History of Uttarakhand

Much of the history of Uttarakhand is closely tied up – in many cases completely entangled – with Hindu mythology. Legends and tales connected with the gods and goddesses invariably link them to the mountains and rivers, the temples and forests of this region. Whatever it may be, at least one thing is certain: that these hills have been inhabited for centuries altogether.

The two divisions of Uttarakhand – Garhwal and Kumaon- were known in ancient texts respectively as Kedarkhand and Kurmanchal. Garhwal remained a loosely knit conglomeration of local and immigrant tribes until the 15th century, when King Ajai Pal unified the area, merging the 52 principalities of the region into one state. The state, with its capital at Srinagar, managed to survive for the next three centuries, until it was besieged by invading Gurkhas in the 18th century, and annexed by the British a century later.

Kumaon, unlike Garhwal, emerged as a strong and unified kingdom fairly early. By the 7th century, this area had been brought under the reign of the Katyuri dynasty, a powerful house which ruled over parts of Nepal and Garhwal as well from their capital at Baijnath. After the decline of the Katyuris in the 11th century, Kumaon’s fortunes remained at a low ebb till the Chand kings of Pithoragarh came to power.

Both Garhwal and Kumaon became part of British India in the end of the 19th century, and since then their course of history has followed that of the United Provinces (later Uttar Pradesh). During the last two decades or so, demands for a separate hill state, distinct from the plains areas of Uttar Pradesh, had being growing stronger. Political pressure and demands from other pressure groups eventually resulted in the formation of the state of Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000.