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The History of Uttarakhand is ancient one. The name Uttarakhand finds mention even in the ancient Hindu scriptures as Kedarkhand, Manaskhand and Himavant. The Kushanas, Kunindas, Kanishka, Samudra Gupta, the Pauravas, Katuris, Palas, the Chandras and Pawaras and the British have ruled it in turns. In Skand Puran the Himalaya was described as five distinct greoraphical areas. They were Nepal, Kurmanchal, Kedarkhand (Garhwal), Jalandhar (Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. Uttarakhand is comprised of two from the above classification - Kurmanchal and Kedarkhand. In early indian literature, especially in Puranas (mythologies of India), Kurmanchal was also known as Manaskhand. It was said that Uttar Himalaya (North Himalaya) was the abode of Siddhas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, and Kinnars. The god of wealth Kuber was the king with his kingdom at Alkapuri. Kedarkahnd and Manaskhand was known in ancient India as the land of gods (Devbhumi) and sages who used to meditate there (Tapobhumi). Later historians said that this area was the inhabitat of Huns, Sakas, Nag and Khash people. Manaskhand or Kurmanchal later renamed Kumaun while Kedarkhand came to be known as Garhwal. Kumaun word became prevalent during the rule of Chand dynasty. In 1790 this area was annexed by Gorkhas of Nepal. They were defeated by British rule in 1815 and the area was given to East India Company. As for Kedarkhand, it was came to be known as Garhwal because many rulers have many Garhs (palaces) in the area. Panwar dynasty forced them to become their subject and they made this area a unified state with capital at Srinagar. Gorkhas invaded this state in 1803 and annexed it to Nepal. The King of Garhwal invited British to help him. British defeated Gorkhas in 1815 but the state was not handed over to the King of Garhwal but to East India Company except Tihri that included Uttarkashi. The king of Garhwal Sudarshan Shah then established his capital at a small village where Bhagirathi and Milangana rivers meet. The capital was shifted to Orathali by later king Narendra Shah and it was given a name Narendra Nagar. The present State of Uttarakhand was earlier a part of the United Province of Agra and Awadh, which came into existence in 1902. In 1935, the name of the State was shortened to the United Province. In 1949, Tihri became part of the Republic of India and it was declared a district. In January 1950, the United Province was renamed as Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand remained a part of Uttar Pradesh. This district was divided further in three districts - Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh - in 1960. Except Dehradun, all the district of Uttarakhand were in Kumaun Commissionary up to 1969, when Garhwal Commissionary was carved out of it with its headquarters at Pauri Garhwal. Uttaranchal became a state in Novemeber 2000 by carving out it from Uttar Pradesh. It celebrates its establishment day of November 9. This Uttaranchal became Uttarakhand on January 1, 2007.

Page last modified on Thursday November 8, 2007 02:57:20 GMT-0000