Tehri Garhwal is on of the sacred hilly districts of Uttarakhand State. GARHWAL" - the land of many ‘GAHRS’ meaning forts Before the creation of universe, Lord Brahma is said to have meditated on this sacred land. Muni-ki-Reti and Tapovan of the district are the places of penance for the ancient Rishis. Its hilly terrain and lack of easy communications have helped it to preserve its culture almost intact. Tehri and Garhwal are the two words combined for naming the district as Tehri Garhwal. While the prefix Tehri is the corrupted form of the word `Trihari` which signifies a place that washes away all the three types of sins, namely sins born out of thought (Mansa), word (Vacha) and deed (Karmana), the other part `Garh` means country fort. In fact during olden days possession of number of forts was considered as a significant measuring rod of the prosperity and power of their rulers. Prior to 888, the whole of the Garhwal region was divided into small `garhs` ruled by separate independent kings known as Rana, Rai or Thakur. It is said that the prince Kanakpal who hailed from Malwa visited Badrinath ji (presently in Chamoli district) where he met the then mightiest king Bhanu Pratap. King Bhanu Pratap was impressed with the prince and got his only daughter married to him and also handed over his kingdom. Gradually Kanakpal and his descendents extended their empire by conquering all the garhs. Thus up to 1803 i.e. for 915 years the whole of the Garhwal region remained under their control.
History
Early
Prior to 888 AD, the region was divided into 52 garhs which were ruled by independent kings. These garhs were brought under one province by Kanakpal, the prince of Malwa. Kanakpal, on his visit to Badrinath, had met the then mightiest king Bhanu Pratap who later married his only daughter to the prince and handed him his kingdom. Kanakpal and his descendants gradually conquered all the garhs and ruled the whole of Garhwal Kingdom for the next 915 years, up to 1803 AD.
Garhwal Kingdom
Tehri Garhwal or Garhwal Kingdom, was a princely state, ruled by Panwar Shah dynasty. Later, it became a part of the Punjab Hill States Agency of British India, which consists of the present day Tehri Garhwal District and most of the Uttarkashi district. In 1901, it had an area of about 4180 m²/11,655 km² and a population of 268,885. The ruler was given the title of Raja, but after 1913, he was honoured with the title of Maharaja. The ruler was entitled to salutes of 11 guns and had a privy purse of Rupees 300. The princely state acceded to India on 1 August 1949. Gorkha Menace
In 1803 AD, the Gorkhas took over Garhwal. Gorkha warriors Subba Amar Singh, Hastidal Chautariya, Bamshah Chautariya and Ranjor Thapa commanded a huge army in the crusade against King Pradyumna Shah and his sons Kuwar Parakrama Shah and Kuwar Pritam Shah. A 12,000 strong army fought with the Gorkhas at Khurhbure where the king was killed. Gradually, Gorkhas captured Dehradun, Saharanpur, Kangada and Shimla and later on extended their kingdom up to Kangara.
During 1787 AD to 1812 AD, Gorkhas captured nearly 200 villages falling under East India Company. British argued with the king of Nepal but to no avail. Finally, the Gurkha War Anglo-Nepalese War, began in 1814, when an army of 8000 under Major General Marley attacked Kathmandu, 4000 soldiers under Major General Wood started operation from Gorakhpur, and 3500 soldiers attempted to take over Dehradun under Major General Zileswy, where Gorkha army of 300–400 was led by Balbhadra Thapa. Gorkhas fought a fierce battle and crushed the British, which was reinforced by soldiers and cannons. Finally, British army captured Dehradun on 30 Nov 1814.
British Army then moved towards Kumaon. After a fierce battle Gorkha commanders Hastidal and Jayrakha were killed at Vinayathal. The war ended under the Sugauli Treaty, signed on December 2, 1815 and ratified by March 4, 1816, with Gorkha supreme commander Bamshah and thus, British rule started in hills. East India Company then merged Kumaon, Dehradun and east Garhwal in British Empire while west Garhwal was given to Sudarshan Shah which was then known as Tehri Riyasat.
New Capital
King Sudarshan Shah established his capital at Tehri town and afterwards his successors Pratap Shah, Kirti Shah and Narendra Shah established their capital at Pratap Nagar, Kirtinagar and Narendra Nagar, respectively. Their dynasty ruled over this region from 1815 to 1949. During the Quit India Movement people of this region actively participated for the Independence of the country. Ultimately when the country was declared independent in 1947, the inhabitants of Tehri Riyasat Tehri State started their movement for getting themselves freed from the clutches of Maharaja.
Due to the movement the situation became out of his control and was difficult for him to rule over the region. Consequently the 60th king of Pawar Vansh Manvendra Shah accepted the sovereignty of Indian government. Thus, in August 1949, Tehri Riyasat was merged in Uttar Pradesh and was given the status of a new district: the Rudraprayag district. Subsequently on 24 February 1960 the state government separated its one tehsil which was given status of a separate district named as Uttarkashi.
