History of Himachal Pradesh

2021-05-30T22:52:49Z

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Himachal Pradesh is located in north India and became 18th state of India.{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2017}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2014}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
'''[[Himachal Pradesh]]''' was established in 1948 as a Chief Commissioner's Province within the [[Dominion of India|Union of India]].
'''The Himachal History'''
The province comprised the hill districts around [[Shimla]] and southern hill areas of the former [[Punjab region]]. Himachal became a part C state on 26 January 1951 with the implementation of the [[Constitution of India]]. Himachal Pradesh became a [[Union Territory]] on 1 November 1956. On 18 December 1970 the State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed by Parliament and the new state came into being on 25 January 1971. Thus Himachal emerged as the eighteenth state of the Indian Union.

In earlier times, the area was variously divided among smaller kingdoms, such as those of [[Chamba, Himachal Pradesh|Chamba]], [[Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh|Bilaspur]], Bhagal and Dhami. After the [[Gurkha War]] of 1815–1816, it became part of the [[British India]].

==Pre-Independence==
{{main|History of the Punjab|History of Kashmir}}

===Prehistory===

Some evidences have been found that nearly 2 million years ago man lived in the foothills of [[Himachal Pradesh]]. [[Bangana town|Bangana]] valley of [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]], ''Sirsa'' valley of [[Nalagarh]] and ''Markanda'' valley of [[Sirmaur district|Sirmour]] are found to be the places where prehistoric man used to live. The foothills of the state were inhabited by people from [[Indus valley civilization]] which flourished between the time period of 2250 and 1750 BC. Before indus valley civilization, Koli, Holi, Dooms and Chnnals used to live here.
The famous war between the Arya King Devodas and Kirat's King Shambhar is mentioned in the Rigveda. King Shambhar had 99 forts in mid Himalayan region of modern Himachal. He had to lose the war which lasted for 40 years.

===Medieval history===
In about 883 AD Shankar Verma, the ruler of [[Kashmir]] exercised his influence over Himachal Pradesh. The region also witnessed the invasion of [[Mahmud Ghazni]] in 1009 AD, who during that period he looted the wealth from the temples in the North India. In 1043 AD the [[Rajput]]s ruled over the territory.
[[File:Sansar chand.jpg|left|200px|thumb|[[Sansar Chand]] (c. 1765–1823)]]
In 1773 BC the [[Rajput]]s under Katoch Maharaja [[Sansar Chand]]-II possessed the region, until the attack by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1804 which crushed the Rajput power.

The small [[monarchy|kingdom]] enjoyed a large degree of [[independence]] till the eve of the [[Muslim]] invasions in northern [[India]]. The states of the foothills were devastated by Muslim invaders a number of times. [[Mahmud Ghazni]] conquered [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]] at the beginning of the 11th century. [[Timur]] and [[Sikander Lodi]] also marched through the lower hills of the state and captured a number of [[forts]] and fought many [[battle]]s.

The ''[[Gurkha|Gorkhas]]'', a [[martial]] [[tribe]] came to power in [[Nepal]] in 1768. They consolidated their [[military]] power and began to expand their territory.

The [[Gurkha]]s marched in from [[Nepal]] and captured the area.<ref name=bsahistory4/> Gradually the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and [[Shimla]]. Under the leadership of Bada Kaji (equivalent to General) Amar Singh Thapa, ''Gorkhas'' laid siege to [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]]. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand, the ruler of [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]], in 1806. However ''Gorkhas'' could not capture [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]] fort which came under [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]] in 1809.

===British period===
This led to the ''[[Gorkha War|Anglo-Gorkha]]'' war. They came into direct conflict with the [[British Empire|British]] along the ''tarai'' belt after which the [[British Empire|British]] expelled them from the provinces of the [[Satluj]]. Thus [[British India|British]] gradually emerged as the paramount powers. In early 19th century the British annexed the areas of [[Shimla]] after the Gurkha War of 1815–16. Himachal became a centrally administered territory in 1948 with the integration of 31 hill provinces and received additional regions in 1966.<ref name=bsahistory4>{{cite web
|url = http://www.webindia123.com/himachal/history/history.htm
|title = History of Himachal Pradesh
|access-date = 2007-04-28
|publisher = Suni System (P) Ltd.
}}</ref>

The revolt of 1857 or the first [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian war of independence]] resulted due to the building up of political, social, economic, religious and military grievances against the British government. People of the hill states were not politically alive as the people in other parts of the country.<ref name=bsahistory2>{{cite web
|url = http://www.himachalpradeshindia.com/history.html
|title = History of Himachal Pradesh
|access-date = 2006-10-26
|publisher = himachalpradeshindia.com
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061020050953/http://www.himachalpradeshindia.com/history.html
|archive-date = 20 October 2006
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref> They remained more or less inactive and so did their rulers with the exception of ''Bushahr''.

Some of them even rendered help to the British government during the revolt. Among them were the rulers of [[Chamba, Himachal Pradesh|Chamba]], [[Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh|Bilaspur]], Bhagal and Dhami. The rulers of Bushars rather acted in a manner hostile to the interests of [[British India|British]].<br />

The [[British India|British]] territories in the hill came under British Crown after Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858. The states of [[Chamba, Himachal Pradesh|Chamba]], [[Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India|Mandi]] and [[Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh|Bilaspur]] made good progress in many fields during the British rule. During [[World War I]], virtually all rulers of the hill states remained loyal and contributed to the British war effort both in the form of men and materials. Amongst these were the states of [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]], Nurpur, [[Chamba, Himachal Pradesh|Chamba]], Suket, [[Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India|Mandi]] and [[Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh|Bilaspur]].

==Post independence==
After independence the ''Chief Commissioner's province of H.P.'' came into being on 15 April 1948. Himachal became a part C state on 26 January 1950 with the implementation of the [[Constitution of India]]. [[Himachal Pradesh]] became [[Union Territory]] on 1 November 1956. On 18 December 1970 the State of [[Himachal Pradesh]] Act was passed by Parliament and the new state came into being on 25 January 1971. Thus H.P. emerged as the eighteenth state of Indian Union.

Under the name of [[Greater Nepal]], some in Nepal have asked for the return of states previously usurped by Nepal that were annexed by the [[British East India Company]]. However, little support for this motion exists in these regions.

== References ==
<references />

{{History of India by State}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Himachal Pradesh}}
[[Category:History of Himachal Pradesh| ]]

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History of Himachal Pradesh