Municipality especially in the Zamindari and
Collection Departments. His personal supervision of the subordinates’ work and local
inspections has brought many improvements. Due to his hard work and ability, the Chairman
vested him with the full powers of a Chairman. His valuable services were mentioned in the
Annual Reports of the Municipality. He is one of the oldest Municipal Commissioners,
having been on the Board since 1916.
10. He joined the Darjeeling Volunteer Fire Brigade as a Volunteer in 1909, and he is the Senior
Lieutenant In-charge of the Brigade since 1910 and controls the staff. His valuable services
were mentioned in the Municipal Annual Reports.
11. An Honorary Magistrate, he attends the Court twice a week. The different Inspecting
Officers commend his Court work.
12. District Commissioner of the Darjeeling Boy Scouts Association. When he took charge of
the above Association in 1931, there were about 200 Scouts and Cubs; now the roll has
increased to over 800 Scouts and cubs in Darjeeling and K.rsǽng. He was the Vice-President
of the Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee in Darjeeling and as such he was solely in
charge of organizing the Processions, Scouts and Girl Guides’ shows selling Flags and
Badges. The D. C. personally congratulated and thanked him for the successful show.
13. Member of the District Board in which he is standing member in all the Sub-Committees.
14. Member of the Managing Committee of the Darjeeling Government High School since 1921.
15. Member of the Managing Committee of the Lewis Jubilee Sanatorium, Darjeeling since
1915
16. Vice-Chairman of the Darjeeling Co-operative Bank.

17. Vice-Chairman of the Managing Committee of the Victoria Hospital, Darjeeling. He was
one of those who were instrumental in the reconstruction of the present new building of the
Victoria Hospital138.
18. Vice-President of the Bengal Buddhist association and, as such, he is one of the leaders of
the Bengali Buddhists.
19. General President of the Bengal Buddhist Association and Council
20. Sole Representative of the Maha Bodhi Society for the North Eastern Himalayas.
21. He is an Honorary A. D. C. to His Excellency Sir John Anderson, the present Governor of
Bengal.
22. Visitor – Darjeeling Jail
23. Founder Vice President of the Darjeeling Union Club
24. Vice-President of the Darjeeling Progress Association.
Any man who has placed the foregoing achievements to his credit would be justified in feeling
that he had done more than his full share for the benefit of his King and country. Not so,
however, in the case of Sardar Bâhâdur S. W. Laden La. His is one of those who cannot retire
into a state of satisfaction and it is thus, very safe to predict that he will continue to give all his
best for the benefit of his fellow human beings so long as he continues to live. …
[..He does continue to live…as a legend and as a lodestone indeed.]
 Punya Prakash Rai
“They had become a hero for us when they shot the Governor. We would run away from our school and
line up at the road leading to the Court to see them (being transported to the Court). I must have been 12
or 13 years old then,” P. P. Rai recalls.
Born in 1923 at Singamari, P. P. Rai’s father was a clerk in the forest department. He studied at the
Scot’s Mission Primary School and then at the St. Robert’s. However, when his father died rather
suddenly, the family was almost instantly swallowed into financial problems. P. P. Rai then taking over
his father’s responsibility had to strive towards financial stability, though still a young kid. However,
there was much more to P. P. Rai then just being able to earn money: of course, he was well aware of his
responsibilities towards his family but then a greater responsibility towards his mother land and his
people constantly bothered him. The young lad thence made it a point to attend the meetings organized
by Mai.la Bazeé and Sushil Chaterjee, both of whom of course, were ardent Communist. P. P. Rai today,
smiles when he remembers that. “Who could even think, that I was once associated with Communism. I
became a believer in Communism and did so for almost three years.”
But then, Communism was not to be the vehicle through which he could work for his motherland and his
people. It is said that it was P.P. Rai’s mother who eventually, brought him out of Communism. A DIB139
officer who was known to her met her in market and cried, “What are you doing? Letting your son mix
with the Communists will certainly ruin his life. He will never be able to get any government job!” More
conversation prevailed, ensuring P. P.’s mother debarring him from associating with the Communists. It
is said that such a mêlée ensured between the mother and son that P. P. was forced to promise his mother
that he would no longer associated himself with the Communist. The promise was not based upon any
ideological background but an anxious mother’s concern. P. P. Rai on his part upheld his promise and
never did associate himself with the Communist Party.
138
Sadar Hospital
139
District Information Bureau (the local intelligence agency)

But even though his association with the Communists was severed, his hatred against the British
Government increased and was further fueled by their own wrong doings. “For instance, to maintain
control over the Darjeeling District, the British Government would always find ways to pitch one
community against another. They would even use certain ambitious members of the communities to float
such ideas as the formation of greater Nepal, while other communities were ‘inspired’ to demand for the
amalgamation of the Darjeeling District with Assam and even Bihar.140” Of course, all these rather
‘inspired’ ideas distressed young P. P. Rai who then was not associated with any party. But then again, P.
P. Rai knew that to fight against such people and ‘power’ behind them he had to have an ideology and a
platform. The Indian National Congress then under Mahatma Gandhi was just the right platform he had
been seeking. P. P. Rai joined the party and plunged into the independence movement which was then in
its final stages. Within four years independence was won. The riot ravaged and deeply wounded nation
now began to strive towards regaining her long lost glory. However, as certain developments occurred
itself in the party, and on the behest of another great leader Damber Singh Gurung, P. P. Rai left the
Congress and joined the All India Gőrkha League. The young man now started working with the likes of
N. B. Gurung, Mahanand Subba and Deoprakash Rai who were then eminent Gőrkha League leaders. He
worked with these leaders for a long time until 1960, when another ideological confrontation occurred
within the party and P. P. Rai left the Gőrkha League. His interest by then had also diverted towards
Trade Unions and hence, he started working towards it. One day an eminent Congress leader Mâitreya
Basu came to his residence and requested him to lead the Congress Tea Estate Workers Union. P. P. Rai
accepted and then rejoined the Congress Party.
In a career spanning more than 50 years of politics, right from the independence movement to the
‘language movement’ known as the ‘Bha.sa Andolon’ and ultimately to the Gorkhaland Movement and
Post Gorkhaland Movement, P. P. Rai worked wholeheartedly towards the well being of his people and
his beloved motherland. This individual (Barun Roy) had the pleasure of being invited to his house in
1998, to discuss on certain issues involving the 1998 elections and the same had then noticed a 75 years
old man with a heart and enthusiasm of a teenager still eagerly planning for the betterment of the people
of Darjeeling Hills. Five years later, his work still continues with same enthusiasm and vigour.
 Dr. B. S. Bist
“There is an unknown face behind every success story”, one

of the greatest of Darjeeling’s sons - writer, law man and
celebrity extraordinaire, Roop Nâ.râ.yâ.n Sinha had once
said. And he was right. Whilst the likes of Pundit Dharnidhar
(Koirala) Sharma, Surya Vikram Gyawali and Shiv Kumar
Rai were being celebrated, Dr. B. S. Bist stood silently
smiling, far away from the limelight. No, he did not want to
be celebrated, neither did he wanted to be known to all. His
father had always told him, “Son, a soldier does everything
that he is asked to do simply because he loves his country.”
…
In 1948, one man sat down on ‘hunger strike’ at the middle

of Chowk Bazaar. He was not from any political party nor
had he any supporters. A cheap cloth had been laid down on the ground upon which was a photo of
Mahatma Gandhi and armed with the father of nation’s inspiration, the young man had started the hunger
strike. This man was Dr. B. S. Bist owner of a book store.
As people and the local authorities came to know of a lone man’s hunger strike everybody rushed to him
to know the reason behind his said undertaking. It was found that the Darjeeling Municipality had issued
140
P. P. in an interview with Beacon August 1998

him a notice to close down his book shop. The notice jolted his very existence. Bist loved books and
believed that by providing cheap and good books to the youths of the Darjeeling Hills he was playing as
important role as any other person was. Truly, he was right. Within hours, Bist was surrounded by
supporters among whom were intellectuals and littérateurs. The Darjeeling Municipality had to take back
their notice and within 24 hours the battle was won. Bist broke his hunger strike and began working.
However, after some years, a court notice was issued to Bist again to shift his shop to another place. Bist
did not want to leave his shop because no one had any right to tell him where to work and he had also not
broken any law. Bist troubled by such frequent hassles decided to teach the authorities some lesson by
fighting the same in the Court of Law. He asked one of the writer friends to fight his case. This man was
no other than Roop Nâ.râ.yâ.n Sinha himself. Roop Nâ.râ.yâ.n Sinha of course being one of the best
lawyers then won the case. Thereafter Bist was never hassled again.
Bist continued with his love affair with the books. He eventually even started publishing some Nepąli
books. Then he was perhaps one of the few who did so. As a result of his publishing and printing
endeavor Bist began to come in contact with a lot of writers of the time, who were struggling. Among
these were Pundit Dharnidhar Sharma, Surya Vikram Gyawali, Shiv Kumar Rai among many others. It is
said that at times, such great Nepąli writers would gather in his office, the likes of which can only be
imagined today.
A brief biography
Son of a decorated soldier, Subedar Fateh Singh, Bist was born in Dehradun. His father was a famous
shooter141 and was one of the highest ranking Nepąli officers142. Dr. Bist studied in Delhi and obtained a
medical degree in the field of Homeopathic Medicine. In 1945, when he came to Darjeeling for the first
time as a tourist, he was so fascinated by the town and people that he decided to settle in Darjeeling itself.
And he did settle down, opening a small book shop. Bist was since his childhood a man with a good
heart. He would always treat poor people free of cost and help them with various other things. But the
most important thing beside helping the poor, was that Bist became the backbone of the literary
movement in Darjeeling Hills. He knew that a society without a literary movement of its own was a dead
society and hence his contribution towards the same is truly important in the history of Nepąli literature
in the Darjeeling Hills. Bist was also the first to have a Nepąli calendar published and sold commercially.
His Sajha Prakshan today still remains synonymous with Nepąli books published and printed in
Darjeeling.
 Pundit Parmanand Sharma
Pundit Parmanand Sharma can be said to be one of the most prominent

publisher, distributor and littérateur in the history of Darjeeling Hills.
Without discussing his contribution to the development of Nepąli
language in India, the history of the Nepąli literature and language in
India would be indeed incomplete.
A lover and great soldier in the propagation of Nepąli language and

literature, Pundit Parmanand Sharma’s life had been spent in great
poverty, pain and misery. To escape the repressing Rana Regime
Parmanand left Nepal to make a life in Varanasi. He neither had a penny
in his pocket nor a pocket itself to be precise. The strangest thing above
all when young Parmanand embarked upon the journey was that he did
not even knew where Varanasi was and what can today only be termed
as destiny, Parmanand eventually landed in Darjeeling instead of
141
Subedar Fateh Singh was actually one of the first person from the region to have won a gold medal in the Asian
shooting Championship.
142
Interestingly, a rank of a Subedar was the highest rank any Nepąlese could aim to achieve in the British Army.

Varanasi. However, young Parmanand though he had not reached where he had intended to was
determined to make the best of it. It is said that the young lad had for the first three days to spend without
food or shelter. Of course, he could have begged but then again, Parmanand was too proud to do so.
Honour was every thing he had. One day, a gentleman offered him a job of a priest at his house in
Chandmari. The young Brahmin now found some way to sustain himself. Later he started working at the
Darjeeling Municipality. He even worked as a porter. Youth-hood blessed him with determination and a
young love, whom he married and the couple was blessed with a beautiful daughter. Subsequently,
another daughter was born and the couple rejoiced in happiness. But then again, Parmanand was to be
tested by the Lord Himself. Due to severe poverty and want, he lost both his wife and his youngest
daughter. For months, Parmanand mourned them and at times even lost faith, but then he brought himself
together and decided to move forward. He still had a young daughter to take care of and hence, upon the
repeated requests from his friends married again, so that his daughter could have a mother. His second
wife incidentally was also very understanding and a loving mother. Life at last began to work out and
Parmanand started concentrating on building a career. He started bring books form Beneras143 and sold
them in Darjeeling. In due time, he had also been able to make friends with the prominent printers at
Beneras. Of course, he was then, already associated with the ‘Deepak’ a Nepąli journal being published
from Beneras. One day, while in Darjeeling, a young writer came to him and showed him his manuscript.
The young writer wanted to know how he could get his book published. Those were the days, when the
publications of books were an almost impossible dream – as there were neither publishers nor printers in
Darjeeling. Parmanand knew that it was very important that books of writers from Darjeeling had to be
published. Hence, without even worrying about the financial viability, he plunged into the printing and
the publishing business. His first book and also one of the first books undertaken arguably by a ‘local
printer/publisher’ was aptly named ‘Unt.i.ko.biru.wa.144’ (The Seeds of Prosperity). The book did well
and a multitude of offers for the printing and publication of books started to flood him. ‘Darjeeling
Darpan,’ ‘Wi.wah Lila’, ‘Namam.rit’, ‘Vha.jan Sang.grah’, ‘Tâmaņg Geet’ and ‘Prem la.ha.ri’ among
various other historic books were published. There after a never ending river of novels, short story
collections, novellas, academic books, religious books and others flowed from Parmanand’s Press.
Parmanand also started publishing the famous ‘Bhanu Bhakta Calendars’ which is remembered still
today.
At the height of his success, the stalwart however fell sick and thence, a long period of sickness ensured.
Years of poverty and hard work had taken a toll upon him. Pundit Parmanand died on the 21st of
November 1977 in the laps of his beloved wife. A success story indeed came to an end his legacy
however, had already been rendered immortal.
 Aruna Lama
In her 53 years of life, Aruna Lama had dedicated 48 years to music, truly,
thence today she is the icon of Nepąli music all over the world - the
embodiment of the spirit of Nepąli music, incorporated into a human soul.
Aruna had at the age of five, itself started singing. At the age of 11 she had
come second in the first ever Nepąli music competition organized in
Darjeeling in 1956. Since then she competed in various music
competitions all over India and Nepąl. After 1961 however, Aruna decided
that she would not compete anymore and instead would try to perform on
the stage which was at first instance more financially rewarding. Aruna
thereafter, virtually sang her way into fame and in due time her voice
began to rule Nepąli music all over the world. She became the ‘voice of
Nepąli music’ and once even the King of Nepal (late) Birendra Bir Bikram
143
Now Varanasi
144
The book is now extinct and neither do we know the content of the book nor the name of the author who wrote it

Shah Dev is said to have described her as ‘the greatest singer to have ever lived in the firmament of
Nepąli music’. Numerous of her albums were created and male singers began to compete among
themselves to be able to sing with her. She also began to be bombarded with awards and citations. ‘Sur-
Singar Award’, ‘Mitrasen Award’, ‘Nepąli Akademi Sangeet Award’, ‘Dishiri Award,’ ‘Nepąli
Chalchitra Award’, ‘Sangeet Award’, ‘Chinlata Award’, ‘Urwashi Award’, ‘Sadhna Award’ among many
others. She was also given the title of ‘Nightingale of Hills’, ‘Swar Samragyi (Empress of Voice)’, ‘Swar
Kinnari’, ‘Gőrkha Dakshin Wahu (The Southern Gőrkha Wind),’ etc., etc. It is said that she was
frequently and at times even forced to make it to the Bollywood Film industry as a playback singer, but
Aruna Lama never did. She knew that though she could earn enough money for her descendents to live
happily for ever, she could not sell her music which she had for her entire life worshipped. Aruna Lama
never thence, obliged Bollywood and nether did she ever leave Darjeeling. Of course, she traveled to
many places; Darjeeling however, always remained her home.
A brief biography
Aruna Lama was born on the 9th of September 1945 at Ghoom. Her father’s name was Surya Bâhâdur
Lama and her mother’s name was Sunmaya Lama. Her childhood was filled with peace and music which
is so very important in the upbringing of a child. Father Surya Bâhâdur Lama was a good father and a
good provider but it was her uncle C. B. Lama, a great lover of music, who eventually initiated the young
girl into music. He remained her teacher for a long time and Aruna Lama always took him to her first and
the greatest teachers. Interesting, when she was married, her parents even chose a suitable young man
who was himself a great lover of music. The young man, Saran Pradhan was then an established singer
and musician who eventually became Aruna’s inspiration. He made her a better singer and also helped
her to face the music world at the same time protecting her from rather unselfish and commercial
exploitations of some music producers.
Aruna Lama today, has more than 400 songs to her name. Besides these she has 70 records to her name.
Today, indeed her name signs brightly in the firmament of our ancestors. She was and is truly, the ‘Swar
Kinnari.’
 Santosh Kumar Gurung
“The Nepąlese Government had declared a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and a bronze citation for me, but I
could not go to Kathmandu to accept the award. The plight of our people in the tea estates of Darjeeling
Hills had jolted me and I decided to fight for them.” One of the prominent leaders of the Akhil
Bhartiya145 Gőrkha League and its Trade Union Front had once said.
Santosh Kumar Gurung had been one of the most prominent leaders to lead a movement seeking
democracy in Nepal during the reign of the Ranas. He had also played an important role in the
establishment of the Nepąli Congress. It is said that during the democracy movement, the Rana Regime
had filed so many cases on him that when democracy was ultimately established in Nepal, the Nepąli
Congress Government had to establish a committee to scrap all the cases that had been filed against
Santosh Kumar Gurung.
Gurung was very close to the former Prime Minister of Nepal, B. P. Koirala. It so happened that once, B.
P. Koirala came to Darjeeling searching for Gurung. He did not knew his address particularly and had
thought that he would find out easily while he lived in Darjeeling. Koirala hence, arrived at Darjeeling
and stayed at a simple hotel. When Gurung came to know about the same he rushed to the hotel and took
him to his house. Gurung always respected Koirala as his guide and role model.

145
All India

Unknown facts about places in and around Darjeeling
Lal Khoti
Lal Khoti, now the seat of the Darjeeling Gőrkha Autonomous Hill Council (DGAHC) was once a palace
dedicated to Queen Bhawani Dewan Roy and was originally known as ‘Giri.wilas’. Maharajah Prasad
Nath Roy had built it in the likeness of a western villa and was in fact the Maharaja’s own private ‘Taj
Mahal’ dedicated to his beloved wife.
During the British Raj146 itself, Giri.wilas became very popular among the British officers as the King
and the Queen hosted sumptuous parties. It is said that British officers would be seen hurrying towards
Giri.wilas in caravans of rickshaws to attend one of such parties. Darjeeling also being the summer
Capital of Bengal, even the Governor was said to have been a frequent visitor. However, the British
fascination of the Palace and its surrounding eventually worked against the Maharaja as it was ultimately
occupied by the British Government in 1942, who took possession of the same ‘out of reasons of the
Maharaja’s inability to the maintain the palace’. In 1947, meanwhile, the British had to leave and the
Palace fell vacant only to be temporarily used as a Tibetan School until being taken over by the Indian
Government. In the subsequent years, Giri.wilas was transformed into a guest house, store house and
then ultimately into a holiday home for the Government Officials.
Due to its very location, Giri.wilas became a much sought after shooting location for both Hindi and
Bengali movies. The palace itself was a perfect ‘set’. It is no surprise then that one of the first movies
shot at it became a super hit. This movie was known as ‘Lal Khoti’ and Giri.wilas from thence, also
began to be popularly known as Lal Khoti. Such was Giri.wilas’ popularity among the directors that more
than twenty movies were shot in its boundaries. Truly, Lal Khoti has today become an encapsulated
‘nostalgia’ centre of the entire Darjeeling Hills.
The evolution of the Town Hall

In 1875, the original Town Hall was situated at the present Gymkhana Club. It used to open between 6
am to 6 pm in the evening and anyone desirous of using its facilities could do so with a payment of
Rupees 30 to the Darjeeling Municipality. The Darjeeling Municipality was meanwhile, situated at the
present ‘Employment Exchange’ mansion which was then known as the ‘Secretariat Building’.
The Secretariat Building before being converted into the Employment Exchange and other offices
146
Reign

Later, however the Darjeeling Municipality was shifted to the motor stand, where the Food and Supply
office is presently situated. Of course, this building was nowhere suitable to be the centre of a fledging
town’s administration. Hence, in 1879, within a few months of it being shifted to the motor stand, a
desire was floated among all people concerning that the Darjeeling Municipality should have its own
building which should be magnificent to say the least. The process of raising fund was also started by the
Darjeeling Municipality by selling its properties – A sum of Rs 30,000 thence was procured from the sale
of its property situated at the present Gymkhana Club; and a sum of another Rs 15,000 was later added to
the fund by selling a part of the Municipality’s property at the Motor Stand. However, a fund of mere 45,
000 Rupees was still not adequate. The Chairman of the Municipality J. T. Renkin in desperation hence,
decided to approach some eminent ‘lovers of the town’ for financial help. Among these eminent ‘lovers
of the town’ was the late Maharajah Nipendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Bhoop Bâhâdur G. C. I. I., C. B., who had since
his childhood been spending his summer holidays in Darjeeling. The Maharajah was well known and
respected by people from all creeds and all works of life. He greatly loved Darjeeling and had played an
important part in her development by helping in whatever way he could. This of course, meant donating
land and money. The Maharajah had earlier provided the land for the construction of the Lewis Jubilee
Sanatorium. He had also helped substantively in the construction of the ‘Nipendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Hyn.du
Public Hall’, today known as ‘Nipendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Bengali Hyn.du Hall’. Now that his help was needed
in the most important development in the history of Darjeeling Town, the Maharajah took the request
seriously and provided the Municipality with a sum of Rs. 1, 25,000.
Chairman J. T. Renkin offering his gratitude in the presence of Vice Chairman Dr. C. I. Baldwin Chil,
Secretary A. A. Price, Civil Surgeon L.K.C.L, B. B. Walter and other made the following statement:
“His Highness the Maharajah of Coochbehar has offered financial help for the construction of the Town
Hall, which we accept with gratitude.”
Now that the financial crisis was ‘somewhat’ solved, it was time for the construction proposals to be
invited. The Darjeeling Municipality did the same and was in a short period flooded with proposals from
enthusiastic members of the Municipality and construction companies. Some of the proposals were even
strange and rather bizarre, while some proposals were completely commercially motivated.
In one of such moves the Beachwood Company offered the following proposal:
“The Beachwood Company offers to construct a Town Hall and a Secretarial Building opposite to the
Columbia Rink147, which the Darjeeling Municipality could be leased for a period of 99 years. The
Darjeeling Municipality meanwhile, would have to pay 6.5 per cent of the total cost incurred as rent
every month. The Darjeeling Municipality if interested in buying the property could also do so by paying
for the same in whole or in installments.”
Of course, the proposal was out rightly rejected but before doing so, the Darjeeling Municipality had to
reject some of the proposals put forward by its own members. Some of these proposals were:
1. “The offices still owned by Darjeeling Municipality in the market place could be made way for a new
construction.”
2. “The ‘Ann building’ situated at the market place could be used for the same.”
3. “The Barracks situated at the end of the Daroga Bazaar, especially the no. 2 and no. 3 could be
converted into a Town Hall and a Secretariat …”
147
Once upon a time, the Rink Theatre used to be situated here. Today, it has been pulled down for the construction
of the multi-purpose market complex – stated to be one of the biggest in the region.

Ultimately all proposals aside, a brand new construction at a new site was unanimously accepted. The
then Municipal Engineer Morgan was pressed into service and asked to perform a miracle with Rs.1,
55,000. Morgan diligently created a feasibility report and secured a building plan from R. M. Robertson,
which was dispatched post haste to the then Government Architect Crouchal. Crouchal was then, busy
designing the plan of the Darjeeling Natural History Museum. He went through Morgan’s proposal, made
several suggestions and ultimately estimated the project to cost at around Rs. 2, 50,000. Crouchal also
rejected R. M. Robertson’s plan and replaced with his own, which of course, was locally inspired. This
move had been said to have taken because of Crouchal’s dislike of Robertson148. However, whether it
was rivalry or not is an inconsequential issue today. What is important is that Crouchal’s design was to
become immortal and change Darjeeling’s landscape for eternity. Meanwhile, the amended proposal with
a new building plan was ultimately placed before the Darjeeling Municipality for the sanctioning of the
same.
A reproduction of the original plan of the Town Hall submitted by architect R. M. Robertson in 1916
The proposal with Crouchal’s plan was unanimously accepted and the contract for the entire project
given to a native contractor named Kharga Bâhâdur Cheţtrî. The entire construction was based on the
Gothic style of architecture and strict instructions were issued to Kharga Bâhâdur that materials for the
purpose of construction be found in the Darjeeling Hills and used thereof. Of course, the motive behind
the said instruction was based on saving money then patriotism. All construction materials thence were
provided from the Darjeeling Hills itself. Stones for the masonry were brought from the Pandam Tea
Estate. Gravel and construction sand was collected on the banks of Mahanadeé River and transported to
Darjeeling. Wood used in the interior was brought from the local forests surrounding the Darjeeling
town. It is said that a good part of the tree cover were cut at the fringes of the Tiger Hill, a move which
was vehemently protested by some individuals including prominent Scientist Jagdish Chāndrāỉ Bose.
All the labourers were also the locals. Among these, Nepąlese were the majority while the local
Chinese149 labourers stood a close second. The plaster work meanwhile was carried out by the labourers
from Siligūrî and its neighbouring villages.
Ultimately when the Town Hall was completed, its dimensions read 88 feet (length) multiplied by 45 feet
148
Robertson and Crouchal were rivals to say the least and each resented the other.
149
The Chinese had always had a strong presence in Darjeeling. According to one estimate, there were almost 10,
000 Chinese in Darjeeling, before they were forcefully expatriated back to China during the Indo-Sino War. Only a
handful Chinese people exists in Darjeeling today.

(width). The new Town Hall also featured a public library and an auditorium on its upper floor with a
capacity of 600 seats. A 100 feet Tower close to the McKenzie Road (now Laden La Road) was
definitely its most prominent feature. Four clocks facing the four directions had also been specially
designed and installed. The Town Hall was flanked on one side towards its right by the Auckland Road150
and it’s left by the McKenzie Road151.
Meanwhile, far simpler than the Clock Tower, the secretariat building had a more utilitarian side. It
consisted of a paneled chamber 40 feet long and 25 feet wide, where the Commissioners would
deliberate. A small ante-room was also provided for their private purposes. On the basement were
offices, which were to house the tax collection department as well as the rooms for the superior staff and
the general clerical establishment. A record room which was considered very important then was proved
in a separate wing of the building. A laboratory had also been envisaged by Dr. Ferguson, who was the
then Civil Surgeon of Darjeeling and an ex-officio member of the Darjeeling Municipality. It had been
his idea and he was determined to make the laboratory one of the best in the nation.
The magnificent Clock Tower, indeed a distinctive feature of the Town Hall stands triumphantly
over the Darjeeling Landscape. This photo was taken in 1948.
On the 27th of May 1921 thence, one of the glorious days in the history of Darjeeling Hills, the Town
Hall was formally inaugurated by the Earl of Ronaldshey and the then Governor of Bengal Lawrence
John Lum Dundas, G. C. I. E.
‘The Englishman’, an English daily newspaper reporting the inauguration of the Darjeeling Town Hall by
the Governor of Bengal published the following story on its 30th May 1921issue:
TOWN HALL FOR DARJEELING
Darjeeling: May, 27: (Associated Press of India) The ceremony of the opening of the Darjeeling
150
Gandhi Road
151
Laden La Road

Town Hall was performed this morning by His Excellency the Governor in the presence of
representative gathering from all works of life.
His Excellency said, “There is little for me to add to what has already been said beyond my
congratulations to the people of Darjeeling upon the completion of the building, foundation of
which I laid some 3 and half years ago. As Mr. Goode has reminded us that we owe this Town
Hall to the generosity of His Highness the Maharajah of Coochbehar and I gladly avail myself of
this opportunity of publicly expressing my appreciation of his Highness’s public spirit and
generosity and I venture on behalf of the people of Darjeeling to convey to him their gratitude
for the splendid gift which he had made them. There is yet another use to which I think this
building might possibly be put in the not very far distant future. It is, as its name implies, the
centre of Municipal self-government. But it is very far from being our intention that local self-
government should remain confined to the town of Darjeeling.
The district of Darjeeling will desire in due course to take its place alongside the other district of
the province in the general scheme of administration which has recently been introduced as a
result of the Reform Scheme; the obvious lines on which to proceed would seem to be to place
this district on the same footing in matters of local self-government as the other districts of the
presidency. If this view meets with general acceptance the first step would probably be the
creation of District Board and in the case it seems to me that no chamber could be better fitted
for the deliberations of such a body than that which I am about to declare open today.”
Lord Ronaldshey then, with silver mounted Khük.ri152 presented to him for the purpose, cut the
cord which released the main doors of the building.
The Lloyd Botanic Garden

The Lloyd Botanic Garden carries the memory of William Lloyd, an old and well known resident of
Darjeeling. In 1878, he made over to the Government a beautiful piece of land within the town in an
accessible situation and with an excellent aspect. This essentially solved the problem of securing a
suitable land for starting a botanical garden in the Himalayas153, which had so keenly been felt by Dr. T.
Anderson, the then Superintendent stationed at Darjeeling. While we do not have much information of
what exactly went into the creation of the Botanic Garden in such details as we do of other
developmental constructions in and around Darjeeling154, this writer however, was able to unearth a good
deal of information on how the Botanic Garden was planned. An article published on the monthly journal
of ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Association’ in 1875 by one Mr. L. Clark gives the following account of
what could then only be taken to be as a proposal on how the Garden should be designed. The Late Jiten
Roy155 an ardent biologist and environmentalist who had had the same in his possession had surveyed the
Garden in 1952 and had found the Garden to be exactly as had been ‘proposed’ by Clark in his 1875
article. The following is the reproduction of Jiten Roy’s survey report in which he also abundantly
engrosses himself into the history of the Garden. The report while giving us details on the various aspects
152
The traditional weapon of the Gőrkhas, a sharp metal face mounted on a wooden handle, the face meanwhile
curving away from the holder, blunt thence towards its back and sharp in its face. Due to the ingenious design,
Khukri is perhaps, the best weapon of its kind.
153
As a branch establishment of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta
154
We do not know how much about its financial liabilities, constructions and so on.
155
The writer’s late grandfather

of the Garden places us as a witness to what the Garden originally was:
“The Garden is situated at an elevation of about 6,000 ft. with an average annual rainfall of 110 inches.
The indigenous plants in the Garden represent more or less the characteristic flora of the Sikkim
Himalayas. The position of the Garden in the heart of the Himalayas is unique and the only one of its
kind in the east.
The land was laid out as a delightful botanic garden under the guidance of Sir George King with its
charming terraces and slopes and unusually happy combination of alpine plants, Arum-lilies, Geraniums,
free-flowering Compositae, spectacular Azaleas and Rhododendrons and various Conifers. The Garden is
situated just below the Eden Sanatorium and is an open slope covering an area of about 40 acres, bound
by Cart Road and Victoria Road on the north, by Jail Road and Hari Ghosh Road on the south, by Eden
Sanatorium on the east and Victoria Road on the west. This Garden is one of the main attractions to the
visitors to Darjeeling with a treasury of many rare and beautiful plants as well as patches of typical forest
of tall Cryptomeria, Bucklandia and Alnus with thick mass of lianes and shrubby undergrowth. It is a
favourite spot of recreation with vistas across some of the loveliest slopes, a paradise to the students and
research workers in Botany and an eminent institution distributing the plants and seeds and specimens of
temperate and sub-temperate Himalayas to different parts of the world.
The Garden is divided into three main sections:
(i) An upper indigenous section containing dominant species of Eastern as well as

Western Himalayas and Burma156;
(ii) A middle Coniferous section, and
(iii) A lower exotic section containing acclimatized specimens of different countries.
There are more than two thousand species in the Garden, arranged in twenty divisions, representing
seventeen countries of the world. While it is not the intention here to compile a lengthy list of the plants
in the Garden (which has already appeared in the Rec. Bot. Survey India Vol. 5, No. 5, 1940), there is
endless variety of form and colour in the evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs in the open. In the
Conservatories there are plenty of tender plants to delight the eye. The Rock Garden, the Conservatories,
the Orchid House, the Herbarium, delightful walks, the herbaceous borders, the terrace bedding and the
annual beds are some of the most interesting and colourful features of this Garden, which leave an
indelible imprint on the mind of the visitors to the Garden.
The approach to the Garden from the Cart Road near the bazaar is through a steep road with rocks
covered with mosses protruding here and there and rows of mature Cryptomeria trees and plantation of
ornamental trees. The George King Avenue starting from the main gate is a broad tarred path leading
through a series of terraces ends in the Chandmari Gate. Sir John Anderson Rock Garden can be reached
through Jaffrey Avenue, which is an off-shoot of George King Avenue. Many alpine and sub-alpine
plants under conditions akin to those obtaining their natural habitats are grown here. One dwarf and
prostate Conifer of the temperate Himalayas, Juniperus pseudo-sabina can be seen here on the left side of
this Avenue before reaching the Rock Garden. In the Rock Garden one may find a unique combination of
the Rhododendrons, Pieris, Lilies and Azaleas with suitable herbaceous plants such as Cotoneaster
macrophylla, Meconopsis wallichii, Primula floribunda, Fragaria vesca, Saxifraga sarmentosa and
Ranunculus diffuses and Puya alpestris with its copper green coloured tall spikes. Moving a few steps
ahead the visitor will meet with brilliant Rhododendrons in dense clusters standing on the right hand
slopes by the side of the Rock Garden, with flowers of white crimson, pink and mauve coming into
blooms in succession in spring time. A little below, there are well-established old trees of the Himalayan
cherry (Prunus cerasoides). The road circles a small pond. Here there is a highly developed water garden
with mass planting of Primulas, Iris Kaempferia, Impatiens, giant-leaved arum-lilies, and with a over-
hanging slender weeping willow (Salix babylonica) standing on a rocky cascade in the centre of the pool.
156
Myanmar

The visitor will find at the crossing of the Ashley Eden Avenue and Jaffrey Avenue a magnificent
Magnolia Campbelli tree with its pink flowers blooming on leafless branches during the spring. From
this place the visitor interested in botanical sciences may visit the Herbarium, which is rich in valuable
collections of dried plants. The Herbarium and the office are housed on a stone building in the late
Elizabethan style surrounded by hedges of ‘American Pillar’ roses which bloom in May to June. The
Herbarium is arranged according to Bentham and Hooker’s system of classification. It contains about
30,000 specimens of dried plants, mounted on sheets, covering nearly all the species of the Eastern
Himalayas. On proceeding further the laboratory building for carrying out research work is situated with
slopes in front covered with annual beds and bushes like Calliandra, Leucosceptrum and Daphne.
Moving further along the same Avenue the visitor may reach the Orchid House. The Orchid House is a
spacious glass-house, constructed in modern lines, well stocked with more than 2,000 Orchids belonging
to various terrestrial and epiphytic species. The Orchids are very costly flowers and are considered as
coveted presents in some countries. The hybrid Cymbidiums, the blue Vandas of Assam, the golden
coloured long spikes of Dendrobiums of the Sikkim Himalayas and the spider-Orchids of Malaya flower
profusely and in perfect conditions add to the charm of the garden. Other plants, which may interest
visitors, are Cymbidium lowianum, C. mastersii, Cypripedium insigne, C. villosum, Habenaria sp., etc.
From the Orchid House the visitor may take Calder Avenue for proceeding further downwards. The
toilets are situated on the top of Calder Avenue. The most remarkable shrub in the Calder Avenue is the
common Himalayan Mahonia accanthifolia with whorls of yellow spikes of flowers and Philadelphus
coronaries with beautiful white flowers. The Calder Avenue meets the George King avenue and ends in
the Chandmari Gate. The terrace is flanked with Buddleias, Melastomas, Osbeckias and Jasminum as
well as other plants.
On reaching the Chandmari Gate, the tarred road named as Bruhl Avenue turns westwards and separates
the Coniferous section from the upper indigenous section. On the right there is a line of Syringa
chinensis, Edgeworthia gardeneri and other species. The visitor will see the collection of Conifers with
more than 45 species. The most remarkable among them is the Abies webbina with leaves silvery in the
inner margin, Pinus longifolia with slender needles and Himalayan spruce (picea morinda) with drooping
whorls of leaves are also standing there. Along with these tall trees, there grow wart masses of Juniperus
pseudo-sabina and small trees of hemlock (Tsuga brunoniana). Leaving behind the elegant Conifers the
visitor finds himself at a junction of four roads with a small resting shed and a steep slope. He may turn
left and follow the Cave Avenue. On the left stand a large striking beautiful Conifer (Retinospora
strandzii). On the right slope, there stand two specimens of Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia
glyptostroboides), which grow here fairly well. The plant which promises to be one of the most beautiful
Conifers is of immense botanical and geological interest. The genus had long been known only from the
fossil record. In 1944 M. glyptostroboides was found growing wild in Szechuan (Szechwan) Province of
China. Thus, somewhat like Ginkgo and the living Cycads, it is truly a living fossil. Azaleas in the
possible colour form the herbaceous border along the right side of the slope. The Cave Avenue ends in
the residential area of the Garden staff. The visitor may turn right and may have a view of a long terrace
with beautiful and tasteful annual beds and a collection of Fuchsias (bi-colour Dancing Dolls)
surrounding another interesting gymnosperm, the maiden-hair tree (Ginkgo biloba).
While going inside the Small Conservatory (fernery) the visitor will be interested to see the large trunk of
the very old climber, the Wisteria chinensis, which has covered the entire periphery of the structure. On
the stages inside the house, potted specimens of Pelargoniums, Streptocarpus, Achimenes, Primulas,
ornamental ferns like Asplenium and Adiantum make a pleasant sight. Crossing the fernery the visitor
will reach the Large Conservatory. Beautiful climber like Solanum wendlandii, Clematis Montana,
Solanum jasminoides and Passiflora eduli covering up the pillars add to the attraction. The four big
galleries as well as several small galleries well packed with beautiful blooms of Begonias, Gloxinias,
Cyclamens, Hydrangeas, Cinerarias, Schizanthuses and other season flowers make it riotous in
resplendent colours. The semi-hardy perennials like Strelitzia, Streptosolen also contribute to the

colourfulness of the place. The beautiful laid out large ornament beds of annual flowers with two
Conservatories and creepers with majestic grace and beauty of the over looking Conifers contribute to
make this area a charming spot. During appropriate season, the visitor may see blooming Magnolia
stellata against the background of Picea morinda and other trees towards the north of the Large
Conservatory. (Inset - A 1935 map of The Lloyd Botanic Garden )
On the southern side of the Conservatory, a giant specimen of a very interesting tree, the Monkey’s
Puzzle (Araucaria bidwillii) stands majestically matching with the beauty of the surroundings. On
proceeding north by Anderson Avenue visitor will be interested to see the tree tulip (Liriodendron elatus)
on the left and the collection of both indigenous and exotic Oaks (Quercus spp.) on the terrace a little
ahead. The sunken garden is situated in the left along with beautiful specimens of Camellia. Another tree
with a long past, ‘Bhurjapatra’ (Betula utilis), which peels of white sheets of bark, stands on the left side
of the walk.

On proceeding further towards north, the tree ferns standing in clumps on the right slopes will fascinate
the visitor. Cyathea spinulosa is the prettiest of all the ferns with black fronds. If one turns right and
climbs along Gage Avenue with rows of Himalayan palms (Trachycarpus martianus) and hedges of
Acubas and Hydrangeas on two sides, he will reach the junction of Bruhl Avenue and Cave Avenue
where he will be interested to see the Chinar of Kashmir (Platanus orientalis) with white bark. Now he
may turn left and see the hedges of common tea (Cammellia sinensis) pruned to dwarf its height behind
the hedges; down the slope stand specimens of Camphor tree (Cinnamommum camphora) and large
flowering white Magnolia (magnolia campbellii). Going ahead, he will see the terrace of lily beds with
tall slender spikes of Agapanthus, Kniphofia, Yunkia, Daffodil and others. If he is tried with the uphill
and downhill paths of the Garden, he may climb up along Cave Avenue with rows of Cupressus and
Thuja on the left, and soon reach the main gate.
As an alternative he may move up Leslie Avenue lying towards north with Rhododendron and magnolia
groups on the two sides and will soon reach the Student’s Garden. Here the families representing the
Eastern Himalayan flora have been planted in a systematic way to cater to the needs of undergraduates.
He may now turn left and follow the south-west path, Griffith Avenue, watching the tall trees on the
terraces on both the sides and will soon reach the Anderson Avenue. Now, the visitor should turn right
and follow the Prain Avenue when he will come across rows of Japanese cherry (Prunus serrulata) with
beds of annual and roses breaking the monotony of the green moss covered lawns. There stand a group of
Rosaceous plants and a rose bower which will draw much interest from the students. Proceeding further
downwards along William Smith Avenue and Prantling Avenue, he will soon reach the Victoria Road
Gate of the Garden, the lowermost point. Collection of Cannas and hedges of Salvia Pratensis is the most
salient feature of this region. Now turning left and proceeding through Jagdish Bose Avenue, the tall
rows of Cryptomeria Japonica (which was introduced from Japan and was acclimatized in this Garden)
down the slope with natural forest-like undergrowth; one may soon reach the bamboo collection. A
beautiful lawn with annual flower bed, a resting shed, a lily pond is the salient features of this terrace.
Proceeding a little eastwards the visitor may turn right along Joseph Hooker Avenue to see the Japanese
Maple Collection which stands on rows on both sides of the Avenue. The Avenue now turns left and
Gents’ toilets are situated at this point. The terrace intercepted by Wallich Avenue and Joseph Hooker
Avenue contains collection of mixed exotic deciduous trees and shrubs. The Ladies’ toilets are situated at
the junction of Joseph Hooker Avenue and Wallich Avenue behind the bamboo hedges.
On proceeding further east, Kennedy Avenue is reached and one can take this Avenue and cross the
Jhora157 to reach the Nursery where all the plants are nourished and other horticultural operations are
carried out. A Hot House with hot chambers is provided in the Nursery to save the delicate plants from
the hazards of severe winter. Near the Jhora, clumps of Amomum dealbatum can be seen. Otherwise, the
visitor may turn left and approach the rosary and a collection of Eucalyptus. An interesting Conifer,
Cunninghamia chinensis stands at the centre of the rosary. One may take the Avenue towards east with
Avenues of Mulberry and reach the Conservatories for going out of the Garden.”
While it is certain that the Lloyd Botanic Garden of today is no where near to what it was as has been
described by late Jiten Roy; his accounts surely gives us its rich and glorious position among all the
Botanic Gardens in the world. The above account truly is a fascinating bit of the Garden’s history
‘encapsulated’ for eternity.
Keventer’s
Keventer’s is a favoured place to hang-out for people of all age and generations, tourist and locals alike.
The café cum shop has also an interesting bit of its own history and as it forms a part of the
consciousness of Darjeeling and also the part of its landscape with it strange ‘polyline’ or should one say
‘ship like’ construction, and hence as a result, this writer for one feels that its history must be
incorporated in this section.
157
Drainage

The Keventer’s shop and snack bar was founded in 1911 and was then a branch of Edward Keventer
Private Ltd. A gigantic business enterprise indeed which had its headquarters in Aligarh and its branches
being spread all over undivided India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The shop was originally established in
Darjeeling to meet the needs of the ever increasing British settlers who found it rather ‘unsuitable’ to buy
meat and milk products from the native vendors. Keventer’s on the other hand effectively sought to
eradicate this problem by offering fresh and hygienic meat and meat products which were prepared
according to the European standards. The shop also started selling European delicacies such as ham,
bacon, sausages, which eventually became a favourite among the locals themselves. They also ventured
into selling milk products and hence as a matter of necessity started a farm of its own which later became
a tourist spot until much after the nation’s independence. Keventer’s products thereafter increasingly
became the favourite of the large European and missionary community residing in Darjeeling and the
surrounding area. The famous boarding schools such as North Point, St. Paul’s, Loreto and Mt. Hermon
have been customers of Keventer’s for almost a century.
After Independence, however the original owner of the company decided to leave the country and in a
processes thereof started selling off the company. In 1949 the Darjeeling and Calcutta branches were
thence bought by a group of people headed by a Rana family from Nepal. The family did not stay in
business for long and in 1995 sold the same to a Jha family which presently still owns the Keventer’s.
The Keventer’s (left,

partly hidden by the tree)
and the Planters Club
(right) © David Leech
Keventer’s today is a
landmark in Darjeeling.
Its panoramic view and
open-air snack bar has
attracted young and old
for almost a hundred
years. Due to its
delectable snacks, easy-
going ambience and the
fantastic backdrop of the
entire town and the Kanchenjunga itself, the place has also been a favourite for the shooting of movies,
documentaries and even television serials. The legendary Satyajit Ray himself shot many of the scenes
for his memorable film ‘Kanchenjunga158’ at the Keventer’s. His son Sandip Ray later also used the same
Keventer’s for shooting for his film and a TV serial. The Keventer’s also eventually became famous
among the Bollywood stars who visited Darjeeling for various reasons. It is further said that the royal
families of Sikkim and Bhutan used to patronize the Keventer’s in a big way.
Today Keventer’s products are available in Gangtok, Siligūrî, Kalimpong, K.rsǽng, Guwahati and
Shillong. Keventer’s, besides manufacturing pork and chicken products and running a snack bar is also
one of the leading retailers of tea and other packed and canned products. Keventer’s is also one of the
oldest distributors of Coca Cola products in the country. The association with the Coca Cola Company
spans three decades.

158
Dilip Bose an ardent journalist, dramatist and writer from Darjeeling had also acted in the film

Photo Essays…
Moments frozen in time
A road in the K.rsǽng town - 1892. The tracks of the toy train can be seen on the
foreground © Peter Charlesworth

The Chowrasta in 1905 © Sally Stewart
Gidhēpâhâar Bungalow on 2nd of Oct 1906. Mr. & Mrs. R. L. Ward, the two ayahs and Dolly and Marjory
can be seen facing the camera © Peter Charlesworth

A family of bearers stationed at the Gidhēpâhâar Bungalow of Mr. R. L. Ward – 1906 © Peter
Charlesworth
Retired Assistant Superintendent of

Police Rowley Lascelles Ward with his
eldest son somewhere outside K.rsǽng
in 1909
© Peter Charlesworth

King George’s Birthday being celebrated at the Chowrasta in 1909 © Sally Stewart
The now extinct cathedral at the Old Catholic cemetery. The photograph is undated; however,
we can safe date it back to at least 1909. [The base of chimney seen at the left of the photo and
the front porch cathedral is still in existence today] © Peter Charlesworth

A 1910 advertisement of the J. Burlington Smith Studio in Darjeeling
The magnificent view of the Commercial Road from the Planters’ Club. On can see the 141C, J.
Burlington Smith Studio among other structures [This photo was taken in 1910]
© Harappa 1998

Another view of the Commercial Road featuring Frank Ross & Co. Frank Ross & Co. is the
oldest medical store in North Bengal as it was established between 1850 – 1870. The owners
name was K. Frank Ross. [This photo however,
is undated]
A Tibetan Woman photographed in Darjeeling in

the 1915. (Unknown firm – The photograph
bears No. 7169 engraved in it)
© Harappa 1998

Deshbandhű Chitranjan Das’s funeral procession at Chowrasta on the 16th of June 1925. It was
exactly 7:15 am when this photo was taken.
An undated photograph of the N C Prem Kumar Petrol Pump (present name). This photograph
seems to date back to the pre-independence era possibly during 1926-27s based on the models of
the car seen on the photo. [Individuals named Mohan Lal and Shiv Lal established this petrol
pump in 1906 and hence, this petrol pump is taken to be at least one of the first petrol pumps in
Darjeeling, if not the first.]

Looking down on the Auckland Road in 1930 © Sally Stewart
Mrs. Pliva owner of Pliva’s with her friends and employees – [The photo is undated]

A 1930 photograph of the Commercial Road and the Pliva’s
[Note the Pliva’s written on the wall of the building]
A photo dated much later shows the Pliva’s now as Glenary’s

The Fourth Graders of the Mount Hermon School in 1932
© Sally Stewart
Netâji Subąs Chāndrā Bose at Gidhēpâhâar (K.rsǽng) flanked by Amiya Basu and Shishir Basu

Netâji Subąs Chāndrā Bose under house arrest in K.rsǽng
Children dressed in traditional Lap.cheé costumes gather at the Market Square for the first
Independence Day celebration

Dhirdham Temple remains untouched during the 1950 landslides
A ceremony being held at Chowrasta in 1950

A function being held at the Nipendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Hyn.du Public Hall in 1950
A monoplane
lands at the
Mirik Polo
ground on the
2nd of May 1950
© T. S. Moktan

R. N. Agarwala and Sons in 1951
Firefighters make a daring rescue attempt during the 1952 fire at the Market Square or the
Gundree Bazaar. In this rare photo one can see the fire making its way menacingly to the fire
fighters truck

A DHR truck pitching in to help the Firefighters
Spectators at the Lebonġ Race Course in 1952

The Rickshaw stand at the Chowrasta in 1952
An undated photograph of the Old Bellevue Hotel

A Marwari marriage procession down the Laden La Road in the 1955

Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru at the HMI foundation laying ceremony flanked by Deoprakash Rai,
Sagarmal Pariwal and Khayaliram Pariwal

The Royal family of Greece gazing at the antiques at the showroom of Habeeb Mullick at
Chowrasta in 1960

The Maharajah of Burdwan’s Palace in its pristine
glory in 1962
Between 28th and 29th December 1978 Darjeeling experienced 36 hours of continuous snowfall.
This photo depicts the scene at the Club side motor-stand lined with the 1954 Landrover models

On the 29th of May 1979 a strike was called by Akhil Bhāratỉ.ya Nepąli Bha.sa Samity
(supported by other parties) to protest Morarji Desai's anti Nepąli language speech in his
Darjeeling visit.. The following picture portrays the mood in Darjeeling on the said day
© Dhurba Tolangi
The Bazaar facing the Gitangee Dara (now Sumeru Manch)
The road leading to Bazaar Circuit House. A poster protesting Morarji’s uneducated statement
can be seen on the wall of a shop

A file photo of the ‘only September 11 victim from Darjeeling’, Jupiter Yamben who studied at
the St. Joseph’s School and is seen here standing 7th from the left and just beside
father Kimberley
An undated photograph of a ceremony organized by the Gőrkha Hitkari Sammelan – the photo
taken at the entrance of ‘The Capitol’ could have been taken on an occasion of a ‘farewell’

The Colonel Villa or more appropriately Swami Vivekananda Primary School in 1985

The Legacy of the Unsung Saga
The History of the Evolution of Western Music Culture in Darjeeling Hills159
Right from the days when ‘the Johnny Gurkhas’ were humming ‘Long Live His Majesty’ in the battles of
Burma, Italy, Middle East and Greece, music has been the essence of Gőrkha life. Mildred O’Hara160
aptly writes, “The Gurkhas are definitely better musicians than their oriental neighbours. Their folk songs
are truly lively and melodious… These people seem to always be in a mood for music.”
While it is rather impossible today to correctly put into words as to when exactly the Western Music
Culture was imbued into the Gőrkha consciousness; a rather logical and safe postulate however, would
be: right when the first recruitment of the Gorkhas into the British Army and the formation of the first
British Gőrkha Army Band occurred. Truly thence, since that very day when the first of the Gorkhas
were trained to play the western musical instruments, a legacy was born. The other factor that worked
closely into the Gőrkha favour was that the Gorkhas themselves were more prone to mixing with the
British, who looked upon them favourably.
Of course, again we do not have much knowledge of the pre-1930 scenario, which according to some
researchers are of no relevance because of the rather dullness in the era. Mildred O’Hara writes, “The
pre-1930 era was inconsequential. While the local Gymkhana Club hosted a number of musical shows,
these shows were all-white and the only Gőrkha or an Indian you could find were those in the brass-band
playing at the Band stand just below the Club.” However, post 1930 a sudden and rather unexplained
upsurge of ‘Native indulgence’ in Western Music occurred161. In fact such a legend is today repeated of a
legendary Gőrkha writer and socialite extraordinaire, Roop Nâ.râ.yâ.n Sinha162, that being a rather
handsome and dashing young man he would keep the British Memsahibs busy every evening dancing
with him. It is also said that ‘Mr. Roop would occasionally even venture into singing English songs
followed by a rapturous applause’ from the Memsahibs and the Sahibs. Truly, thence one thing is for sure
proved and that is Gorkhas were no longer just ‘one of those in the army or tea estates’. The Gorkhas had
now started educating themselves at the same time openly embracing the Western Culture.
159
This article is a reproduction of the series titled – The Legacy of the Unsung Saga, authored by Barun Roy and
published by BEACON. The said article thence has been reproduced here with permission. © Beacon Publications.
160
Mildred O’Hara is perhaps one of the few researchers who has closely studied ethnic music world-wide. Her
work on the Nepali folk music is truly of great importance. “The Tunes from the Himalayas – Mildred O’Hara,
WMU, ISU 2137463”
161
One reason behind this may have been that by then most Gőrkhas as well as their non-Gőrkha brethrens were
well educated in the local schools and colleges in England and hence as a result it was possible for them to begin to
mix rather freely with the British Settlers. Roop Narayan Sinha being a classical case.
162
He was perhaps only one of the few non-Britishers to be allowed in the Gymkhana Club besides the Maharajah
of Burdwan and Coochbehar.

In a further few years, an interesting and perhaps one of the greatest events in the history of the evolution
of the Western Music Culture in the Darjeeling Hills also took place. The K.rsǽng Radio Station was
envisaged and formally inaugurated. Of course, today while going through the contribution of the Radio
Station we seem to be more prone to highlight the association of the Station with Gurudev Rabindranath
Tagore who were a rather usual guest, reading poems and stories ‘on air’. However, we seem to
thoroughly overlook the effect it had on the younger generations of Indians and Britishers alike163,
especially the likes of Mike Stemberg, now Jazz legend who was for the first time introduced to the ‘real
western music’ through the said radio station. In a BBCi interview on the 30th of August 2003, Mike
Stemberg reminiscing on how the radio station changed his life said, “I lived in Darjeeling between the
1930s and the 1950s. One of my most cherished childhood memories is of being left alone in the house
with this huge valve radio that took forever to ‘fire up’ and then listening to a jazz programme ‘Voice Of
America164’, which was hosted by a presenter called Willis Conover. He had a typically 'deep’ American
voice and was extremely brief but informative in his introductions. I can remember my excitement when
he barely introduced the programme and said something like ‘The Modern Jazz Quartet, Carnegie Hall’,
and the music came on — there was always more music than talk! Willis Conover changed and added to
my understanding of music. My father was a die-hard classical man and wanted me to be just that — and
yes, there was the pop stuff around which I also followed to a degree — but to hear this wonderfully
strange and new approach to music coming from thousands of miles away to a little hilltop in the
foothills of the Himalayas was just magical. I learnt musically that there were so many different
approaches to any ‘standard’ in life and also that there was no real ‘one true’
philosophy that was paramount - it opened my mind to new possibilities in
life.” (Inset previous page: Mike Stemberg. Photo courtesy BBCi –
© BCCi)
Even an old contemporary, Qi Wen Teng, a young Chinese student of the St.
Joseph’s School and the resident of the then China Goan or the China Para165
seems to add to Mike’s sentiment166, “The one thing that I miss today beside
living in Darjeeling167 is listening to that glorious radio station. I remember
163
We must understand that during the 30s up till the independence of the Nation, Darjeeling was home to not just
British Settlers and Indians. A sizeable population of Americans, Chinese, Burmese (now Myanmares), Germans
and the Dutch also existed.
164
While the reason for such American radio stations being re-broadcasted in the Darjeeling Hills was the lack of
programming talent on the local scene and also the ever increasing demand from the US soldiers stationed in
Darjeeling, the result of the same however, was of great importance. It was these stations that introduced young
Gorkhas and Non-Gorkhas of the Darjeeling Hills into Jazz and basically the American Genre of Western Music.
This was simply not able to take place in the other part of the nation. John Krumer, who spent much of his early life
in Darjeeling Hills and were a contemporary to Mike Stemberg and Roop Narayan Sinha writes, “Truly, the God of
Jazz must had been looking favourably upon us. ‘The Voice of America’ simply changed everything.”
165
As the neighbourhood surrounding the famous Chinese Club was then known as.
166
In an interview with Beacon – August 1999 (Published online). Qi Wen Teng died in Taiyuan in 2001 at the age
of 81. According to his great granddaughter, Qi Wen remembered his beloved land of Darjeeling even at his death
bed.
167
“During the Indo-Sino War the Chinese population was forcibly removed from the Darjeeling Hills and
expatriated back to China by the Army. The Chinese had been living in the Darjeeling Hills since perhaps the
beginning of the British Rule and their forcible repatriation back to China thereof is one of the greatest
controversies in the history of Darjeeling. While the Chinese population which was in great evidence even perhaps
more than that of the then Calcutta, the Chinese were forced to leave behind their business, property, while they
were ‘bagged into army trucks’ and forced to leave for the repatriation camp. My own mother, who had had a
childhood Chinese friend named Chin Chen who herself was born in Darjeeling of a Nepalese mother was forced to
leave while her mother separated because she was an Indian, my mother herself bearing witness to the entire scene.
Of course, today the issue may be debatable in national interest; a crime done under any pretext is still a crime. This

almost visually, how we used to gather around the radio and listen to western music. Of course, Jazz was
then more palatable to us then our Chinese Music. Once my friend, Su Che Waun decided to get hold of a
guitar and so asked his cousin in Calcutta to have the same transported to him. Upon its arrival in
Darjeeling two weeks later, there were perhaps more youths gathered at his house that day than the
railway station itself. Su meanwhile, proudly flashed his new guitar, of which of course, he had no idea
beside the fact that a pluck on the string produced a sound. It was only as the gathering thinned and we
settled down to see what a guitar exactly was, that a realization was born that just possessing a guitar was
not enough; the art of playing it had to be learnt. There were no Music School and we invariably were
forced to seek the help of our teachers and specially Father ‘Martin’ from the old school church168.
Father Martin however, was very good to us and accepted to teach us. And so within a year, we learnt
how to play the guitar and Su Che himself as he owned the guitar became perhaps even a better guitarist
than Father Martin himself. However, Su Che threw off the guitar in 1940 to join the army, only to return
back a martyr.”
In 1938 – 39 another interesting bit of event occurred that added to things in Darjeeling Hills. Due to the
air of a World War gathering in Europe and the East, a massive recruitment drive was initiated in
Darjeeling. The town became the recruitment headquarters of the Gorkhas. Any able bodied Gőrkha
willing to fight was recruited right at the centre of the town - The Market Square being pressed into
service in addition to the army cantonments of Jalapahar and Lebonġ. According to the late Janu Bir169,
“The idea of getting a chance to travel to other countries itself was a great inspiration for me. We were a
family of nine, which consisted of our parents and seven brothers of which I was the fourth in number…
Soldiering was more financially beneficial added with a chance to get away from home and have some
fun. … And to say the least I did have fun. I learnt to play the mouth organ in Sidi Omer, where an
Australian solider also taught me how to play the guitar.”
The one important thing that came out of the War through the recruitment of the Gorkhas in the Army
and their subsequent battles in the different parts of the world thereof was the close intermingling of the
Gorkhas with the British, Americans, Australians and other Western soldiers who at least in the
battlefield well acquainted of the Gőrkha fighting skill took pride in treating themselves as an equal
warrior to the Gorkhas. Most of the Gőrkhas who thence came back after the end of the War were more
aware of Western Culture than those who had stayed back. There were also more Gőrkhas coming back
home with a mouth organ, or a guitar or a saxophone stuffed in their back pack than another other
solders. Truly, thence this aspect of the Gőrkha involvement in the different theatres of the World War II
was an important phase in the evolution of the Western Music in the hills.
Another event that took place was also due to the Second World War. As the war began to rage out of
control and engulf the entire planet, the town increasingly began to be filled with American, British and
Australian soldiers who began to come to Darjeeling for their R & R. Now these soldiers invariable
thronged the restaurants, cinema halls and pubs, playing guitars, drums, saxophones and singing
themselves at the same time bring the local population that much closer to their own life style. In an
article ‘Reminiscences of Darjeeling’, Dr. T. Y. Pemba writes, “At that time World War II was on and
Darjeeling besides being a recruiting centre for Gorkhas was also a hill resort and convalescence centre
for the military. The town was packed with soldiers, both British and Americans. The Rink and Capitol
cinemas brought out clearly printed notices showing the daily films going on, and the houses used to be
packed with soldiers and sailors. I remember very clearly sitting with some British sailors in the cheapest
was a crime that was committed on Indian citizens of Chinese origin. These people born and raised in India were as
much Indians as the Punjabis, Bengalis, Marathis or Tamils for that matter.” (Moksha, ‘A blot in the history – A
crime done is a crime done – Barun Roy, Moksha May 2001)
168
Su Che Waun was not a student of the St. Joseph’s School nor as per information available was he from any
Missionary School; hence as a result, Qi Wen invariably had to make special arrangements with his teachers so that
Su Che Waun and he himself could both learn how to play the guitar.
169
The writer’s maternal grand uncle who volunteered for the War at the age of 16

seats in the Capitol cinema. The sailors would make loud ribald remarks at everything and we would
have a most boisterous time. Some Darjeeling people say that the town never enjoyed such prosperity as
(it did) in the war years.” A contemporary of Dr. Pemba, D. Pradhan writes, “The Park Restaurant170
would be filled by American soldiers as it was famous for its Chinese prawns. The Americans would
sing, dance and fight and my father who was a Military Policeman would invariably had to go there,
almost twice or thrice a day, to break up a fight. He would tell us how the Americans sang and danced
and would at times even try it with my mother who would feel rather embarrassed. I for myself, once had
the chance of visiting the restaurant. And it was there that I for the first time heard the Americans soldiers
working up a Jazz beat and the only thing that I could think of then was – why in the hell’s name wasn’t I
born an American!”
Truly, thence, the influence these soldiers had on the local youths was tremendous. Most learnt how to
play the guitar and the drums then. Youths now also had something else beside the Folk songs and the
Folk music to venture into. “The Western Music and especially Jazz was something happening, it was
bold and it was the embodiment of the youthful spirit. Jazz was how a youth felt and how they wanted to
express themselves – the rest was inconsequential and no one could now stop it”, wrote Persi Sorabji in
his article “The beginning of the Jazz consciousness in India.”
The fifties, essentially then leaped Darjeeling into a busy Jazz and the Western Music capital of India.
The Gymkhana Club out of the Legacy of the Second World War continued to host night long parties,
but this time filled with Indians and foreigners alike, where pioneers like Mike Stemberg, George
Banks,171 D. Pradhan, Janu, Andrew Rai, Austin Lepcha and Narendra Rai set the nights on fire with their
superb talent. The Park Restaurant, Glenary’s and Central Hotel also hosted several concerts and gigs for
these ‘pioneering greats’ who on their part were rather busy, bouncing from one club to another from one
pub to another. The fifties also saw the beginning of the serious indulgence of the Gőrkhas into the main
stream Western Music perhaps more appropriately the Western Classical Music. The missionary schools
including the Mount Hermon School, St. Joseph’s school, St. Paul’s school and the Loreto Convent had
had since their inception a motive to train the ‘students’ in the fine art of Western Living and hence,
training in the Western Music was an important aspect of the schooling. The teachers employed by these
schools themselves were accomplished musicians and composers and hence, as a result they had a great
influence among the students, who saw Western Classical Music ‘as glorious as Jazz172’. Among the
great pioneering teachers who trained the first of the Western Classical Music proponents in the Hills
were Father John McCabe, Mr. Krenik of the Mount Hermon School and Mr. Frank Churchill. These
gentlemen were soon augmented by the coming of Mr. Murray, who was the Principal of the Mount
Hermon School, an accomplished pianist, Miss Clara Kutino of the St. Joseph’s School and Mr. Jogen
Khan and Mr. Gautam Lepcha who were both from the St. Paul’s School. It were the hard work and the
dedications of these individuals that Mount Hermon, St. Joseph’s, St. Paul’s and the Loreto Convent now
began to regularly organize Western Classical Music Concerts which further introduced the lay
inhabitancy to an entirely new genre of music.
170
The present Shangri La restaurant
171
Father of the now famous Indian Jazz exponent Louis Bank or more appropriately Dambar Bâhâdur Budhapriti
172
Roop Narayan Sinha

Above: Mrs. V. Johnston, Mr. G. A. Murray and
Mr. J. Johnston.
Right: Mr. Krenek (centre) with students

Kr.s.na on the left and Samson Mennon
on the right. Seated are ‘Humphrey’
Bhagat and Frank Sepion. The young lad
in the middle cannot be ascertained. ©
Martin Sepion. Both photos courtesy The
Old Mount Hermon Students' Association
(UK))
However still, an independent Western

Classical Music School was not yet
established in the Darjeeling Hills.
Meanwhile, in the Western Music scenario of
the non-classical type, the sixties arrived with
the new fervor of the ‘flower power’.
Westerners especially Americans began to
flock towards India and especially the
Darjeeling Hills and Nepal which became the
Epicenter of the ‘Hippie Culture’ in the
region. Of course, the mysticism that Nepal
and the Darjeeling Hills preached was more to
be the reason for the same then anything else.
Still, the Darjeeling Town was nowhere ready
for the ‘hippie invasion’. In an interesting

article written by RamaKr.s.na Das173 and published subsequently in the Jazz Magazine, 1984;
RamaKr.s.na writes, “When we reached Darjeeling, I was first of all shocked by the peace and mysticism
there. It was simply a heaven. You could have a joint174 and sleep in the shadows of the huge trees or
organize a chant workshop at the heart of the town.” Jeevan Sarki, a contemporary of the period and an
eye witness in an interview175 further paints a more graphic picture, when he says, “In the sixties, all of a
sudden Americans with long hair and beard, wearing colourful dress and ear rings began to appear in
Darjeeling. As a young businessman, I would find the Americans rather strange; however, they would
join their hands in ‘namaste’ to all of us and when asked about their names, reply rather surprising as
“Om, Shiva, Kr.s.na, Pravu Das and so on. The Chowrasta, local pubs and bars especially the unlicensed
ones would always be filled by them. These Hippies would also be kissing and mixing rather immorally
in public places and as a result there would be frequently complaints to the police. Once, the police even
arrested a couple and paraded them all round the market square in order to teach them a lesson. The
Hippies would also be always looking for ganja176 and hence all of a sudden in the town where people
did not even know the meaning of drugs, drug peddlers began to appear. I think the Hippie Invasion was
perhaps one of the worst things that happened to these hills.” Jeevan is however, not the only to share
such a thought. Most people today feel that the Hippie Culture all in all had more to take from the
Gőrkha society than give something to it. Ram Singh Rawat in his Nepąli article, “Samay le bhuleko
Samay” published in 1989 aptly writes, “People tell me that we lost our innocence during the Gorkhaland
Movement. Well to tell the truth, we had lost our innocence right during the Hippie invasion in the
sixties, when we were introduced to drugs, sex and rock music.” Truly, Ram Singh Rawat was a bit hard
and even perhaps too blunt, but he was no entirely wrong.
However, we must analyze the impact of the Hippie Invasion not just in a pretext of a cultural invasion
but also in the pretext of what it gave to us, however less or however insignificant they might initially
seem. For example, not many people remember today that there were more inter-racial or should one say
more inter-national marriages that took place then, than it has ever had. More Gőrkha girls or for that
matter, Tibetans, Bengalis and girls of other races were married to American, British, Australian and
German men than it has ever had. At the same time there were many foreign girls who married with the
local men in that period and settled down in the hills. Thus, knitting the hills with the western world more
closely. The period also for the first time pitted the local musicians with the international ones. One could
during the said period find constant jamming sessions between the foreigners and the locals. This
effectively helped the local boys to sharpen their skill and learn new arts. This also proved to be a good
platform. Music was of greatest importance to the Hippie Culture and that was one thing which really
worked into our favour. The first band thence to be formed in the Darjeeling Hills was the Diamond,
which was formed in 1965. Though most scholars prefer to give the unnamed band of George Banks the
credit of being the first band of the Hills, this author for one feel that the credit of the same must go to the
Diamond band. Diamond was formed by Pemba Lepcha, Bikram Subba, Suren Rai, Praveen Gazmer and
Subarna Limbű. Of course, the Diamond did not achieve much success as its coming descendants would;
it still holds great importance in the history for the simple reason that it was established. Without its
formation perhaps, thence, no other bands would have come up. Or even if they had, it would still have
taken some one to begin the process of evolution, to give that ‘first push’ which is of greatest importance.
In the seventies meanwhile, the movement truly began to gain speed as gears were eventually shifted and
local boys began to come out forming the first Western Musical Groups. This was also the first time
when the eventual shift from the Jazz to the Rock was observed. The Himalayan Western Musical Group
173
The Hyn.du name of a once Hippie Frank Staley
174
A joint as a term was applied to the cigarette filled with marijuana. One cigarette was one joint – two cigarettes
became two joints.
175
With Beacon
176
Marijuana

was established in the early 70s. It was closely followed by the Hillains, which was perhaps also the first
‘genuinely rock group to come out of the Darjeeling Hills.’ Incidentally, Hillains achieved should one say
‘world fame’ in a rather interesting mistake on the part of the Time Magazine. The visiting scribe of the
magazine being rather impressed by the talent shown by the Hillains sought to write about them in good
light and did so only to call them the ‘The Sikkimese Beatles’ which was taken rather with a pinch of salt
back in Darjeeling. However, publicity in those days came the hard way and what ever was achieved was
achieved even if it was not entirely right. The Hillians band which was to signify the coming together of
the Hillains or the people from the Hills or more appropriately or inappropriately the Hillmen was
founded by Peter J. Karthak, an ardent Christian who found his inspiration in the Gospels. Peter had been
introduced to the Western Music in the Church and being a part of the Church Choir had also been
trained in the same. The singing of the Gospel was truly of greatest importance to him. The formation of
the Hillains perhaps thence, was only an extension of that same desire.
Peter while still in his teens had impressed upon the likes of Louis Banks, Ambar Gurung and Indrâ
Thapalia, who looked upon him as one of the greatest upcoming stars. George Bank himself being
impressed by the teenage had asked him to join his band which performed every evening at the
Gymkhana Club. However, the music scenario was still at its early stages if not infancy and could not
offer more to the young wiz-kid than certain gigs in case he had a band. The setting up of a band thus was
initiated by Peter himself with his younger brother Mark on the rhythm guitar and Lalit Tâmaņg on
vocals. Peter himself initially started by playing the acoustic bass guitar ultimately to switch on to lead
guitar when a better ‘bassist’ K.K. Gurung joined the band bringing with him his electric bass guitar.
However, the band initially lacking a drummer could not make much mark in the local music scene. One
of the pioneering percussionists of the region Ranjit Gazmer hence, was hurriedly pressed into service as
the new member of the band. Phurba Tshering later joined playing the French horn and trumpet.
However, again a slight alteration at the very beginning of the evolution of Hillians took place when Lalit
left the band due to certain unknown reasons and the two brothers Peter and Mark were thence forced to
fill in as vocalists. The change indeed came as an evolutionary upheaval and the Hillians then settled
down to its business. Of course, the loss of Lalit was great. Lalit was undoubtedly a better vocalist than
the two Karthak brothers. Lalit was also the crowd puller and a rather dashing young man with his ‘Elvis’
looks. The band yet, without Lalit achieved fame and in the seventies itself, started earning around a
thousand rupees a piece in a single gig; which was of course, unthinkable at that time. The band would
thence, hop from one Club to another and one town to another. And to top it all, the Hillains were all just
teenagers, famous and relatively prosperous.
Analysing today, thence, the success

story of Hillians, we can safely say that
they imbued among all the teenagers
then of an idea of a life of fame and
relative prosperity. Truly, Hillians were
the true harbinger of the evolution of
Western Bands in the Hills. If the
Hillians had not been formed and had
not achieved the relative financial and
extreme popular adulation perhaps no
bands would have thereafter been
formed or to be envisaged to be formed.
While the Diamonds started, Hillains
confirmed it and laid down the
foundations. The greatest achievement
of the Hillians thence was to inspire a
whole generation of musicians.

Hillians however, was rather solemnly and prophetically disbanded by Peter himself when he graduated
from the college. All the band members eventually made their way to fame and glory in Nepal. Peter
played his guitar for the last time in a gig in Hong Kong in February 1979.
During the ‘Hillians days’, numerous bands had been inspired and formed. Among which were ‘Extreme
Moderation’ started by Dambar Subba, Subarna Limbű and Puran Gongba177. However, the ‘Extreme
Moderation’ was to be always over-shadowed by the Hillians until the day it was disbanded. A myriad of
other bands were also formed which achieved some success among these were the ‘Yetis’ and ‘Steel’.
Meanwhile, a whole new explosion was yet to take place in the firmament of the Darjeeling Hills. In
1976, Forbidden Fruit, a band which true to its name would bring about a great upheaval in the western
music scene was formed. In a Beacon article ‘Forbidden Fruit’ of the July 1998 issue, the band was
described by this writer as, “They were jazzy but not vulgar. They were loud and hard but not
cacophonic. They were nostalgic but not nauseatic. The pioneers of Rock music in the Darjeeling Hills
they were truly the Forbidden Fruit.” The band indeed started its career with a bang. Every thing was
different - while the Hillians had left behind a legacy of the ‘cute looking boys behind the instruments’,
the Forbidden Fruit true to its name were superbly jazzy, their dress code being something of a revolution
in itself and consisting primarily of sleek vests and jackets, bell bottom jeans and Katrais and most
importantly the ‘Legendary Rock Symbolium’ – the utterly long and rather unkempt hair style.
The band was the brainchild of Paul Ghosh, who brought the likes of John Glasby178, Kiren, Suren and
Mohan together to play the guitar. In the entire history of the western music bands or now more precisely
the Rock bands in the Darjeeling Hills, there had never been so many guitarist in one single band. All of
whom being geniuses in their own right. Kuldeep meanwhile was pressed into service to be the band
drummer and the now local legend Deep Arora to be the vocalist. The motley crew of seven rather
strange looking young men then became the Forbidden Fruit ready to shake the Hills.
Forbidden Fruit - Mohan and Suren in bass and rhythm and Deep Arora on the vocal and lead
guitar.
177
Purna also performed with the Hillians but was not its permanent member
178
Glasby was an Australian national and was then associated with the Mount Hermon School

“Our music was a sort of rough and heavy. We created all the noise in the world. We screamed and
yelled, yet ensuring the aesthetic value of music,” Deep is recorded saying in an interview with
Beacon179. Forbidden Fruit within months of its formation achieved fame and glory winning one beat
contest over another. They won the All India Blue Sheep Beat Contest, the Philip Beat Contest and at one
time winning almost every Beat Contest that were organized. The band meanwhile also performed at the
various gigs in and around the Darjeeling Hills being in great demand at the local clubs, restaurants, pubs
and the Gymkhana Club. Forbidden Fruit however, above all is most credited for achieving one of the
most important feats in the history of Western and Rock Music in the Hills. The band released its first
album ‘The First Bite’ which was also the first album to come out of Darjeeling Hills. ‘The First Bite’ till
date is the only purely English Rock Album to come out of Darjeeling. The album was followed by the
‘Pudding in the Puddle’, however due to financial restraints the album could not see the light of the day.
An event still mourned today by Rock music enthusiasts and Forbidden Fruit fans in the Darjeeling Hills.
‘The Forbidden Fruits’ indeed!
The band meanwhile also never did formally disband. “It exists
in spirit as the saying goes”, wrote one fan in a letter to Beacon.
While the seven and those other members who joined the band
later or performed with the band scattered and got engrossed in
their own professional careers, the band left behind a great bit of
legacy for all the other bands to come. Forbidden Fruit laid
down the foundations, and even taught the other bands what to
do and what not to do. Truly, all their experiments with metal,
fancy clothes, stage presentations were not just for their own
success but for the success of all the other bands to come. While
some pundits of the field still linger in their opinions today, that
Forbidden Fruit with their album ‘The First Bite’ proved beyond
doubt that an ‘All Rock album’ is not commercially viable, most
other pundits of the same field and some music enthusiasts still
believe that without ‘The First Bite’ perhaps there would have
been no other albums both western music based or eastern music
based. Truly, ‘The First Bite’ was the beginning of all the
albums, rock or non-rock or for that matter non-western to come
out of the Darjeeling Hills.
The legacy of the Forbidden Fruit can also be accounted from

the fact that the period since the formation of Forbidden Fruit up till the emergence of the U. S. Band is
today taken to be the ‘Golden Era of Rock Music in the Hills’. In the late seventies and the early
eighties, due to the success of the Forbidden Fruit a great upsurge in the formation of the bands were also
noted. Dreamers, Dead Rose and of course the legendary U. S. Band came into being. The U. S. Bands
more treacherously the abbreviation of ‘United Souls’ then ‘United States’ as most people thought it to
be was the extension of the success that was passed down as the legacy by Forbidden Fruit to the other
bands. U. S. Band achieved legendary success with its frequent gigs at the Gymkhana Club and the
Chowrasta; however, before it could go any further, the Gorkhaland movement started which brought a
great lull in the music field.
The Western Classical Music on the other hand was not far behind. In 1978, one of the greatest
exponents of Western Classical Music from the region Mahendra Pradhan established the Melody
Academy, the objective of which solely being to train the youths in classical music. The students were
also offered chances to sit for examination conducted by the Trinity College of London.
179
July 1998

Jeevan Pradhan also a great exponent of Western Classical Music and an excellent player of the violin
and guitar joined in his father’s endeavour and Melody Academy started churning in classical musicians.
Jeevan himself developed into great classical musician inspiring a whole generation of musicians. The
Melody Academy also became the training ground for future musicians like Sachin, Yuvraj (of the Rusty
Nails fame) among others who found classical music training much complimentary to their Rock music
aspirations. This writer himself was a contemporary of Yuvraj and was a colleague of his at the Melody
Academy. The contribution thus of the Melody Academy cannot as much be traced in the pure western
classical music theatre as it can be traced in the honing up of skills of rock
musicians, who found their way into Rock music through the lessons
learnt at the Melody Academy.
The Western Classical Music Culture in the Darjeeling Hills however,

also owes a great deal to one individual man, who made it is his life’s
mission to train young people in Western Classical Music. The Canadian
born Jesuit Fr. Edward McGuire is truly a ‘one man army.’
Father Edward McGuire made available the Western Classical Music to

such people who would indeed otherwise have never had even heard of a
violin. In an article titled ‘Gandhi Ashrâma’ written by Barbara Grover,180
a fantastic insight is presented of Father McGuire’s work - “They live in
cramped mud slab houses, without running water or electricity. Most
cannot afford a pair of shoes. (And) Until a few years ago, these children
180
Barbara Grover is a freelance photojournalist who has travelled through the Himalayas, Zanzibar, and the
Mosquito Coast, among many other places in the world. Her works feature in the most respectable magazines and
newspapers of the world.

ate little more than a bowl of rice each day, had no idea what a violin was, and had no hopes for the
future. Today, however, these six to twelve-year olds who come from some of India's poorest Himalayan
villages make up the classical violin orchestra at the Jesuits' Gandhi Ashrâma school… And they are
known for giving spellbinding performances…”
The story of a priest from Guelph, Ontario travelling to Kalimpong and starting a school to help the
poorest of the students not just from being educated and well feed but also on being passed upon a
culture of Western Classical Music is a story worthy of an independent book in itself. However, to stick
to restrictions imposed upon this writer and give a brief biography of such a great man, Father McGuire
was born in Canada. An ardent Christian right since his childhood, Father McGuire opted to be trained as
a priest. And so in 1949, he entered the Jesuit Society, spending his novitiate years in Guelph, Ontario. In
1954, still a regent at the time, he travelled to Darjeeling where he spent the majority of his years
teaching at the town. However, in 1993 he established the Gandhi Ashrâma Elementary School in
Kalimpong and left Darjeeling. The Ashrâma today has
developed into a place that integrates rigorous violin instruction
with an equally demanding academic curriculum. According to
Father McGuire’s own account, in the first year itself, he
recruited 23 students. Most of the students, and majority being
girls used to spend their days toiling at farms. And like their
parents, they were illiterate and on the verge of malnutrition.
But soon after their admission in the school, their lives changed
for good. (Inset: A young Gandhi Ashrâma student. Photo
taken by Barbara Grover © Company Magazine.)
It is said that Father McGuire first came up with his music

theory back in 1980, while working with students at St.
Robert's School. Father McGuire says, “I brought over Jogen
Khan, the conductor of the Calcutta Symphony, to give the
students at St. Robert's some culture. After watching them sit in
perfect silence, I realized the remarkable effect music had on
children.”
After that day, McGuire hired a violin teacher and bought eight violins from Braganza & Co, a classical
music store in Calcutta. Within three weeks of picking up violins for the first time, the St. Robert's
students were playing classical music-and performing better in their studies. The school today also has a
reputation for academic excellence.
The journey that Father McGuire has started has just begun. It wouldn’t be a surprise thence, to find one
day a great Western Classical Musician and Composer who would owe his or her success to the
indomitable Father and his Gandhi Ashrâma.
Going back to the Western Music evolution of the Rock Genre, in the mid-eights however, the
Gorkhaland movement brought everything to a halt. The much featured and famous open air concerts
were stopped. Restaurants, pubs and clubs closed down. Activities of Rock musicians and Rock music
enthusiasts both were also clamped down by the police in a rather uneducated move. Youths with long
hair were arrested and forcibly taken to a police barber, if at all there are ‘police barbers’. Gigs and rock
shows were forcibly dispersed as unlawful gatherings. As a result bands disappeared and the entire Hills
sank into a silent gloom.
Post ‘Gorkhaland Movement’ however, the bands made an eventual and slow comeback as the Darjeeling
Hills slowly gathered back her life. Two bands of the era that played an important role are thence, worth
mentioning. These two bands were Magnum Opus and Rusty Nails. While the formation of both the

bands had essentially taken place in the pre-Gorkhaland movement era, their success and contribution can
only be traced back during the post-Gorkhaland movement.
Rusty Nails was formed in 1985 by four young musicians – Sanjeev, Minketan, Yuvraj and Hemraj. It is
said that the first problem the band members faced was the question - as to ‘what name should be given
to the band?’ Yuvraj’s brother-in-law however, is said to have saved the day by coming up with rather
interesting lists of names which included - ‘Shades of Blue, Talisman and Rusty Nails’. The four of
course selected the obvious. In an interview with Beacon181, the four talking with this very writer had
given the reason behind their selection as such: “Rusty Nails hold deep meaning,” they had said, adding
further, “During and after the Gorkhaland Movement every talent in the Darjeeling Hills was rusting,
unused and uncared. So the nails that had been rusted had to be brought out again and put into better
use.”
Rusty Nails was a close knit unit as most of them were related to each other, with Sanjeev at the vocals
and guitar, Minketan on the Bass, Yuvraj on the lead guitar and vocals and of course with Hemraj on the
drums. The band originally played Rhythm, Blues and Rock. Today, of course Rusty Nails is
synonymous with blues at least in the hills.
The first time Rusty Nails played was at the ‘Day scholar’s Night’ at their alma-mater, St. Joseph’s
School where they also won their first prize – a cake at that. Though the band had been formed during the
pre-Gorkhaland Movement the band found its new feet in the post-movement era. In 1986 in one of the
first concerts to be featured in the Hills after the movement, the band was featured as a guest band at a
live concert of the band called ‘Dreamer’. The year there after the band went on a regional tour. It was
during this period that the band realized their true potential and started becoming serious towards music
as a profession. However, Sanjeev left the band to leave for Germany and his place was filled by
Devendra Rai. Further concerts followed including the one at the old Bhanu Bhawan (now Gőrkha
Rangamanch) with the ‘Mountain Wind’, which gave the band some well needed finance, which the band
used to buy equipments. In 1989, the band left for Madras (now Chennai) to participate in the Mardi
Gras. Thereafter the band won many competitions and beat contests. The band also toured K.rsǽng,
Kalimpong, Gangtok, Bhutan and other places. Meanwhile, Devendra left to be replaced by Benoy Rai.
The band then ventured towards Mumbai and was also able to bag a contract for an album. However, due
to certain reasons the same could not be possible. The band instead began playing at the various pubs
there at the same time composing jingles for commercial business ads and Bombay F. M. Radio. When
they returned back home more famous then ever, Rusty Nails became the first band to give an unplugged
Concert in the history of Darjeeling Hills.
It is very hard today to point out the most important contribution Rusty Nails made in the pretext of the
evolution of Rock Music in the Hills. The reason simply is that there are so many firsts the band
achieved. Rusty Nails was the first band till date to have bagged a professional album contract. Of
course, the contract did not work out; the fact still makes the Rusty Nails worthy of the credit. Another
important first and perhaps the most important contribution the band made is that the band along with
other bands especially Magnum Opus, helped in the resurrection of the Western Music Culture in the
Darjeeling Hills in the post-movement era. Rusty Nails was also the first to venture out into the wilds of
Mumbai.
Perhaps, Rusty Nails’ closest contemporary and co-blaze holder during the post-movement era was
Magnum Opus. Of course, like the Rusty Nails, Magnum Opus was also formed before the
commencement of the Gorkhaland movement, in 1984 to be precise. And the band had also performed
during the period. However, like Rusty Nails again, the band was to make its mark only in the post-
movement era and along with Rusty Nails help in the resurrection of the Western Music Culture in the
Hills.
181
April 1998

Magnum Opus was formed when five college students decided to do more justice to their musical talent.
The five young men were Mahesh Thapa, Keshar Subba, Mohan Giri, Pasang Bhutia and Vivian Yonzon.
Mahesh was the lead guitarist. Mohan played the drums while Keshar and Vivian were the bass guitarists
and Pasang of course the vocalist. In 1985 and 1987, Vivian and Mohan left the band respectively due to
job commitments. Mohan’s place was taken over by Kunga Sherpa during the period of 1988-1989.
Meanwhile in 1986, Deven Gurung joined the band as a vocalist followed by Palden Dukpa who joined
the band in 1989 as the lead guitarist. Palden unfortunately had to leave in 1992; his place being filled by
Benoy Rai, whose departure a year later was in turn filled up by Arun Gurung. By 1992, the band was at
the verge of losing all its founder members as only two founder members existed in the band. These were
Mahesh and Keshar, while the other three were later entrants – these three being Minketan Raj, Deven
Gurung and Yugal Basnet.
Magnum Opus instantly however taking all things aside, tasted success when it was placed third in the
‘All India Beat Contest’ held in Gangtok in 1984. Between the period 1986 – 90, the band toured Delhi,
Gangtok, and Nagaland and even performed on air at the All India Radio. Of course, the band regularly
played at the local theartre also. However, the most important feat that the band achieved was when the
band was aired on the Doordarshan182 on the New Years Eve in 1990.
A lot more bands also, whose existence though of short period and whose contribution a rather
inconsequential affair in terms of comparison with the likes of Hillains, Forbidden Fruit or Rusty Nails,
at least added to the ‘general consciousness’ of the people. These bands today engulfed in the mist of
time still were no less in eminence and their enthusiasm no less to all the bands and individuals
mentioned above. It is the restriction that these limited pages imposes on this writer that keeps him from
rendering true justice to all. Bands like Steel, Phoenix, Dead Rose, Dreamers, Diamonds and Rust,
Mountain Wind, Leviathan, Broken Wings, Destiny, Barren land, Yetis, Damaged Brain, Vein String and
so on can only be remembered with glory and greater homage.
Conclusion
If one is to sit down and analyze what contribution bands and people individually made, it would be a
very difficult job, perhaps even an impossible one. More than a hundred years of love, dedication and
wishful thinking went into what we call ‘our western music culture’ today. From the missionaries of the
west, who first brought the western musical instruments with them to the first Jazz programmes aired on
the Radio - From the days of Roop Nâ.râ.yâ.n Sinha to the Hillians and from the Forbidden Fruit to the
Rusty Nails and Magnum Opus - From
Mahendra Pradhan of the Melody Academy to
Father McGuire of the Gandhi Ashrâma, all
have given, as a band, group and as individuals.
However, in the process of trying to find the one
thing that is at the crux of all besides mere
achievements and historical would to be to
investigate on the following line - What we
achieved and what we are seeking to achieve
cannot be based on just the number of records,
albums or gigs we were able to get or make.
Gigs are forgotten, albums and records simply
lost and destroyed, it is the legend, the legacy
and the most importantly the inspiration that
one individual or a band passes on to its
younger generation. If the one most important
contribution the bands have made in the pretext
of the western musical culture in the Darjeeling
182
The National Television Channel

Hills then it must definitely be the long continuous line of inspiration one band has offered to its younger
generations. Truly, a whole lot of all generations of people had been inspired and not just in the
Darjeeling Hills but also all over the nation. Romu Ghosh today, one of the best percussionists in the
nation was inspired and trained in Darjeeling. One of the great Jazz exponents of the nation Louis Bank
was a local lad, trained in Darjeeling. Greats international jazz exponents like Mike Stemberg and Daniel
Ritchie were introduced to music in Darjeeling during their early childhood. One of the great Hollywood
music director and composer Gregory Wilson was born in Darjeeling and literarily raised at the
Gymkhana Club, where his father John Wilson performed almost every evening between the First and the
Second World War. The Dutch band of ‘Darjeeling’ who even gave the title to their band as ‘Darjeeling’
as ‘a mark of respect to the great land of Darjeeling and the inspiration that their band is based upon’ is
truly the embodiment of the legacy of Western Music Culture in our hills. Suzanne Teng meanwhile, a
world renowned flutist, dancer and composer has named one of the numbers in her recent album as
‘Darjeeling Sunrise’. “This song reflects the experience that I had when I was on top of Tiger Hill in
Darjeeling, witnessing a magical sunrise illuminating the awesome Himalayan Mountain,” Suzanne Teng
said in one of her interviews with the Entertainment Magazine. Suzanne Teng also reiterates that she was
inspired not just by the scenery but also the whole consciousness of Darjeeling and that very much
involves the western music culture here. Qi Wen Teng in China meanwhile, though expired had carried
on the journey he had started in Darjeeling performing in underground pubs and clubs in a country where
Rock music was then treated as the vehicle of American Cultural Invasion. Or for that matter a score of
bands that exists today in the Hills and the albums and concerts and shows that flourish today, if all these
taken together are not the legacy of the a more than 100 years of love affair with Western Music, then
truly what is? Today, whatever success musicians from Darjeeling Hills or those who trace their own
musical journey through Darjeeling has been achieved is a part of the history of the evolution of the
Western Music Culture in the Darjeeling Hills. And then again to say the least, there is still much to
evolve and to achieve. I for one am looking forward to see at least another 50 years in future when I can
write about another episode of history, about another set of legends. Until then great friends, I can only
say, history is yet being written!183 (Inset below: Suzanne Teng’s album featuring the number –
Darjeeling Sunrise © Suzanne Teng).
183
(This article was published in series in Beacon between January 1998 and February 1999. The said article
bearing the same title was authored by Barun Roy. The research team however also consisted of Subash Sthapit,
Anil Roy, Asif Iqbal, Prashant Rai, Nishan Chettri and Bishal Sharma. The members of different bands themselves
fully co-operated during the same, submitting photographs and even entire albums for the reference of the research
team. The above article with new additions essentially thence, is the reproduction of the said article by the author
himself.)

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40. P. H., ‘The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – An illustrated guide to the Railway and Darjeeling,’
Hood and Co., England (1911)
41. Pradhan, Indramani, Parasmani Pradhan, Sahitya Akademi, N. Delhi, India (1997)
42. Risley, H.H., 1894. Gazetteer of Sikkim. Bengal Secretariat Press, Calcutta. [ With Map ]
43. Ronaldshey, Earl of, 1923. Lands of the Thunderbolt: Sikhim, Chumbi & Bhutan. Constable and
Company Limited, London.
44. Sen, Chiranjeev, Bhowal Sanyasi’r Mamla, Mondal Book House, Calcutta, India
45. Smith, W.W. & Cave, G.H., 1913. The Vegetation of the Zemu and Llonakh Valleys of Sikkim.
Records of the Botanical Survey of India, 4: 141-260.
46. Smith, W.W., 1913. Additions to the Flora of the Eastern Himalaya. Records of the Botanical
Survey of India, 4: 261-272.
47. Stearn, W.T., 1976. Bull. Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist. 5: 243-268.
48. Twain, Mark., ‘Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World’, Hartford American
Publishing Co., USA (1897)
49. Ward, 1966. Geographical Journal Vol. 132.
50. White, J.C., 1894a. The Book of the Law. In H. H. Risley, The Gazetteer of Sikkim, Bengal
Secretariat Press, Calcutta: 46-54.
51. White, J.C., 1894b. Marriage Customs. In H. H. Risley, The Gazetteer of Sikkim, Bengal Secretariat
Press, Calcutta: 55-56.
52. White, J.C., 1894c. Agriculture. In H. H. Risley, The Gazetteer of Sikkim, Bengal Secretariat Press,
Calcutta: 74-79.
53. White, J.C., 1907. Across Unknown Bhutan. Wide World Magazine, 19: 219-226, 322-327.
54. White, J.C., 1909. My Journey in Bhutan. Wide World Magazine, 23: 13-23, 179-185.
55. White, J.C., 1909. Sikkim and Bhutan; twenty-one years on the north-east frontier, 1887-1908.
London.
56. White, J.C., 1910. Journeys in Bhutan. The Geog. J., 35: 18-42.
57. White, J.C., 1914. Castles in the Air: Experiences and Journeys in Unknown Bhutan. The National
Geographic Magazine, 25: 368-455.
58. William, G. Elloy, Hyam, M., Roy, K.K., ‘Darjeeling – Queen of the Himalayas’, Daw Sen and
Co, Private Ltd, Calcutta (July 1960)

Centenary Souvenir:
1. Nripendra Nâ.râ.yâ.n Bengali Hyn.du Hall, Darjeeling (1890-1990)
Court Cases (Privy Council Case Files) Referred:
1. First Appeal of 24th July 1930 (at the Court of the First Subordinate Judge at Dacca) Appeal No:
70/1930
2. Bengal Appeal No. 15 of 1943
3. Privy Council Appeal No. 17 of 1945, [1946] A.C.508
4. Judgement of the Lords of the Judicial committee of the Privy Council, delivered on the 30th July
1946 (Delivered by Lord Thankerton and co-chaired by Lord du Parcq and Sir Madhavan Nair at Fort
William)
Decrees and Notices:
1. The Royal Communiqué issued by the Royal Court of Bhowal in 1892

2. Notice (issued by J. T. Rankin, Deputy Commissioner – to accompany the Programme of the Public
Arrival in Darjeeling of their Excellencies the Earl and Countess of Ronaldshey on the 17th April
1917)
Maps:
1. Bartholomew, 1990. World Travel Map, Indian Subcontinent 1:400,000. Edinburgh, Great Britain.
2. Brownrigg, H.S., 1878. Routes in Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Tibet, Burma and between Assam and
Burma. Calcutta.
3. Indian Map Service, The Road Atlas and State Distance Guide, Jodhpur, 1999
4. PWD, Darjeeling District, PWD, 1901
5. Survey of India, 1941 edition. 1:126,720. Sheets 78 A/SW 78 A/SE. Calcutta India.
6. Survey of India, 1972. 1:250,000 map of Bhutan.
7. World Bank, 1982. Landsat map of Bhutan.
8. Walker, 1872. Trans-frontier map. Skeleton Sheet No. 9, 16 miles: 1 inch.
Magazines:
1. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 15th Jan. 1998

2. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 15th Feb. 1998
3. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 15th March 1998
4. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 May 1998
5. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 June 1998
6. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 July 1998
7. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 August 1998
8. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 Sept. 1998
9. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 Nov. 1998
10. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 Jan. 1999
11. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 March 1999
12. Beacon, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, 1 April 1999
13. The National Geographic Magazine, Edited by John Oliver La Gorce, National Geographic
Society, July 1954
14. The National Geographic Magazine, Edited by John Oliver La Gorce, National Geographic
Society, July 1955
15. Moksha, Edited by Barun Roy, Beacon Publications, May 2001

News releases:
1. The Dacca Sensation, ‘The Englishman’, 9th May 1921 issue

2. Town Hall for Darjeeling, Associated Press, ‘The Englishman’, 30th May 1921
3. India's new anti-rebel development programme, BBC World Service, Thursday 9 April 1998,
published at 17:30 GMT 18:30 UK
4. Gurkhas strike for new state, By Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta, BBC World Service, Friday 5 February
1999, published at 10:58 GMT
5. Separatist strike paralyses Darjeeling, BBC World Service, Monday 22 May 2000, 16:15 GMT 17:15
UK
6. West Bengal rebels kill Marxist leader, BBC World Service, Saturday 28 October 2000, 12:51 GMT
13:51 UK
Newspapers issues:
1. “Darjeeling Advertiser” - 1st June 1921

2. “The Whip” - 7th September 1936
3. “This Week” (edited by Barun Roy) - Nov. 10 – Nov. 16 2001
Official Letters and Memos:
1. Dated 5th May 1921, D. O. No. 100, F. W. Nedhon to J. H. Lindsay, Collector of Dacca
2. Dated 5th May 1921, Memo No. 12, F. W. Nedhon to J. H. Lindsay, Collector of Dacca
3. Dated 6th May 1921, M. M. Chakravorthy to J. H. Lindsay, Collector of Dacca
Private Letters:
1. Dated 3rd of September 1917 written by Queen Mother Satyabhavama to the King of Burdwan
2. Dated 23rd July 1922, Queen Mother Satyabhavama to Queen Bibhabati Devi
Records /Survey reports:
1. Record of the Botanical Survey of India, Vol. 5, No. 5, 1940

2. A Guide to the Lloyd Botanic Garden Darjeeling, Edited by J. Sen, Superintendent, Indian Botanic
Garden, Calcutta, West Bengal Government Press, Alipore, 1962. (WBGP-62/3-2428C-5M)
3. Cowan, J.M., 1929. The Forests of Kalimpong. Records of the Botanical Survey of India, 12(1): 1-
74.

Glossary
Aryan: ârya
Ashram: Ashrâma
Brahman: Bra.hma.n
Bharati: Bhāratỉ
Brihaspati: Brhaspati
Bahadur: Bâhâdur
Chakra: Chakrâ
Chandra: Chāndrā
Chettri/Chhetri: Cheţtrî
Devnagri/Devanagri: Devanâgarî
Durga: Duŕgā
Dev: Devâ
Dorjeling: Dorŕ.jéeling
Dorje: Dorŕ.jée
Gorkha/Gurkha: Gőrkha
Gopal: Go.pậ.l
Gidhepahar: Gidhēpâhâar
Hindu: Hyn.du
Hem: Hêm
Jalpaiguri: Jậlpaîgūrî
Kurseong: K.rsǽng
Krishna: Kr.s.na
Khukri: Khük.ri
Kazi: Kazî
Laxmi: Laxmī
Lebong: Lebonġ
Mukhia: Mũkhia
Mayal Lyang: Mayāl Ly.ang
Maharani Vidyalaya: Mâharanî Vîdya.l.aya
Mahakal: Mahâkâla
Mira: Mįra
Nepąli : Nepąli
Nepalese: Nepąlese
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose: Netâji Subąs Chāndrā Bose
Norbu: Nőrbũ
Narayan: Nâ.râ.yâ.n
Punkabaree: Pankhabareé
Pasang Doma: Pąsa.nġ Döma
Pedong: Pédõng
Ras: Rąsa
Rita: Rta
Rishi: Rshi
Rima: Rįma
Sarat: Sarât
Sarkar: Sarkâr
Sealdah: Sealdậh
Sehgal: Sêhgâl
Shah Nawaz: Shâh Nâwâz
Sita: Sįta
Tung: Toońg
Tamang: Tâmaņg

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ENCYCLOPÆDIA

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Mandalay Books Pvt. Ltd, India

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i) With due permission from the respective copyright owners

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Disclaimer on Submitted Photographs

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THE PEGASUS – HORSE OF LUCK

Sikkim - 17th Century A. D.

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Which still remains unknown…..

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a) Prince Frederick Ferdinand

a) KORösI CSOMA SANDOR – Csoma de Koros, Alexander

7. Nomenclature of places and tribes

a) Rai Sahib Khargā Bâhâdur Cheţtrî

9. Unknown facts about places in and around Darjeeling

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10. Photo Essays… Moments frozen in time

One. Historical References and Sources

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Dr. Penelope Whitaker1

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The important aspects of the process applied thence, are thus:

4. Introduction of Gorkhāli-English transliteration scheme: This scheme is based on the

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The evolution of Darjeeling

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The Bhutia Busteé Monastery in 1955

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Seal of the Sikkimputee Rajah,

The influx of Early Settlers

This period also witnessed the most notable development of the

In 1842, 40 miles of the Grand Trunk Road

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The Go.pậ.l Temple

In 1845, buildings like

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The Evolution of ‘support towns’

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The Evolution of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

A rare photo of Nepąlese bearers stationed at Gidhēpâhâar dating

Though by the 10th of June 1878, the line from Sealdậh to

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A German map of 1895 showing the

The 10th of November 1897, was an epoch-making day in

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Freedom Fighters Putaliya Devi, Helen Lepcha, Jung

While Helen Lepcha and Gaga Tshering Dukpa42