Chand kingdom

The Chand Kings were a medieval Rajput ruling clan of the Kumaon region of the Uttarakhand state of India, which ruled the region after the decline of Katyuri Kings in 11th century AD. It claimed Raghuvanshi ancestry.

History

Inception

The Chand kingdom was established by Som Chand, who came here from Kannauj 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 the 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.

In 1563, the Chand kings took control of the region, by overpowering small local chiefs and the descendants of Katyuri Kings.

They had brief stints with the Rajput clans in Gangoli and Bankot; then predominant there the Mankotis of Mankot, the Pathanis of Athigaon-Kamsyar, Kalakotis and few Khas Rajput Clans of the region. However they were able to establish their domain there.

Later their capital was shifted to Almora by Raja Kalyan Chand in 1563, when he laid the foundation of a town name 'Alam Nagar', which was also called, 'Rajapur',^[2]^[3] a name that still used and has been found inscribed on a number of copper plates of the time.^[4]

Mughal historians mention that Chand ruler, Gyan Chand, visited Delhi Sultanate and received the regions of Bhabhar- Terai up to the Ganges as a grant from then Sultan. The lower hills remained under local chieftains; it was Kirti Chand (1488–1503), who first ruled the entire of Nainital district, along with the rest of Kumaon.

In 1581, the Chand King, Rudra Chand (1565–1597), son of Raja Kalyan Chand seized Sira defeating Raika king Hari Malla and attacked the Garhwal Kingdom for the first time, though this attack was repulsed by then king, Dularam Sah,^[5] and so were his subsequent attacks. Rudra Chandra was a contemporary of Akbar, and even paid him a visit in Lahore in 1587, as a mark of his obeisance. Akbarnama mentions him as "one of the great landlords of India", and further talks about his initial hestitation in approaching the court of Akbar, it was only Raja Todar Mal himself, sent his son Kalyan Das to assure him, did his proceed to meet Akbar. Subsequently, the two met and agreed on a concord,^[6] and thus Ain-e-Akbari, written during period of Akbar, also mentions the Sarkar of Kumaon, containing 21 Mahals (a geographical unit of the times) and the revenue collected.^[7]

After death of Rudra Chand in 1597, his son, Lakshmi Chand, also continued attacks of Garhwal for many years, though he too was repulsed. He also constructed the ‘Bagnath temple’ at Bageshwar in 1602.^{[citation needed]}

Peak

One of most powerful rulers of the Chand dynasty was Baz Bahadur (1638–78), 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.^[8] He also built the Bhimeshwara Mahadev Temple at Bhimtal.^[9]

Towards the end of 17th century, Chand Rajas again attacked the 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.^[10] Later, Jagat Chand (1708–20), defeated the Raja of Garhwal and pushed him away from Srinagar, and his kingdom was given to a Brahmin.^[11] 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.

The Chand kings also defeated the Rajwars of Askot, though the latter were allowed to hold their land on the payment of a tribute.^[12]

The hill station of Binsar, 30 km from Almora was a summer retreat of the Chand kings.^[13]

In the coming years, Jagat Chand’s successor, Debi Chand (1720-6) took part in the wars of Rohillas of Rohilkhand, and was defeated by the British troops.^[1]

Decline

In 1744, Ali Mohammed Khan, the Rohilla leader, sent a force into the Chand territory and penetrated through Bhimtal in the Nainital district to Almora; the resistance of Chand army, under its ruler, Kalyan Chand, was weak and ineffective, and Almora fell to the Rohillas, who stayed here for seven short months, though they were ultimately driven out, an exit made possible by paying them a sum of three lakh rupees, and hastened by the harsh terrain of the region.

This peace didn’t last long as after just three months, unhappy over his lieutenants, Ali Mohammed Khan attacked again, though this time, he was stopped right at the entrance to the hills, at Barakheri, and defeated; and he made no further attempts to conquer the Kumaon kingdom, nor did the Muslim rulers of Delhi, and this remained the first and the last attack by Muslim rulers on the region. Reconciliation subsequently came into effected; troops from the hills, under Dip Chand, fought side by side with the Rohillas at Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.^[1]

In 1760, he renamed the old Parbateshwer temple as Dipchandeshwar temple ^[10]

During British rule, then divisional commissioner of Kumaon, George William Trail, got the statue of the Nanda Devi, which had been relocated to the Udyot Chandeshwar temple, from the 'Malla Mahal' (Upper Court) of Chand kings, where the present collectorate exists, and in time, the temple started being called the ‘Nanda Devi temple’. The 'Talla Mahal' (Lower Court) of Chand rulers now houses the District Hospital.^[14]

Due to internal strife, in the coming thirty years the kings lost most of the land they had previously ruled in the plains, and retained only the Bhabhar region.

In 1779, a subsequent Garhwal king, Lalit Shah, captured the Kumaon region from a usurper. Lalit Shah made his son Parduman Shah the king of the Kumaon territory, and after a few years, on the death of his brother in Srinagar, Parduman Shah even held the seat of a combined kingdom of Kumaon and Garhwal for a year, before choosing to go back to Srinagar, in the familiar grounds of Garhwal.

In early 1790, the Gurkhas invaded the Kumaon hills and Almora, under their powerful chief ‘Prithvi Narayan’; they advanced by crossing River Kali, through Gangoli; and the Chands, under the titular Chand Raja, were driven to the Bhabhar and finally expelled.

The Terai and Kashipur were ceded to the British by the Nawab of Awadh in 1801, along with the rest of Rohilkhand.

Nepalese rule lasted for^[15] twenty-four years. The end came because of their repeated intrusion into British territories in the Terai from 1800 onwards. Lord Moira, the Governor-General of India, decided to attack Almora in December 1814, marking the beginning of the Anglo-Nepalese War.^[3] After the war, the old Lal Mandi fort, near Almora (present cantonment), was renamed ‘Fort Moira’.^[16]

Harak Deo Joshi, the minister of the last Chand Raja,^[17] took the side of the British, a force of 4500 men marched from Kashipur in February, 1815. Champawat was first taken in March from Pilibhit, through the Kali River. Within two months, a strong British army under Colonel Nichols attacked and captured Almora, on 26 April 1815.^[18] A truce was called the same day, and with the ratification of Treaty of Sugauli on 4 March 1816, Kumaon and Garhwal became a part of the British Raj.

List of Chand Kings

Badri Datt Pandey, in his book Kumaun Ka Itihaas lists the Chand kings as following:^[19]

King	Reign	Notes
Som Chand	700-721
Atm Chand	721-740
Purn Chand	740-758
Indra Chand	758-778	Opened Silk Factories
Sansar Chand	778-813
Sudha Chand	813-833
Hamir Chand	833-856
Vina Chand	856-869	Lost to Khas Kings
Vir Chand	1065-1080
Rup Chand	1080-1093
Laxmi Chand	1093-1113
Dharm Chand	1113-1121
Karm Chand	1121-1140
Ballal Chand	1140-1149
Nami Chand	1149-1170
Nar Chand	1170-1177
Nanaki Chand	1177-1195
Ram Chand	1195-1205
Bhishm Chand	1205-1226
Megh Chand	1226-1233
Dhyan Chand	1233-1251
Parvat Chand	1251-1261
Thor Chand	1261-1275
Kalyan Chand II	1275-1296
Trilok Chand	1296-1303	Conquered Chhakhata Built a fort at Bhimtal
Damaru Chand	1303-1321
Dharm Chand	1321-1344
Abhay Chand	1344-1374
Garur Gyan Chand	1374-1419	Established authority over Bhabar and Terai; later lost them to nawab of Sambhal
Harihar Chand	1419-1420
Udyan Chand	1420-1421	built Baleshwar Temple at Champawat Captured Chaugarkha
Atma Chand II	1421-1422
Hari Chand II	1422-1423
Vikram Chand	1423-1437	Completed Baleshwar Temple
Bharati Chand	1437-1450	Defeated Doti
Ratna Chand	1450-1488	Defeated Bams of Sor Defeated Doti again
Kirti Chand	1488-1503	annexed Barahmandal, Pali and Faldakot
Pratap Chand	1503-1517
Tara Chand	1517-1533
Manik Chand	1533-1542
Kalyan Chand III	1542-1551
Purna Chand	1551-1555
Bhishm Chand	1555-1560	laid foundation stone of Alamnagar lost Barahmandal to Khas Sardar Gajuwathinga
Balo Kalyan Chand	1560-1568	recaptured Barahmandal moved capital to Alamnagar and renamed it Almora Annexed Mankot and Danpur
Rudra Chand	1568-1597	Successfully defended Terai from nawab of Kath and Gola founded the city of Rudrapur Annexed Sira
Laxmi Chand	1597-1621	built Laxmeswar and Bagnath Temple at Almora and Bageshwar respectively Invaded Garhwal 7 times without any Success
Dilip Chand	1621-1624
Vijay Chand	1624-1625
Trimal Chand	1625-1638
Baz Bahadur Chand	1638-1678
Udyot Chand	1678-1698
Gyan Chand	1698-1708
Jagat Chand	1708-1720
Devi Chand	1720-1726
Ajit Chand	1726-1729
Kalyan Chand V	1729-1747	Defeated by Rohillas
Deep Chand	1747-1777
Mohan Chand	1777-1779	Defeated by King Lalit Shah of Garhwal
Pradyumn Chand	1779-1786	Son of king Lalit Shah of Garhwal
Mohan Chand	1786-1788	Overthrew Pradyumn Shah; Became king for second time
Shiv Chand	1788
Mahendra Chand	1788-1790

Legacy

The first capital of Chand rulers, Champawat, in the stronghold popularly known as Kali Kumaon, is now a district headquarters town, and hold many remnants of once powerful Chand reign, including a medieval fort, Baleshwar temple, Nagnath Temple, etc. Other temples of their reign are Golu Devata Temple, at Ghorakhal, near Bhimtal, and Bhimeshwara Mahadev Temple at Bhimtal.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d History of Nainital District The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 18, p. 324-325.
^ History of Almora city Archived 25 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b Champawat Archived 9 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine British Library.
^ Kumaon Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Official website of Almora district.
^ Garhwal history www.garhwalhimalayas.com.
^ Rudra Akbarnama of Abu Fazl, Volume 3, chpt. 196.p807, "On 9 Āẓar he received the felcity..."1588
^ Sarkár of Kumáon Ain-e-Akbari Vol II, pp. 289.
^ Chitai Temple Archived 13 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ Bhimtal British Library.
^ ^a ^b Almora Temples www.uttaranchal.org.
^ History of Garhwal District The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 12, p. 165-166.
^ Askot The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 6, p. 14.
^ Almora Archived 13 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Almora city official website.
^ . Devi Temple Nanda Devi Temple Archived 25 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine website of Almora city.
^ Cruel Gurkha Regime www.uttaranchal.org.
^ Almora Archived 9 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine British Library.
^ Chand Rajas in Kashipur Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ History of Almora District The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 5, p. 245-246.
^ Pandey(1993) pg197-332