Nainital through maps: 19th century

To save themselves from the scorching Indian summers of north India, the British lay their hands at the foothills of the Himalayan range to establish their solaces. In doing so, these settlements were renovated /added with plenty of English cottages, villas, lodges, chapels, churches, etc., making them look like tiny British hamlets on the Indian map. The most talked-about stations are Shimla (or Simla) that became the summer capital of British India, Mussoorie, Dalhousie, Dehradun, Lansdowne, etc. But there is also one town that deserves attention, although it isn't really missed from being a tourist hub. The Uttarakhand township of Nainital is what this post will talk about. 

Nanital never served as the capital of any of the Princely States, nor the current state of Uttarakhand. Situated at the border of Nepal with the neighbouring town of Pithoragarh, Nanital is one of the key Shakti Peeths in Hindu culture. The capital of the medieval Katyuri kings of the Kumaon region was Kartikkeyapura (today's Baijnath).  During the medieval period, the key religious centres in this belt were Badarika (Badarinath), Kedara (Kedarnath) and Jageshwar. In fact, the entire Kumaon-Garhwal region doesn't see many horrifying brutalities or actions as compared to the other areas of the subcontinent where empires were expanding and demolishing. In 1581, the kingdom becomes a nominal submission to the Mughals and it retained its Princely Statehood throughout the British era. 

On an elaborative and highly accurate 1821 dated map sketched by Aaron Arrowsmith, one doesn't find the name Nainital, but the environs of it. The important hill stations of Almora and Muhragaon (Mehra Gaon, in Nainital district) are mentioned and the vicinity of today's Nainital, such as Bheem Tal (Bhimtal), Nokoochuea Tal (Naukuchiatal), Chukatee Fort (Chukati village, in Udham Singh Nagar/Rudrapur district) etc. are labelled. This clearly means that the construction of today's Nainital district started in post-1821 times. Another map drafted by William Blackwood & Sons, dating 1861, shows the town of Nini Tal neighboured by Kola Fort (Kola village, in Pauri-Garhwal district), a certain Fort Hastings, Lohurkot and Almora. During British Raj, the entire Uttarakhand was divided into four divisions: 

1. Tehri Garhwal (Princely State)
2. Dehra Dun
3. Garhwal or British Garhwal
4. Almora

Nainital was under the Almora district and remained so throughout the British period. On another map dating 1882 by Blackie & Sons, the name now appears as Nynee Tal, only this time marked as in the middle of Kola Fort, Ufzulgarh (Afzalgarh, in Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh), Bazpoor (Bajpur/Bazpur, in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand), Khilputee and Timla. Towards the end of the 19th-century maps, the name 'Naini Tal' started to appear more correctly and prominently as compared to its previous spellings. A cantonment was established in 1878 which serves as a Class IV Cantonment of the Indian Army at present. 

Talking about various British-era lodges, the names and architecture back then made Nainital sound like an all-Anglo settlement. Listing down some of the names based on an 1893 map:

• Endcliffe
• Strawberry Cottage
• The Abbey
• Vienna House
• Hermitage
• Norton Lodge
• Stanley Hall
• Maldon Estate
• Hawthornden
• Braemar
• Hawksdale
• Dunedin House
• Melville Lodge
• Stoneleigh etc. 

It appears that there was hardly any Indian named settlement in Nainital, according to European maps sketched in the 19th century. That doesn't really mean the town lacked any local names. Mispronunciations and omitting of native names is a common trait among all European mapmakers of the colonial era. But one may still find places such as Sher ka Paka (or Kalikhan), Handi Bandi Hill, Kaladungi Road, Deopatta Peak, Pataria ka Dunga etc. As a matter of fact, although the British settled several hill stations in the Kumaon-Himachal belt, except for a few (such as Lansdowne and Dalhousie), no other town's name was Anglicized. Such an exception exists even in Tamil Nadu with the mentioning of the Wellington hill station, in Nilgiris District. Be it Shimla, Mussoorie, Dehra Dun, etc., these British hill stations retained the local name for its official administrative purposes. 

Today's Nainital retains some of the English names while the lodges, villas, bungalows etc. are used for local purposes - administrative, commercial and residential. Differing from the previous era, Nainital is also a district of Uttarakhand spreading from the Jim Corbett National Park in the west to the Nanak Sagar dam in the east. 

Below here is a recreation of an 1893 dated map, originally drafted by John George Bartholomew (1860-1920).