History of Himachal Pradesh
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Prehistory
Himachal Pradesh is believed to be inhabited since about 2 million years ago. Quartzite implements discovered by Professor Olaf Prufer in the Shivalik foothills and B.B. Lal in Kangra and Guler respectively, point to this.The Vedas refer to them as Dasas, Dasyus and Nishadas while in later works they have been called Kinnars, Nagas and Yakshas. The original migrants to Himachal are believed to be the Kols or Mundas.
Aryans who arrived in the 2nd millennium BC, laid the base of history and culture of present day Himachal Pradesh.
Ancient Mythology
The Mahabharata, Ramayana, the Vedas and the Puranas mention Himachal and its inhabitants.The Mahabharata mentions the janapadas of Kuluta (Kullu), Trigarta (Kangra), Kulind (Shimla hills and Sirmaur), Yugandhar (Bilaspur and Nalagarh), Gobdika (Chamba) and Audumbar (Pathankot). The temples of Mahadev in Sundarnagar and Hadimba in Manali also trace their origins to The Mahabarata.
King Susarma Chandra, the founder of the Katoch monarchy of Kangra was supposed to have sided with the Kauravas in the war of Mahabharata. Also, the Pandavas, before the war, roamed in Himachal.
Rivers flowing through Himachal find mention in the Rig Veda. The powerful king Shambar and his 99 strong forts are also mentioned. His war with the Aryan chief, Divodas, which lasted 12 long years, and resulted in his defeat is also mentioned.
Early History
The Janapadas that formed the present day Himachal Pradesh, constituted both a state and cultural unit.- Kulinda: This kingdom covered the area lying between the Beas, Satluj and Yamuna rivers, i.e. the Shimla and Sirmour hills. Their administration resembled a republic with members of a central assembly sharing the powers of the king.
- Audumbaras: They were the most prominent ancient tribes of Himachal who lived in the lower hills between Pathankot and Jwalamukhi. They formed a separate state in 2 B.C.
- Trigarta Kingdom: The state lay in the foothills drained by three rivers, i.e. Ravi, Beas and Satluj and hence the name. It is believed to have been an independent republic.
Gupta Empire: Most republics of Himachal were slowly subdued by Chandragupta either by show of strength or by use of force. Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta extended the boundaries of his kingdom to the Himalayan region. He is credited with introducing Buddhism to Himachal. Amond the many stupas built by him, one in the Kullu valley can still be seen.
Harsha: The area was ruled by petty chiefs known as Thakurs and Ranas for a brief period after the collapse of Gupta empire. With the rise of Harsha in the early 7th century, most of these small states acknowledged his overall supremacy though many local powers remained with the petty chiefs.
Rajput Period
A few decades after Harsha's death (647 A.D.), many Rajput states ascended in Rajasthan and Indus plains. They fought amongst themselves and the vanquished moved to the hills with their followers, where they set up small states or principalities. These states were Kangra, Nurpur, Suket, Mandi, Kutlehar, Baghal, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, Keonthal, Dhami, Kunihar, Bushahar, Sirmaur.Mughal Rule
The small hill kingdom enjoyed a large degree of independence till the eve of Muslim invasions in northern India. States of the foothills were devastated by Muslim invaders from time to time. Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra at the beginning of the 10th century. Timur and Sikander Lodi also marched through the lower hills and captured several forts and fought many battles.Later on as the Mughal dynasty began to break up; the rulers of the hill states took full advantage. The Katoch rulers of Kangra availed of this opportunity and Kangra regained independence status under Maharaja Sansar Chand who ruled for nearly half a century. He was one of the ablest administrators of the region. After he took formal possession of Kangra fort, Sansar Chand began to expand his territory. The states of Chamba, Suket, Mandi, Bilaspur, Guler, Jaswan, Siwan and Datarpur came under the direct or indirect control of Sansar Chand.
Anglo-Gorkha and Anglo-Sikh War
The Gorkhas, a martial tribe came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their military power and began to expand their territory. Gradually the Gorkhas annexed Sirmaur and Shimla hill states. Under the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, Gorkhas laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Raja Sansar Chand, the ruler of Kangra, in 1806 with the help of many hill chiefs. However Gorkhas could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1809. After this defeat, the Gorkhas began to expand towards south. This resulted in the Anglo-Gorkha war. They came into direct conflict with the English along the tarai belt after which the English expelled them from the hill states east of the Satluj. Thus British slowly emerged as the paramount powers in this tract.After the Anglo-Gorkha war, the common border of the British domain and Punjab became very sensitive. Both the Sikh and English wanted to avoid a direct conflict, but after the death of Ranjit Singh, the Khalsa army fought a number of wars with the British. In 1845, when the Sikhs invaded the British territory by crossing the Satluj, the rulers of many hill states sided with the English as they were looking for an opportunity to settle scores with the former. Many of these rulers entered into secret communication with the English. After the first Anglo-Sikh war, the British did not restore the hill territory vacated by Sikhs to their original owners.
Revolt of 1857
Before and during the Indian rebellion of 1857, people of the hill states were not as politically active as other parts of the country. With the exception of Bashahr state, they remained largely untouched by the revolt.British Rule
The British territories in the hill came under British Crown after Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858. The states of Chamba, Mandi and Bilaspur made good progress in many fields during the British rule. During the first World War, virtually all rulers of the hill states remained loyal and contributed to the British war effort both in thr form of men and materials. Amongst these were the states of Kangra, Siba, Nurpur, Chamba, Suket, Mandi and Bilaspur.Freedom Struggle
Himachali people actively participated in the freedom struggle.Praja Mandal, founded in 1928, launched agitations against the British rule. Many princly states were involved in the struggle as well.
The Ghadar party launced the Mandi conspiracy in 1914-15. It was decided to murder the Superintendent and Wazirs of Mandi and Suket, to loot the treasury and to blow to up the bridge over Beas river. However conspirators were caught and sentenced to long terms in prison.
The Pajhota agitation in which the people of a part of Sirmaur state revolted is regarded as an extension of the Quit India Movement of 1942.
Important freedom fighters of the region during this period included Dr. Y.S. Parmar, Padam Dev, Shivanand Ramaul, Purnanand, Satya Dev, Sada Ram Chandel, Daulat Ram, Thakur Hazara Singh and Pahari Gandhi Baba Kanshi Ram.
Post-Independence
The history of present day Himachal Pradesh in the post-independence era has been outlined below:
- The Chief Commissioner's province of H.P. came into being on 15th April, 1948.
- H.P. became a part C state on 26th January, 1950 with the implementation of the Constitution of India.
- Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1st July, 1954.
- Himachal Pradesh became Union Territory on 1st November, 1956.
- Kangra and most of the other hill areas of Punjab were merged with H.P. on 1st November, 1966 though its status remained that of a Union Territory.
- On 18th December, 1970 the State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed by Parliament and the new state came into being on 25th January, 1971. Thus H.P. emerged as the eighteenth state of Indian Union.
References
External Links
- [Official website]
- [Indiasite]
- [Another site]
- [link]
- [link]
- http://www.123himachal.com/himachal/info.htm
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