History
Literally
North Country or
Section in
Sanskrit, the name of Uttarakhand finds mention in the early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand (present day
Garhwal) and Manaskhand (present day
Kumaon). Uttarakhand was also the ancient
Puranic term for the central stretch of the Indian
Himalayas. It is well-known for the presence of a multitude of
Hindu pilgrimage spots. The
Pauravas,
Kushanas,
Kunindas,
Guptas,
Katyuris,
Raikas, Palas, the
Chands, and
Parmaras or
Panwars and the
British have ruled Uttarakhand in turns.
[5]
The region was originally settled by
Kols, an aboriginal people of the austro-asiatic physical type who were later joined by
Indo-Aryan Khas tribes that arrived from the northwest by the
Vedic period. At that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a haunt for
Rishis and
Sadhus. It is believed that Sage
Vyasa scripted the
Mahabharata here as the
Pandavas are believed to have traveled and camped in the region. Among the first major dynasties of
Garhwal and
Kumaon were the
Kunindas in the 2nd century B.C. who practiced an early form of
Shaivism. They traded salt with Western
Tibet. It is evident from the
Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western
Garhwal that
Buddhism made inroads in this region. Folk
shamanic practices deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here. However,
Garhwal and
Kumaon were restored to nominal
Brahmanical rule due to the travails of
Shankaracharya and the arrival of migrants from the plains. Between the 4th and 14th centuries, the
Katyuri dynasty of Khas origin dominated lands of varying extent from the Katyur (modern day
Baijnath) valley in Kumaon. The historically significant temples at
Jageshwar are believed to have been built by the Katyuris and later remodeled by the
Chands. Other peoples of the
Tibeto-Burman group known as
Kiratas are thought to have settled in the northern highlands as well as in pockets throughout the region, and believed to be the ancestors to the modern day
Bhotiya, Raji, Buksha, and
Tharu peoples.
[6]
By the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the
Garhwal Kingdom in the west and the
Kumaon Kingdom in the east. From the 13th-18th century, Kumaon prospered under the
Chand Rajas who had their origins in the plains of India. During this period, learning and new forms of painting (the
Pahari school of art) developed.
[7] Modern-day
Garhwal was likewise unified under the rule of Parmar/Panwar Rajas, who along with a mass migration of
Brahmins and
Rajputs, also arrived from the plains.
[8] In 1791, the expanding
Gurkha Empire of
Nepal, overran
Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom. In 1803, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to the Gurkhas. With the conclusion of the
Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816, a rump portion of the
Garhwal Kingdom was reestablished from
Tehri, and eastern
British Garhwal and
Kumaon ceded to the British as part of the
Treaty of Sugauli.
In the post-independence period, the Tehri princely state was merged into
Uttar Pradesh state, where Uttarakhand composed the
Garhwal and
Kumaon Divisions.
[9] Until 1998, Uttarakhand was the name most commonly used to refer to the region, as various political groups including most significantly the
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Uttarakhand Revolutionary Party est. 1979), began agitating for separate statehood under its banner. Although the erstwhile hill kingdoms of
Garhwal and
Kumaon were traditional rivals with diverse lingual and cultural influences due to the proximity of different neighbouring ethnic groups, the inseparable and complementary nature of their geography, economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds between the two regions.
[10] These bonds formed the basis of the new political identity of Uttarakhand, which gained significant momentum in 1994, when demand for separate statehood (within the Union of India) achieved almost unanimous acceptance among the local populace as well as political parties at the national level.
[11] Most notable incident during this period was the
Rampur Tiraha firing case on the night of 1 October 1994, which led to public uproar.
[12] On 24 September 1998 Uttar Pradesh
Legislative Assembly passed the 'Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill', 1998, which eventually led to the creation of the state,
[13] eventually the
Parliament passed the
Indian Federal Legislation - Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2000, and thus on 9 November 2000,
[14] Uttarakhand became the 27th state in the
Republic of India.
However, the term
Uttaranchal came into use when the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central and Uttar Pradesh state governments initiated a new round of state reorganization in 1998 and introduced its preferred name. Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among the rank and file of the separate state activists who saw it as a political act,
[15] however they were not quite as successful as
Jharkhand state that successfully thwarted a similar move to impose the name
Vananchal. Nevertheless, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage.
In August 2006, India's Union Cabinet assented to the four-year-old demand of the Uttaranchal state assembly and leading members of the Uttarakhand movement to rename Uttaranchal state as Uttarakhand. Legislation to that effect was passed by the State Legislative Assembly in October 2006,
[16] and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament. The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by the President in December 2006. Since then, Uttarakhand denotes a state in the Union of India.
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