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Kangra HISTORY: TOP 10 AMAZING FACTS
Among all the former hill states, Kangra has the most amazing history going back to Mahabharata days. Here are the top 10 most interesting facts, taken from the pages of Kangra history.
1. Jalandhar was the capital of Kangra or Trigarta kingdom
Kangra, once known as Trigarta or ‘the land of three rivers,’ was an ancient kingdom with Jalandhar as its capital in the plains. The three rivers that watered the Trigarta kingdom were Ravi, Beas and Satluj. The name Trigarta is found in the epic Mahabharata, in Purans and in the history of Kashmir. Both Trigarta and Jalandhar were used synonymously in the past.
Some believe that the King Porus, who was defeated by Alexander, belonged to the Trigarta kingdom.
Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang), who travelled to India in the 7th century and visited Jalandhar in 643 AD, had described the Trigarta kingdom as “167 miles in length from East to West and 133 miles in breadth from North to South.” According to these dimensions, the boundaries of Jalandhar must have included Chamba in the North, Mandi and Suket in the East and Satadru in the South-East.
2. The oldest surviving dynasty is of Kangra
The present-day Katoch royal family of Kangra (now erstwhile) traces their roots to Rajput King Susarma Chandra, who is believed to have ruled Multan area of Punjab and took part in the epic war of Mahabharata, which makes the Kangra dynasty more than 3000 years old.
After the war, Susarma Chandra lost his kingdom and shifted from Multan to Jalandhar where he established himself and built the formidable fort of Kangra. The title ‘Chandra’ was used by the Trigarta or Jalandhar kings for centuries. The stone inscriptions at the Baijnath temple, which date back to 804 AD, calls the Raja of Jalandhar as Jaya Chandra.
When the plains were overrun by Muhammadan invaders, the kings took shelter in the Kangra fort, also known as Kot Kangra and Nagarkot.
3. Chopping off tongues at Kangra’s Jawalamukhi temple
According to various historic accounts, some pilgrims, in order to fulfil their wishes, used to chop off their tongues and make an offering to the Goddess Jawalamukhi, the deity of ‘flaming mouth’ at her temple near Kangra town.
According to Abul Fazl, a Mughal historian during Akbar’s reign, “pilgrims come from great distances for the fulfilment of their wishes. It is most wonderful that in order to effect this, they cut out their tongues, which grow back in the course of two to three days and sometimes in a few hours…” The bit about tongues growing back is apocryphal but it seems that tongue sacrifice was a normal practice used for appeasing the goddess at the temple.
According to a legend, the tongue of Goddess Sati had fallen on this place, where the Jawalamukhi temple is, after Lord Vishnu had cut her body.
4. Kangra was famous for treatment of amputated noses
In the old days when amputation of noses was a common punishment, Kangra had emerged as the centre for treating disfigured faces. When emperor Akbar had come to Kangra during his reign, he was told that Kangra was famous for nose surgeries as people from as far off as Kabul and Nepal would come here to get treated.
Alexander Cunningham writes in the Archaeological Survey of India’s 1872 repot that “In the Kangra practice of nasotomy, the flesh for the new nose is obtained by cutting a piece from the forehead of the patient. This is sewn over the vacant spot and supported by rolls of cotton with quills inserted for breathing.”
There is an anecdote about Akbar as to how the emperor was surprised to see a criminal, whose nose had been cut off by his orders, with a brand-new nose. The new nose had been made by one of Akbar’s surgeons named Buddin, who was given a jagir by the emperor in Kangra as a reward.
5. A palace for Mughal emperor Jahangir in Kangra
Jahangir himself had led his forces into Kangra in the spring of 1622 AD, a year after capturing the Kangra fort. It was a symbolic move by the Emperor to chastise the local princes and quell even the thought of any rebellion. In memory of Jahangir’s visit, a gate, called Jahangiri Darwaja, was built at the Kangra fort
So much fascinated was Jahangir with the beauty of the Kangra valley that he had intended to build a summer residence here. An announcement to this effect was also made, a location in Ghurkari village was chosen and even the foundations were laid. But the house was never built as according to the Kangra Gazetteer of 1883, “probably the superior attractions of Kashmir which the Emperor immediately afterwards visited led to the abandonment of his design.”
6. King in the well and the origin of Guler Riyasat
There is a popular folklore in Kangra according to which In the year 1405, Kangra Raja Hari Chand went on a hunting trip in the forests of Harsar. During the course of hunting, the Raja got separated from his men and fell into a well in the forest. A through search of the area was conducted but in vain and believing the Raja to be dead the hunting party returned to Kangra. On hearing the tragic news, Raja Hari Chand’s Ranis committed Sati and his younger brother Karam Chand ascended the throne.
Few days later, a merchant happened to pass through the forest and stumbled upon the well and saw the Raja lying down. The merchant rescued the fallen king and upon his return to Kangra he saw that his younger brother was on the throne now. Karam Chand offered to step down but Hari Chand refused.
A separate principality by the name of Guler was founded and Hari Chand became its Raja. To this day, as a mark of respect, Guler takes precedence over Kangra in the events of the erstwhile royalty.
7. Nurpur is named after Nur Jahan
The erstwhile Kingdom of Nurpur, which presently comes under Kangra district, was known by the name of Dhameri. It was founded by the Tomar dynasty in 1064 AD between Ravi and Beas rivers with areas annexed from Kangra, Chamba and Jammu in the hills and Majha in the plains.
The name of the kingdom was changed by Raja Jagat Singh from Dhameri to Nurpur to honour Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, in 1620 by which time it had come under the Mughal empire.
8. Kangra fort: A symbol of power
Believed to have been built at the end of the epic Mahabharata war by Trigarta King Susarma Chandra, Kangra fort once symbolised the power and influence in the hills. There was a popular saying, which still exists today, “The one who holds the fort, holds the hills.” In its long history of ups and downs, the fort was captured and plundered more than 50 times and held by the likes of Muslim kings including Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Tughlaq, Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb. Before the Muslim Kings, Kangra fort had remained under perpetual attack from Kashmiri Rajas and Kabul rulers. After Muslims, Kangra fort was invaded by Sikhs led by Ranjot Singh and finally by the Britishers.
Locals believed that ‘Kangra’ word is derived from ‘Kangarh’ meaning ‘the fort of the Ear,’ which refers to the legend that the Kangra fort sits over the ear of giant-demon Jalandhara, who was defeated by Lord Shiva and buried in the mountains with his head in Kangra valley, mouth at Jawalamukhi, back under the town of Jalandhra and his feet at Multan in Punjab.
9. Saif Ali Khan: The Last Mughal Man Standing
The Mughal empire was on a decline after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 even as its army chiefs kept on holding the Kangra fort till it came into the hands of Nawab Saif Ali Khan in 1743. It was a time of general anarchy when Marathas were overrunning the Mughal empire. Claiming their ancient kingdom, local Kangra chiefs also raised the flag of rebellion, leaving nothing to Khan, only the land immediately below the walls of the Kangra fort.
However, Khan with few men and fewer arms, held the fort for the next 40 years, proving that Kangra fort was indeed impregnable. According to the Kangra Gazetteer of 1883, “An idea of the strength and reputation of the Kangra fort may be gathered from the fact that an isolated Muhammadan with no resources beyond the range of his guns, could maintain his position so long and so gallantly.” Khan died in 1783 during the siege of the fort by Sikh chief Jay Singh Kanhaiya. After holding the fort for five months, Saif’s son Zulfikar surrendered the fort to Kanhaiya, formally ending the Mughal hold over the fort that has lasted for around two centuries.
10. Sansar Chand: The return of the King
Considered as the last great King of the Chandra clan, Sansar Chand Katoch was born in 1765. An ambitious man, Sansar Chand wanted to reclaim the Kangra fort and restore the ancient Trigarta kingdom of his forefathers.
Some historians believe that it was Sansar Chand only who had instigated Sikh chief Jay Singh Kanhaiya to seize the Kangra fort in 1783. However, Sansar Chand’s gambit had failed as Kanhaiya kept the possession of the fort. Four years later in 1787, Sansar Chand forced Kanhaiya to leave the fort with help from another Sikh chief Maha Singh.
Now, the possession of Kangra fort was finally in the hands of its legitimate claimant. But Kangra fort was just the beginning of Sansar Chand’s grand plans. After subduing the hill chiefs and annexing all their hill principalities, Sansar Chand revived the old tradition which placed Kangra at the top of all the Jalandhar states and levied annual tributes which they had to pay annually. Sansar Chand built a Darbar hall in his capital Tira Sujanpur with 11 doors on each side. Every year, the chiefs of 22 states would enter from their respective doors and attend the court of Sansar Chand. They would also accompany him on expeditions whenever required.
The next 20 years of Sansar Chand’s rule are often termed as ‘the golden age of Kangra’ as his fame spread far and wide and Kangra became a cultural centre where art and artists flourished. He spent most of the summers at Nadaun on the bank of Beas river, perhaps giving rise to this old saying: Aaega Nadaun, Jaega Kaun (Who that comes to Nadaun, will never leave Nadaun).
But Sansar Chand’s dream run was about to come to an end. After unsuccessful attempts at annexing the plains of Hoshiarpur and suffering defeat at the hands of Sikh chief Ranjit Singh, Sansar Chand turned his eye Kahlur (modern-day Bilsapur state) and attacked and attached portion of it on the bank of Satluj river.
This turned out to be a mistake.
Already resentful towards Sansar Chand, the hill chiefs got united and through Kahlur Raja invited Gorkha army commander Amar Singh Thapa to wage a war against the Kangra King. Thapa happily obliged and the Gorkha army attacked Kangra in 1806. Sansar Chand with his family took refuse in the Kangra fort as the Gorkha army seized the fort. However, even after four years, the Gorkhas could not capture the fort. As the food and other supplies in the fort came to an end, Sansar Chand in desperation contacted Ranjit Singh and after secretly leaving the fort signed a treaty with him at the Jawalamukhi temple.
In August 1809, Ranjit Singh’s drove out the Gorkha army, already weakened by disease, fatigue and lack of armaments, and seized the fort. Henceforth every year, Ranjit Singh kept limiting the possessions and powers of Sansar Chand and eventually turning him into the shadow of his former self.
Englisher explorer William Moorcroft had met Sansar Chand in 1820. By that time, Sansar Chand had left his palace in Tira Sujanpur and was living in Alampur on the bank of Beas river. Sansar Chan spent his last days here in complete obscurity. He died in the winters of 1823. He was 58.
References:
Archaeological Survey of India report (1872-73)
Archaeological Survey of India report (1905-06)
Kangra Gazetteer (1883)
Kangra Gazetteer (1924-25)
