Garhwali People - Garhwal Kingdom

Garhwal Kingdom

The Kingdom of Garhwal was founded by Panwar/parmaar Rajputs nearly 700 years ago at a place called Chandpur garhi, Earlier Garhwal used to have 52 principalities called Garhs.Each Garh was ruled by a Chief, one of these chiefs, Ajai Pal ruler of Chandpur garhi from panwar dynasty, reduced all the minor principalities under his own sway with the power of his sword, and founded the Garhwal Kingdom. He and his descendants ruled over Garhwal in an uninterrupted line till 1803, when the Gurkhas invaded Kumaon and Garhwal, driving the Garhwal chief into the plains. For twelve years the Gurkhas ruled the country with a rod of iron, until a series of encroachments by them on British territory led to the Anglo–Nepalese War in 1814. At the termination of the campaign, Garhwal Kingdom and Kumaon Kingdom were converted into British districts, while the Tehri principality was restored to a son of deceased king Pradyumn shah, King Sudarshan shah. The another part was taken by Britishers called British Garhwal and had an area of 5,629 sq mi (14,580 km2). Garhwal rapidly advanced in material prosperity. Two battalions of the Indian army (the 39th Garhwal Rifles) were recruited in the district, which also contained the military cantonment of Lansdowne. Grain and coarse cloth were exported, and salt, borax, livestock and wool were imported, and the trade with Tibet was considerable. The administrative headquarters were at the village of Pauri, but Srinagar was the largest city. It was an important mart, as was Kotdwara, the terminus of a branch of the Oudh and Rohilkhand railway from Najibabad. Later it was part of the Punjab Hill States Agency of British India, consisting of the present day Tehri Garhwal district and most of the Uttarkashi district and acceded to the Union of India in 1949.Garhwal holy pace of India