An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part - V

 An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part - V

Brief History of Kangra Part V continued :-

View of Palace in Lambagraaon district Kangra 

Lambagraaon  Jagir :- 

The downfall of Kangra 

Raja Sansar Chand II was  very powerful and was having the  desire to establish Trigarta in its old Glory. 

The Jawalamukhi Treaty in 1809 was an unfortunate time for Raja Sansar Chand II, when he lost most of his possessions and was allocated a small Jagir in Lambagraaon for maintenance .

How it happened  , Raja Sansar Chand II  became Raja Kangra in 1775AD when he was of only 10 years . 

When he grown up he started to  to execute his plans and dried to dislodge Mughals and to achieve possession on  adjoining hill states to achieve old glori of Trigarta Empire .

Raja Sansar Chand II had assumed the title of Naresh and Chhatrapati .

View near Lambagraaon district Kangra.

View of Jaisinhpur near Lambagraaon district Kangra.

Period Between 1775 AD to 1823A

View of Beas river near Lambagraaon , Jaisinhpur.

On this uncontrolled movement of Raja Sansar Chand , all hill chiefs joined hands and invited Amar Singh Thapa Gurkhas ruler to fight against Raja Sansar Chand . The combined Army of Hill Chiefs and Gurkhas fought the battle at Mehal Morian in Hamirpur .But Raja Sansar Chand gave a crushing defeat to the combined Army and compelled them to go back to the left bank of Satluj . This was the first battle of Mehal Morian .

In the meantime a General Gulam Mohammad of 

 Sansar Chand advised him to replace the existing army with Rohillas on some economic grounds and it was implemented . This weakend the strength of Raja Sansar Chand 's forces . When the combined forces of Hill Chiefs and Gurkhas came to know about the weakness of Katoach dynasty 's forces ,they again planned a second battle of Mehal Morian .

Then combined forces attacked the forces of Raja Sansar Chand at Mehal Morian and in 1806 A .D.Raja Sansar Chand was badly defeated and he along with his family took shelter in Kangra Fort and had to loose Hamirpur .

The Gurkha forces also took Kangra Fort in their possession and looted the forts at Kangra and Mehal Morian and destroyed the villages . This continued for three years till 1809 A.D. Raja Ishwari Sen was made free from Nadaun Jail .

In 1809 A .D. Raja Sansar Chand requested Maharaja Ranjit Singh to help him and on his request , Maharaja Ranjit Singh lodged a war against Gurkhas and in 1809 he defeated Gurkhas but Raja Sansar Chand had paid a heavy price for it . He lost Kangra Fort and other 66 villages and Sikh empire took possession of Kangra Fort and other 66 villages thus succeeded in setting up their sovereignty over Kangra and Hamirpur till 1846. 

View of Lambagraaon Palace.

On 20 July 1809 a treaty was signed between Maharaja  Sansar Chand and Maharaja Ranjit Singh  . As per  this Treaty Raja Sansar Chand was allocated a small Jagir at Lambagraaon for maintenance .

View of Kangra Fort 

In the Anglo Sikh war the British Army defeated the Sikh empire in 1846 and brought Kangra under British Empire.

Raja Sansar Chand died and his grandson Raja Pramodh Chand with the help of Sikhs and other rulers tried to dislodge British but couldn't succeeded . 

British Empire made Kangra with Hamirpur , Kullu and Lahaul Spiti as it's parts , Nadaun was made Tehsil headquarters later this settlement was revised in 1868 and tehsil headquarter was shifted to Hamirpur . 

During 1888 Palampur was made a Tehsil by merging some parts of Hamirpur and Kangra  Tehsils . Thus Hamirpur , Una and Kangra remained the part of Punjab till the reorganization of Punjab on 1st November 1966 when hilly areas of Punjab were merged in Himachal Pradesh . 

After Raja Sangar Chand in in December 1823  on the death of Raja Sansar Chand II his son Aniruddh Chand II became Raja of Lambagraaon . He was annexed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore . Raja Anirudh Chand died in 1833 .

In 1833 Raja Ranbir Chand became Raja of Lambagraaon and also received Jagir of Mehal Morian worth Rs 50,000/- value . He died in 1847 . 

In 1847 Raja Pramodh Chand son is Raja Anirudh Chand  became Raja of Lambagraaon in 1847 and remained Jagirdar till 1851 . He opposed the authorities thus deported to Almora . He was the official Freedom Fighter . He died in 1851 .

In 1851 the adopted son of Rani of Raja Parmodh Chand , Raja Partap Chand III became Raja of Lambagraaon, he remained Raja till 1864AD  Raja Raja Pratap Chand died in 1864 .

View of Lambagraaon Palace 

In 1864 Raja Col. His Highness Shri Sir Jai Chand Katoch became Raja of Lambagraaon  and remained Jagirdar till 1935 . He died in 1935 .

In 1935 Raja Dhruv Dev Chand became Raja of Lambagraaon Kangra . He died in 1988 .

Since 1988 Raja Shri Aditya Dev Chand is Jagirdar of Lambagraaon and Mehal Morian .

The present Raja of Katoch dynasty Jagirdar of Lambagraaon is Raja Aishwarya Chand Katoch.

View of Lambagraaon Palace 

An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra - Part IV

 An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part IV .

Brief History Continued 

Brajeshwari Mata Temple at Kangra Himachal Pradesh 

Brief  History of district Kangra  :-

Period Between 1700 AD to 1747 AD :- 

Raja Hamir Chand :- 

Hamir Chand was son of Raja Alam Chand II , he became Raja in 1700 AD and  ruled till 1747 AD. Raja Hamir Chand built Hamirgarh fort and founded Hamirpur town . Hamirpur town is named after the name of Raja Hamir Chand .

View of Kangra Fort 

Period Between 1747AD to 1750 AD.

Raja Abhey Chand : -

After the death of Raja Hamir Chand his brother Raja Abhey Chand seated on the thorne in 1747 AD and ruled the state till 1750 AD

 . Raja Abhey Chand built Riyal Tira Fort , Abhymanpur and  Thakurdwara  temple in Sujanpur Tihra .

Period Between 1750 to 1751AD 

Raja Ghamir Chand  :- 

Raja Ghamir Chand brother of Raja Hamir Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1750 and ruled till 1751 .He died in 1751AD .

Raja Shringar  Chand :- 

Raja Shringar Chand became Raja Kangra in 1751 but deposed in 1751 .

Period Between 1751 to 1774 AD  :-

View of Kangra Fort 

Raja Ghamand Chand  :-

Raja Ghamand Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1751 AD and ruled till 1774 A D .

Raja Ghamand Chand rebuilt the fort of Pathihar . In 1758 Raja Ghamand Chand was appointed as Nazim of Jalandhar Dawaba .

Period Between 1774 to 1775 AD

  Raja Tegh Chand :-

Raja Tegh Chand became Raja Kangra in 1774 AD  and died in  1775 AD 

Period Between 1775 AD to 1823AD

Raja Sansar Chand II :- 

Raja Sansar Chand II became Raja Kangra in 1775AD and ruled till 1823 A D 

Raja Sansar Chand II had assumed the titles of "Naresh " and "Chhatrapati ."

Raja Sansar Chand II was merely 10 years old when he seated on Gaddi in 1775 AD.

View of Brajeshwari Mata Temple Kangra.

According to Puranas and Panini 's Ashtadhyai in Mahabharata period the Hamirpur , Una and Kangra were parts of Trigarta Empire. It was a part of Jalandhar . The area between between Ravi and Satluj was ruled by Katoach dynasty .

Old Palace at Sujanpur Tihra 

Ancient Period :-  

During the ancient period it is said that Gupta dynasty had set up its sovereignty in this part and ruled the area .

Middle Ages :- 

Later on during the middle ages this part of land came under the control of Mohammad Gazani , Timurlung and there after Sultanas ruled over this part of land . With the passage of time all these rulers gone away .

Period Between 1700 A.D. to 1747A. D . :- 

This was the period when all these rulers gone away and the entire area was being ruled by feudal hill chiefs called Rana's.

  These Rana's were always in fight against each other. The Katoch dynasty ruler Hamir Chand made it possible to control these Rana's to form a orderly society .Hamir Chand ruled the Kingdom from 1700A.D. to 1747A.D. Raja Hamir Chand built Fort at  Hamirpur . The present town has  named after his name .

View of Mehal Morian at Hamirpur.

The Period From 1775A.D. to 1823 A.D.

Raja Sansar Chand II made Sujanpur Tihra as capital and he built palaces and temples here .He ruled the Kingdom from 1775 A. D. to 1823 A .D.  He was having a vision to establish the old empire of his ancestors Jalandhar - Trigarta , he tried it twice but remained unsuccessful as Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the hurdles on his way .

View of Palace at Sujanpur Tihra 

Which he remained unsuccessful in establishing Old Empire Jalandhar Trigarta due to Maharaja Ranjit Singh he diverted his attention towards hill chiefs and attached Mandi state , Raja Ishwari Sen of Mandi was kept in imprisonment at Nadaun for 12 years , Raja Suket was also managed to pay annual tribute  and some Parts of Bilaspur on the right bank of Satluj river were also attached

 Sikh Era Mural on Walls 

Battle of Mehal Morian :-

On this uncontrolled movement of Raja Sansar Chand all hill chiefs joined hands and invited Gurkhas to fight against Raja Sansar Chand . The combined Army of Hill Chiefs and Gurkhas fought the battle at Mehal Morian in Hamirpur .But Raja Sansar Chand gave a crushing defeat to the combined Army and compelled them to go back to the left bank of Satluj . This was the first battle of Mehal Morian .

In the meantime a General Gulam Mohammad of Raja Sansar Chand advised him to replace the existing army with Rohillas on some economic grounds and it was implemented . This weakend the strength of Raja Sansar Chand 's forces . When the combined forces of Hill Chiefs and Gurkhas came to know about the weakness of Katoach dynasty 's forces ,they again planned a second battle of Mehal Morian .

Then combined forces attacked the forces of Raja Sansar Chand at Mehal Morian and in 1806 A .D.Raja Sansar Chand was badly defeated and he along with his family took shelter in Kangra Fort and had to loose Hamirpur .

The Gurkha forces also took Kangra Fort in their possession and looted the forts at Kangra and Mehal Morian and destroyed the villages . This continued for three years till 1809 A.D. Raja Ishwari Sen was made free from Nadaun Jail .

In 1809 A .D. Raja Sansar Chand requested Maharaja Ranjit Singh to help him and on his request , Maharaja Ranjit Singh lodged a war against Gurkhas and in 1809 he defeated Gurkhas but Raja Sansar Chand had paid a heavy price for it . He lost Kangra Fort and other 66 villages and Sikh empire took possession of Kangra Fort and other 66 villages thus succeeded in setting up their sovereignty over Kangra and Hamirpur till 1846.

View of Kangra Fort 

Anglo Sikh War :- 

In the Anglo Sikh war the British Army defeated the Sikh empire in 1846 and brought Kangra under British Empire.

Raja Sansar Chand died and his grandson Raja Pramodh Chand with the help of Sikhs and other rulers tried to dislodge British but couldn't succeeded .

British Empire made Kangra with Hamirpur , Kullu and Lahaul Spiti as it's parts , Nadaun was made Tehsil headquarters later this settlement was revised in 1868 and tehsil headquarter was shifted to Hamirpur . 

During 1888 Palampur was made a Tehsil by merging some parts of Hamirpur and Kangra  Tehsils . Thus Hamirpur , Una and Kangra remained the part of Punjab till the reorganization of Punjab on 1st November 1966 when hilly areas of Punjab were merged in Himachal Pradesh . 

An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part III

 An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part - III

View all Kangra Fort 

Brief History of Kangra Continued Period Between 1627AD to 1658 AD :-

After the death of Raja Hari Chand -II Raja Chandarbhan Chand seated on thorne of Kangra in 1627AD and ruled the state till 1658 AD . 

The Kangra fort which was also known as Nagarkot fort ramained under the possession of Mughals till 1783 AD. 

Raja Chandarbhan was given the Jagir of Rajgir thus established  separately . Raja Chandarbhan built a Fort near Dharamshala named Chandarbhan fort .  He had continued the guerrilla warfare against Mughals .

Kangra Fort Architecture 

During this period the 5 th Mughal Empror  Shahjahan was on the thorne of Delhi . Shahjahan was crowned on 19 January 1628  ruled India till 31 July 1658AD. He was a peace and justice loving  Empror . He built Taj Mahal the 8th wonder of the world in the memory of his loving Begum Mumtaj .

Beautiful View Mcleodganj Dharamshala 

There after Empror  Aurangzeb came into the power and seated on  the thorne of Delhi on  31 July 1658 . 

Raja Chandarbhan was arrested by Aurangzeb in  1658 AD and he died in 1660 at Delhi .

View of Baijnath Temple district Kangra 

Period Between 1660 AD to 1687 AD :- 

Raja Vijay Ram Chand son of Raja Chandarbhan Chand became Raja Kangra in 1660 AD and and founded vijaypur town . Raja Vijay Ram Chand ruled the state till 1697

View of Dharamshala Larky Base Camp.

Period Between 1687 AD to 1690 AD :-

During this period Raja Udai Ram Chand  became Raja of Kangra in 1687 AD and ruled till 1690 AD 

Period Between 1690 AD to 1697AD :-  

During this period Raja Bhim Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1690 and ruled till 1697 A D

Period Between 1697AD to 1700 AD :- 

During this period Raja Alam Chand became Raja  in 1697 AD and he established  Alampur town near Sujanpur and he  made Almpur as capital  . Raja Alam Chand ruled till 1700 AD.

Nature in mountains of Shivalik and Dhauladhar  ranges district Kangra.

An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Continued Part -II

 An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part - II

Brief History Continued - Period Between 1528 to 1563 AD :- 

View of Nagarkot fort [ Kangra Fort ]

Raja Ram Chand ruled the state between 1510 to 1528 AD and his elder son Raja Dharam Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1528 AD after Raja Ram Chand .

He ruled the state from 1528 to 1563 A D. 

He was awarded the title of Maharaja by Empror Akbar .

In 1562 AD a poet  named Manik Chand in  The court of Raja Dharam Chand ,wrote a  play named " Dharam Chand " in this Naatak  the narration about Raja Rup Chand and Sultan of Delhi Feroze Shah has been narrated .

Shershah Suri  an Afgan Pathan born in India remained as soldier in the army of Empror Babar later promoted as Army Chief and Governor of Bihar was dreaming to be Empror of Delhi . After the death of Babar his son Humayun became the Empror of Delhi .  In 1537 AD, in the battle of Chausa and later in 1539 A D in the battle of Bilgram and Kanauj Shershah Suri defeated   Humayun very badly  and in 1540 AD established Suri Empire in Northern India  . In 1540 AD Shershah Suri invaded in the hills of Kangra to win Kangra Fort under the leadership of Khawas Khan his army chief and succeeded . Treaty was executed between Raja Dharam Chand and Shershah Suri to maintain peace and accepted to pay tribute to Delhi Saltnat .  Empror Shershah Suri ruled India only five years up to 1545AD and in 1545 he died .

View of Dharamshala district Kangra .

In the battle of Kannauj and Bilgram Humayun left the ground and succeeded in leaving India went to Afghanistan with his family . In the year 1555 Humayun again succeeded in establishing his rule in Delhi . He declared Jalal Uddin Akbar the Empror . After the death of Humayun Bairam Khan crowned the Jalal Uddin Akbar on throne in the age of 14 years in 1556  . 

Bairam Khan or Mohamed Bairam Khan was a well-known worrier and was awarded with a title of Khan- a -Khana . He was  teacher and guardian of Jalal . Empror Jalal Uddin Akbar being minor, was ruling with the help of Bairam Khan 

In the year 1557 Sikander Shah had invaded in Punjab , so Empror Jalal Uddin Akbar sent his army to Punjab to stop and arrest him  but as and when Akbar  aheaded Sikander Shah entered Nurpur [ old name Dhameri ] where Sikander Shah's friend Bhakat Mal was ruler of Dhameri . Both were arrested by Akbar  then  after surrendering Mankot Fort Sikander Shah was sent to Bengal and Bhakat Mal was sent to Lahore , where he was killed by Army Chief Bairam Khan .

View of Nurpur Fort 

In 1556 AD Shahenshah Jalal Uddin Akbar had attempted to win the Nagarkot fort but couldn't succeeded . Later he attempted 52 times to win this Nagarkot fort but he couldn't succeeded in his life time .

Raja Dharam Chand died in 1563 AD

Period Between 1563AD to 1570 AD :-

After the death of Raja Dharam Chand his son Manikya Chand became Raja of Kangra. Raja Manikya Chand ruled Kangra State till 1570 AD . He died in 1570 .

Period Between 1570 AD to 1585 AD :- 

After the death of Raja Manikya Chand  , Jai Chand -v became Raja of Kangra and he ruled the state for fifteen years till 1585 AD . He died in 1585 .

In 1572 AD Akbar deputed his Revenue Minister , Toddar Mal to establish royal property in hilly states . In which 66 villages of Nagarkot and in Chamba , Rihlu ,  Pathiyar  and some areas were included .

During this period Raja Jai Chand came under some doubt then Raja Guler Raja Ram Chand was sent to Nagarkot to arrest Raja Jai Chand. 

Then Bidhi Chand son of Raja Jai Chand  considering his father died , he took the thorne and with the help of Gopi Chand Raja of Jaswan rebelled against Akbar . To suppress this revolt ,  Punjab Viceroy Khan Jahan Hussein Kulin Khan along with very  able Wazir Birbal were sent and they successfully suppressed this revolt .  The area was allocated as Jagir to Birbal . 

In the meantime Punjab Viceroy Khan Jahan Husssin Kulin Khan along with other noble army personals  were sent to win the Nagarkot fort  via way of Pathankot and Dhameri . Then first  they invaded Kotla fort which was  forcefully possessed by Raja Kangra  from Raja Guler and succeeded in snatching from Raja Kangra . The Kotla fort was returned to Raja Ram Chand , Raja of Guler state. Now it became easy to invade towards Nagarkot fort but in the mean time a news reached that  Ibrahim Hossain Mirza  and Masood Mirza relatives of Akbar had invaded Punjab .  So on this event they returned to Punjab to fight against them and left the Nagarkot Fort mission .In 1585 Raja  Jai Chand died and his son Bidhi Chand seated on the Seat .

Period Between 1585AD to 1607 AD :- 

After the death of Raja Jai Chand , Raja Bidhi Chand seated on the thorne of Kangra State in 1585 AD . He ruled the state till his death in 1607 A D.

When Raja Bidhi Chand seated on thorne the states between Jammu and  Nagarkot formed an organisation  . In 1588 -89 this states organization revolted and Shehnshah Akbar sent  Zen Khan Kokka to suppress this revolt and did it successfully .  Raja Bidhi Chand surrendered before Shehnshah Akbar  , his son Trilok Chand was imprisoned in Akbar 's court .

View of Kangra hills 

In the year 1794 -95 one another revolt took place  against Mughal Empire under the leadership of Raja Jasrota but Raja Bidhi Chand of Nagarkot and Raja Basu of Dhameri did not participated . This revolt was successfully suppressed by Mirza Rustam Kandhari and Shekh Farid .   Akbar the great who was born on 15 October 1542 AD in Umarkot  in Sindh died in Fatehpur Sikri on 27 October 1605 A D and his son Jahangir became Empror . After the death of Raja Bidhi Chand his son Trilok Chand became Raja of Nagarkot in 1607 A D 

Period Between 1607AD to 1612 AD :-  

Raja Trilok Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1607 after the death of Raja Bidhi Chand .He ruled the state till 1612 A D 

Period Between 1612AD to 1627 AD  :-  

After Raja Trilok Chand , Raja Hari Chand - II became Raja of Nagarkot in 1612 and ruled the state till 1627 AD . At that time Empror Jahangir was in power .

View of Dhauladhar Kangra 

During his reign in 1615 AD Empror Jahangir made a plan to win Nagarkot fort  and to achieve his Target he sent  Raja Dhameri , Suraj Mal and Shekh Farid or Murtza Khan  . But  due to some differences a dispute arose between them . After the death of Farid , Murtza Khan Raja Suraj Mal was called back and in 1616AD he was sent to Deccan  to help prince Shahjahan . Thus the plan was kept. Pending .

In one another attempt Raja Man Singh of Jaipur Rajasthan was sent to achieve Nagarkot fort but  he was killed by a hill Jamidar  Sangram .

In year 1617 AD Empror Jahangir again tried to possess Nagarkot fort , he sent Raja Suraj Mal king of Dhameri and Shah Kulin Khan Takki  for this purpose .

Again the same story was repeated  , dispute arose between them due to which Shah Kulin Khan Takki was called back by Jahangir .

View of Fort Gate .

Now Raja Suraj Mal started revolt against Mughals. To suppress this revolt Jahangir deputed a competent King Reyan Sunder Dass . This time Raja Suraj Mal ran away to Mankot fort , then to  Dhameri Fort and  from there he fled away to Taragarh fort Chamba where he died in 1619 A D .

In 1620 AD after a very long struggle of 14 months with the help of younger brother of Raja Suraj Mal whose name was Raja Jagat Singh and another Raja Bikramjeet  [ Rayan Sunder Dass] Jahangir succeeded to win the Nagarkot fort . Navab Ali Khan was made 1st. Mughal Kiledar, 

Kiladar was a title for governor of the fort at that time .

Empror Jahangir received the news of victory on the fort on 20 th November 1620 AD.

In 1622 A D  Empror Jahangir came to Nagarkot via Siba Guler  . He built a Mosque in the fort and a Gate and kept the name of gate as Jahangiri Gate and carved the date of Victory on that gate .

Kangra Fort Architecture 

Empror Jahangir returned via Dhameri , Pathankot , he stayed at Dhameri and changed the name of Dhameri after the name of Nurjahan Begum as Nurpur .

Navab Abdulla Khan and Koch Kulin Khan were two  main governors of the Nagarkot . Koch Kulin Khan had served as a governor of Fort for seventeen years .

Twenty two young  hill Princes  who were arrested in Mughal court at the time of Akbar, had been awarded the title of Miyan by Empror Jahangir .

Mughal Empror Jahangir was very found of painting art . His  period is called  golden age of painting art .

Empror Jahangir was using wine and opium in his last days which was causing illness to him .

On 28 October 1627 when Empror Jahangir was returning from Kashmir  , he died near Bhimwar  and buried on the bank of river Ravi at Shahdara near Lahore ,

 Tomb of Empror Jahangir . Raja Hari Chand -II also died in 1627 A D

The many hill areas were given jagir to Itimaad -Ul -Daula who was father of Begum Noorjahan .

Period Between 1627 AD Onwards will be covered in the next Post .

Beautiful View of tea gardens Kangra Himachal Pradesh 

An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part I

 An Overview of Himachal Pradesh district Kangra Part -I

View of Nagarkot Fort 

District Kangra is a very beautiful district of Himachal Pradesh which shares it's boundaries with district Kullu and Mandi in the East , district Hamirpur and Una in South , district Chamba and district Lahaul & Spiti in the North and  Gurdaspur district of Punjab in the West. 

View of Shivalik and Dhauladhar mountain ranges of Kangra district.

In the Southern  escarpment of Himalayas the Shivalik range , Dhauladhar mountain range and Himalayas from South West to North East  which covers the entire Kangra district and has altitude varying between 500 metres to 5000 metres above mean sea level .

The district Kangra was the largest district of composite Punjab  before 1st November 1966 having six Tehsils Namely :-  1. Kangra  2. Nurpur 3. Palampur 4. Dehr Gopipur 5. Hamirpur and 6. Una .

On 1st November 1966 the hilly areas of Punjab were merged in Himachal Pradesh thus Vishal Himachal Pradesh was made  and Kangra was merged in Himachal Pradesh .

On 1st September 1972 the present Kangra district came into existence when re - organization of districts was executed by the Government of Himachal Pradesh along with  district Hamirpur and Una .

At one time Lahul and Spiti were  separate Waziries of Kullu sub divisions and was a part of Kangra district of Punjab . Kullu was a tehsil of Kangra till 1962 and Lahaul and Spiti which was created a district in 1960 was also a part of Kangra district .

Population wise , district Kangra is a largest district  in Himachal Pradesh having 15 Assembly constituencies and it's headquarter is at Dharmshala 25 Km from Kangra town . The geographical area of Kangra is 5739 square Kilometres having 3906 villages . The name of the district is on  the name of its Kangra town .

In the ancient times the name of Kangra was Nagarkot and was the part of Trigarta Empire, the geographical territory  of Trigarta was between Satluj  ,Beas and Ravi rivers .  Trigarta was a Northern Indian region of Indian subcontinent  with its capital at Prasthatla  [ Present Jalandhar ] , Multan and  Kangra.  The  founder of Trigarta was Vrishni Dynasty  and was ruled by this dynasty .

View of Kangra Fort 

Tehsils in district Kangra  :- 

To have a better administration and development in the district as population wise district is large at present the Tehsils in district Kangra are :-

1. Kangra 2. Dehra Gopipur , 3. Nurpur 4.Jawali, 5. Indora, 6.Shahpur ,7. Baroh, 8.Khundian , 9. Dadasiba ,10. Jaswan , 11.Rakkar ,12. Fatehpur ,13. Baijnath ,14. Jaisinghpur , 15. Thural , 16. Dharmshala , 17. Multhan ,18. Palampur ,19. Jawalamukhi and 20 . Nagrota Bagwan .

Sub Tehsils :-

Following are sub Tehsils in the district:-

1.Dheera ,2. Nagrota Surian , 3. Kotla  ,4. Gangath ,5. Haripur ,6. Panchrukhi ,7. Chadhiar ,8. Harchakian , 9. Almpur ,10. Darini ,11. Manjheen ,12 . Bhawarna , 13. Lagru , 14. Pragpur and 15 .Sullah .

View of Nagarkot [Kangra ]

Development Blocks :- 

To ensure proper development following development Blocks are functioning in the district .

1. Kangra ,2. Nagrota Bagwan ,3. Rait , 4. Baijnath,5. Dehra, 6. Bhawarna , 7. Fatehpur, 8. Indora ,9. Lamba Gaon , 10. Nurpur ,11. Panchrukhi ,12. Sullah , 13. Pragpur ,14. Nagrota Surian, 15. Dharmshala ,17. Baroh , 18. Palampur , 19 Khundian and 20. Dadasiba .

Kangra Fort 

Brief History :-

As per Mahabharata the Trigarta had been established  before the battle of Mahabharata and it was founded by King Bhumi Chand. The 234 th king Shusharma had taken part in the battle of Mahabharata from The side of Kauravas . King Shusharma was the king of Trigarta .

As mentioned in Rajtrangini  Raja of Kashmir in 470 Shrestha sen and  Raja Pravar sen in 520 AD  had attack on Trigarta and got succeeded . 

Heunsang a Chinese traveler scholar  visited India during the  regime of King Harshvardhan from 629 to 644  B. C. He wrote in his book about the  administrators of India . Heunsang had been the guest of king Utitas in Kangra hills in Trigarta (Kangra ) and  on his return journey he had been stayed at Jalandhar during 643 A. D . At that time the king of Trigarta and Kashmir were paying tribute to King Harshvardhan .  It means King Harshvardhan had established his suzerainty on these kingdoms.

Beautiful View of Kangra 

Kangra Fort was built by Rajas of Katoch dynasty and they had  proved themselves the descendants of King Shusharma who had favoured Kauravas in Mahabharata battle . Traditionally the Kangra fort is said to be founded by King Shusharma .

In 883 to 903 AD Raja Prithvi Chand I had fought against Shankar Verman the king of Kashmir .

Mehmud Gazanwi made three expedition to India but during fourth expedition 1009 he  succeeded  and captured the Kangra Fort and he looted the fort , Brajeshwari temple  the fort remained under him till 1043 A. D.

During this period Raja Jagdish Chand the 202th descendant of king Shusharma was the king of Nagarkot.   Mahipal Tomer king of Dehli defeated Mehmud Gazanwi and fort was liberated in 1043 A.D 

In 1051 - 52 A.D. the Nagarkot fort was again lost , A son of Mehmud Abdul Rashid appointed Hastagin Hajib as governor of Punjab .

In 1060 A .D . Raja Kangra again recaptured the Nagarkot fort . Thus Nagarkot fort had suffered many attacks .

In 1170 Trigarta  was being ruled by Raja Padam Chand when his younger brother got annoyed with him and established Jaswan as a new state with Rajpur as capital of Jaswan state .

In 1330A.D. Raja Prithvi Chand  was ruling the Nagarkot and during his reign, Mohammad Bin Tuglak  made an expedition to Nagarkot and captured in Kangra Fort in 1337 A.D .

Period of 1360 A.D.  -- 1375 A.D.  :- 

Raja Rup Chand was the king of Kangra in power  and he was taking part in revengeful expeditions against central authority and plundered the plains up to Dehli . When he was returning  suffered an encounter with  Sultan of Kashmir and lost all wealth to Shahab -Ud - din

Raja Rup Chand was against the central authority so Feroze Shah Tughlaq invaded the Kangra fort to teach a lesson to Raja Rup and besieged the fort with his army in 1365 A.D. as per " Tarikh - i -Feroze  -Farishta " and " Tarikh -i - Feroze - Shahi ."

 Raja Rup Chand and Feroze Shah came to an agreement and accepted the suzerainty of Feroze Shah Tuglaq later .

Later  Firoz Shah came to Jawalamukhi and took 1300 books  written in Sanskrit with him and got translated in Persian language through Ajjudin Khalid Khani . These books were treasure of Philosophy , Astrology and Divination . This translated book was named as " Dalai- i- Firozshahi ."

View of Railway Bridge 

Period Between 1375 to 1390 A.D. :-

During this period Raja Sangar Chand ruled the Nagarkot. After Raja Rup Chand his son Sangar Chand became Raja of Nagarkot and he ruled the state till 1390 A . D . During this period in 1389 AD ,Son of Mohammad Tuglaq Nasiruddin remained refugee in Kangra hills  and was called to Delhi in 1390 .

 Period Between 1390 to 1405 :- 

In 1390, after Raja Sangar Chand , Raja Magh Chand became Raja of Nagarkot and ruled the state till 1405 . During this period Taimurlung  looted  the Shivalik hills in 1398 A. D. and when he was returning in 1399 he also looted Dhameri  , the name of Dhameri was later kept Nurpur on the name of Begum Noorjahan. Raja Hindoor helped him  . Now the name of Hindoor is now Nalagarh which is in district Solan . At that time Raja Alam Chand was the king of Hindoor .In the 14 th. century Taimurlung was powerful ruler  whose Empire was spread over western Asia  , middle Asia up to India . He was born on 8th . April 1336 in Samarkand and died on 18 th. February 1405 . Though he was lame but this  never came in his way in his life .

Period Between 1405 to 1528 AD. : -

In 1405 AD , after  Raja Megh Chand , Hari Chand -I became Raja of Kangra . During this year when  he was on hunting in forests of Hadsar [Guler ]  he fell down in well and got missed  from his hunting troup, search was made but  they can't find the King  . So considering him dead ,his younger brother Karan Chand  II was made the King of Kangra .

After 21 days a marchant pedestrian passed by  that route and found king Hari Chand -I. When Raja Hari Chand -I came to know that his younger brother Karan Chand - II had been declared King , he didn't returned to Kangra and founded Guler as his new state in 1415 with Haripur its capital . The Guler state annexed by British in 1813 AD 

Raja Karan Chand ruled Kangra till 1430 and he was granted the title ," Bada Raja."  

Then Sansar Chand - I , the son of Karan Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1430 AD. 

Raja Sansar Chand - I  ruled the state till 1450 .

 Raja Sansar Chand I had two sons  , Devangga Chand and Narendra Chand .

In 1450 AD.  Devangga Chand became Raja of Kangra and ruled the state till 1465 AD .

In 1465 A D,  Narendra Chand became Raja of Kangra and ruled the state till 1480 A.D.

From 1480 to 1490  the son of Raja Narendra Chand   , Suvira Chand became Raja of Kangra and ruled the state till 1490 AD.

Period 1490 to 1510 AD.

During this period after Raja Suvira Chand his son  Raja Prayag Chand became Raja of Kangra and ruled the state from 1490 to 1510 AD.

Period 1510 to 1528 AD.

The son of Raja Prayag Chand , Raja Ram Chand became Raja of Kangra in 1510 and ruled the state till 1528 

Beautiful View Of Kangra 

The history of Nagarkot , the present Kangra  from 1528AD onwards will be covered in the next Post .

 

Veer Bal Diwas

 Veer Bal Diwas 

Veer Bal Diwas a tribute to the greatest sacrifice of Baba Joravar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh , Sons of 10 th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji on 26 th December 1705 .

A day ," Veer Bal Diwas" is celebrated on 26 th of December to remember and Salute to the Baba Joravar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh ji both  sons of Guru Gobind Singh , the tenth Guru of Sikhs, who were laid alive in the wall at Fatehgarh Sahib when they refused to accept Islam religion as  ordered by  Empror Aurangzeb on 26th December 1705 .

On January 9 th 2022 Guru Gobind Singh Jayantee  the  Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi had announced that 26 th December will be celebrated as Veer Bal Diwas to remember and Salute to the great sacrifice of Sons of 10 th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji .

The younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Baba Joravar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh ji were laid alive in the wall at Fatehgarh Sahib on 26 December 1705 when they refused to change their Hindu religion  as ordered by Empror Aurangzeb .  This unhuman order was complied by Navab Wazir Khan .

So the first Veer Bal Diwas has been celebrated on 26 December 2022 in Major Dhyan Chand stadium New Delhi and Hon'ble Prime Minister Mr . Narendra Modi has also attended the Veer Bal Diwas ceremony .  

Christmas , " A Festival of Love , Forgiveness and Kindness ."

 Christmas a Festival of Love, Forgiveness and Kindness  :-

Christmas a Festival celebrated to express the happiness and input the basic Mantras of life in our daily life on the holy birth of Jesus Christ . 

The Christmas day is celebrated on 25 th  of December every year . It is celebrated among billions of people around the world .

The Christmas spreading the tht massage of Love , service of mankind , forgiveness and kindness in this world which are the basic Mantras of life .