Simla
the chief town of a district of the same name in the Punjab, and the most important hill sanitarium in British India; about 170 miles N. of Delhi. Situated on a series of wooded hill ridges, covered with deodars, rhododendrons and an innumerable variety of ferns, and with an equable temperature that rarely exceeds 70°, Simla is a perfect elysium to Anglo-Indians who have come from the burning plains of Hindustan or the swamps of Bengal. For many years it has been the permanent headquarters of the supreme government of India for more than six months of the year. This tract of hill country was first acquired by the British in 1816, as a result of the Gurkha War, and has since been augmented by purchase, lapse, and exchange. The first house was built in 1819. There are now churches, schools, hotels, clubs, banks, etc. The district of Simla which is entirely surrounded by petty native States, has an area of 18 square miles.
SIMMS The crops are wheat, Indian corn, ginger, and poppy. The neighboring mountains yield lead, iron, and slate. Pop. about 15,000 in winter; 35,000 in summer. Pop. of district 50,000.