Tira Sujanpur - History of Kangra and Sujanpurtira

History of Kangra and Sujanpurtira

Sujanpur bears its name from Sajjanpur, which means the town of honest and gentle people. Tira was later added as Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch moved his capital from Kangra to this place and added more palaces, temples, courts and fort at the top of the hill ‘Tira’. Katoch have been kings for time immemorial and their dynasty can be traced back to 4300BC when Rajanaka Bhumi Chand founded the Katoch Dynasty. They claimed to have fought against Lord Rama in 3000BC and Raja Susrma Chandra fought against Pandavas during the Mahabharta War in 1500BC. He also built the Kangra Fort. In 900 BC Katoch fought Persian and Assyrian in Punjab and Rajanaka Permanand Chandra (also known as Porus) fought against Alexandra the Great in 500BC. In 275 BC Katoch kings also fought Ashoka the Great and lost their land in Multan. In 100 BC Raja of Kangra fought against Raja of Kannauj, 470 BC against Raja of Kashmir. In 853 AD Rajanaka Prithvi Chandra’s empire expanded. In 1009 AD Mahmud Ghazni attacked Kangra and captured large booty. Inn 1170 Kangra saw the division into Kangra and Jaswan. They lost the war with Muhammad of Ghor in 1220 AD. In 1526 to 1556 AD, Katoch fought against Akbar the Great along with the forces of Sikandar Shah Suri, but lost and yielded to alliance to Akbar in return to the title of Maharaja. Mughals attacked fort of Kangra 52 times but failed to defeat it. In 1620 AD Kangra was occupied by Mughuls. In 1700AD Maharaja Bhim Chadra joined with Guru Gobind Singh in fight against Aurangzeb and was given the title of Dharma Rakshak by Guru Gobind Singh. In 1750 Maharaj Ghammand Chandra took reins. From 1775 AD to 1820 AD, saw the golden era of Kangra under the kingdom of Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch. Kangra flourished in education, business and paintings etc. Famous Kangra paintings dates back to the era only. From 1820 decline of Kangra kingdom started and Kangra was occupied by Sikh after the war with Gorkhas of Nepal. Katoch fought against British and lost. Raja Parmod Chand was imprisoned and died in captivity in Almoda in 1924AD. In 1924 Maharaja Jai Chandra of Kangra- Lambagraon was granted the title of Maharaja by British regime. 1947AD Maharaja Dhruv Dev Chandra, the last ruler of Kangra-Lambagraon merges his state with Independent India and in 1972 princely order was abolished in India and all kings became ordinary citizens of India akin to others. Kangra was merged with newly founded state of Himachal Pradesh. Later Kangra was split into three districts thereby separating Sujanpurtira from Kangra . Sujanpurtira became part of Hamirpur District. This was in short the historical background of Kangra and its kings.