From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chand kings
Chand kings
In 1563, the Chand kings took control of the region,
by overpowering small local chiefs and also the descen-
dants of Katyuri Kings.
They had brief stints with the Rajput clans in Gangoli
and Bankot then predominant there the Mankotis of
Mankot, the Pathanis of Attigaon-Kamsyar, Kalakotis and
few Khas Rajput Clans of the region. However they were
able to establish their domain there.
Later their capital was shifted to Almora by Raja
Kalyan Chand in 1563, when he laid the foundation of a
town name ’Alam Nagar’, which was also called, ’Rajapur’
[2][3], a name that still used and has been found inscribed
Fort and the capital city of Kali Kumaon, Champawat, 1815. on a number of copper plates of the time [4].
Mughal historians mention that Chand ruler, Gyan
Chand Kings were a medieval Raghuvanshi Rajput rul- Chand, visited Delhi Sultanate and received the regions
ing clan of Kumaon region of the Uttarakhand state of In- of Bhabhar- Terai up to the Ganges as a grant from then
dia, which ruled the region after the decline of Katyuri Sultan. The lower hills remained under local chieftains; it
Kings in 11th century AD., and continued till the rise of was Kirti Chand (1488–1503), who first ruled the entire of
the British in 18th century. Nainital district, along with the rest of Kumaon.
In 1581, the Chand King, Rudra Chand (1565–1597), son
History of Raja Kalyan Chand seized Sira defeating Raika king
Hari Malla and attacked the Garhwal Kingdom for the
Inception first time, though this attack was repulsed by then king,
Dularam Sah [5], and so were his subsequent attacks. Ru-
The Chand kingdom was established by Som Chand, who dra Chandra was a contemporary of Akbar, and even paid
came here from Kannauj near Allahabad, sometime in the him a visit in Lahore in 1587, as a mark of his obeisance.
10th century [1], and displaced the Katyuri Kings (कत्यरी ू Akbarnama mentions him as "one of the great landlords
नरे श), originally from Katyur valley near Joshimath, who of India", and further talks about his initial hestitation in
had been ruling the area from the 7th century AD. He approaching the court of Akbqr, it was only Raja Todar
continued to call his state Kurmanchal, and established Mal himself, sent his son Kalyan Das to assure him, did his
its capital in Champawat in Kali Kumaon, called so, due proceed to meet Akbar. Subsequently, the two met and
to its vicinity to river Kali. Many temples built in this for- agreed on a concord [6], and thus Ain-e-Akbari, written
mer capital city, during the 11th and 12th century exist during period of Akbar, also mentions the Sarkar of Ku-
today, this include the Baleshwar and Nagnath temples. maon, containing 21 Mahals (a geographical unit of the
times) and the revenue collected [7].
After death of Rudra Chand in 1597, his son, Lakshmi
Chand, also continued attacks of Garhwal for many years,
though he too was repulsed. He also constructed the
‘Bagnath temple’ at Bageshwar in 1602.[citation needed]
Peak
One of most powerful rulers of Chand dynasty was Baz Ba-
hadur (1638–78) AD., who met Shahjahan in Delhi, and in
1655 joined forces with him to attack Garhwal, which was
under its king, Pirthi Sah, and subsequently captured the
’Bhimeshwara Mahadev Temple’, at Bhim Tal, built by Baz Ba-
hadur. Oil painting on paper, by Marianne North July 30, 1878. Terai region including Dehradun, which was hence sepa-
rated from the Garhwal kingdom. Baz Bahadur extended
his territory east to karnali river.
In 1672, Baz Bahadur, started a poll tax, and its rev-
enue was sent to Delhi as a tribute. Baz Bahadur also built
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chand kings
the Golu Devata Temple, at Ghorakhal, near Bhimtal [1], af- Mahal’ (Lower Court) of Chand rulers, now houses the
ter Lord Golu, a general in his army, who died valiantly at District Hospital [14].
war [8]. He also built famous Bhimeshwara Mahadev Tem- Though due to internal strife, in the coming thirty
ple at Bhimtal [9]. years the kings lost most of the land they had previously
Towards the end of 17th century, Chand Rajas again ruled, in the plains, and retained only the Bhabhar re-
attacked Garhwal kingdom, and in 1688, Udyot Chand, gion.
erected several temples at Almora, including Tripur Sun- In 1779, a subsequent Garhwal king, Lalit Shah, who al-
dari, Udyot Chandeshwer and Parbateshwer, to mark his so captured the Kumaon region from a usurper, who was
victory over Garhwal and Doti, the Pabateshwar temple then ruling Kumaon. Lalit Shah made his son Parduman
was renamed twice, to become the present Nanda Devi Shah, the king of the Kumaon territory, and after a few
temple [10]. Later, Jagat Chand (1708–20), defeated the Raja years, on the death of his brother in Srinagar, Parduman
of Garhwal and pushed him away from Srinagar, and his Shah even held the seat of a combined kingdom of Ku-
kingdom was given to a Brahmin [11]. However, a subse- maon and Garhwal for a year, before choosing to go back
quent king of Garhwal, Pradip Shah (1717–72), regained to Srinagar, in the familiar grounds of Garhwal.
control over Garhwal and retained Doon till 1757, when In early 1790, the Gurkhas invaded the Kumaon hills
Rohilla leader, Najib-ul-Daula, established himself there, and Almora, under their powerful chief ‘Prithvi Narayan’;
though he was ousted soon by Pradip Shah. they advanced by crossing River Kali, through Gangoli;
The Chand kings also defeated the Rajwars of Askot, and the Chands, under the titular Chand Raja, were dri-
though the latter were allowed to hold their land on the ven to the Bhabhar and finally expelled.
payment of a tribute [12]. The Tarai and Kashipur were ceded to the British by
The hill station of Binsar, 30 km from Almora was the Nawab of Awadh in 1801, along with the rest of Ro-
summer retreat of the Chand kings [13]. hilkhand.
In the coming years, Jagat Chand’s successor, Debi The Nepalese rule last for a ruthless [15] twenty-four
Chand (1720-6) took part in the wars of Rohillas of Rohilk- years, the end came because of their repeated intrusion
hand, and was defeated by the British troops [1]. into the British territories in the Tarai since early 1800,
which Lord Moira , the Governor-General of India, decid-
Decline ing to attack Almora in December 1814, which marked
In 1744, Ali Mohammed Khan, the Rohilla leader, sent a the beginning of the Anglo-Nepalese War [3]. After the
force into the Chand territory and penetrated through war, the old Lal Mandi fort, near Almora (present canton-
Bhimtal in the Nainital district to Almora; the resistance ment), was renamed ‘Fort Moira’ [16].
of Chand army, under its ruler, Kalyan Chand, was weak Harak Deo Joshi, the minister of the last Chand Raja[17],
and ineffective, and Almora fell to the Rohillas, who took the side of the British, a force of 4500 men marched
stayed here for seven short months, though they were from Kashipur in February, 1815. Champawat was first
ultimately driven out, an exit made possible by paying taken in March from Pilibhit side through Kali river, and
them a sum of three lakh rupees, and hastened by the within two months, a strong British army under Colonel
harsh terrain of the region. Nichols, attacked and captured Almora, on April 26,
This peace didn’t last long as after just three months, 1815,[18]. Truce was called the same day, and with the rat-
unhappy over his lieutenants, Ali Mohammed Khan at- ification of Treaty of Sugauli on 4 March 1816, Kumaon
tacked again, though this time, he was stopped right at and Garhwal, thus became a British territory.
the entrance to the hills, at Barakheri, and defeated; and
he made no further attempts to conquer the Kumaon Legacy
kingdom, nor did the Muslim rulers of Delhi, and this re-
mained the first and the last attack by Muslim rulers on The first capital of Chand rulers, Champawat, in the
the region. Reconciliation subsequently came into effect- stronghold popularly known as Kali Kumaon, is now a
ed; troops from the hills, under Dip Chand, fought side by district headquarter town, and hold many remnants of
side with the Rohillas at Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 once powerful Chand reign, including a medieval fort,
[1]. Baleshwar temple, Nagnath Temple, etc. Other temples
In 1760, he renamed the old Parbateshwer temple as of their reign are Golu Devata Temple, at Ghorakhal, near
Dipchandeshwar temple [10] Bhimtal, and Bhimeshwara Mahadev Temple at Bhimtal.
During British rule, then divisional commissioner of
Kumaon, George William Trail, got the statue of the Nan- See also
da Devi, was relocated at ‘Udyot Chandeshwar’ temple,
• Kumauni people
from the ’Malla Mahal’ (Upper Court) of Chand kings,
• Kumaon
where present collectorate exists, and in time, the temple
• K. C. Singh Baba Descendant of Chand Rulers [19]
started being called the ‘Nanda Devi temple’. The ’Talla
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chand kings
Further reading [5]
[6]
Garhwal history www.garhwalhimalayas.com.
Rudra Akbarnama of Abu Fazl, Volume 3, chpt.
• History of Kumaun : English version of "Kumaun ka 196.p807, "On 9 Āẓar he received the felcity..."1588
itihas". by B. D. Pande. 1993. Almora, India: Shyam [7] Sarkár of Kumáon Ain-e-Akbari Vol II, pp. 289.
Prakashan : Shree Almora Book Depot. [8] Chitai Temple
• Source Materials of Kumauni History, by Nityananda [9] Bhimtal British Library.
Misra. Published by Shree Almora Book Depot, 1994. [10] ^ Almora Temples www.uttaranchal.org.
ISBN 8185865248. [11] History of Garhwal District The Imperial Gazetteer
• Administrative History of Uttarakhand (Kumaon and of India 1909, v. 12, p. 165-166.
Garhwal), During the Rule of the East India Company, [12] Askot The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 6, p.
1815-1857, by Ajay Arora. Published by Eastern Book 14.
Linkers, 1996. ISBN 8186339337. [13] Almora Almora city official website.
• History of Uttaranchal, by Umachand Handa. Published [14] . Devi Temple Nanda Devi Temple website of
by Indus Publishing, 2002. ISBN 8173871345. Excerpts Almora city.
[15] Cruel Gurkha Regime www.uttaranchal.org.
References [16]
[17]
Almora British Library.
Chand Rajas in Kashipur
[1] ^ History of Nainital District The Imperial [18] History of Almora District The Imperial Gazetteer
Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 18, p. 324-325. of India 1909, v. 5, p. 245-246.
[2] History of Almora city [19] K.C.Baba
[3] ^ Champawat British Library.
[4] Kumaon Official website of Almora district.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chand_kings&oldid=459956128"
Categories:
• History of Uttarakhand
• Dynasties of India
• Rajput rulers
• Kumaoni Rajputs
• Uttarakhand
• Champawat
• Almora
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