Simla, Indian interest Eighteen pen and ink sketches of Simla c.1836/1837, each titled in pen and ink and pencil, including: General Ramsay's House Simla from Sir Ed. Barnes estate; The Snowy Range ..., Sketch of a Pine Tree in The Valley of the Waterfall near Simla; Public Bungalow at Nagkundab; Women of the Himalayan Mountains 23 x 19.5cm (18) Simla, or Shimla, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Himachel Pradesh. In 1864 it was declared the summer capital of British India. The area was dense rainforest during the 18th century with only one temple and scattered houses. By 1826 British officers were spending entire summers in Simla and in 1830 the British acquired the surrounding land from the chiefs of Keonthal. The settlement grew rapidly from 30 houses in 1830 to 1,141 in 1881. The sketches in this album are dated 1836 and 1837 and are thus some of the earliest European recordings of the area, executed when there were few dwellings and thus provide a valuable historical record.