An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Chamba Part -I

 An Overview of Himachal Pradesh (India ) district Chamba Part - I

Mini Switzerland , Khajjiar 

Brief History of Chamba 

Before  15th April 1948 when Himachal Pradesh came into existence by merger of three major princely states Chamba , Mandi -Suket , Sirmaur and  other small princely states the Chamba was a princely state with its capital at Present Chamba .

When we look into the history of Chamba, we can divide it into two parts :- 

1. The period when Capital was at Brahmpura , The present Bharmaur.

2. The period when Capital shifted to Chamba , the present district headquarters .

Chamba the abode of lord shiva 

Chamba is the only state in North India which is having its documented history from crica 500 A.D.  

The Chamba district is nested in the majestic lap of Western Himalayas ,its geography has helped in preserving its centuries old relics and various inscriptions. The thousands years old temples which are the model of Hindu architecture built by Rajas  are still  continue to be worshipped .

The land deeds scripted and executed on copper plates are still  valid under law .

History Before 500 AD crica :-

The Period when The Capital was at Brahmpura, The Present Bharmaur :-  

It is believed that in the initial stages history, the Kolian tribes were inhabitants of this region and was being ruled by them , later they came under Khasas. But in 2 century BC the Khas had also lost their rule and came under the rule of Adumbra administration .

View of Bharmaur 

During the Gupta period in 4th century BC this state came under the  rule of Thakurs and Ranas , they had considered themselves superior to Khas and kolians .

In the seventh century with the rise of Gurjar Prtihars , the rule of this region came under Rajput  dynasty .

As per history of  Rajput  dynasty King Maru who had been migrated from Ayodhya and settled in Kalpagram shifted to Chamba region and discovered  Brahmputra in Budhal river valley for his capital which now a days called Bharmaur .

The predecessor of king  Maru rule from Brahmputra for about 300 years . 

The capital  remained at Brahmputra till King Shahil Verman shifted his capital during 920 to present Chamba on the special request of his daughter ,Champa vati  , the name of Town is named after her name .

View of Narsing temple at Chourasi temples at Bharmaur.

The Period After , The Capital Shifted to Chamba , The Present district Headquarters :- 

In the beginning of 10th century the 20th King after King Maru  ," King Shahil Verman came into power, and ruled  the Kingdom till  940 AD. "  King Shahil Verman on the special request of his beloved daughter Champa vati shifted the capital from Brahmputra  ( Bharmaur) to present Chamba a beautiful town established on the bank of river Ravi . At that time name of Town was kept Champavati  , later it became Chamba .

When King Shahil Verman came to power the kingdom was restricted to a small portion of land in Brahmputra  that is on only present day Bharmaur sub division .

The remaining area was under the rule of different  Rana's . These Rana's were always busy in fighting with each other . King Shahil Verman wisely brought these Rana's all together under his kingdom thus extended his territory . King Shahil Verman divided his territory into five Mandals , later these Mandals were later on converted into Vijarts. 

These Vijarts were 

These Vijarts were Bharmaur , Chamba , Bhatiyat   Churah and Pangi . These Vijarts now are  Tehsils of Chamba district . Raja Shahil Verman ruled the state till 940 AD. There after the kings of Shahil Verman dynasty ruled the state for about 1000 years without any out siders attacks .

The famous Raja who ruled the state were  Raja Yugakar  Verman , Vidagdha Verman  , Raja Dodaka Verman , Raja  Vichitra Verman  , Raja Dhariya Verman , Raja Salavahana Verman ,Raja Soma  Verman  , Raja Asata  Verman,Raja Jasata Verman , RajaDhala Verman , Raja Udayan Verman , Raja Anand Verman , Raja Ganesa Verman

From 1559 to 1586 Raja Pratap Singh Verman ruled the state ,  Raja Vir Bhanu remained king of Chamba from  1586 to 1589 .  From 1589 to 1641 Raja Balbhadra Verman was the Raja of Chamba . 

Raja Prithviraj Singh became the Raja of Chamba after the death of Raja Balbhadra Verman . The Raja Prithviraj Singh Verman was the son of Raja Balbhadra Verman . Raja Prithviraj Singh Verman ruled the Kingdom from 1641 1664. He was contemporary of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan , he used to visit Mugal Court  Delhi  and imported  Mugal art and culture in the state .

After the death of Raja Prithviraj Singh Verman his son Raja Chatter Singh came to power in 1664 and successfully ruled over the Kingdom from 1664 to 1694 .

Raja Chatter Singh was a visionary and powerful administrator ,  there is an instance that Mugal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered him to demolish all famous temples of Chamba  , Raja Chatter Singh instead of execution of his order  , decorated the  all the temples with golden work on pinnacles . On this he was summoned by Empror to present himself in Delhi Darbar  but in the time Empror Aurangzeb himself embroiled in a conflict in South and forgot about Chamba .  Empror Aurangzeb and Empror Akbar tried to  destroy and conquer Chamba but they  never Succeeded.

After the death of Raja Chatter. Singh  Raja Udai Singh became the Raja of Chamba and ruled the Kingdom from 1694 to 1720 . Then after Raja Udai Singh , Raja Ugar  Singh ruled the state from 1720 to 1735.

From 1735 to 1748 Raja Dalel Sigh ruled Chamba then  Raja Umed Singh became the Raja of Chamba from 1748 to 1764. Raja Raj Singh remained in power from 1764 to 1794 .

Raja Jit Singh who remained in power from 1794 to 1808 was a great worrier and led a successful expedition to Kishtwar in Kashmir and also conquered Basholi  but returned the territory when Raja of Basholi agreed to pay the war indemnity .

After the death of Raja Jit Singh his son Charhat Singh became Raja of Chamba in 1808 . Raja Charhat Singh ruled the Kingdom till 1844 . During this period the North West In india was unstable politically.

During this period Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab was leading an expedition to conquer the neighbouring states to extend his territory on the other hand Raja Sansar Chand Katoch  was trying to subjugate the  Gorkhas and to expand his empire. In such circumstances Chamba was forced to be side with Maharaja Ranjit Singh .

During 1809 Wazir Nathu Ram of Chamba helped Maharaja Ranjit Singh in negotiations with Raja Sansar Chand so that Maharaja Ranjit Singh could  take possession on Kangra Fort along with few villages .  Wazir Nathu Ram had also saved the life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh by providing him a horse in Kashmir expedition . As a result of his loyalty , Maharaja Ranjit Singh never tried to conquer Chamba but in return he provided a protection by setting up a garrison there .

After the death of  Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839 the political situation again became unstable . In the year 1839 Raja Charhat Singh was blessed with a son  named Shri Singh .  When Raja Charhat Singh died in 1844 the Prince Shri Singh was only five years old .

Shri Singh became Raja of Chamba in the age of five years and in such circumstances the Wazir Bagha took the administration in his hand . Due to Anglo Sikh war the garrison provided by Maharaja Ranjit Singh was withdrawn . The Sikh empire crumbled under British attack and in such circumstances at first it was decided that Chamba would be amalgamated with Jammu and Kashmir but with the intervention of Wazir Bagha  decision was withdrawn and Chamba became protectorate under British Empire , the Lahore treaty  in 1846 came into force . 

Thus Raja Shri Singh ruled the state from 1844 to 1870 , during this period many welfare measures were taken in the interest of public . In the year 1863 first post office was opened in Chamba and a hospital was constructed in 1866 . Road to Dalhousie and Khajjiar were also constructed . Raja Shri Singh had only one son who died in infancy .

 In such circumstances the younger brother of Raja Shri Singh  Gopal Singh was made the Raja of Chamba ,  he ruled the state from 1870 to 1873 .  In 1873 due to some internal problem he abdicated the thorne in favour of Sham Singh . When Raja Sham Singh taken over the power he was seven years old so till 10 th of November 1894 he had to function under Council of Regency .

Raja Sham Singh ruled the Kingdom from 1873 till 22nd January 1904 and on this day  his brother Bhuri Singh was made Raja of Chamba .  King Raja Sham Singh died in 1905 as he was continues in the conditions of illness .

Raja Sham Singh was a great visionary  he established various departments like  Judicial ,postal and public works. He also made school buildings , kotwali  and jail , post office  , hospitals and roads . For leprosy patients he made asylum .

View of Chaugan ground at Chamba .

Raja Sham Singh also undertaken  beautification program to beautify the town . He established parks and gardens , he also given re -layout  to the zig -zag constructed buildings .He was awarded gold medals  for the service of poor people from British . For his excellent work he was honoured in  Imperial Durbar in Delhi in 1877 and Coronation Durbar in 1903. Lord Curzon  was very much impressive with the work of Raja Sham Singh , as a result of that he specially visited Chamba in 1900 , Curzon Gate now renamed as Gandhi Gate is the reminder of the visit which was made in the welcome of Lord Curzon .

 Raja Sham Singh handed over the Kingdom to his brother Raja Bhuri Singh on 22 nd January 1904 thus he ruled the state till 22 nd September 1919 . Raja Bhuri Singh was having deep  interest in preserving art and culture of Chamba .  He was having a beautiful collection of art and culture and he had donated all his collections when Bhuri Singh Musium was established at Chamba .

After the death of Raja Bhuri Singh his eldest son Raja Ram Singh became Raja on 22 nd September 1919 and he ruled the state till  7th December 1935 .He was the second last Raja of Chamba .

Raja   Lakshman Singh the son of Raja Ram Singh  became Raja of Chamba on 7th December 1935 and ruled the state till 15 April 1948 and finally merged in Union of India and became a district of Himachal Pradesh .  Thus Raja Lakshman Singh was the Last Raja of this oldest Dynasty .