MerryHarris567 at 04:18, 8 January 2026

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{{Short description|Government accommodations in British India}}
{{other uses|Dak Bungalow (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Dak_Bungalow_of_Narkanda_Village_of_Shimla_District_in_Indian_State_of_Himachal_Pradesh_in_1868_.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The dak bungalow above [[Narkanda]] in 1868]]
[[File:Sinking dak bungalow.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"A floating dâk-bungalow in difficulties", {{circa|lk=no|1880}}]]
[[File:Dak bungalow in Kenya.png|right|200px|thumb|A "dak bungalow " in Kenya, {{circa|lk=no|1900}}. The term was sometimes applied to similar structures throughout the [[British Empire]].]]
A '''dak bungalow''', '''dak-house''' or '''dâk-bungalow''' was a government building in [[British India]] under [[Company rule in India|Company Rule]] and the [[British Raj|Raj]]. It may also refer to some similarly built or -used structures in modern [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], and [[Pakistan]].

==Origins==
The dak bungalows carried on a tradition of ''[[caravanserai]]s'', ''[[Dharamshala (type of building)|dharamshala]]s'', and other guesthouses erected by Indian rulers for both [[Hindu pilgrimage|Hindu]] and [[Islamic pilgrimage|Muslim pilgrims]].<ref name=bhan21>{{harvp|Bhandari|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XN2mBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT21 21]}}.</ref>

The India Office possesses a diary with the entry for 25 November 1676 noting "It was thought fitt... to sett up [[bungalow|Bungales]] or [[wiktionary:Hovel|Hovel]]ls... for all such English in the [[East India Company|Company]]'s Service as belong to [[Ships of the East India Company|their Sloopes & Vessells]]".<ref name=lanky19>{{harvp|Lancaster|1985|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_DCPftp6Yk0C&pg=PA19 19]}}.</ref> The dak bungalows proper were first erected in the 1840s,<ref name=bhan20>{{harvp|Bhandari|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XN2mBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20 20]}}.</ref> serving as staging posts for the ''[[Postage stamps and postal history of India|dak]]'', the [[British Empire|imperial]] mail service.{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s father [[J. Lockwood Kipling]] described them as "about as handsome as a stack of hay" and forming a kind of "'irreducible minimum' of accommodation".<ref name=lanky19/> Each was about {{convert|12|to|15|mi|sp=us}} from the next along the major roads of the subcontinent.<ref name=lanky19/>

==Usage==
The buildings provided free accommodation for government officials <ref name=bhan12>{{harvp|Bhandari|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XN2mBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT12 12]}}.</ref> and, upon their permission, "incomparably cheap" lodging for other travellers.<ref name=bhan13>{{harvp|Bhandari|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XN2mBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT13 13]}}.</ref>{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} The structures are therefore sometimes also known as '''posthouses''', '''resthouses''', or '''travellers' bungalows'''. Officials at the dak bungalows included the ''dakwala'' ([[postman]]), the ''durwan'' (caretaker), and sometimes a ''khansamah'' (attendant).{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} Fees were set by the government; in the 1920s; 8 [[Anna (monetary subunit)|annas]] a day for single persons and 12 for married couples{{sfnp|Molony|1921|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YaqSM-Imi-MC&pg=PA112 112]}} {{nowrap|([[Rupee|Rs]]. ½ or ¾;}} 6 or 9 [[gram|g]] of .917% silver). Guests were liable for reimbursing them for any damage and for the costs of supplies used, including grass for the horses, firewood, and food.{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} Beds were uncommon, as the Raj officials were expected to travel with their own bedding and servants.{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} The ''khansamah'' could provide dining for those without their own cook,{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} the common fare being eggs and chicken dishes.{{sfnp|Bhandari|2012}} The Dak Bungalows were set up along main roads with few rooms to accommodate visiting officials who are on visit or on journey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/dak-bungalows-and-ghosts-who-stay-there-117934|title=Dak bungalows and ghosts who stay there|author=Nehchal Sandhu,The Tribune|access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref>

In remote areas, most government work—including hearing legal cases—occurred at the dak bungalows when the district officials visited.{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} At district headquarters, the circuit house provided a larger courtroom and better accommodations for visiting sessions judges.{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} Larger cities might have still more specialized buildings.

During the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] the network of bungalows was used by escaping British civilians and soldiers but saw several massacres outside [[Delhi]].<ref name=bhan14>{{harvp|Bhandari|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XN2mBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT14 14]}}.</ref> Following the suppression of the rebellion and the assumption of rule by the British government, thatch was prohibited for use in official buildings.<ref name=lanky20>{{harvp|Lancaster|1985|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_DCPftp6Yk0C&pg=PA20 20]}}.</ref> They feature in the fiction of [[Rudyard Kipling]]:{{sfnp|Stanford|1961}} "a fair proportion of the tragedy of our lives out here acted itself in dâk-bungalows... [and] many men have died mad in [them]..."<ref name=kipper>{{citation |last=Kipling |first=Rudyard |authorlink=Rudyard Kipling |author-mask=Kipling |contribution=My Own True Ghost Story |contribution-url=https://archive.org/stream/phantomrickshawo00kiplrich#page/32/mode/2up |title=[[The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales]] |date=1888 |page=[https://archive.org/stream/phantomrickshawo00kiplrich#page/34/mode/2up 34]}}.</ref> "...nothing is too wild, grotesque, or horrible to happen in a dâk-bungalow."<ref>[[w:Rudyard Kipling|Kipling]], "[https://archive.org/stream/phantomrickshawo00kiplrich#page/32/mode/2up My Own True Ghost Story]", [https://archive.org/stream/phantomrickshawo00kiplrich#page/36/mode/2up p. 37].</ref>

==Legacy==
Many dak bungalows fell into disrepair or were later replaced by circuit houses,<ref name=bhan12/> although some have been maintained and continue in use, as the lodges at the [[Sipahijola Wildlife Sanctuary|Sipahijola]] and [[Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary|Radhanagari wildlife sanctuaries]].

==See also==
* [[Architecture of Chennai]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===References===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Bhandari |first=Rajika |date=2012 |title=The Raj on the Move: Story of the Dak Bungalow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XN2mBAAAQBAJ |publisher=The Lotus Collection for Roli Books |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7436-849-2 }}.
* {{citation |last=Lancaster |first=Clay |date=1985 |title=The American Bungalow, 1880–1930 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DCPftp6Yk0C |publisher=Abbeville Press |location=New York |isbn=0-486-28678-9 }}.
* {{citation |last=Molony |first=John Chartres |authorlink=J. C. Molony |title=The Civilian's South India: Some Places and People in Madras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YaqSM-Imi-MC |date=1921 |location=London |publisher=Lane Bodley |isbn=9788120616844 }}.
* {{citation |last=Stanford |first=J.K. |contribution=Dak Bungalows |contribution-url=http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_bungalows.htm |url=http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk |title=Readers' Guide to the Works of Rudyard Kipling, ''Vol. I'' |editor-first=Reginald Engledow |editor-last=Harbord |display-editors=0 |date=1961 |publisher=Gibbs }}
{{Refend}}

[[Category:Bungalow architecture]]

Dak bungalow - Revision history

MerryHarris567 at 04:18, 8 January 2026