Shimla served as the summer capital of British India from 1864.
The British colonial government moved to Shimla during the hotter months because of its cooler Himalayan climate. The town, in present-day Himachal Pradesh, became the administrative centre where officials, diplomats and military leaders spent the summer season.
Shimla remained the summer capital until the end of British rule in 1947. Its colonial legacy is visible in buildings such as the Viceregal Lodge, now associated with the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, and in its distinctive neo-Gothic and Tudor-style architecture.
Shimla is often confused with other Himalayan hill stations such as Mussoorie, Nainital and Darjeeling. Those towns were also important colonial retreats, but Shimla held the specific constitutional and administrative role of British India’s summer capital.