Uttarakhand Information Centre

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 2.1 Katyuri Raj 2.2 Chand Raj 2.3 Raikas Of Doti 2.4 Gorkha Rule and its defeat 2.5 British Raj 3 Martial Race 4 Language 4.1 Dialects of Kumaon region 4.1.1 Dialects of Kumaoni Language 5 Etymology 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Geography

The Kumaon region consists of a large Himalayan tract, together with two submontane strips called the Terai and the Bhabhar. The submontane strips were up to 1850 an almost impenetrable forest, given up to wild animals; but after 1850 the numerous clearings attracted a large population from the hills, who cultivated the rich soil during the hot and cold seasons, returning to the hills in the rains. The rest of Kumaon is a maze of mountains, part of the Himalaya range, some of which are among the loftiest known. In a tract not more than 225 km in length and 65 km in breadth there are over thirty peaks rising to elevations exceeding 5500 m. The rivers like Gori, Dhauli , Kali etc rise chiefly in the southern slope of the Tibetan watershed north of the loftiest peaks, amongst which they make their way down valleys’of rapid declivity and extraordinary depth. The principal are the Sharda (Kali), the Pindari and Kailganga, whose waters join the Alaknanda. The river Sharda (Kali) forms the international boundary between India and Nepal. The pilgrim route currently used to visit Kailash-Mansarovar, goes along this river and crosses into Tibet at Lipu Lekh pass.

The chief trees are the Chir Pine, Himalayan Cypress, Pindrow Fir, alder, sal or iron-wood, and saindan. Limestone, sandstone, slate, gneiss and granite constitute the principal geological formations. Mines of iron, copper, gypsum, lead and asbestos exist; but they are not thoroughly worked. Except in the submontane strips and deep valleys the climate is mild. The rainfall of the outer Himalayan range, which is first struck by the monsoon, is double that of the central hills, in the average proportion of 2000 mm to 1000 mm. No winter passes without snow on the higher ridges, and in some years it is universal throughout the mountain tract. Frosts, especially in the valleys, are often severe.

History

In the ancient period between 1300 A.D. to 1400 A.D, after the disintegration
of Katyuri kingdom of Uttarakhand, eastern region of Uttarakhand (Kumaon and Far-Western
Region of Nepal which was a part of Uttarakhand then), divided into eight
different princely states i.e., Baijnath-Katyuri, Dwarhat, Doti, Baramandal, Askot, Sira,
Sora, Sui (Kali kumaon). Later on, in 1581 AD after the defeat of Raika Hari
Mall (maternal uncle of Rudra chand) with the hand of Rudra Chand all these
disintegrated parts came under King Rudra chand and the whole region was as
Kumaon.

Katyuri Raj

The Katyuri dynasty was of a branch of Kunindas origin and was founded by
Vashudev Katyuri. Originally, from Joshimath, during their reign they dominated
lands of varying extent from the ‘Katyur’ (modern day Baijnath) valley in
Kumaon, between 7th and 11th centuries AD, and established their capital, at
Baijnath in Bageshwar district, which was then known as Kartikeyapura and lies
in the centre of ‘Katyur’ valley.Brahmadev mandi in Kanchanpur District of Nepal
was established by Katyuris king Brahma deo.

At their peak, the Katyuri kingdom extended from Nepal in the east to Kabul,
Afghanistan in the west, before fragmenting into numerous principalities by 12th
century. They were displaced by the Chand Kings in 11th century AD.
Architectural remains of the Katyur dynasty’s rule can be found in Baijnath and
Dwarahat.

The Rajbar
dynasty of Askot in Pithoragarh, was set up in the 1279 AD., by a branch of the
Katyuri Kings, headed by Abhay Pal Deo, who was the grandson of Katyuri king,
Brahm Deo . The dynasty ruled the relion till, it became part of the British Raj
through the treaty of Sighauli in 1816.

Chand Raj

The Chand kingdom was established by Som Chand, who came here from Kannuaj
near Allahabad, sometime in the 10th century [1], and displaced the Katyuri
Kings (कत्यूरी नरेश), originally from Katyur valley near Joshimath, who had been
ruling the area from 7th century AD. He continued to call his state Kurmanchal,
and established its capital in Champawat in Kali Kumaon, called so, due to its
vicinity to river Kali. Many temples built in this former capital city, during
the 11th and 12th century exist today, this include the Baleshwar and Nagnath
temples.

They had brief stints with the Rajput clans in Gangoli and Bankot then
predominant there the Mankotis of Mankot, the Pathni/Pathanis
of Attigaon-Kamsyar, Kalakotis and many other Khas Rajput Clans of the region.
However they were able to establish their domain there. One of most powerful
ruler of Chand dynasty was Baz Bahadur (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 Terai region including Dehradun,
which was hence separated from the Garhwal kingdom. Baz Bahadur extended his
territory east to karnali river. In 1672, Baz Bahadur, started a poll tax, and
its revenue was sent to Delhi as a tribute. Baz Bahadur also built the Golu
Devata Temple, at Ghorakhal, near Bhimtal [1], after Lord Golu, a general in his
army, who died valiantly at war [9]. He also built famous Bhimeshwara Mahadev
Temple at Bhimtal [10].

Towards the end of 1600s, Chand Rajas again attacked Garhwal kingdom, and in
1688, Udyot Chand, erected several temples at Almora, including Tripur Sundari,
Udyot Chandeshwer and Parbateshwer, to mark his victory over Garhwal and Doti,
the Pabateshwar temple was renamed twice, to become the present Nanda Devi
temple [11]. Later, Jagat Chand (1708-20), defeated the Raja of Garhwal and
pushed him away from Srinagar, and his kingdom was given to a Brahmin [12].
However, a subsequent king of Garhwal, Pradip Shah (1717-72), regained control
over Garhwal and retained Doon till 1757, when Rohilla leader, Najib-ul-Daula,
established himself there, though he was ousted soon by Pradip Shah.

Raikas Of Doti

Niranjan Malldeo was the founder of Doti Kingdom around 13th century
after a fall of Katyuris Kingdom. He was
the son of Last Katyuris of united Katyuris kingdom. Kings of
Doti were known as Raikas.
Latter on Raikas, after overthrow Khas Malla of Karnali Zone, were
able to form a strong Raikas Kindom in Far Western Region and Kumaun which was called Doti. So
far, the historical evidence of following Raikas have been discovered; Niranjan
Malldev (Founder of Doti Kingdom), Nagi Malla (1238 A.D.), Ripu Malla (1279
A.D.), Nirai Pal (1353 A.D. may be of Askot and his historical evidence of
1354 A.D has been found in Almoda), Nag Malla (1384 A.D.), Dhir Malla (1400
A.D.), Ripu Malla (1410 A.D.), Anand Malla (1430 A.D.), Balinarayan Malla
(not known), Sansar Malla (1442 A.D.), Kalyan Malla (1443 A.D.), Suratan
Malla (1478 A.D.), Kriti Malla(1482 A.D.), Prithivi Malla (1488 A.D.), Medini
Jay Malla (1512 A.D.), Ashok Malla (1517 A.D.), Raj Malla (1539 A.D.), Arjun
Malla/Sahi (not known but he was ruling Sira as Malla and Doti as Sahi), Bhupati
Malla/Sahi (1558 A.D.), Sagaram Sahi (1567 A.D.), Hari Malla/Sahi (1581 A.D.
Last Raikas King of Sira and adjoining part of Nepal ), Rudra Sahi (1630
A.D.), Vikram sahi (1642 A.D.), Mandhat sahi (1671 A.D.), Raghunath sahi sahi
(1690 A.D.), Hari sahi (1720 A.D.), Krishna Sahi (1760 A.D.), Deep sahi (1785
A.D.), Prithivi pati Sahi (1790 A.D., ‘he had fought against Nepali ruler with
British in 1814 A.D’)

Gorkha Rule and its defeat

For some time the region was ruled by the Gorkhas. But People of Kumaon
fought them valiantly with their courage, wisdom and their ever indomitable
spirit.

The people of Kumaon sued the British many times to help them overthrow the
Gorkha rule. According to folklore when a British official was saved from the
prison of the Tibetan Jongpong(Governor)of Taklakot in Tibet by some Kumaonis he
pursued their case with the Resident at Delhi and convinced him to attack the
Gorkhas in Kumaon. 4000 Kumaoni braves under Harakh Dev Joshi a cheiftain of the
Chand King (who was initailly held responsible for the Gorkha invasion) joined
the British.

The British had so far been severely routed by the Gorakhas at several places
(like the Battle of Jaithak and Malaun). But now the joint forces of Kumaonis
and British struck the Gorkhas. Battle of Syahidevi resulted in a complete route
of the Gorkhas at the hands of the British assisted by the Kumaonis, , the
Gorkha Subba (Governor) fled and so did their commanders, Almora was
liberated

The Gorkhas, who earlier seemed
invincible , were finally defeated and the way for the liberation of Garhwal from the
oppressive Gorkha rule was opened.

The British realised through this war the potential of military expertise of
these hilmen. Inspired by their bravery the British granted on the people of Kumaon the title ofmartial race. They heavily
recruited from them and the result was the Kumaon Regiment (Earlier
the Hyderabad Regiment which consisted mostly of Kumaonis).

British Raj

Later, the region was annexed by the British in 1815, and was
governed for seventy years on the non-regulation system by three administrators,
Mr. Traill, Mr J. H. Batten and Sir Henry Ramsay. In 1891 the division was
composed of the three districts of Kumaon, Garhwal and the Tarai;
but the two districts of Kumaon and the Tarai were subsequently redistributed
and renamed after their headquarters, Nainital and Almora.

Martial Race

Kumaonis have been famous for their valour, their courage was legendary,
their honour indomitable. The Kumaonis were never fully subjugated by the powerful Muslim dynasties of
Delhi. Kumaonis were observed by the British , their valour was thus given
recognition by the British and were included in the British Army. It is
interesting to note that the 3rd Gorkha Rifles was known as the Keemaon
battalion when it was formed and it included Kumaonis as well as the Garhwalis
along with the Gorkhas. The Kumaonis, once accepted as a martial
race, were themselves to be recruited in the Hyderabad regiment and displace
the native troops, ultimately becoming the Kumaon Regiment after Independence of
India. The Kumaon Regiment is one
of the most decorated regiments of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its
origins with the British Indian Army and has fought in various campaigns
including the two world wars. After independence, the regiment has fought in all
major conflicts involving India. They showed their exceptional courage in the
Indo-Chinese War, the Battle of Rezang La has been proverbial for valour.

Language

Their Kumaoni language forms the Central subgroup of the Pahari
languages.

Kumaoni is one of the 325 recognized Indian languages, and is spoken by over
2,360,000 (1998) people of Indian states of Uttarakhand – Almora, Nainital,
Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat, Rudrapur (Udhamsingh Nagar) districts; Assam;
Bihar; Delhi; Madhya Pradesh; Maharashtra and Punjab, besides being spoken in
some regions of Himachal Pradesh and Nepal.

Amongst its dialects, the Central Kumauni is spoken in Almora and northern
Nainital, Northeastern Kumauni is in Pithoragarh, Southeastern Kumauni is in
Southeastern Nainital, Western Kumauni is west of Almora and Nainital.

Dialects of Kumaon region

Almost all people who can speak and understand Kumaoni can speak and
understand Hindi also. This is one of the dialects which is shrinking very
rapidly and becoming out of fashion. Most of the educated people who live in
cities hardly speak Kumaoni and in most cases parents still speak and understand
Garhwali but their children cannot. In many cases children can understand it
well but can not speak it. A very common scenario in Kumaon is that a person
from older generation communicates to a young fellow from two generations
younger in Kumaoni and he or she gets reply in Hindi. Middle generation
communicates in both Kumaoni and Hindi. Although it is easy to write Kumaoni in
Devnagri script, there is not
much literature available in Kumaoni and whatever is available is not
popular.

In all, there are 20 dialects spoken in the Kumaon region, including, Johari,
Majh Kumaiya, Danpuriya, Askoti, Sirali, Soryali, Chaugarkhyali, Kumaiya,
Gangola, Khasparjia, Phaldakoti, Pachhai, and Rauchaubhaisi.

Dialects of Kumaoni Language

• Kali Kumaon, Central Kumaoni
• North-Eastern Kumaoni
• South-Eastern Kumaoni
• Western Kumaoni
• Askoti of Askot
• Bhabhri of Rampur
• Chaugarkhiyali
• Danpuriya of Danpur
• Gangoli of Ganai-Gangoli
• Johari of Malla and Talla Johar
• Khasparjiya of Almora
• Kumaiyya
• Pachhai of Pali-Pachhau
• Pashchimi
• Phaldakotiya of Phaldkot
• Rhau-Chaubyaisi of Upper Himalayan Valleys
• Sirali of Sirakot
• Soriyali of Sor Valley (Pithoragarh)
• Baitada of Baitadi district of Nepal
• Dotiyali of Doti in Nepal

Etymology

Kumaon is believed to have been derived from “Kurmanchal”, meaning land of
the Kurmavatar (the tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the preserver according
to Hindu mythology). The region of Kumaon is named after as such.

See also

• Kumauni People
• Famous kumaonis
• Maneaters of
  Kumaon