Guler was a small precolonial

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n hill state in the Lower

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. Its capital was the town of

Haripur Guler Haripur is a township in Kangra district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Haripur Guler are twin townships carrying the heritage of Guler Riyasat. A river separates the two towns which further makes Pong wetland, a Ramsar Wetalnd Site, ...

, in modern-day

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

. The kingdom was founded in 1415 by Raja Hari Chand, a scion of the ancient royal family of Kangra. Guler State is famous as the birthplace of

Kangra painting Kangra painting (Hindi: कांगड़ा चित्रकारी) is the pictorial art of Kangra, named after the Kangra State, a former princely state of Himachal Pradesh, which patronized the art. It became prevalent with the fading ...

in the first half of the 18th century when a family of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

i painters trained in

Mughal painting Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums (muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It e ...

sought shelter at the court of Raja Dalip Singh (r. 1695–1741) of Guler. The rise of Guler Paintings or Guler style started in what is known as the early phase of Kangra art.

History

Early history

According to legends, the Guler state was founded at an uncertain date between 1405 and 1450 by Raja Hari Chand. One fateful day, he fell into a dry well while hunting. Since no one could find him, the Raja was presumed dead and his brother was then named the Raja of

Kangra State Kangra-Lambagraon was a historical princely estate (''jagir'') of British India located in the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1947, the estate comprised 437 villages, encompassing an area of 324 km2. It had with a Privy Purse o ...

. When Raja Hari Chand was eventually brought back alive from the well, instead of fighting for his rights to the throne, he founded the town of Haripur on the valley below the fort by the Banganga River.

British Raj

In 1813, Guler state was annexed to British India, after a brief period of Sikh rule under Maharaja

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

. Bhup Singh (1765 - 1826) was the last ruling king. He accepted a

jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...

in Nandpur in 1826. The jagir was recognized by the British government in 1853. In 1877, his son Shamsher Singh died without male heirs and the state lapsed.

Rulers

A list of rulers of the Guler state who formerly bore the title Mian and later '

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Rajas

* 1247- 1267. Hari Chander * 1271- 1292. Gun Chand * 1293- 1310. Udhan Chander * 1310 - 1333. Swaran Chand * 1333- 1347. Gyan Chander * 1348 - 1367. Narender Chander * 1367 - 1389. Udhen Chander * 1389 - 1414. Rattan Chander * 1415 - 1433. Garud Chander * 1433 - 1438. Gambhir Chand * 1448 - 1464. Abhay Chander * 1464 - 1471. Uttam Chander * 1481 - 1503. Prithvi Chander * 1503 - 1526 Karan Chander *1526 – 1550 Ram Chand (Fifteenth ruler) *1550 – Jagdish Chand *1568 - Rup Chand * * *1635 – 1661 Man Singh *1661 – 1675 Vikram Singh *1695 – 1741 Dalip Singh (b. 1688 – d. 1741) *1695 – 1705 Bilas Devi (f) -Regent *1730 – 1741 Govardhan Singh -Regent (b. 1713 – d. 1773) * *1773 – 1790 Prakash Singh (b. 1748 – d. 1820) *1790 – 1813 Bhup Singh (b. 1765 – d. 1826)

Guler paintings

The Guler state became famous for its

Kangra paintings Kangra painting (Hindi: कांगड़ा चित्रकारी) is the pictorial art of Kangra, named after the Kangra State, a former princely state of Himachal Pradesh, which patronized the art. It became prevalent with the fading ...

. Guler style painting constitutes the early phase of Kangra ''Kalam''. Around the middle of the eighteenth century, some Hindu artists trained in Mughal style sought the patronage of the Rajas of Guler in the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas.Chandigarh Museum. Govardhan Chand's son, Prakash Chand (1773–1779), continued the patronage of artists. His son, Bhup Chand (1790–1826), had artists working under him. Painting in Guler continued right up to the close of the 19th century. The art of Guler style painting flourished in families with distinguishable styles and techniques, most significant amo them were that of Pandit Seu of Guler, who died in about 1740, and his sons,

Nainsukh Nainsukh (literally "Joy of the Eyes"; c. 1710 – 1778) was an Indian painter. He was the younger son of the painter Pandit Seu and, like his older brother Manaku of Guler, was an important practitioner of Pahari painting, and has been cal ...

and

Manaku Manaku of Guler or Manaku (c. 1700–1760) was an Indian painter from the Guler State, in modern-day Himachal Pradesh. After his death he was mostly forgotten and overshadowed by his much-celebrated younger brother Nainsukh. But today he is recog ...

. Later, while Manaku worked at Guler, Nainsukh migrated to

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

.Hindu Hill Kingdoms
''

V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 32.0, N, 76.16, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Princely states of Punjab History of Himachal Pradesh Kangra district Schools of Indian painting Rajputs