Himachal Pradesh History

The state of Himachal Pradesh was called 'Deva Bhoomi ' or the Land of the Gods. There are evidences of the existence of the pre-historic humans in this region. It is generally believed that large inhabitants of this region had actually migrated from Central Asia and the Indian plains from time to time. The first race to enter Himachal Pradesh was Proto-Australoid followed by Mongoloid and the Aryan. The Rig Veda mentions about Dasyus and Nishads living in this region and their powerful king Shambra who had 99 forts. From the early period of its history, tribes like the Koilis, Halis, Dagis, Dhaugris, Dasa, Khasas, Kinnars and Kirats inhabited it.

Pre History & Early History

The history of Himachal Pradesh dates back to the days of Indus Valley civilization. At this point of time, people lived in the foothills of Himachal Pradesh. These original inhabitants of Himachal, the Kols and the Mundas, were forced by the people of the great Indus valley civilization to move up to the hills. The Indus valley civilization prospered here between 2250 and 1750 BC. The second wave of migrants to the state saw Mongoloid, like Bhota and Kiratas coming in. However, the most important lot of people entered the area only afterwards in the third wave of migration. These were Aryans from Central Asia. The Aryans contributed immensely in making the culture of the Himachal as it is today. The Aryans with their superior war tactics defeated the local tribes and settled here permanently. The period also saw the establishment of small Janapadas or Republics in Himachal Pradesh. They maintained a good relationship with the Mauryans so that they can remain independent for a long time. They lost their independence with the rise of the Guptas in the North Gangetic plains. After the decline of the Guptas, several small kingdoms ruled this hilly state and established their power in its different regions. Sankar Varma, the king of Kashmir exercised his influence over the regions of Himachal Pradesh in about 883 AD.

The Mauryans

In earlier times, as per the great epic of Mahabharata, small republics called Janapadas constituted the area of Himachal Pradesh. These Janapadas belonged to the Audumbras, Trigarta, Kuluta, Kulindas, Yugandhar and Gobdika. Later, the Mauryans came into prominence with Chandragupta capturing most of the small republics. His grandson, Ashoka, not only increased the boundaries of the kingdom but also introduced Buddhism. Numerous stupas were constructed during his reign. Out of these, the one in Kullu valley even found a mention in the chronicle of the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang (630-45AD).

Rule Of Harsha

With the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the entire area fell into the hands of small local chieftains known as the thakurs or ranas. However, in the seventh century Harsh rose to power and brought almost all the small kingdoms under his control.

The Rajputs

In the middle of the 7th century, after the death of Harsha, political upheaval again took over in the most of the area. The Rajputs of Rajasthan fought amongst themselves and drove the defeated party up to the hills. Here, the Rajputs established small principalities for themselves. Principal amongst these were the states were Kangra, Nurpur, Suket, Mandi, Kutlehar, Baghal, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, Keonthal, Dhami, Kunihar, Bushahar, Sirmour.

Foriegn Invaders & The Mughals

These newly established states functioned independently till the time foreign invaders set their eyes on the area. Mahmud of Gaznavi ransacked the fort of Kangra in 1009. Soon, other invaders like Muhammad Tughlaq, his son Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Timur and Sikander Lodi marched in and captured many other fort. This period saw the rise of the Sen dynasty of Mandi which became powerful owing to its great king Ajbar Sen. The Mughals too made their presence felt in the early 16th century but finally broke up giving way to other rulers of the hill to establish themselves.

Rise of Sansar Chand

Seventeenth century saw more fight between the hill rulers. However, it was Sansar Chand of the famous Katoch dynasty who became extremely powerful by the second half of the 18th century. Sansar Chand plundered many places, nonetheless, he was a great patron of arts and crafts. He ruled Kangra for around half a century and had the states of Chamba, Suket, Mandi, Bilaspur, Guler, Jaswan, Siwan and Datarpur. This period also saw the rise of the Gurkhas, Sikhs and the East India company. The Gurkhas took over areas under the control of Sansar Chand forcing him to hide in his own fort. Sansar Chand remained there for around four years till Maharaja Ranjit Singh came to his rescue.

Anglo Gorkha War & Anglo Sikh War

The might of Ranjit Singh was tremendous for the Gurkhas and hence they moved their attention towards the south. This movement brought them into direct conflict with the British. The British further moved the Gorkhas out of the hill states east of Sutlej. After the Anglo Gorkha war, the border demarcating the area of the British and the Sikh became highly sensitive. For a time, both the British and the Sikh avoided an encounter with each other, however, after the demise of Ranjit Singh, the Khalsa army walked into the territory of the British. This resulted into a war wherein a number of hill rulers supported the British to take revenge from the Sikhs. But even at the end of the first Anglo Sikh war, these rulers did not get back their kingdom (which was taken over by the Sikhs.

The British Period & Struggle For Independence

The revolt of the 1857 did not see much participation from the people of the hill. They preferred to stay away from the revolt and infact some of the rulers even extended help to the Britishers. Few exceptions here included the ruler of Bushahr. Between the year 1858 and 1914, the hill states of Chamba, Mandi and Bilaspur prospered under the British rule and even supported the latter during the first world war. During World War I, virtually all rulers of the hill states remained loyal and contributed to the British war effort both in the form of men and materials. The important states that contributed their men and money for the first world war included Kangra, Siba, Nurpur, Chamba, Suket, Mandi and Bilaspur. After 1914, things began to change and the people came out to participate in the freedom movement of India.

Post Independence

After independence the Chief Commissioner's Province of H.P. came into being on 15 April, 1948. The province comprised the hill districts around Shimla and southern hill areas of the former Punjab region. Himachal Pradesh became a part C state on 26th January 1950 and a Union Territory on 1st November, 1956. In between, Bilaspur was made a part of it in 1950. Kangra and other hill states were merged into the Union territory of Himachal Pradesh in the year 1966. Finally, four years later, in 1970, through the the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, Himachal Pradesh became the eighteenth state of India.

Haryana History

Haryana, also called “the Madhyama Dis” (middle region) of the Later Vedic Period (c. 800-500 BC) was the birthplace of the Hindu religion. The first hymns of the Aryans were sung and the most ancient manuscripts were written here. Urban settlements in Ghaggar Valley date back to 3000 BC. From about 1500 BC, Aryan tribes were the first (of many groups) to invade the region. The area was the home to the legendary Bharata dynasty, which gave India its Hindi name, Bharat. Haryana has been derived from its ancient inhabitants Abhirayana that got changed to Ahirayana over a period and to present day Haryana. Similarly The name 'Abhira' stemed from Abhira or the fearless, the honour they earned after the Battle of the Mahabharata. In the 1st AD, invading Scythians and Kushans forced Ahirs out of their land to lower Rajasthan in the Aravali Region.

The three famous battles of Panipat took place near the modern town of Panipat. The first battle took place in 1526, where Babur, the ruler of Kabul defeated Ibrahim Lodi of the Delhi Sultanate, through the use of field artillery. In the second battle of Panipat (November 5, 1556), Akbar's forces defeated the Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya also called Hemu, who belonged to Rewari in Haryana and who had won 22 battles during 1553-1556 before acceeding to Delhi throne. The Third Battle of Panipat was fought in 1761 between the Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau of Pune. Ahmad Shah won decisively, on January 13, 1761.

The epic battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas, recorded in the Indian epic poem, the Mahabharata, took place at Kurukshetra. In the 3rd century BC, the area was incorporated into the Mauryan Empire. It later became an important power base for the Mughals; the battle of Panipat in 1526 established Mughal rule in India. The area was ceded to British in 1803. In 1832 it was transferred to the then North-Western Provinces and in 1858 Haryana became a part of Punjab, remaining as such after the partition of India in 1947.
In 1857, the people of Haryana joined the Indian leaders in the 1857 Revolt against the British Government. By the end of June, 1857, most of the present Haryana region was liberated from the British. But the British managed to put down the rebellion in November, 1857 by bringing in additional forces from outside the area.

The demand for Haryana as a separate state, however, was raised even before India's independence in 1947. Lala Lajpat Rai and Asaf Ali, prominent figures in the national movement, advocated a separate state of Haryana. Sri Ram Sharma, a veteran freedom fighter, headed a Haryana Development Committee to focus attention on the concept of an autonomous state. The demand for uni lingual states by Sikhs and Hindus gained momentum in the early 1960s. With the passage of the Punjab Reorganization Act (and in accordance with the earlier recommendations of the States Reorganization Commission), Haryana became India's 17th state on 1st November 1966.

Indian history is replete with tales of heroism of the highest order and in this context, the historic significance of the battles of Panipat and Kurukshetra in Haryana cannot be ignored by any means. The sacrifices of Haryana's brave soldiers have played a very important role in maintaining the territorial and sovereign integrity of our nation. The new state which emerged as a separate political entity of the Indian Union on November 1, 1966, is considered to be the cradle of rich Indian cultural heritage. In terms of economic development too, Haryana has come a long way during the few past years.

Haryana was carved out of the mostly Hindi-speaking eastern portion of Punjab, while the mostly Punjabi-speaking western portion remained as current day Punjab. The city of Chandigarh, on the linguistic and physical border, was made a union territory to serve as capital of both these states. Chandigarh was due to transfer to state of Punjab in 1986, according to the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, but the transfer has been delayed pending an agreement on which parts of the Hindi speaking areas of Abohar and Fazilka, currently part of Firozpur District of Punjab, that should be transferred to Haryana in exchange.

Gujarat History

Gujarat, on the western coast of India, has experienced the advent of a man and is fortunate in having a rich heritage of historical records among the states of Indian sub-continent. The history of Gujarat is very ancient and dates back to pre-historic age. The entire history of Gujarat can be summarized into three periods- ancient, medieval and modern periods.

Ancient Period
The name Gujarat is derived from 'Gujaratta' or 'Gujartra' that is the land protected by or ruled by Gujars. The word Gujarat gained currency during Chalukya period (942-1299 AD). They passed through Punjab and settled in some parts of Western India, which came to be known as Gujarat. The Gurjars ruled the land during 8th and 9th centuries AD, followed by Muslim rulers until the end of the 13th century. Gujarat then came under the control of Mughals and the Marathas in the mid 18th century followed by British in 1818. The British rule continued till India got her independence in 1947. Before this, parts of Gujarat were known as Anarta, Lata and Saurashtra. Another opinion regarding Gurjars is that they belonged to Central Asia and came to India during the first century. Gujarat was also inhabited by the citizens of the Indus Valley and Harappan civilizations. This was fortified by the excavations at Lothal and Dholavira.

Pre-History Period
The period before the advent of writing is called as pre-history to differentiate it from authentic documented history. The pre-history of Gujarat begins with the first appearance of the early man on banks of Sabarmati.

Proto-Historic period
The period, which bridges the gulf between pre-history and history, is proto-history. The proto-history period of Gujarat covers the period between 2500 BC to 500 BC. During this period it was Harappan culture and Yadav rule that has dominated the historical account. As per references from Vedas, Puranas, Buddha and Jain literature, Lord Krishna has established dynastic rule of Yadavs at Dwarka around 1000 BC. Maurya, Indo-Greek, Kahatrapas, Gupta, Maitrak & Chalukya period is upto 1297 AD. The real political history of Gujarat begins with the establishment of Mauryan rule in Gujarat. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, there was Greek incursion into Gujarat lead by Dernetrious. For nearly 400 years from the start of first century, Saka rulers played a prominent part in Gujarat's history.

Medieval Period
Sultans of Delhi & Gujarat and Muslim period is up to 1758 AD. Before Muslims finally entrenched themselves into Gujarat in 1298 AD, the Muslims had only an occasional contact with this part of India. It was only after the defeat of Karnadeva Vaghela at the hands of Alauddin Khilji, Muslim rule continued for nearly 400 years either under Delhi's viceroyalty or under Muslim Sultanate. The decline of Sultanate started with the assassination of Skinder Shah. The defeat of Bahadur Shah, the last sultan under the hands of the great Mughal emperor Akber marked the beginning of the Mughal rule, which lasted for almost 185 years.

Modern Period
The Marathas and British Rule up to 1947 AD. Chatrapati Shivaji, the great Maratha ruler, attacked Surat twice that marked the entry of Marathas in Gujarat. However, before Marathas inroads into Gujarat, the Europeans had made their presence felt here with Portuguese leading them followed by the Dutch and English. Madhorao Gaekwad joined alliance with the British in 1802 and gradually it resulted in in the end of Maratha rule over Gujarat and paramountcy of British rule in 1819.

Pre-Independence
Gujarat has played a key role in the freedom struggle specially after Mahatma Gandhi's taking over the leadership of the freedom movement. India achieved independence on 15th August 1947 and a bilingual state of Gujarat and Maharashtra were formed. Then the sun once again rose over the glory of Gujarat on 1st May 1960 when a separate state of Gujarat was formed. Today, the state has once again taken the lead in industry, commerce and culture for which it was known for thousands of centuries.