Garhwal Kingdom :

Garhwal Kingdom was an independent kingdom in the current north-western Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, founded in 823 AD by Kanakpal, the progenitor of the Panwar. Garhwali Rajput dynasty that ruled over the kingdom uninterrupted till 1803.

The kingdom was divided into two parts during the British Raj, namely: the princely state of Garhwal and the Garhwal District of British India. During this period, the princely state of Garhwal was one of the States of the Punjab Hills which became part of the Punjab Hill States Agency although it was not under the Punjab Province administration. The princely state of Garhwal or Independent Garhwal consisted of the present day Tehri Garhwal district and most of the Uttarkashi district. This former state acceded to the Union of India in August 1949.

History :

Ancient :

Traditionally the region finds mention in various Hindu scriptures as Kedarkhand being home to the Garhwali people. Garhwal kingdom was dominated by Kshatriyas. The Kuninda Kingdom also flourished around the 2nd century BC. Later this region came under the rule of Katyuri Kings, who ruled unified Kumaon and Garhwal regions from Katyur Valley, Baijnath, Uttarakhand, starting 6th century AD and eventually fading by the 11th century AD, when they were replaced by Chand Kings in Kumaon, while Garhwal was fragmented into several small principalities. Huen Tsang, the Chinese traveller, who visited the region around 629 AD, mentions a kingdom of Brahampura in the region.

Based on the testimony of inscriptions (the earliest dating back to the 4th century AD), literary accounts, and local traditions it may be suggested that Far Western Nepal and Uttarakhand formed one single polity for centuries under the Katyuri Kings. Therefore, both regions inherit a shared past or collective memory. The Bharata/Jagara of Maula alias Jiya Rani, a Katyuri princess, as narrated in Doti (Now Part Of Nepal) and Uttarakhand (India) is an example of this common heritage.

The royal dynasty of Garhwal started with Kanakpal. Garhwal Kingdom was founded in 823 AD, when Kanakpal, the prince of Malwa, on his visit to the Badrinath Temple, met Raja Bhanu Pratap, the ruler of Chandpur Garh one of the 52 Garhs of Garhwal. Raja Bhanu Pratap had no sons. The King married his only daughter to the prince and subsequently handed over his kingdom, the fortress town. Kanakpal and his descendants of Panwar dynasty, gradually conquered all the independent fortresses (Garhs) belonging to its 52 small chieftains, and ruled the whole of Garhwal Kingdom for the next 915 years, up to 1804 AD.

Medieval :

In 1358, the 37th ruler, Ajay Pal, brought all the minor principalities for the Garhwal region, under his own rule, and founded the Garhwal kingdom, with Devalgarh as its capital, which he later shifted to Srinagar. Balbhadra Shah (r. 1575–1591), was the first Raja of Garhwal to use the title Shah. The capital was shifted to Srinagar, Uttarakhand by Mahipat Shah who ascended to the throne in 1622, and further consolidated his rule over most parts of Garhwal, though he died early in 1631, though his seven-year-old son, Prithvi Shah ascended to the throne after him, the Kingdom was ruled by Mahipat Shah's wife, Rani Karnavati for many years to come, during which she successfully defended the kingdom against invaders and repelled an attack of Mughal army led by Najabat Khan in 1640, and in time received the nickname of 'Nakti Rani' as she used to chop off the noses of any invader to the kingdom, as the Mughal invaders of the period realised. Monuments erected by her still exist in Dehradun district at Nawada.

The next important ruler was Fateh Shah, remained the King of Garhwal from 1684 to 1716, and is most known for taking part in the Battle of Bhangani on 18 September 1688, where combined forces of many Rajas of the Shivalik Hills (Pahari rajas) fought with Gobind Singh's army. During his reign, Sikh Guru and the ex-communicated eldest son of Har Rai, Ram Rai settled here, upon recommendations of Aurangzeb, which eventually led to the establishment of modern town of Dehradun. Fateh Shah died in 1716, and his son Upendra Shah died within a year of ascending to the throne in 1717, subsequently Pradip Shah ascended and his ruled led to rising fortunes of the Kingdom, this in turn attracted invaders, like Najib-ud-daula Governor of Saharanpur, who invaded in 1757 along with his Rohilla Army and captured Dehradun. However, in 1770, the Garhwali forces defeated the Rohillas and retrieved possession of the Dun region.

Lalit Shah invaded and conquered Kumaon, expelling the ruling Chands and placing his own younger son on the throne. This move led to the other Garhwal princes quarrelling with each other and playing into the hands of the expanding Gorkha state and the Kingdom of Nepal, prompting them to invade Kumaon and then take control of most of the hill country, expelling or subduing most of the rajas.

The descendants had ruled over Garhwal in an uninterrupted line till 1803 at the time of attack by the Gorkha Kingdom. Garhwali forces suffered heavy defeat, and Pradyuman Shah first escaped from Srinagar to Dehradun and then to Saharanpur to organise forces, but was eventually killed in the Battle of Khurbura (Dehradun) in January 1804 while his brother, Pritam Shah, was taken in captivity to Nepal by the Gorkhas. The Battle of Khadbuda took place on Magh 20, 1860 V.S. (January 1804) where the Gorkhalis were under the command of Bada Kaji Amar Singh Thapa, while Garhwali forces had a Gujjar commander, Sardar Ram Dayal Singh of Landhaur, who led 12,000 soldiers of Ramghads, Pundirs, Gujjars and Rajputs. Pradyumna Shah was killed by a shot fired by Kaji Ranajit Kunwar, the grandfather of later Maharaja and Prime Minister of Nepal Jung Bahadur Rana, and his dead body was respectfully covered with a shawl by Bada Kaji Amar Singh to be sent to Haridwar.

Several causes are attributed to this defeat. Garhwal was perpetually in political turmoil since the time of Raja Jai Krit Shah and this was sapping the vitality of the kingdom. Nature also played havoc in the form of a famine before the Gorkha onslaught from 1795-1795. Garhwal had not yet recovered from the famine when a devastating earthquake struck the region.

Modern :

The occupation of the kingdom by the Gorkhas went unopposed from 1803 to 1814 until a series of encroachments by the Gorkhas on British territory led to the Anglo-Nepalese Warin 1814. Sudarshan Shah, son and heir of the defeated ruler of the Kingdom of Garhwal who was in exile in British territory, saw his chance and entered into an alliance with the British in 1812. When the expected war erupted, he joined forces with them in the conquest of the hill territories. At the war's end on 21 April 1815, as a result of the Treaty of Sugauli, the British annexed half of the Kingdom of Garhwal (Pauri Garhwal) and converted the other half (Tehri Garhwal) into a subsidiary princely state.

Formation of the princely state of Garhwal :

Sudarshan Shah, the heir to the Kingdom of Garhwal received approximately half his ancestral territories, limited to western Garhwal region and received recognition as Raja of a new princely state of Garhwal.The British established their rule over the eastern half of the Garhwal region, which lies east of Alaknanda and Mandakini river, which was later on known as British Garhwal and Dun of Dehradun, along with Kumaon, which was merged with British India as a result of the Treaty of Sugauli. The former Kumaon Kingdom was joined with the eastern half of the Garhwal region and was governed as a chief-commissionership, also known as the Kumaon Province, on the non-regulation system.

Since the capital Srinagar was now part of the British Garhwal, a new capital was established at Tehri, giving the name of Tehri state (popularly known as Teri Garhwal).

Sudarshan Shah died in 1859, and was succeeded by Bhawani Shah, who in turn was succeeded by Pratap Shah in 1872. The kingdom had an area of 4,180 square miles (10,800 km2), and a population of 268,885 in 1901. The ruler was given the title of Raja, but after 1913, he was honoured with the title of Maharaja. The King was entitled to an 11 gun salute and had a privy purse of 300.000 Rupees. In 1919, Maharaja Narendra Shah shifted the capital from Tehri to a new town, which was named after him, Narendra Nagar.

Subsequently, on 24 February 1960, the state government separated one of its tehsils which was given the status of a separate district named Uttarkashi. It is currently part of the Garhwal Division of the Uttarakhand state of India which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000. Former royal palace of the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal at Narendranagar, now houses the Ananda–In the Himalayas spa, established 2000.