Katoch is a
Chandravanshi
The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling caste mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related deities (''Som ...
Rajput clan
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
. Their traditional area of residence was in the
Trigarta Kingdom
Trigarta kingdom was an ancient kingdom in northern Indian region of the Indian subcontinent with its capital at Prasthala (modern Jalandhar), Multan and Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra.
Trigarta was founded and ruled by the vrishni Dynasty.
Me ...
, based at
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
and at
Kangra Fort
The Kangra Fort is located 20 kilometers from the town of Dharamsala on the outskirts of the town of Kangra, India.
History
Raja Dharam Chand submitted to the Mughal Ruler Akbar in 1556 and agreed to pay tr ...
in the Indian state of
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 ...
. They descent from the
Trigarta dynasty mentioned in the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
. Famous subclans came into existence from Katoch Rajputs are
Dadwal
Ḍaḍwāl ( ps, ډاډوال) is a village and the center of Ismailkhel and Mandozai District in Khost Province, Afghanistan. It is located on at 1267m altitude on south side of Shamal river, it is connected to north a village Aliwat by a brid ...
Dynasty, Guleria Dynasty, Sibaia Dynasty, Chib Dynasty,
Jaswal
Jaswal is an Indian surname found among Jat Sikhs and Muslims of Punjab. It is also a clan of Rajputs that commanded the former princely state of Jaswan.
People with the surname
* Balli Kaur Jaswal, Singaporean novelist
* Nishtha Jaswal, In ...
Dynasty.
Etymology
There are two possible origins for the word ''Katoch''. Members of the clan say it comes from the words ''Kat'' (army) and ''uch'' (upper class) but other sources say that it comes from ''kot'' (fort). The
Kangra fort
The Kangra Fort is located 20 kilometers from the town of Dharamsala on the outskirts of the town of Kangra, India.
History
Raja Dharam Chand submitted to the Mughal Ruler Akbar in 1556 and agreed to pay tr ...
was known as Nagarkot or Kot Kangra, and since the administrators/rulers resided within that particular ''kot'' they were vernacularly called "Kot'ch" or कोटच, which means ''those within the fort''.
This over time became Katoch.
History
![View from top of Kangra Fort overlooking river](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/View_from_top_of_Kangra_Fort_overlooking_river.jpg)
The main branch of the Katoch clan were the rulers of the
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 ...
, which was, by some accounts, the most prominent kingdom between the
Ravi Ravi may refer to:
People
* Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director
* Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist
* Ravi (music director) (1926–201 ...
and
Sutlej
The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...
in the pre-modern period.
The Kangra State was also known as ''Trigadh'', a name derived from the ancient
Trigarta Kingdom
Trigarta kingdom was an ancient kingdom in northern Indian region of the Indian subcontinent with its capital at Prasthala (modern Jalandhar), Multan and Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra.
Trigarta was founded and ruled by the vrishni Dynasty.
Me ...
mentioned in the ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
''. The tradition holds that the Katoch were the rulers of Kangra from the times of ''Mahabharata'' till the pre-independence era.
In the pre-modern period, the hill states of the modern Himachal Pradesh are said to have constantly warred with each other, despite relations of kinship and intermarriage. In 1333, under the reign of Raja Prithvi Chand, Mohammad Bin Tughlaq attacked Kangra with 100,000 men. Only 10 of them returned to Delhi and were executed by the emperor. Then they were brought under the
Mughal suzerainty by the emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
. The Mughal control was limited, however. The rulers of the states retained a fair degree of independence. Emperor
Jahangir
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti.
Ear ...
captured the Kangra fort in 1610, annexing the surrounding area and reducing the Katoch rajas to the status of vassals.
[
After the decline of the Mughal power, Raja Ghamand Chand (r. 1751–1774) recovered most of the territory earlier ceded to the Mughals. Raja Sansar Chand (r. 1775–1823) established the supremacy of Kangra over all the surrounding hill states. During his reign, Kangra became a major centre for the arts and several palaces were built.][
In the year 1805, the neighbouring hill states rebelled, with the aid of the ]Gurkha
The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India.
The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...
army. Raja Sansar Chand was forced to seek the help of 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 ...
of Lahore. The Gurkha army was expelled but Ranjit Singh also annexed the most fertile part of the Kangra valley, reducing the Katochs of Kangra as well as the neighbouring rajas to the status of vassals. After the First Anglo-Sikh War
The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 in and around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of ...
of 1846, the whole area was ceded to the British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, eventually integrated into the Punjab province. The Katochs and the surrounding hill rajas were assigned small ''jagirs'' over which they had the rights of revenue and magisterial authority.[
]
Clans and surnames
The Katoch clan one of the 14 ruling clans of the Himachal Pradesh and Jammu region in the medieval times.
Katochs suffixed 'Chandra' to their names until the rise of the Sikh dynasty in Punjab, after which some clan members started suffixing 'Singh' also. However, most clan members today, including in the sub-clans, suffix Chand.
Until the reforms of 1930s, the Katoch women were only married westward, generally to the Pathania and Jamwal/Jamuwal men. The higher the sub-clan rated its own status, the farther away towards the west they tended to marry.
Regions ruled by the clan
In past centuries, the clan and its branches ruled several princely state
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...
s in the region of Trigarta. Trigarta refers to the land between three rivers, namely, Beas, Sutlej, and Ravi. However, the clan lost lands and by the 17th century had been reduced to a small hill state. The originator of the clan was Rajanaka Bhumi Chand {{Unreferenced, date=June 2021
Ranjanka (Great King) Bhumi Chand was the founder of the Trigarta raje Dynasty, Trigarta Dynasty in Satyuga. He was the first great king of the Chandravanshi group (sub-group Katoch) of Kshatriyas Rajputs . He is men ...
. Their rulers include Sansar Chand
Sansar Chand (c. 1765 – 1824) was a Rajput ruler of the erstwhile state of Kangra in what is now the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
Early life
Sansar Chand was a scion of the Katoch dynasty which had ruled Kangra for centuries until they ...
II and Rajanaka Bhumi Chand {{Unreferenced, date=June 2021
Ranjanka (Great King) Bhumi Chand was the founder of the Trigarta raje Dynasty, Trigarta Dynasty in Satyuga. He was the first great king of the Chandravanshi group (sub-group Katoch) of Kshatriyas Rajputs . He is men ...
, the latter being the founder of the Jwalamukhi temple in 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 ...
.
Notes
References
{{Rajput Groups of India
Rajput clans of Himachal Pradesh
History of Himachal Pradesh