History of Uttarakhand

History of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand is both the new and traditional name of the state that was formed from the hilly districts of Uttar Pradesh India. Literally, North Country or section in Sanskrit, the name of Uttarakhand finds mention in the early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand.

Uttarakhand was the ancient puranic term for the central stretch of the Indian Himalayas. Its peaks and valleys were well-known in ancient times as the abode of Gods and Goddesses and source of the Ganges River. Today, it is often called the Land of the Gods (DevBhoomi) because of the presence of a multitude of Hindu pilgrimage spots. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, katyris, Palas, the Chands and parnars of Panwars and the British have ruled Uttarakhand in turns.

History of Garhwal and Kumaun

Uttarakhand is broadly divided into two zones- Garhwali and kumaun. The history of Uttarakhand can be best known by going through the history of Garhwal and Kumaun.

GARHWAL

The ancient history of Garhwal says that it had once been a part of the Mauryan empire. Karnavati Rani was known as Nakati Rani in the history of Garhwal. The history of Garhwal began as a unified whole in the 15^th century, when King Ajay Pal merged the 52 principalties of the Garhwal region. Garhwal remained a consolidated kingdom for about 300 years, with Srinagar as its capital. But during the British period, the territories of Pauri and Dehradun went under the British domain the two regions were given toe the Brtishers in return of their help during the Gurkha invasion in the 19^th century.

KUMAUN

The history of Kumaun can be traced back to the stone age. Moreover, the early medieval history of Kumaun started with the Katyuri dynasty that ruled frim 7^th to 11^th century. Under the Katyuri dynasty, as the ancient history of Uttarakhand suggests, art and  architecture flourished tremendously. Many new architectural buildings were flourished during this period. However, like all kingdoms that fall after a period of time, Katyuris also lost to the chands of Pithoragarh.

Evidence of UTTARAKHAND in history

In Purans:-

The king of mountains Himalaya is said to consist of five segment i.e. Nepal, Kurmanchal, Kedar, Kangda and Ruchir Kashmir. This mid-Himalayan region of Garhwal and Kumaun, which is commonly known as Uttarakhand today, was called by the name KEDARKHAND and MANASKHAND in the Skanda puran.

In Vedas:-

According to the famous historian, Mr. Shiv Prasad Dabral taking the word Uttarapad and Khand from Kedarkhand form the Uttaranchal. This mountain region however is the same, which was once renowned in its snow-covered from during the Vedic era and sang the saga of glorious deeds of the kings, saints and ascetics of the time.

In Mahabharat:-

It was referred to as Uttarpanchal by the compiles of the Upanishads, Uttarkaushal by Valmiki and Uttarkuru by Vedvyasa who wrote the epic Mahabharat. It is the same place that was Uttarpatti for Panini and Kautilya, Kiratmandal for kirats, Khashadesh for the Khas, Karitpur for Katayurs. It was Parvatkaran and Giryavali for the early historians and Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand of the present day politicians.

STONE AGE

The evidences of the people living in the Stone Age have been found in the state of Uttarakhand in India. The archaeologists opine that were human settlements in and around the Kumaun region in Uttarakhand from ancient time. This again points towards the settlement of men of the stone age in Uttarakhand.

ANCIENT PERIOD

It was during the proto-historical and Harrapan period that various tribes entered the region of Uttarakhand. Amongst these, Kirata, Tangana, Khas, Darad, Kulind, yaudheya and Naga were the prominent ones. Threafter, this region was successively under the domination of Paurava, Katyuri and Parmar dynasties. The region was orifinally settled by kols. It has been believed that the sage Vyasa scripts the Mahabharata here. Uttarakhand also served as a haunt for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that,Bageshwar, the famous historic site has been the main ruling centre of Uttarakhand.

Kirata Kingdom:-

Kirata kingdom in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers to the people, who were dwellers mostly in the Himalayas (mostly Eastern Himalaya) and North-East India. They took part in the Kurukshetra War along with Parvatas (mountaineers) and other Himalayan tribes. They were widespread in the folds and valleys of Himalayas in Nepal and Bhutan and in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Tripura.

Though dwelling in the Himalayas and other in accessible regions, Kiratas did not get the status of super-humans enjoyed by other tribes like the Gandharvas, interaction with the Vedic people, which resulted in their de-mystification. But literary the word Kirata of Kirati means people of nomadic nature and settled in jungles, who hunt animals for their living.

Mythological reference of Kiratas

As the mythology goes in this very region, Arjun underwent penance to gain power (weapon) from Lord Shiva. The lord, in order to test Arjuna’s prowess, appeared in the guise of a Kirat, which followed a battle between the two, known as Kiratarjuniya. Also, the journey of Pandavas to heaven, travelling through Kedarnath and Pandukeshwar is well documented in the folk lored and legends. Likewise, in the other epic, Ramayana, a narration reveals that after the exile of Rama, Maharshi Vasistha lived in this part of Himalaya along with his spouse (Arundhati) in the apparels of local Kiratas inhabitants. These epics aldo mention several references of rivers, mountains and places of this region, e.g. the holy river Bhagirathi is named as Kirati after Kirat tribe.

Origin of different tribes form Kiratas

Also, origin of the names of many places in Garhwal can be attributed to this tribe such as Kwili, Kurjana, Kimana, Karchchuna etc. Furthermore, Sankrityayan, Dabral and Negi consider the Bhotia tribe inhabiting the border districts of Garhwal and Bhuksa, and Tharu tribes of Tarai Bhawar to be the main descendants of the Kiratas.

Probably, because of the arrival of Khas tribe, the Kiratas took refugee in the remote areas away from the main land, communities near Joshimath, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh, More appropriately, the Bhotiyas are deemed to be the descendants of Tangana-Partangana communities which are ahte commercial offshoots of the Kiratas.

Khas Kingdom:-

Like Kiratas and Tanganas, Khasas living in this region also find regular mention in the epics and Puranas. An offshoot of the Aryans, it was basically nomadic race which, while struggling for its very survival in Babylon, Iran and Afghanistan, spread up to Nepal through Kashmir.

According to an episode in Mahabharata, the Khasas offered military help to the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra. Although due to mixing up of blood, it is difficult to identify the tribe in the region, yet the legends describe the Khas as Rajputs living in Jaunsar-Bhawar area of the region. Also, the association of many royal families with Khasas has been found to have existed during the period. According to some scholars, Shaka Raj of Kartikeyapura, who defeated Gupta ruler Ram Gupta, was the ruler of Joshimath or Baijnath in Garhwal Himalaya.

Though this statement seems dubious to some extent, yet there is a clear mention of Kartikeyapura to be the capital of Katyuri rulers (AD 8^th to 11^th century) in the copper plate of Pandukeshwar and Baijnath.

In this context, Atkinson, Sankrityayan and other scholars have tried to associate the rulers of this dynasty with Khas tribe. Further, evidences indicate that the rulers of chandpur Garhi and later rulers of Garhwal region were of Khas origin.