Sketch map of Himachal Pradesh

Short history: "All the world over, high mountain ranges have served as refuge to remnants of ancient people and Covilisation, in which, comparatively unmolested, they could preserve their identity and traditions, some to the present day." The Himalayan highland is no exception to it. The people in search of new pastures had migrated to this hill areas from the plains. In course of time the Aryans led to the formation of different tribal settlement after racial intermixture with them in respective areas. The advent of the Muslims had rocked the Himachal by the 10th century, Mahmud Ghazni in the 11th century, Tughlaqs in 14th Century and Mughals in the 16th Century. In 1815 A.D. Mahamud Ghaznavi attacked Nagarkot. Sardar Muhammad who revolted against Razhia Sultana sought shelter in Sirmour. Feroz Shah Tughlaq attacked Nagarkot during 1365 AD. According to some reports he damaged the idols in Kangra and Jawalamukhi temples and went back with 300 Sanskrit manuscripts some of which were got translated in Persian. Timur attacked Sirmour during 1398-99 and went back with plenty of booty. Todarmal was sent by king Akbar to annex Kangra. The ruler of Kangra, Dharam Chand Katoch accepted the suzerainty of Akbar. In 1620 AD, Jahangir also tried and got hold of Kangra.

The Gorkhas, a martial tribe came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their military power and began to expand their territory. Gradually the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and Shimla. With the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, Gorkhas laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand, the ruler of Kangra, in 1806 with the help of many provincial chiefs. However Gorkhas could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After the defeat, the Gorkhas began to expand towards the south of the state. However, Raja Ram Singh, Raja of Siba State re-captured the fort of Siba from the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Samvat 1846. The Thakurs sought for British aid to oust the Gorkhas from Nepal.

The situation led in the Anglo-Sikh war. They came into direct conflict with the British along the tarai belt after which the British expelled them from the provinces of the Satluj. Thus the British gradually emerged as the paramount powers. The revolt of 1857 or first Indian war of independence (Sepoy Mutiny) resulted due to the building up of political, social, economic, religious and military grievances against the British government. People of the hill states were not politically alive as the people in other parts of the country. They remained more or less inactive and so did their rulers with the exception of Bushahr.Some of them even rendered help to the British government during the revolt. Among them were the rulers of Chamba, Bilaspur, Bhagal and Dhami. The rulers of Bushars rather acted in a manner hostile to the interests of British.

The British territories in the hill came under British Crown after Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858. The states of Chamba, Mandi and Bilaspur made good progress in many fields during the British rule. 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. Amongst these were the states of Kangra, Jaswan, Datarpur, Guler, Nurpur , Chamba , Suket, Mandi and Bilaspur.

Rampur palace of King of Bushar >>

In 1864, Shimla was made the summer capital of British India. On 15 April 1948, Himachal Pradesh secured its political identity as centrally administered state born out of amalgamation of 30 hilly states with the mountainous part of the Punjab. In 1951, it was registered as C-Catagory state. Bilaspur (HP) was annexed to Himachal Pradesh in 1954. The attempt to extend the state further by merging with Punjab after recommendation of the State Restructuring Commission was failed in 1956 due to mass agitation in the region. In 1966, Shimla, Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul & Spiti from Punjab alongwith some other hilly areas were merged to expand Himachal Pradesh. It secured the status of an 'A' grade state of the Indian Union on 25th Jan 1971. With the reorganisation of districts in 1972, the state acquired the present 12 districts with its head quarter at Shimla.