Kasauli

Kasauli’s recorded history is mainly a British-era story, though the area had small hill villages earlier. Local legends say the name comes from a nearby stream called Kaushalya/Kausalya, or from a flower/plant Kusmali, which gradually evolved into “Kasauli”.

The modern town began in the early 19th century, when the British were looking for cool, healthy stations near the plains. In 1842 Kasauli was founded as a cantonment and military sanatorium, part of a chain of hill cantonments like Subathu and Dagshai, chosen for its moderate height, pine forests and strategic view over the plains. Soon bungalows, churches and clubs appeared: Christ Church (foundation stone 1844, opened 1853) became the spiritual centre, while the Kasauli Club and nearby brewery and distillery (1830s–40s) gave the station a strong colonial social life and produced some of Asia’s earliest beers and whiskies.

In 1904, the Pasteur Institute of India (now Central Research Institute) was set up here, turning Kasauli into an important vaccine and public-health centre. After Independence, Kasauli remained a small hill cantonment within Himachal Pradesh, its civilian areas growing slowly around army land. Today its colonial churches, club, old barracks and quiet bazaars preserve the feel of a 19th-century hill station, even as tourism and nearby cities like Chandigarh bring new visitors and pressures.