Years ago the mountain spurs, on the slopes of which the hill station of Darjeeling now stands, formed a part of the independent kingdom of Sikkim and was covered with dense forest. The town of Darjeeling alone now has thousands of people belonging to different creeds and races, but there were not more than two hundred inhabitants when the East India Company, which then controlled British interests in India, first came into contact with it.

This was in 1814 when the Company intervened in favour of Sikkim as against the war-like Nepalese, who would otherwise have absorbed the whole of the little State of Sikkim and annexed it to their own territory. The Nepalese were repulsed in the war that ensued, and the Raja of Sikkim was reinstated in possession of his kingdom. Sikkim, including Darjeeling became a buffer state between Nepal and Bhutan. In 1828, a frontier dispute occurred between the Sikkimese and the Nepalese. This was referred to the British Government according to the terms of the treaty signed at Titalya on February 10th,1817 . Lt. Gen. C.A. Llyod and Mr. J.W. Grant, I.C.S., the Commercial Resident at Maldah, were deputed to settle the internal factions between the Nepal and the Sikkim States.

While settling the internal feuds between these two States, principally in matters relating to the settling of the boundary between the two territories, they were struck with the suitability of the hills as a sanitarium for the British troops, on a summit of which they could spy from a distance the few lowly huts of the village of Darjeeling encircled by the forest. In the long run, being deputed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company, Lloyd started negotiation with the Maharaja of Sikkim for ceding the mountainous region, now going by the charming name, Darjeeling, in lieu of money or land. Lloyd with his imposing personality succeeded in making the negotiation fruitful.

And so in 1835, we find the East India Company obtaining the lease of a small strip of country in the south of the Sikkim Himalaya for the purpose of a sanitarium and an outpost of strategical importance on the northern frontier of India . A member of the Indian medical Service, Dr. Campbell, was appointed Agent of the tract leased, and Lieut. Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala) set to work to fell the forest and lay the foundations of the hill station of Darjeeling.

When India became independent, Darjeeling remained a part of West Bengal . From 1986, a powerful agitation began in the Darjeeling hills seeking an independent state in the Indian Union. The agitation ended with the establishment of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council under the Chairmanship of Mr. Subash Ghissing and has been given considerable autonomy in administrative matters.

State : West Bengal
District : Darjeeling
codes : Postal - 734203
          : Telephone - +91-0354
Area : 11.44 Sq. Km (4.4 Sq miles)
Elevation : 7,000 ft. or 2,134 meters
Population : 83,000

Climate:
SUMMER : Min: 8.5 degrees C
                 Max: 14.8 degrees C

Annual Rainfall : 320 cm (126 inches)
Best Tourist Season : April to Mid-June Mid September to November
Best Mountain Views : Mid Sept. - Mid Dec.
Languages Spoken : English, Bengali, Gorkha, Nepali and Tibetan
Recommended Clothing : Light woolens and tropical in summer (umbrellas and raincoats areuseful) and heavy woolen in winter.