History of Uttarakhand

2021-06-09T11:36:33Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
'''[[Uttarakhand]]''' is a state in [[North India]]. Its name, which means "northern land" or "section" in [[Sanskrit]], is mentioned in early [[Hindu texts]] as the combined region of [[Garhwal division|Kedarkhand]] and [Kumaon division|Manaskhand]].

In the [[Puranas]], Uttarakhand was the ancient term for the central Indian [[Himalayas]]. Its peaks and valleys were known as [[Svarga]] loka: a temporary abode of the righteous, and the source of the [[Ganges]]. Around 200 BC, the [[Khas people|Khas Arya]] people reached the Himalayas from the [[Caucasus Mountains]]. Unlike the Vedic Aryans (who took southern, western, and eastern routes), the Khas Arya took the northern route. Uttarakhand is known as "the land of the gods" (''Devbhumi'') because of its number of [[Hindu]] pilgrimage sites. The [[Pauravas]], [[Kushan Empire|Kushanas]], [[Kuninda Kingdom|Kunindas]], [[Gupta Empire|Guptas]], [[Katyuri kings|Katyuris]], Palas, [[Chand kings|Chands]], [[Parmar]]s (or Panwars), [[Shah]]s and the [[British Raj|British]] have ruled the state by turns.<ref>Kandari, O. P., & Gusain, O. P. (Eds.). (2001). Garhwal Himalaya: Nature, Culture & Society. Srinagar, Garhwal: Transmedia.</ref>

==Early history==
[[File:Kedarnath_Temple.jpg|thumb|alt=Large white building, with people around it for scale|[[Kedarnath Temple]], a Hindu pilgrimage site]]
The region was settled by the [[Kol people]], who speak a [[Munda languages|Munda language]]. They were later joined by [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] [Khas] tribes who arrived from the north by the [[Vedic period]]. At that time, present-day Uttarakhand was also reportedly inhabited by [[rishi]]s and [[sadhu]]s. It is believed that the rishi (sage) [[Vyasa]] wrote the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' there, since the [[Pandava]]s are believed to have traveled (and camped) in the region. Among the first major dynasties of the [[Garhwal Kingdom|Garhwal]] and [[Kumaon Kingdom]]s were the [[Kuninda Kingdom|Kunindas]] in the 2nd century BC, who practiced an early form of [[Shaivism]] and traded salt with western [[Tibet]]. It is evident from the [[Ashoka]]n edict at Kalsi, near [[Dehradun]] in western Garhwal, that [[Buddhism]] made inroads in this region. The Kol practiced [[shamanism]], and [[Folk religion#Folk Hinduism|folk Hinduism]] differed from Hindu orthodoxy. However, Garhwal and Kumaon were restored to nominal [[Brahmin]] rule due to the [[Shankaracharya]] and the arrival of migrants from the plains. During the fourth century AD, the Kunindas were replaced by the [[Nagas of Padmavati|Naga dynasty]]. Between the 7th and 14th centuries, the [[Katyuri kings]] (of [[Khas people|Khas) origin dominated Katyur lands in Kumaon's [[Gomati River (Uttarakhand)|Katyur Valley]] near present-day [[Baijnath, Uttarakhand|Baijnath]]. Other [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]-speaking peoples (known as [[kirata]]), thought to have settled in the northern highlands and elsewhere in the region, are believed to be the ancestors of the present-day [[Bhotiya]], [[Raji people|Raji]], Buksha, and [[Tharu people]]s.<ref>Saklani, D. P. (1998). Ancient communities of the Himalayas. New Delhi: Indus Pub. Co.</ref>

Kumaon prospered under the [[Chand kings]] from the eighth to the 18th centuries, and [[Pahari painting]] developed from the 17th to the 19th centuries.<ref>Pande, B. D. (1993). History of Kumaun: English version of "Kumaun ka itihas". Almora, U.P., India: Shyam Prakashan: Shree Almora Book Depot.</ref> Present-day Garhwal was also unified under the [[Soomra dynasty]], who (with the brahmins and [[Rajput]]s, arrived from the plains.<ref>Rawat, A. S. (1989). History of Garhwal, 1358–1947: an erstwhile kingdom in the Himalayas. New Delhi: Indus Pub. Co.</ref> After the fall of the Katyuri dynasty, the Chand dynasty was established by Som Chand. The Kumaon kingdom was originally limited to an area around its capital, [[Champawat]], later including parts of Nepal and [[Nainital]], [[Pithoragarh]] and [[Almora]]. Atm Chand succeeded his father, and Indra Chand began silk production. Gyan Chand (1365-1420) defeated the [[Delhi Sultanate]] at Terai. Bharati Chand (1437-1477) attacked the Nepalese king and ruled east of the [[Ghaghara|Karnali]].

[[File:United Provinces 1903.gif|thumb|upright=1.1|alt=Color-coded map|Uttarakhand as part of the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], 1903]]
[[Nepal]]'s expanding Gurkha Empire overran [[Almora]], the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom, in 1791; twelve years later, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to the Gurkhas. With the end of the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] in 1816, the western Garhwal Kingdom was [[rump state|re-established]] in [[Tehri Garhwal district#History|Tehri]]; eastern Garhwal and Kumaon were ceded to the British in accordance with the [[Treaty of Sugauli]]. [[Jaunsar-Bawar]] was part of the Sirmur kingdom, primarily as a buffer between [[Sirmur State|Sirmur]] and Garhwal. [[Fateh Shah]] seized the region and [[Dehradun]] from the Sirmur kings, the [[Jaunsari people|Jaunsari]] and the local [[Northern Indo-Aryan languages|pahari]]; Sirmaur-era words are still found in the [[Jaunsari language]]. In 1829, Jaunsar-Bawar was incorporated into the [[Chakrata]] tehsil; it had been part of the Punjab state of Sirmur until the British conquered it and Dehradun after the 1814 war with the [[Gurkha]]s.<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V11_220.gif Dehra Dun District] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], 1909, v. 11, p. 213-214.</ref> The region was known as Jaunsar-Bawar before the establishment of a [[British Indian Army]] cantonment in 1866, and the name continued in popular use until the early 20th century.<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V10_131.gif Chakrata Tahsil & Town] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], 1909, v. 10, p. 125.</ref> Although Western Hindi is popular in most of the neighbouring hill areas, Jaunsari (a [[Western Pahari]] language) is spoken by most people in the region.<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V11_221.gif Agriculture] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], 1909, v. 11, p. 215.</ref>

=={{anchor|Post-independence}}After independence==
{{main|Uttarakhand movement}}
After Indian independence, the Tehri princely state was merged into [[Uttar Pradesh]] (where Uttarakhand consisted of the [[Garhwal division|Garhwal]] and [[Kumaon division]]s.<ref>Saklani, A. (1987). The history of a Himalayan princely state: change, conflicts, and awakening: an interpretative history of the princely state of Tehri Garhwal, U.P., A.D. 1815 to 1949 A.D (1st ed.). Delhi: Durga Publications.</ref> Until 1998, Uttarakhand was the name most commonly used to refer to the region as political groups (including the [[Uttarakhand Kranti Dal]], founded in 1979) began advocating statehood under its banner. Although the former hill kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon were traditional rivals with diverse linguistic and cultural influences (due to the proximity of different, neighbouring ethnic groups, their shared geography, economy, and traditions created strong bonds between the regions.<ref>Aggarwal, J. C., Agrawal, S. P., & Gupta, S. S. (Eds.). (1995). Uttarakhand: past, present, and future. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co.</ref> These bonds were Uttarakhand's new political identity, which gained significant momentum when the demand for statehood in 1994 received near-unanimous acceptance among the local population and national political parties.<ref>Kumar, P. (2000). The Uttarakhand Movement: Construction of a Regional Identity. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers.</ref> The 1/2 October 1994 [[Rampur Tiraha firing case]] caused an uproar which eventually led to the creation of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh in 2000.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121020023855/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-07-31/india/27185864_1_quashes-rampur-tiraha-open-fire Rampur Tiraha firing] ''[[The Times of India]]'', 31 July 2003.</ref>

The term ''Uttaranchal'' came into use when the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP)-led central and Uttar Pradesh state governments began a state reorganization in 1998 and introduced their preferred name. The BJP name triggered controversy among separate-state activists, who saw it as a political act.<ref>Negi, B. (2001). "Round One to the Lobbyists, Politicians, and Bureaucrats." Indian Express, 2 January.</ref> In August 2006, India's Union Cabinet agreed to the four-year-old demand of the Uttaranchal state assembly and Uttarakhand-movement leaders to rename Uttaranchal Uttarakhand. Legislation to that effect was passed by the State Legislative Assembly in October 2006,<ref>UNI. (2006). "Uttaranchal becomes Uttarakhand." Tribune (India), 12 October.</ref> passed in the winter session of Parliament, and signed into law by the president in December of that year.

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Upreti|first=Ganga Dutt|title=Proverbs & folklore of Kumaun and Garhwal|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924089930774#page/n7/mode/2up|year=1894|publisher=Lodiana Mission Press}}
*''[[Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{History of India by State}}
{{States and Union Territories of India}}

{{Uttarakhand}}

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[[Category:History of Uttarakhand| ]]

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History of Uttarakhand