Darjeeling discovers Lloyd after 146 yrs - Individuals for the first time pay homage to the man who ‘found’ the hill town

Darjeeling, June 5: Darjeeling yesterday paid homage to its discoverer Lt. Gen. George W. Aylmer Lloyd for the first time ever.

None in Darjeeling remembers any organisation or an individual ever paying homage to Lloyd till date. Yesterday, a group of school students and members of the civil society paid homage to Lloyd on his 146th death anniversary.

Ajay Tamang, one of the organisers of the event, said: “We had forgotten the person who discovered the place. Despite Lloyd being buried in Darjeeling, few here have cared about this gentleman. This is an effort to safeguard our history.”

Historically, Darjeeling had belonged to the Sikkim king, whose area had extended till eastern Nepal. However, in the 1700s, Nepal continuously attacked Darjeeling and conquered the area till the Teesta river.

The Archaeological Survey of India says this changed when the East India Company declared war with Nepal and the victorious British forced Nepal to cede 4,000 square miles (10,000 sqkm) of territory through a treaty signed at Sigauli in 1816.

The British gave back Darjeeling to the Sikkim monarchy but a decade later, a dispute cropped up between Nepal and Sikkim once again. It was then that the British sent two officers, Captain Lloyd and J.W. Grant, commercial resident of Malda, to broker peace between Nepal and Sikkim in 1828.

Captain Lloyd arrived near Ghoom, also known as the Old Gurkha Station, and immensely liked Darjeeling. The British East India Company gave him the responsibility to negotiate a lease of the area with the Chogyal of Sikkim. The deed of grant giving possession of the hills of Darjeeling to the East India Company was signed on February 1, 1835.

In 1841, the East India Company granted the Sikkim monarchy an allowance of Rs 3,000 as compensation and raised the amount to Rs 6,000 in 1846. While Lloyd continued to stay in Darjeeling, Arthur Campbell was given charge to establish a sanatorium and develop the area. Campbell, the first administrator of Darjeeling under British rule, also introduced tea to the hills.

Lloyd died here at the age of 76 in 1865 and his body was laid to rest near the old cemetery along 18, Lebong Cart Road. Although the site was declared “to be of national importance” by the ASI (Calcutta circle) under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Acts, 1958, due attention has never been given to the place.

“We would want Lloyd’s burial site to be converted into a tourist spot and more attention should be paid to make it attractive. The entire cemetery should be well persevered,” said Udayan Rai, another person who came to pay homage to Lloyd.

The neglect of Darjeeling’s discoverer is palpable as a few metres away, the well-preserved tomb of Alexander Csoma De Koros is situated. The Hungarian, considered a renowned Tibetologist, had served the Asiatic Society in Calcutta. The tomb of Koros has also been declared a site of national importance. Local people say there has been a consistent attempt by the Hungarian government to look after the tomb. “Every year people from the Hungarian embassy visit the place to ensure that it is preserved well. For ages, we haven’t seen any Indian official visiting the tomb of Lloyd,” said a resident who stays nearby.

-->>TT