Trans-Himalauyan Trade and Emergence of Darjeeling as A Hill Station

Abstract

Until 1835, the time of the Deed of Grant hills of Darjeeling was ‘terra incognita’. Formation of the district of Darjeeling completed only in 1865 when present areas of Kalimpong district were incorporated into Darjeeling as a result of the treaty of Sinchula signed between the East India Company and Bhutan.
The making of Darjeeling as a hill station was a cumulative result of many historical events involved with neighboring countries of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. Prior to the arrival of the British, the entire area of Darjeeling hills were secluded with lack of proper communication of and hence there were no significant trade relations with the mainland of India. Contrarily, in absence of domestic trade, the trans-Himalayan trade of Darjeeling with Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet flourished during this period. The trans-Himalayan trail trudge facilitated this trade across frontiers of Darjeeling.
With the arrival of the East India Company the volume of trans-Himalayan trade of Darjeeling increased manifold. The colonial venture of the occupation of Darjeeling in the first half of the 19th century was significant as because the climatic consideration only was not the sole motive of occupying Darjeeling but strategic and commercial interests were also the determining factors. The climatic, strategic and commercial interests of the British over the terrain shaped the socio-economic growths of the Darjeeling hills.