Garhwal division

 ( Divisions Of Uttarakhand ) 

Garhwal ( is one of the two administrative divisions of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Lying in the Himalayas, it is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Kumaon division, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the northwest by Himachal Pradesh state. It includes the districts of Chamoli District, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, and Uttarkashi. The people of Garhwal are known as Garhwali people and speak the Garhwali language. The administrative center for Garhwal division is the town of Pauri. The Divisional Commissioner is the administrative head of the Division, and is a senior Indian Administrative Service officer. As the administrative head of the division, the Commissioner is overall incharge of the 7 districts in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, and is aided in his duties by an additional commissioner and the district magistrates. Sushil Kumar is the divisional commissioner of the Garhwal Division since December 2021.

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History The Garhwal Himalayas appear to have been a favourite locale for the voluminous mythology of the Puranic period. The traditional name of Garhwal was kedarkhand means "the land of God".

(2025). 9780143066026, Penguin Books India. . ISBN 9780143066026

Excavations have revealed that it formed part of the Mauryan Empire.'Ancient Communities of the Himalaya', Page 48, Dinesh Prasad Saklani, 1998

The earliest reference regarding Garhwal and its pride spots are cited in the Skanda Purana and the Mahabharata in the Vana Parva. Skanda Purana defines the boundaries and extend of this holy land.

It also finds mention in the 7th-century travelogue of Xuanzang. However, it is with Adi Shankara that the name of Garhwal will always be linked, for the great 8th-century spiritual reformer visited the remote, snow-laden heights of Garhwal, established a Joshimath and restored some of the most sacred shrines, including Badrinath and Kedarnath.

The history of Garhwal as a unified whole began in the 15th century, when king Ajai Pal merged the 52 separate principalities, each with its own garh or fortress. For 300 years, Garhwal remained one kingdom, with its capital at Srinagar (on the left bank of Alaknanda River). Then Pauri and Dehradun were perforce ceded to the Crown as payment for British help, rendered to the Garhwalis during the Gurkha invasion, in the early 19th century.

The earliest ruling dynasty of Garhwal known is of the Katyuri kings. The Katyuri Raja of Uttarakhand (Kumaon Kingdom and Garhwal Kingdom) was styled 'Sri Basdeo Giriraj Chakara Churamani'. The earliest traditions record that the possessions of Joshimath Katyuris in Garhwal extended from Satluj as far as Gandaki River and from the snows to plains, including the whole of Rohilkhand. Tradition gives the origin of their Raj at Joshimath in the north near Badrinath and subsequent migration to Katyur Valley in Almora district, where a city called Kartikeyapura was founded.

Katyuris ruled Uttarakhand up to the 11th century and in certain pockets even after their decline. In Garhwal their disruption brought into existence 52 independent chiefs. One of the important principalities in that period was that of Parmars, who held their sway over Chandpur Garhi or Fortress. Katyuris ruled Uttarakhand up to the 11th century and in certain pockets even after their decline. Kanak Pal was progenitor of this dynasty. Raja Ajay Pal, a scion of the Parmars in the 14th century is credited with having brought these chiefs under his rule. After his conquest Ajay Pal's domain was recognised as Garhwal owing to exuberance of forts. It is possible that after annexing all principalities, Raja Ajay Pal must have become famous as Garhwala, the owner of forts. With the passage of time his kingdom came to be known as Garhwal.

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Garhwal Kingdom Garhwal Kingdom was founded by Parmars. Nearly 700 years ago, one of these chiefs, Ajai Pal, reduced all the minor principalities under him and founded the Garhwal Kingdom. He and his ancestors ruled over Garhwal and the adjacent state of Tehri-Garhwal, in an uninterrupted line till 1803, when the invaded Kumaon and Garhwal, driving the Garhwal chief into the plains. For 12 years the Gurkhas ruled the country with an iron rod, until a series of encroachments by them on British territory led to the Gurkha War in 1814. At the termination of the campaign, Garhwal and Kumaon were converted into British districts, while the Tehri principality was restored to a son of the former chief.

The British district of Garhwal was in the Kumaon Division of the United Provinces, and had an area of . After annexation, Garhwal rapidly advanced in material prosperity. IN 1901 the population was 429,900. Two battalions of the Indian army (the 39th Garhwal Rifles) were recruited in the district, which contained the military cantonment of Lansdowne. Grain and coarse cloth were exported, and salt, borax, livestock and wool were imported. Trade with Tibet was considerable. The administrative headquarters was at the village of Pauri, but Srinagar was the largest city. It was an important mart, as was Kotdwara, the terminus of a branch of the Oudh and Rohilkhand railway from Najibabad.

During the turn of the 19th century, the Gurkhas attacked Garhwal and drove the rulers of Garhwal down to the plains (Rishikesh, DehraDun). Pradyumna Shah died fighting at the battle of Khurbura. Thereafter the rulers of Garhwal took the help of the British forces in India and regained their kingdom. The rulers of Garhwal gave away 60% of their kingdom for the support the British gave them in driving back the Gurhkas.

During the Second World War, the Raja Narendra Shah contributed his troops and aircraft to the British war effort. In recognition for his services, the British gave him the title of "Maharaja", made him a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) and knighted him. Thus his full title was Sir Maharaja Narendra Shah KCSI.

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Geography The region consists almost entirely of rugged mountain ranges running in all directions and separated by narrow valleys, which in some cases become deep gorges or ravines. The only level portion of the district was a narrow strip of waterless forest between the southern slopes of the hills and the fertile plains of Rohilkhand. The highest mountains are in the eastern Chamoli district, the principal peaks being Nanda Devi , Kamet , Chaukhamba , Trisul , Dunagiri , and Kedarnath .

The Alaknanda River, one of the main sources of the Ganges, receives with its affluents the whole drainage of the district. At Devprayag the Alaknanda joins the Bhagirathi, and thenceforward the united streams bear the name of the Ganges. Cultivation is principally confined to the immediate vicinity of the rivers, which are employed for irrigation.

In June 2013 a multi-day cloudburst centered in the mountainous valleys of the area resulted in widespread damage and over 5,000 deaths. It was India's worst natural disaster insofar as death toll since the 2004 tsunami.

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Demographics

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People The majority of the inhabitants are Garhwalis. The culture of the present Garhwal is an amalgamation of influences from the indigenous population coupled with traditions superimposed by immigrants who settled in the region. A majority of the people are involved in the agriculture, tourism and the defence industry.

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Languages Native to million people, Hindi has official status and is widely used in administration and education. Garhwali, spoken by about million people as of the 2011 census, is the majority language in all but the two southern districts of Haridwar and Dehradun, where the language with the largest proportion of speakers according to the census was Hindi. Other languages with large numbers of speakers are Urdu (, mostly in Haridwar and Dehradun), Jaunsari ( people mostly in the Jaunsar–Bawar region of Dehradun), Nepali language ( speakers, with the largest concentration in Dehradun), and Punjabi language (, mostly in Dehradun). The set of indigenous languages also includes Mahasu Pahari (found in the north-western district of Uttarkashi in the north-west), and the Sino-Tibetan languages Jad language (also in Uttarkashi) and Rongpo language (of Chamoli district).

Bengali language	839	472	102	813	9,258	435	3,708	15,627	0.3%
Bhojpuri	1,128	1,348	371	3,427	14,805	1,020	3,201	25,300	0.4%
Garhwali	266,621	350,667	228,916	560,020	285,563	572,792	14,638	2,279,217	38.9%
Hindi	24,035	19,956	10,167	37,092	1,014,363	91,360	1,649,529	2,846,502	48.6%
Jaunpuri/Jaunsari	3,066	59	22	6,046	126,098	126	88	135,505	2.3%
Kumauni language	425	3,719	172	861	18,597	4,645	1,805	30,224	0.5%
Pahari language	7,190	95	9	250	5,199	21	417	13,181	0.2%
Nepali language	7,162	5,394	1,444	5,876	56,281	8,289	1,055	85,501	1.5%
Punjabi language	958	433	83	541	56,927	1,377	15,570	75,889	1.3%
Urdu language	1,317	563	155	622	64,762	2,860	182,536	252,815	4.3%
Bhotia language	1,124	6,201	9	5	276	16	10	7,641	0.1%
Standard Tibetan	20	5	0	9	9,892	8	16	9,950	0.2%
–	Others| align=right 16,201	2,693	835	3,369	34,673	4,322	17,849	79,942	1.4%
Total		330,086	391,605	242,285	618,931	1,696,694	687,271	1,890,422	5,857,294	100.0%

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External links

Categories: Divisions Of Uttarakhand