HISTORY OF KANGRA UNDER KATOCHS

Kangra-Lambagraon
History

The Katoch dynasty are reputed to have ruled the town of Kangra and its vicinity since time immemorial. Several very extended interregnums are however acknowledged, most significantly the period c.1620-1783, when the area was placed under the control of a Mughal garrison. As the Mughal power waned, many former officers of the mughal empire took autonomous charge of their areas of control, and this situation obtained in Kangra. Meanwhile (in 1758), Ghamand Chand, a supposed scion of the dispossessed family, attained a position of power in the Punjab plains, being appointed governor of Jalandhar by Ahmed Shah Abdali. Building upon this ascendency, Ghamand Chand's grandson Sansar Chand rallied an army, ousted the then ruler of Kangra, Saif Ali Khan, and gained possession of his patrimony. This came to pass in 1783, and Sansar Chand was aided by the Kanhaiya misl, one of several informal but armed militias of Sikhs that roamed the Punjab in that era.

During the campaign, Raja Sansar Chand and his mercenary force overran other nearby principalities and compelled the submission of their rulers. He reigned over a relatively large part of present-day Himachal Pradesh for perhaps two decades, but his ambitions brought him into conflict with the Gorkhas ruling the then nascent state of Nepal. The Gorkhas and the recently humbled hill-states allied to invade Kangra in 1806. The Raja was defeated and left with no territory beyond the immediate vicinity of the fortress of Kangra, which he managed to retain with the help of a small Sikh force sent to his aid by Ranjit Singh. In this despair, the Raja treated with Ranjit Singh at Jawalamukhi in 1809. By that treaty, Raja Sansar Chand surrendered his (now largely notional) state to Ranjit Singh, in return for a substantial fief to be held under the suzerainty of the latter.

Timeline of the Katoch dynasty

C. 4300 BC

* Rajanaka Bhumi Chand founded the Katoch Dynasty

C. 3000 BC

* The Rajas of Kangra fought against the Hindu deity lord Rama

C. 1500 BC

* (234th) Raja Susarma Chandra fought against the Pandavas in the Mahabharata war
* He also built the fort of Kangra

C. 900 BC

* The Katoch kings fought the Persian and Assyrian attacks on Punjab

C. 500 BC to

* Rajanaka Parmanand Chandra (better known as Porus) fought Alexander the Great

C. 275 BC

* The Katoch Rajas fought Ashoka the Great and lost their lands in Multan

C. 100 AD

* The Rajas of Kangra fought numerous battles against the Rajas of Kannauj

C. 470 AD

* The Rajas of Kangras fought the Rajas of Kashmir for the supermacy in the hills

C. 643 AD

* Hsuan Tsang visited the Kingdom of Kangra (then known as "Jallandhra")
C. 853 AD

* Rajanaka Prithvi Chandra's reign

C. 903 AD

* Coinage of Kangra from this period can be seen in the Himachal Museums

C.1009 AD

* Mahmud of Ghazni invades Kangra (captures a large booty)

C. 1170 AD

* Kingdom of Kangra is divided into two parts, Kangra and Jaswan
* The Katoch armies fight against Muhammad of Ghor (the lands of Jalandhar were lost c.1220 AD)

C. 1341 AD

* Rajanaka Rup Chandra's looting expeditions take him till the gates of Delhi
* The Katoch kings fight Taimur
* Tughlaqs grant the title of Mian to the Katoch Royal Family

C.1405 AD

* Further division of the Kangra State; state of Guler is founded

C.1450 AD

* Further Guler State is also divided and a new State namely SIBA is found.

C.1526 - 1556 AD

* Sikandar Shah Suri and the Rajas of Kangra combine their forces against Akbar but are defeated
* The Raja of Kangra renders his alliance to Emperor Akbar and in return in given the title of Maharaja
* Later, the Mughals attack the fort of Kangra 52 times but fail to defeat it

C. 1620 AD

* Mughals occupy the fort of Kangra
* First European travelers to the court of Kangra

C. 1700 AD

* Maharaja Bhim Chandra unites with Guru Gobind Singh against Aurangzeb
* He receives the title of Dharam Rakshak from the Guru

C. 1750 AD

* Maharaja Ghamand Chandra is made the (first ever Rajput) Nizam of Jalandhar by the Durranis

C. 1775 AD to C. 1820 AD

* The golden age of Kangra under Raja Sansar Chand-II
* Kangra miniature painting flourishes under him

C. 1820 AD

* Decline of the Kangra state
* Kangra fort occupied by the Sikhs after the Gorkha War but the Fort of Siba was re- captured by Raja Ram Singh after defeated the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

1846 AD

* The Sikhs cede Kangra to the HEIC
* The Katoch kings fight for their independence against the British. Raja Pramod Chand loses the battle and is taken prisoner to Almoda – he dies there

1924 AD

* Maharaja Jai Chandra of Kangra-Lambagraon is granted the title of "Maharaja" as a hereditary distinction, and a salute of 11 guns as a personal honour.

1947 AD

* Maharaja Dhruv Dev Chandra (last ruler of Kangra-Lambagraon) merges his estate with the Dominion of India, when India gains Independence


1972 AD

* The Princely Order is abolished in India and the Rajas of Kangra-Lambagraon become ordinary citizens
* The district of Kangra is merged with the newly founded state of Himachal Pradesh.
* Present titled Raja of Katochs is Raja Aditya Dev Chand Katoch.