Famous Chapslee of Shimla
The Scenic Splendor At Chapslee
Chapslee is one of the oldest manors in Shimla with extensive
grounds, good views and period furniture. But it wasn’t such a
magnificent building when it was built as the Secretary’s Lodge
in 1835. Lord Auckland, Governor-General to the East India Company
took over it a year later.
The declaration of the first war against Afghanistan, the Afghan
Manifesto, was signed here in October 1838.
After a while Auckland’s sisters arrived on the scene and set to
work. But setting up a house in the European style wasn’t an easy
task in the hills in those days.
In her new house, full of carpenters making curtain rods and rings,
Emily Eden remarked, "We did not bring half chintz enough from
Calcutta, and Simla grows rhododendrons, and pines, and violets, but
nothing else – no damask, no glazed cotton for lining –
nothing." But with the sisters’ efforts the modest Secretary’s
Lodge metamorphosed into the glamorous Chapslee.
¤ The Changing Phase of Chapslee
The place changed hands several times since then. In 1938 it was
passed on to the Maharaja of Kapurthala, Charanjit Singh. In 1973, the
raja’s grandson Kumar Ratanjit Singh and his wife, the Assamese
princess Pronoti Devi started the Chapslee School for Girls.
A part of it was transformed it into a hotel in 1976. Chapslee Hotel
is conserved in its original form, with heirlooms such as rare
textiles and cabinetry from the Doge’s palace in Venice,
chandeliers from Morano, blue pottery from Multan, Peshwa vases,
Persian carpets, marble statuary and collection of Indian object d’arts.
It is a grand example of what the Raj resorts were all about.
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