History of the Panwar Dynasty
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| History of the Panwar Dynasty |
In the history of Uttarakhand, the Panwar dynasty ruled over Garhwal for a very long time. The most majestic kings of the Panwar dynasty, who ruled Garhwal, not only combined the 52 qualities of Uttarakhand in their state. Rather, in the field of culture and art, this hilly area of Garhwal also gave its identity. Through this post, important information has been given about the history of the Panwar dynasty in Uttarakhand. Which have been collected through various books on the history of Uttarakhand.
Knowing about the history of Uttarakhand, Kushan and Katyuri rule lasted here for a long time. But when the Katyuri rule over Uttarakhand fell, that two kingdoms emerged here - the Chand dynasty in Kumaon and the Panwar dynasty in Garhwal.
The most glorious kings of the Chand dynasty and the Panwar dynasty ruled Uttarakhand for a long time and contributed significantly to the expansion of its culture and art. After the rule of the Katyuris, the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand was divided into 52 Gunas. All these strongholds used to fight with each other. One of those strongholds was Chandpurgarh where the kings of Panwar (Parmar dynasty) were established.
The kings of the Panwar dynasty (Parmar dynasty)
Kanakpal
According to the genealogies of Brackett and Williams, Kanakpal was the founder of the Panwar dynasty. However, in the genealogy obtained from Almora, the person who founded the Panwar dynasty in Garhwal, Bhagwan Pal, according to the genealogy of Molaram, Bhauna Pal and Haivik's lineage has been described as a person named Bhog Dutt, the founder of the Panwar dynasty. But many historians consider Brackett's genealogy to be authentic, as the founder of the Panwar dynasty, Raja Kanakpal.
Kanakpal is said to have come on a pilgrimage from Gujarat to Uttarakhand where he met King Sonpal of Chandpurgarh. King Sonpal married his daughter to Kanak Pal and handed him the royal text of Chandpur Garh.
Ajay Pal
After the death of King Kanakpal, many Panwar dynasty kings ruled Chandpurgarh, including Jagatpal, Sahajpal, etc. But Ajaypal is most mentioned in the Panwar dynasty.
Ajaypal has been called the most majestic king of the Panwar dynasty in Garhwal. Ajaypal is mentioned in the book Manodaya by poet Bharata. The poet has compared Ajaypal with Krishna, Yudhishthira, Bhima, Kuber, and Indra in this book.
Ajaypal established the kingdom of the Panwar dynasty on Garhwal by conquering 52 strongholds of Garhwal.
Raja Jaipal moved the capital from Chandpur Garh to Srinagar Garhwal. He established the temple of his Kuldevi Rajarajeshwari in Devalgarh. According to historians, King Ajaypal was a follower of the Gorakhnath sect. A picture of his meditation posture is also seen in the temple of Chandpurgarh. Ajaypal is addressed as Adinath in the Sanvari Granth. In the time of Raja Jaipal, there is a mention of King Kirti Chand's attack on Garhwal of the Chand dynasty.
Sahaj Pal
After Ajaypal, according to the lineage of the Panwar dynasty, Kalyan Shah, Vijaypal, Hansdev Pal, and Sundarpal ascended the throne, but there is no specific information available in relation to all of these. According to Manvodaya poetry, Ajaypal's son was Sahajpal.
In this poem, Sahajpal has been described as a person who wants the welfare of the people, a destroyer of enemies, a wise politician, a donor, a scholar, and a patron.
Manshah
After Sahajpal, information about other kings of the Panwar dynasty is clearly available from Manshah itself. Manodaya poetry was also composed during the time of Manshah. Mansingh is considered a contemporary of the Mughal kings Akbar and Jahangir.
Inscriptions have been received about Manshah in the area of Devprayag and Raghunathji temple. At the time of Manshah, the king of Kumaon was Lakshmichand. According to Badri Dutt Pandey's history of Kumaon, Manshah attacked Kumaon and defeated Laxmichand badly. Poet Bharat has written about the bravery of Manshah in Manoday Kavya.
Shyam shah
After the death of Manshah, the throne of the Panwar dynasty was taken over by his son Shyam Shah. According to Jahangir Nama, Shyam Shah had presented horses and elephants as a gift to the Mughal court. The Tibet robbers who were repressed during the time of Manshah rose again during the rule of Shyam Shah.
Shyam Shah is also described as the luxurious king of the Panwar dynasty. However, still, He did not get a child. There is also a mention of Sati of 60 queens after the death of Shyam Shah.
Mahipati Shah
Due to not being the son of Shyam Singh, his uncle Mahipati Shah took over the throne of the Panwar dynasty in Garhwal. Mahipati shah was a skilled politician and war-fighting king.
As soon as he took over the throne of the Garhwal dynasty, he kept fighting in the war with the enemies. Mahipati Shah had invaded Tibet three times during his reign.
Mahipati Shah also got the title of Garva Bhanjan from these wars. In the Tibet campaigns of Mahipatishah, there is also a mention of the heroic saga of his commander Madhu Singh Bhandari.
During this campaign, Mahipati Shah also practiced a custom called Roti Shuchi. After this practice, one could cook food without taking off any clothes. At the same time, the practice of leaving the roti to be clean i.e. pure was prevalent.
According to this, even Brahmins could eat bread from the hands of Kshatriyas. During the Tibet campaign, Mahipatishah had also done the task of determining the boundary of his kingdom with the new Madho Singh Bhandari.
Mahipati Shah died during the invasion of Kumaon. It is said that Mahipati Shah killed 3 Naga sadhus. To atone for this, the Brahmins had advised him that sit in a Peepal bowl and filled it with water, smelt gold, and drink it or die fighting in a war.
Prithvipati Shah
After the death of King Mahipati Shah, his son Prithvipati Shah became the heir to the throne of the Panwar dynasty. According to historians, when Prithvipati Shah sat on the throne, his age was only 7 years. Therefore, during that time the role of the protector of the state was played by his mother, Rani Karnavati.
Rani Karnavati is famous in history as Nak Katti Rani. It is said that after hearing the news of Rani's power over Garhwal, the Mughal army marched on Garhwal under the leadership of Najabat Khan. But he had to face the brave sons of Garhwal.
After assuming the throne of Prithvipati Shah, Dara Shikoh came to Garhwal with his son Suleman Shikoh after being defeated by Aurangzeb. After coming to Garhwal, he took shelter in Srinagar, the capital of Prithvipati Shah.
Aurangzeb considered it a grave insult when the Panwars gave shelter to his enemy and wrote a letter to him advising Prithvipati Shah to send Suleman to Delhi immediately. But Prithvipati Shah ignored Aurangzeb's warnings and threats.
However, Medini shah, son of Prithvipati Shah, considered Suleman Shikoh a threat to the throne of Garh Rajya, so he cleverly handed over Suleman Shikoha to the Mughals.
Medni shah
The next successor of the Panwar dynasty based in Garhwal is said to be Medinishah, son of Prithvi Pati Shah. Although many historians believe that due to the handing over of Suleiman Shikoh to the Mughals, Prithvipati Shah understood it as a traitor and expelled him from the dynasty. So he took refuge in Aurangzeb Mughal Dynasty.
On the other hand, some historians believe that Medinishah took power from Prithvi Pati Shah. At the same time, due to the handing over of Suleiman Shikoh to the Mughal army, Medinish had obtained the favor of Aurangzeb.
Medini Shah led the Mughal army sent to Butulgarh in Himachal Pradesh. Aurangzeb, pleased to have conquered Butulgarh, gave him back the Doon region. It was during the reign of Medni Shah that the Raika of Doti and the army of Garhwal attacked Kumaon. Who was defeated in battle by Chand ruler Udyot Chand of Kumaon.
Fatehshah
After the death of Medni Shah, Fateh Shah became the king of the kingdom. The mention of the reign of Fateh Shah is found in inscriptions inscribed during the Sikh, Muslim period and in Sikh, Muslim texts.
During the reign of Fatehshah, the poem of Fatehshah Yashovarnan was written by his court poet Ramchandra Kandiyal. Fatehshah invaded the Sirmaur kingdom and conquered Barahgarh and Kalsi.
According to history, Fateh Shah fought with Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs. In this war, Raja Medni Prakash of the Sirmaur kingdom supported the Sikh Guru.
It was during the rule of Fatehshah that the Chandra ruler Gyan Chand defeated the Garhwal king in the battle of new Dudhauli. Fatehshah had given refuge to Ram Rai, the son of Har Rai, the seventh Guru of the Sikhs, in his kingdom. It was Fatehshah who founded the city of Fatehpur.
Pradeepshah
After Fatehshah, Upendra Shah became the king, he was a great judicial, religious, and wise king, but he died after a few months. As he did not have any children, his younger brother Dilip Shah's son Pradeep Shah was made the next king of the Panwar dynasty.
When Pradeep Shah sat on the throne of Panwar dynasty, his age is said to be only 5 years. During the rule of Pradeep Shah, Chand ruler Devi Chand attacked the republic and looted Lohagarh and Badhangarh. However, Devi Chand had to face defeat in that war.
During the reign of Pradeep Shah, there is also mention of Puriya Naithani, who is called Chanakya of Garhwal. During the rule of Pradeep Shah, the power of Kumaon weakened after the rule of Devi Chand, the ruler of the Chand dynasty. It is said that Pradeep Shah had also ended his years of enmity to help the Chand kingdom.
Lalit Shah
After Pradeep Shah, his son Lalit Sah became the king of Panwar dynasty. Information about them is obtained from Molaram's Garh dynasty poetry and Sikh texts. Lalit Shah conquered Bairatgarh in 1779 by attacking the Sirmaur kingdom.
Raja Lalit Shah had 4 sons - Jayakrit Shah, Pradyumna Shah, Parakram Shah and Pritam Shah. Lalit Shah overthrew the unstable power of the Chand dynasty and placed his son Pradyumna Shah on the throne of Kumaon.
Pradyuman Shah
After the death of Lalit Shah, there was a struggle for the throne of the Panwar dynasty of Garh Rajya. Immediately after the death of Lalit Shah, Jayakrit Shah ascended the throne of the Republic. Both Jayakrit Shah and Pradyumna Shah were half-brothers. There was enmity between the two.
Jayakrit Shah revolted against Pradyuman Shah's throne as Pradyuman Shah ascended the Kumaon throne. Due to this Pradyuman Shah waged a civil war against Jayakrit Shah and defeated Jayakrit Shah and sat on the throne of Srinagar.
In history, Pradyumnashah is the only ruler who ruled both Kumaon and Garhwal. During Pradyuman Shah, the entire Kumaon-Garhwal was under attack by the Gorkhas. In 1790 AD, Gorkhas first conquered Kumaon and then in 1804 defeated Pradyuman Shah in the battle of Khudbra and took the entire Kumaon-Garhwal under their control.
Pradyuman Shah died in the battle of Khudbra and after which the power of the Panwar dynasty over Garhwal also ended. To defeat the Gurkhas, Pradyuman Shah's son Sudarshan Shah took the help of the British, due to which the entire Kumaon-Garhwal was under British rule and the Panwar kings were given the Tehri princely state to rule.
Ruler of Tehri princely state after Pradyumna Shah
- Sudarshan Shah
- Bhavani Shah
- Pratap Shah
- Kirtishah
- Narendra Shah
- Manvendra Shah
Parmar dynasty (Tehri princely state) after Pradyuman Shah
- After Pradyuman Shah, Sudarshan Shah ascended the throne, but this state was divided into Garhwal and Tehri princely states.
- Sudarshan Shah started ruling the Tehri princely state which was made up of present Tehri and Uttarkashi. Sudarshan Shah died in 1859.
- After Sudarshan Shah, Bhavani Shah sat on the throne. But Bhavani Shah was removed from the throne by Sher Shah, the younger son of Sudarshan Shah. Later, after the intervention of the British, Bhawani Shah got the throne again and Sher Shah was expelled from the country. On behalf of the British, at that time, the commissioner of Nainital, Henry Ramsay, had lobbied.
- Pratap Shah ascended the throne after Bhavani Shah. English education started in the princely state of Tehri during the time of Pratapshah. Pratap Shah also established Pratap Nagar. Pratap Shah had three sons. Kirti Shah, Kunwar Vichatra, Kunwar Surendra Shah.
- After Pratap Shah, Kirti Shah took over the throne. He was a minor adult when he sat on the throne. His throne was protected by his mother Guleria.
- Kirti Shah studied at Mayo College, Ajmer. After that on May 27, 1897, he got the full rights of the princely state of Tehri.
- He was given the title of Champion of India by the British on 31 December 1898. At the same time, on 9 November 1901, he was also awarded the title of Knight Commander. He established Pratap High School and a Sanskrit college in Tehri. He died on 25 April 1913.
- Narendra Shah took over the throne after Kirti Shah. Narendra Shah established Narendra Nagar and shifted the capital from Tehri here.
- Narendra Shah was given the title of Sir and KCSI.
- Narendra Shah had also given financial assistance to the Hindu University established by Madan Mohan Malviya.
- He gave this donation in memory of his father Kirti shah. Till now "Sir Kirti Shah Chair of Industrial Chemistry" is established at Hindu University.
- Banaras University gave him the degree of L&D in 1937.
- It was Narendra Shah who got the roads built.
- It was during his reign that the incident of Rawain Kand happened. At that time he was on a tour of England where he was given an 11-canon salute.
- At the same time, in 1944, after 84 days of fasting, Shridev Suman also died under his rule. However, on his way to Bombay, he had ordered the release of Shri Dev Suman.
- The High Court was also established by Narendra Shah in 1938.
- After Narendra Shah, Manvendra Shah sat on the throne.
- In 1948, he organized the Praja Mandal cabinet and on 1 August 1949, the Tehri princely state was merged with India.
Also Read: Uttarakhand : The making of a new hill state
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This Whole article is originally written by Deepak Bisht on wegarhwali.com. It is a translated version of that article if you find some errors. Please correct us. :)