History
Himachal Pradesh has
been inhabited by human beings since the dawn of civilization. It has a rich
and varied history which can be divided into several distinct eras.
About 2 million years
ago man lived in the foothills of Himachal Pradesh, viz in the Bangana valley
of Kangra, Sirsa valley of Nalagarh and Markanda valley of Sirmour. The
foothills of the state were inhabited by people from Indus valley civilization
which flourished between 2250 and 1750 B.C. People of Indus valley civilization
pushed the original inhabitants of Ganga plains who were known as Kolorian
people towards north. They moved to the hills of Himachal Pradesh where they
could live peacefully and preserve their way of life.
According to the
Mahabharta the tract which forms the present day Himachal Pradesh was made up
of number of small republics known as Janpadas each of which constituted both a
state and cultural unit.
A few decades after
Harsha’s death (647 A.D.) many Rajput states ascended in Rajsthan and Indus
plains. They fought amongst themselves and the vanquished moved to the hills
with their followers, where they set up small states or principalities. These
states were Kangra, Nurpur, Suket, Mandi, Kutlehar, Baghal, Bilaspur, Nalagarh,
Keonthal, Dhami, Kunihar, Bushahar, Sirmour.
The small hill kingdom
enjoyed a large degree of independence till the eve of Muslim invasions in
northern India. States of the foothills were devastated by Muslim invaders from
time to time. Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra at the begining of the 10th
centuary. Timur and Sikander Lodi also marched through the lower hills and
captured several forts and fought many battles.
The Gorkhas, a martial
tribe came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their military
power and began to expand their territory. Gradually the Gorkhas annexed
Sirmour and Shimla hill states. With the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa,
Gorkhas laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand, the ruler of
kangra, in 1806 with the help of many hill chiefs. However Gorkhas could not
capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After this
defeat the Gorkhas began to expand towards south. This resulted in the
Anglo-Gorkha war. They came into direct conflict with the English along the
tarai belt after which the English expelled them from the hill states east of
the Satluj. Thus British slowly emerged as the paramount powers in this tract.
The revolt or first
Indian war of independence resulted due to the building up of political,
social, economic, religious and military grievances against the British. People
of the hill states were not politically alive as the people in other parts of
the country. They remained more or less aloof and so did their rulers with the
exception of Bushahr. Some of them even rendered help to the Britishers during
the revolt. Among them were the rulers of Chamba, Bilaspur, Bhagal and Dhami.
The rulers of Bushars acted in a manner hostile to the interests of British.
However it is not clear whether they actually aided the rebels or not.
The British
territories in the hill came under British Crown after Queen Victoria’s
proclamation of 1858. The states of Chamba, Mandi and Bilaspur made good
progress in many fields during the British rule. During the first World War,
virtually all rulers of the hill states remained loyal and contributed to the
British war effort both in thr form of men and materials. Amongst these were
the states of Kangra, Siba, Nurpur, Chamba, Suket, Mandi and Bilaspur.
Freedom Struggle
The people of the hill also participated in the freedom
struggle. The highlights of the freedom movement in this tract are listed
below:
- Praja Mandal launched agitations against
the British yoke in areas under direct British Rule.
- In other princely states agitations were
launched for social and political reforms. However these were directed
more against the princes than against the British and as such were mere
extensions of freedom movement.
- The Mandi conspiracy was carried out in
1914-15 under the influence of the Gadhr party. Meetings were held in
Mandi and Suket states in December 1914 and January 1915 and it was
decided to murder the Superintendent and Wazir of Mandi and Suket, to loot
the treasury, blow to up the bridge over Beas river. However conspirators
were caught and sentenced to long terms in prison.
- The Pajhota agitation in which the
people of a part of Sirmour state revolted is regarded as an extension of
the Quit India Movement of 1942.
- Important freedom fighters of this state
during this period included Dr. Y.S. Parmar, Padam Dev, Shivanand Ramaul,
Purnanand, Satya Dev, Sada Ram Chandel, Daulat Ram, Thakur Hazara Singh
and Pahari Gandhi Baba Kanshi Ram.
- The Congress party was also active in
the freedom movement in the hill state particularly in Kangra.
Post Independence
Period
The history of present
day Himachal Pradesh in the post-independence era has been outlined below:
- The Chief Commissioner’s
province of H.P. came into being on 15th April, 1948.
- H.P. became a part C state on
26th January, 1950 with the implementation of the Constitution of India.
- Bilaspur was merged with
Himachal Pradesh on 1st July, 1954.
- Himachal Pradesh became Union
Territory on 1st November, 1956.
- Kangra and most of the other
hill areas of Punjab were merged with H.P. on 1st November, 1966 though
its status remained that of a Union Territory.
- On 18th December, 1970 the
State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed by Parliament and the new state
came into being on 25th January, 1971. Thus H.P. emerged as the eighteenth
state of Indian Union.
- Himachal Pradesh has come a
long way since then. It has seen a number of full-fledged governments
which have led the state towards economic self-reliance.
No comments:
Post a Comment