Kutlehar State, covering an area of , was one of the

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 of

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 ...

.They were originally Kshatriyas. Kutlehar was an independent kingdom built in the 10th century. The limits of the kingdom were at their maximum during the rule of Raja Jas Pal in the 11th century when it is said that he was the master of all lands between the rivers of

Satluj 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 In ...

and

Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Punjab, India, Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh wit ...

. Numerous wars were fought over the centuries including in 1337 with Mohammad Bin Tughlak, Timur in 1398, 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 ...

in 1556 who levied a tribute upon the Raja of Kutlehar of 1600 rupees along with gifts of jewels, cloth and hill pheasants on the Emperor's birthday. Also as a guarantee of loyalty a son of the Raja, 'a Prince' of Royal Blood was kept in attendance at the Imperial Court in Delhi and a troop of 500 foot soldiers were stationed with the Mughal Emperor and paid for by the Kutlehar Durbar. In 1700

Guru Gobind SIngh ji Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Si ...

crossed Kutlehar when

Anandpur Sahib Anandpur Sahib, sometimes referred to simply as Anandpur (lit. "city of bliss"), is a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge of Shivalik Hills, in the Indian state of Punjab. Located near the Sutlej River, the city is one of the most s ...

was attacked by the Mughals. The then Raja defied the Mughal orders and did not attack the Sikh army paying heavily with the wrath of the Mughal Emperor and the Kutlehar territory was cut back and the Raja was left with just a fraction of his old territory. In 1701 the Raja and Rani of Kutlehar met Guru Gobind Singhji at Rewalsar where the Guruji presented the Raja with his sword as a token of gratitude. The Kutlehar Family is still in possession of the sword gifted by Guru Gobind Singh ji. In the more recent past, the Kutlehar territory extended to the present areas if District Una, Talhatti in Hoshiarpur, Bassi Bachertoo in Bilaspur and in Hamirpur, till it was annexed by

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 ...

in 1815 and the Raja exiled to the fort in Charatgarh. Punjab was then annexed by the British and the Raja ad allowed to move back in the hills.

History

According to tradition Kutlehar state was founded around 750 AD by an ancestral king named Raja Gopal. Between 1805 and 1809 the state was occupied by

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

until the

Gorkha 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 ...

occupants were driven out. Kutlehar State was extinguished in 1825 when it was briefly annexed to Pañjab (Punjab). The same year, after the British established their domination in the area, the Raja of Kutlehar was granted 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 ...

to the value of 10,000Rs. Raja Saheb Shri Ram Pal Bahadur (1864-1927) was granted the title of hereditary Raja on 15 March 1909.

Rulers

Rulers bore the title of

Rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

Saheb

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, ...

. Rajas *750 – 770 : Gopal *770 – 810 : Dharma Pal *1100 : Jas Pal * *1150 - .... : Chiru Pal *.... - 1210 : Chand Pal *1210 – c. 1265 : Govind Pal *c.1700 –1730 : Yadu Pal *c. 1730 –1780 : Dharam Pal *c. 1750 – 1798 : Gur Pal *1798 – 1803 : Amrat Pal (1st time) *1803 - 1815 : Occupied by Nepal *1815 – 1832 : Amrat Pal (2nd time) (1785 – 1832) *1832 – 1864 : Narayan Pal (1821 – 1864) * – : Raja Rampalji Bahadur (22 November 1849 – 22 November 1927), One of the Longest Reigning Monarchs in World History with a reign of ( Days). * – : Rajendra Palji (1874 – 14 February 1928) * – : Bijmohan Pal (1890 – July 1937) * – : Mahendra Pal (4 July 1937 – 20 July 2014)

References

External links

Supreme Court of India - Kutlehar forests
Una district Princely states of India History of Himachal Pradesh Rajputs 750s establishments 8th-century establishments in India 1957 disestablishments in India {{HimachalPradesh-geo-stub

History

Rulers

See also

References

External links