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Darjeeling Past and Present: Part 1 (of 2)

A long-standing member of BACSA, Celia Brown is particularly concerned about the condition of the Hill Cart Road Cemetery at Darjeeling, where many of the district’s tea planters are buried. Celia grew up in the area, where her father, Sydney Emmett, managed the Glenburn Tea Estate, which had been created in 1859.

Celia still visits her beloved Darjeeling frequently, most recently in spring 2026. Here she tells us the story of Darjeeling: Part 1 of her article relates its early history, before tea planting became widespread; Part 2 brings us up to the present day.

‘Darjeeling has been described as the ‘Queen of the Indian Hill Stations’ with the Kanchenjunga snow clad massif dominating the town, the surrounding mountains and hills, the people of the area and the planting and manufacture of tea which has played a huge part historically and economically. However, Darjeeling has more to offer – it has a colourful history, having developed from a forest environment, with sparse habitation, into a town carefully planned and built by the East India Company.

The name of Darjeeling is a corruption of Dorje-ling, meaning a place of Dorje, the mystic thunderbolt of the Lamaist religion. A monastery was built on the hill (now named ‘Observatory Hill’), where the Chief Lama governed a Lepcha village of about 100 souls, who farmed and lived a simple religious life. There is a cave in the vicinity, and legend has it that a tunnel runs from there to the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

This was the way of life until the 1800’s, when disagreements, skirmishes and wars over frontier policy erupted in the region.

The birth of Darjeeling: Captain Lloyd

Darjeeling was part of Sikkim, which bordered Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India, then under the control of the East India Company.

In 1828, after resolving a dispute between Nepal and Sikkim, the Governor General’s Representative Lieutenant-General (then Captain) George Lloyd made his way to the Darjeeling spur to explore. For many years the British in Calcutta had begged the government to find a place in the hills to establish a summer resort to escape the intolerable heat of the plains, and to build a Sanatorium.

Lloyd was most impressed by the position and climate of Darjeeling (almost 7,000’ above sea level), and after several visits was sent by the Governor General, Lord William Bentinck, to open negotiations with the Raja of Sikkim for the transfer of Darjeeling for an equivalent in money and land. Negotiations ended with a Deed of Grant from the Raja of Sikkim, written in Lepcha on 25th February 1835:

On 8th February 1836, the Governor General wrote to the King to acknowledge his gratitude, and sent gifts that included a double-barrelled gun, a rifle and some pieces of fine cloth. The Governor General also offered to pay the King an allowance of Rupees 3000 in 1841 (increased to Rupees 6000 in 1846) for the agreed land.

Finally, in 1838, Darjeeling was born.

Aged 76, Lieut.-General Lloyd died on 4 June 1865. As the ‘Discoverer of Darjeeling’ his obelisk tomb, tiered into the steep hillside of the Hill Cart Road Cemetery at Darjeeling, is registered as a by the Archaeological Survey of India (Raiganj Circle).

He is also commemorated on an inlaid mural tablet in St Andrew’s Church.

Developing Darjeeling: Dr Archibald Campbell

In 1839 Dr Archibald Campbell, the British Resident in Nepal, was transferred to Darjeeling as Superintendent. He devoted himself to the task of developing the town, attracting immigrants to cultivate the slopes, and boosting trade and commerce. Settlers were encouraged with grants of forest land, and the population rose from 100 in 1839 to 10,000 in 1849. Immigrants came in large numbers from Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, pleased to have the opportunity to work.

Darjeeling having established itself, the Catholic Archbishop Carey in Calcutta opened two schools, one for girls and one for boys.

On 10th August 1846, a party of five Loreto nuns, dressed in the thick black habits of their order, together with a priest, left Calcutta by river craft with a huge amount of luggage.

The first part of their journey went well. At Kishanganj they made preparations for the difficult forest stage, by hiring 6 palkis and 64 palki bearers. (A palki resembled a box in which travellers could sit upright – it had a roof and side shutters, and was carried by bearers, 4 to each palki).

The palkis travelled by torchlight at night to avoid the searing heat of the day. Staging posts were 12 miles apart, and the bearers averaged 3 miles an hour, singing as they went.

Soon the nuns and priest were on their way. One night, however, the bearers noticed fresh pugmarks on the road. Suddenly there was a cry of ‘bagh bagh’, (‘tiger, tiger’) – immediately, the bearers were off looking for somewhere to hide, leaving the travellers unable to do anything other than pull the shutters down and wait nervously for the bearers to return – which they did, eventually, after what must have seemed like an eternity.

The nuns and priest finally arrived in Darjeeling in October 1846 and opened a school – first at Snow View; later at a much larger Convent, which is still in use. As a novitiate at the Convent, Mother Teresa of Calcutta took her vows there. (Many years later, she left the Loreto Order to embark on missionary work in Calcutta, and founded the worldwide religious order of the Missionaries of Charity).

During the next few years girls and boys boarding schools of various Christian denominations were built to accommodate children from the plains, and latterly from Nepal, Burma and Thailand.

Travelling to Darjeeling

By 1852 a hospital and sanatorium had been built, which encouraged settlers and visitors to travel to Darjeeling.

The journey to get there was still difficult, uncomfortable and full of obstacles. Most people travelled on country boats from Chandpal Ghat in Calcutta, up the Hoogly and the Ganges to Karagola Ghat, which they would reach after a week or so, depending on the weather and currents. From there by palki-dak, pony or bullock cart to Purneah, where travellers might interrupt their journey for a day or two, staying in Dak Bungalows or boarding houses. Ahead of them lay the worst part of the journey, through the Terai Forest, where lurked wild animals and the dreaded mosquito, the cause of so much malaria (or ‘jungle fever’ as it was known then).

Cart Road

As the building of roads was a priority, Dr Campbell appointed Lieutenant Napier (a young Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers; later Lord Napier of Magdala) to construct a new road to Siliguri to accommodate the growing number of bullock carts, which were the main form of transport for carrying goods to and from the plains.

Completed in 1869, the ‘Cart Road’ is still very much in use today. The 2’ gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (the ‘Toy Train’), opened in 1881, follows the alignment of this road for much of its journey to Darjeeling. The original road was the military road, which is still in use.

Tea Plant experiments

At about this time the first experimental stages of growing tea began. Doctor Campbell’s personal experiments in growing China tea seeds in his Darjeeling garden, however, were not successful, probably because of the altitude. Tea seeds were also distributed to interested parties who were prepared to experiment, and it was not long before there was success.

By about 1856 the tea industry had become established. At a later date, Doctor Campbell also experimented with growing coffee, and thought Glenburn Tea Estate with its breadth of altitude would be a perfect place, but this was unsuccessful. To this day there is a section called ‘Coffee Bari’, where Doctor Campbell experimented, and Glenburn is still known locally as ‘Kambal Kaman’ (a corruption of ‘Campbell’s Garden’). In 1860 cinchona plantations were started around Darjeeling. Quinine, extracted from the cinchona bark, was used to treat people affected with malaria.

The idea of planting tea in the Himalayas originated with Brian Hodgson whilst he was resident in Nepal, and tea was successfully grown in the Residence bungalow compound. The favourable result was reported to the Governor General, but the report was unfortunately shelved.

Hodgson later recalled that ‘20 years were suffered to elapse before any effective notice of so important an experiment could be obtained’.

Celia Brown (to be continued)

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