Uttaranchal History

Uttaranchal, now renamed Uttarakhand is a new state which was once the part of the state of Uttar Pradesh. In Sanskrit, the word Uttarakhand literally means 'North Country or Section'. This beautiful state finds mention in the ancient Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. During the ancient times the land of Uttarakhand was an abode of the great sages and the heavenly deities as well. The holy river Ganga, the daughter of heaven, came down to the earth in Uttarakhand. The land of Uttarakhand has numerous pilgrimage centers, each having its own great legend to tell.

¤ Rulers & Etymology
The state of Uttarakhand has been mentioned in the Vedas, Upanishads and religious texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata albeit with different names. For Valmiki it was Uttarkaushal and Uttarkuru for Ved Vyasa; scholars like Panini and Kautilya called the region Uattarapatti; and Parvatkaran and Giryavali for the ancient historians. All these names have one thing in common; almost every name is related to the Himalayan Mountains. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Katyuris, Palas, the Chands, and Parmars or Panwars and the British have ruled Uttarakhand in connected successions.

Nainital one of the most beautiful cities of the state, depicts the history of Uttaranchal. According to ancient belief, When Goddess Parvati died, parts of her corpse fell on Earth. Nainital was the place where one her eyes fell and formed a large crater, which is now known as Naini Lake. There are many temples, monuments and places situated in Uttaranchal which reflect the rich history of uttaranchal.

¤ Ancient History
The Kols, an aboriginal Dravidian tribe were the first inhabitants of Uttarakhand. During the Vedic period, the Indo-Aryan Khas tribes started sharing the land of present day Uttarakhand with the Kols. During the Vedic times, many sages also lived in Uttarakhand. The great sage Vyasa inscribed the Great Hindu Epic Mahabharata in Uttarakhand. It is believed that Pandavas lived in this region for a few days. By 8th century, Adi Shankaracharya had made inroads here and reestablished some extremely sacred Hindu shrines like Badrinath and Kedarnath.

¤ Medieval History
The medieval period saw the consolidation of the two kingdoms of Uttarakhand: the Gharwal Kingdom in the west and the Kumaon Kingdom in the east. From the 13th-18th century, Kumaon prospered under the Chand Rajas who had their origins in the plains of India. During this period, learning and new forms of painting (the Pahari School of art) developed. In 15th century King Ajay Pal of Pala Dynasty unified the 52 principalities of Uttarakhand that one common history could be made out. The city of Srinagar (of Uttaranchal) remained the capital till an earthquake completely and irreversibly damaged it and thus cities like Dehradun, Nainital and Pauri were developed as alternatives.

Garhwal
The traditional name of Garhwal was Uttarakhand and some archeologists found evidence which shows that it was part of the Mauryan Empire. The history of Uttaranchal began in the 15th century, when Emperor Ajai Pal merged the 52 principalities into his unified kingdom. Srinagar was the capital of Garhwal during that time.

Kumaon
Evidence of Stone Age settlements has been found in Kumaon, particularly the rock shelter at Lakhu Udyar. The paintings here date back to the Mesolithic period. The early medieval history of Kumaon is the history of the Katyuri dynasty. The Katyuri kings ruled from the seventh to the 11th century, over large areas of Kumaon, Garhwal, and western Nepal. The town of Baijnath near Almora was the capital of this dynasty and a centre of the arts. Temple building flourished under the Katyuris and the main architectural innovation introduced by them was the replacement of bricks with hewn stone.

¤ Modern History - Post Independence
Tehri was merged into then Uttar Pradesh but various political parties like the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal demanded a separate state 1994 onwards. Finally in 1998 after a lot of controversies and agitations, Uttar Pradesh was bifurcated into Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Initially, the state was called by the name of Uttaranchal but in December 2006 it was finally settled as Uttarakhand.