Friday, December 27, 2013

Pauri Garhwal District

Pauri Garhwal district was a part of the erstwhile Garhwal Kingdom ruled by the Pal (Shah) dynasty. The throne of the King was at Srinagar. In 1803 Gurkhas, after many unsuccessful attempts, finally succeeded in capturing Garhwal by defeating the army of King Pradyumna Shah. In 1816, the British defeated the Gurkhas in the Anglo-Nepalese War, and the Garhwal Kingdom was re-established in Tehri.Andkil is the smallest village in uttaranchal (population wise) under 40 persons.Its near Ekeshwar.Mr. Anand Singh Rawat is The senior most person of the village.
History of Pauri Garhwal District suggests that through the ages, the evolution of human civilization in this region of Garhwal Himalaya has been parallel to the rest of Indian sub-continent. Katyuri was the first historical dynasty, which ruled over unified Uttarakhand and left some important records in the form of inscriptions and temples. In the later period after the downfall of the Katyuris, it is believed that the Garhwal region was fragmented in more than sixty-four principalities ruled by a chieftain, one of the principal chieftainship was Chandpurgarh. In the mid of 15th century A.D. Chandpurgarh emerged as a powerful principality under the rule of King Jagatpal (1455 A.D to 1493 A.D.), who was a descendent of Kanakpal. Towards the end of 15th century AD King Ajaypal enthroned Chandpurgarh and ruled the region. Subsequently, his kingdom came to be known as Garhwal and he transferred his capital from Chandpur to Devalgarh before 1506 AD and later on to Srinagar during 1506 to 1519 A.D.
King Ajaypal and his successors ruled the region of Garhwal for nearly three hundred years even during this period they had faced a number of attacks from Kumaon, Mughals, Sikhs and Rohillas. An important event in the history of Pauri Garhwal District was Gorkha invasion. It was marked by extreme brutality. After conquering Doti and Kumaon, Gorkhas attacked Garhwal despite stiff resistance put up by the Garhwali forces. But in the meantime, news came of a Chinese invasion and the Gorkhas were forced to lift the siege. However, in 1803, they again mounted an invasion. After capturing Kumaon, they attacked Garhwal in three columns. Eventually, the Gorkhas became the masters of entire Garhwal in 1804 and ruled the territory for twelve years.
The rule of Gorkhas in Garhwal area ended in 1815 after the British invasion in the region. After the defeat of Gorkha army, the British rulers on 21 April 1815, decided to establish their rule over the eastern, half of Garhwal region, which lies east of Alaknanda River and Mandakini river. The remaining part of Garhwal in the west was restored to King Sudarshan Shah who established his capital at Tehri. Initially the administration was entrusted to the commissioner of Kumaon and Garhwal with headquarters at Nainital, but later Garhwal was separated and formed into a separate district in the year 1840 under an assistant commissioner with his headquarter at Pauri. In early 1960, Pauri Garhwal District and Chamoli District was carved out of Garhwal district. The current Living of Kumaon KIngdom is Raja Mahendra Chand of Lamakhet (Pithoragarh), married to Rani Gita Chand of Rina.


After independence what was then known as the Garhwal district was further divided into Pauri Garhwal and Chamoli districts in 1960. In 1997 an additional area was carved out of the Pauri Garhwal and merged with parts of Chamoli and Tehri Garhwal districts to form a new district named Rudraprayag. Ransi ground situated in pauri is the highest ground in Asia. Pauri Garhwal encompasses an area of 5230 km2 and situated between 29° 45’ to 30°15’ Latitude and 78° 24’ to 79° 23’ E Longitude.
The District is administratively divided into nine tehsils and fifteen developmental blocks.[1]
TEHSILS
Pauri
Lansdown
Kotdwar
Thalisain
Dhumakot
Srinagar
Satpuli
Chaubatta Khal
Yamkeshwar
DEVELOPMENTAL BLOCKS
Kot
Kaljikhal(largest Block in Pauri Garhwal)
Pauri
Pabau
Thalisain
Bironkhal
Dwarikhal
Dugadda
Jaihrikhal
Ekeshwer
Rikhnikhal
Yamkeswar
Nainidanda
Pokhra
Khirsu........