Himachal Pradesh History
¤ Ancient History
The foothills of Himachal were inhabited by people from the Indus
Valley Civilization which flourished between 2700 and 1750BC.
On the fringes of this great civilization lived the original
inhabitants of the land, the Kols and Mundas. These people were
variously called Dasas, Dasyus and Nishads in the Vedas.
The Vedas are the oldest compositions of the Aryans, a group which
came in around 1500BC from Central Asia and settled in the fertile
plains of the Punjab.
In eastern Himachal, in the area that is now Lahaul, Kinnaur and
Spiti, dwelled the Chamangs and Damanags. It was around that time that
an offshoot of the Aryan race, the Khashas, entered the Himachal arena
and became the new masters of the land. Another phase of migration
took place with the coming of the Bhotas and Kiratas, the Mongoloids.
Ancient Mythology Depicts Ancient History of Himachal
Much information about Himachals ancient history is given in
epics like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and other scriptures like
the Vedas and the Puranas.
The Mahabharata mentions the janapadas (some sort of a kingdom) of
Kuluta (Kullu), Trigarta (Kangra), Kulind (Shimla hills and Sirmaur),
Yugandhar (Bilaspur and Nalagarh), Gobdika (Chamba) and Audumbar
The Rig Veda mentions the rivers which flow through Himachal. The text
also talks about Shambar, the powerful king of these hills before the
advent of the Aryans, and his 99 strong forts in the region between
the Beas and the Yamuna rivers.
His war with the Aryan chief, Divodas, lasted 12 long years, wherein
the latter emerged victorious. The Puranas too, mention Himachal,
calling it all sorts of nice names.
One significant happening during the time of the great war of
Mahabharata (circa 1400BC) was the founding of the Katoch monarchy of
Kangra by King Susharma Chandra. This Susharma Chandra is supposed to
have sided with the Kaurava borthers in their war against the
Pandavas. Kangra was probably named as Bhim Kot (fort of Bhim) after
Bhima, one of the Pandavas.
¤ The Mauryan Empire(400BC)
The vast Mauryan Empire of old (4th to 2nd BC) extended its
boundaries well into Himachal. Chandraguptas grandson, Ashoka
(3rd BC), even introduced Buddhism in here and erected many stupas.
One of those stupas existed in Kullu Valley, which the Chinese
traveller Hiuen Tsang (630-45AD) talks about in his writings.
¤ Thakurs and Ranas Become Powerful In The Valley
After the Mauryas, the land came to be ruled by petty chiefs known as
thakurs and ranas. Their states were small in size and boundaries
constantly changing due to wars with neighbours. (of course they also
never united in the face of outside invasions.) However, in Mandi and
the adjoining areas of Suket (present day Sundernagar) and Kullu,
these ranas and thakurs were quite powerful and retained their
independence for a long time.
of these principalities, Trigarta (Kangra) is known to have had great
administration and reached a high level of development. It came to be
regarded as the land of legendary wealth. Kuluta (Kullu) is also known
to have had an organized administration under the Pal kings. Their
capital was at Jagatsukh.
¤ The Rule of Raja Maru(500-800 AD
In 500AD, Raja Maru founded Brahmapura (present day Bharmaur) in the
Chamba valley and began the long Varman dynasty. Everywhere else too,
kings seemed to be rising from sleep. Rajender Sen of Spiti invaded
Kullu (in around 650AD), but two reigns later the Pal king recovered
The next great king after the Mauryans to establish an empire of
worth was Harshavardhana (early 7th century). Most of the small states
in HP acknowledged his overall supremacy. Harshas capital was at
Thaneshwar (now in Haryana) and later at Kannauj (in Uttar Pradesh).
After the break-up of his empire there was, once again, great
political upheaval. A new class called the Rajputs came on the scene
after having been vanquished by those of the plains. Some of the
kingdoms they founded were Nurpur, Jubbal, Keonthal, Baghat, Baghal,
But the Varmans peacefully sat on the throne of Brahmapura one after
the other for quite some time. In two successive wars with Kullu, Meru
Varman (700AD) killed the Pal kings and expanded his kingdom from the
Ravi valley to as far as the present capital. Hiuen Tsang (the Chinese
traveller) reported around this time that Chamba, Kangra, Kullu and
Mandi were still the important states, though Kullu remained subject
to Brahmapura for a considerable period.
¤ Rajput's Kahluria Clan(800-1000 AD)
In the meantime, Harihar Chand from Bundelkhand landed in
Bilaspur (circa 900AD). This marked the origin of the Kahluria clan of
Rajputs. The Chands remained the ruling family of Kahlur and the
credit of making it a strong state goes to Bir Chand.
The Kiras, who came from Baijnath (which was also known as Kirangama
or land of the Kiras) in Kangra, occupied Brahmapura for a while
around 800AD, but the next Varman promptly won it back. Chamba (the
present town) was made the new capital in 930AD, thanks to the whim of
the princess (see History of Chamba for more).
Spiti was invaded by Tibetans and Ladakhis who overthrew the ruling
Hindu Sen dynasty. The Pal rajas of Kullu lent a helping hand to the
invaders and was rewarded with some villages in Spiti.
¤ Medieval Period
Many new states came into being during this phase. The relatively
larger states like Chamba, Kullu, Kangra and Mandi were broken into
smaller kingdoms. Some of the new states were Guler, Siba, Datarpur,
Handur and Koti. It was also during this time that India was hit by a
wave of invaders from Central Asia, West Asia and Europe. Himachal,
unfortunately, was the entry point for most of them.
The Pathans, Lodis, Mughals, British, Dutch and Portuguese left their
impact on the political and administrative setup of the various
states. often it so happened that some relative of the kings of the
Delhi Sultanate or the Mughals rebelled against the ruler and then
sought refuge in the mountainous and hilly tracts of Himachal and
Punjab. But thanks to the difficult terrain and harsh climatic
conditions, the Sultanate kings and the Mughals could never really
establish their authority over the kingdoms in Himachal. However, some
places like Kangra did catch the Mughals keen eye.
¤ Period of Foreign Invadors(1000-1400 AD)
This period marked the beginning of foreign invasions. The Kangra
fort was mercilessly looted by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1009 and many more
such attacks followed. Muhammad Tughlaq captured the fort in 1337
while his successor, Firoz Shah Tughlaq, held his sway over it in
The kingdom of Hindur (present Nalagarh) was founded as an off shoot
of Kahlur (Bilaspur) by Ajai Chand in the 12th century.
Among the other major happenings was the invasion of Lahaul, Spiti and
Kullu by Lahchen-rgyalpo of West Tibet/Ladakh between 1030-1080. Bahu
Sen (from Suket) settled in Manglan in Kullu, where his descendants
lived for 11 generations. This was the beginning of the dynasty of the
Sens of Mandi. Later Ajbar Sen became the first true king of Mandi.
¤ Mughal Influence(1500-1700 AD)
In the early 16th century Mughal influence was beginning to be felt
in Chamba and Kangra. Sadly the states were quarrelling between
themselves thus making things even more complicated for themselves.
In the meantime, the Sens of Mandi had become really strong and their
kingdom big. Ajbar Sen (1527-34) became their grand ruler. But then in
the mid-17th century the Kullu army ran over Mandi.
Spiti, which was under Ladakh until this time, became independent in
the late 16th century when the Baltis conquered Ladakh. But only for a
brief period, for the son of Jamyang Namgyal, the king of Ladakh, got
it all back.
Meanwhile Chamba fought with Kangra (1559), where the latter was
defeated. But in a fight with Nurpur (which had Mughal support),
Chamba lost. So Jagat Singh of Nurpur ruled Chamba till 1641, after
which Prithvi Singh (a Varman) liberated his motherland. Luckily for
Prithvi Singh, the Mughals stayed put and did not intervene.
The Mughal armies finally barged into the Kangra fort in 1620, and
Jahangir (ruled 1605-27) went visiting there two years later. But the
Mughals left it at that, for they were a non-interfering lot in these
Kullu invaded Spiti (still under Ladakh) in 1680. Not being much into
war, the people of Spiti always remained at the mercy of neighbours
like Ladakh, Kullu and Bushahr. The normal course for the Spitians was
to flee to the mountains whenever they were attacked! Jammu, too,
started sending feelers towards the end of the 17th century. Udai
Singh was the first Jammu king to make his way into Kangra and Chamba
Hills. But the most important happening around this time was the rise
of the Sikhs under the leadership of Guru Govind Singh. Invited by the
ruler of Sirmaur to fight the Mughals they settled in Paonta Sahib and
visited Mandi too.
¤ Sansar Chand Become A Powerful Ruler(1700-1800 AD)
The hill rulers continued warring well into this period. Sansar
Chand (of the famed Katoch dynasty) of Kangra became a mighty figure
in the latter half of the 18th century. He went around plundering and
pillaging many places including Mandi, Chamba, Kullu and Sirmaur. For
all his martial ways, Sansar was also a great art lover (see Arts &
Crafts of Himachal).
Parallel happenings included declaration of independence by many
nawabs, rajas and kings all over India. The Gurkhas (under Prithvi
Narayan Shah), Sikhs (under Ranjit Singh in Punjab) and the East India
Company (under Richard Colley Wellesley) were becoming increasingly
powerful. The Gurkhas now invaded Kangra, capturing some of the
territories under Sansar, who went into hiding in his fort and stayed
there for four years until Ranjit Singh came to his aid. Ranjit Singh
defeated Amar Singh Thapa and the poor Gurkhas had to turn their
attention to Bushahr and Rampur.
¤ Modern Period
The British were now making their presence felt. While all the hill
states fought amongst each other, they coolly walked off with the
cake. The forces of the East India Company didnt believe in
sparing the rod.
¤ After 1800
Following the rise of Gurkha power, an Anglo-Gurkha war became
inevitable and things came to a head in 1814-15. Opportunists of the
first order, small-time rajas helped the Brits during the war, no
doubt hoping to reap benefits later. The ruler of Bushahr, who helped
the British, was duly rewarded with land. As a result of this
enterprise 21 hill states came under the British.
Meanwhile, the Sikhs were becoming really puissant even though Ranjit
Singh had died by now. They plundered and looted many places in
Himachal including Spiti in 1841. The Gurkhas now appealed to the
British for protection against the Sikhs, which the British readily
agreed to the Anglo-Sikh war took place in 1845. The Treaty of
Lahore (1846) was signed between the British and Sikhs, by which the
British retained the territory between the Ravi and the Sutlej
(practically the whole of Himachal), and gave the west of the Ravi to
the Jammu king. The rulers of Kangra state and some other small states
combined with the Sikhs against the British in 1848 but were crushed
¤ Uprising of 1857 Revolt
The Uprising of 1857 came and went but no echoes were felt in the
hills. Many hills states even sided with the British. However some
Gurkha and Rajput battalions at Jutog (near Shimla) did rise against
their British officers but were soon disarmed.
But some hill people did revolt against the slavery and feudalism
under the reign of the kings. The people of Rampur revolted (1859)
against the high handedness of the government officials and forced
In Suket too, the people revolted against the king in 1862 and 1876.
The people of Nalagarh were up in arms against the atrocities
unleashed by the minister (1876). Similar incidents took place in
Bilaspur and Beghal too. But these isolated attempts failed to awaken
Nevertheless, they inspired some of the more politically conscious
minds in the hills to become associated with the Indian National
Congress and with other revolutionary organizations like the Gadar
Party (gadar means revolution).
This struggle between subjects and rulers had only one winner
the British. The East India Company took advantage of this continuous
fighting and successfully planted their Residents in most of the hill
states backed by an efficient and strong army.
So by the end of it all, the British either had the hill states fully
to themselves, or had planted their agents or Residents
as they were called in them. This dual system of direct and
indirect control continued until Independence.
When India gained Independence, the collective Punjab hill states
were integrated into a single, centrally administered unit under the
charge of a chief commissioner.
A name was given to this unit Himachal Pradesh. In 1954,
Bilaspur was added, and in 1966, the rest of what we now know as
Himachal Pradesh was merged into The Mountain State. In
1971, HP was granted statehood, and became the 18th state of the