Kumarsain (; ), also known as Kumharsain, is a sub-division, a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

and a village in

Shimla District Shimla is a District (India), district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Its headquarters is the state capital of Shimla. Neighbouring districts are Mandi District, Mandi and Kullu in the north, Kinnaur in the east, Uttarakhand ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

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 ...

. Formerly under the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, it was the capital of

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, ...

of Kumharsain, which was one of the several states of the

Punjab States Agency The Punjab States Agency was an agency of the Indian Empire. The agency was created in 1921, on the model of the Central India Agency and Rajputana Agency, and dealt with forty princely states in northwest India formerly dealt with by the Prov ...

.It is about 80 km from

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

and famous for

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

and

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

s. Kumarsain was founded in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. Th ...

A.D. as the capital of ''Kumharsain State''. It 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 ...

from 1803 to 1816, and by

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

from 1839 to 1840. Kumarsain lies 1 km beside National Highway 5 from Bharara village, which is 20 km from

Narkanda Narkanda is a town and a nagar panchayat in Kumarsain subdivision of Shimla district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is at an elevation of 2708 meters on the Hindustan-Tibet Road ( NH 5) in Himachal Pradesh, India within a fir (''ab ...

towards

Rampur Bushahr Rampur Bushahr is a town and a municipal council in Shimla district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is about 130 km from Shimla and is well connected with NH 5 which passes through Theog, Narkanda and Kumarsain. History The ...

Geography

Kumarsain is located at and has an average elevation of 1,675 metres (5,495 ft). It is situated above the

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 ...

river in the North-West

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 ...

, about 80 km from

towards interior ranges. Kumarsain has many villages within its boundary namely Mateyog, Damali, Lathi, Bharara, Bai and Dethal. Panaromic view after sunset as sewn from Kumarsain

Panaromic view after sunset as sewn from Kumarsain

Tourist attractions around Kumarsain include

Kotgarh Kotgarh is a village and a sub-tehsil in Kumarsain subdivision of Shimla district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Formerly under the British Raj, it was the capital of Kotkhai-Kotgarh princely state, which was later shifted to Kiari ...

-Thanedhar,

Hatu Peak Hatu Peak is located in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is one of the highest peaks in the region, standing at an elevation of 3400 m (11,152 ft) above sea level. The peak is surrounded by dense forest of conifers, oak ...

, Tani Jubbar Lake, Derthu Mata Temple Deodar forest

Government

Kumarsain was a Constituency of

Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Shimla, the capital of the state. The Vidhan Sabha comprises 68 Members of Legislative Assembly, which include 68 members directly elected from single-seat constituency. Its term is 5 years, unless sooner dissol ...

and had a separate election seat until 2008

delimitation Boundary delimitation (or simply delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries, particularly of electoral precincts, states, counties or other municipalities.

, when it was merged with Theog Assembly constituency. Veteran Congress Minister

Vidya Stokes Vidya Stokes (born 8 December 1927) is an active member of Indian National Congress from 1970 and of '' Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee'' since 1974. She was an elected member of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1974, 1982, 1985, 19 ...

was elected 2 times as MLA in 2003 and 2007 from Kumarsain Assembly Constituency. Kumarsain is a

as well as a sub-division and comes under Narkanda

Block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

Demographics

As of 2011 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Kumarsain had a population of 5,461. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Kumarsain has an average literacy rate of 97.8%, much higher than the national average of 74.04% male literacy is 97%, and female literacy is 89%. In Kumarsain 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

Kirat Singh, also known as Kirti Singh (later Rana Kirat Chand), who was an office holder and Jagirdar at the court of Raja Narayan Pal of Gaya in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, founded Kumharsain State in the

AD. He along with his two brothers (Kartar Singh and Prithvi Singh) was driven away from Gaya, by the fear of

Mahmud Ghaznavi Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At th ...

and settled around Kumharsain. They conquered the country from a local chief named Bhambu Rai of Delath. Later on Kirat Singh gave a tract called Karangla to his brother Kartar Singh. Descendants of Kartar Singh founded the states of Khaneti and

Kotkhai Kotkhai is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shimla district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.The name Kotkhai is derived from Hindi and Urdu language where the name "Kot" means Kings Palace and "Khai" means depth, therefore "Kotkhai" means ...

. The younger brother, Prithvi Singh, established his independent state at Delath. Since the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

, Kumharsain was a feudatory of

Bushahr State Bushahr, also spelt as 'Bashahr' and 'Bussahir' or 'Bushair' was a Rajput princely state in India during the British Raj. It was located in the hilly western Himalaya promontory bordering Tibet in the northern part of colonial Punjab region. ...

, but was declared independent after the expulsion of the

Gurkhas 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 recru ...

in 1815, by a ''sanad'' dated February 1816, but at the same time lost its own tributary states of Bharauli, Balsan and Madhan. The Rana maintains a military force of 45 infantry and 1 gun (as of 1892). Kumharsain State was ranked 6th in

Order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

in the Shimla Hill States and 11th amongst the

Punjab Hill States The Punjab States Agency was an agency of the Indian Empire. The agency was created in 1921, on the model of the Central India Agency and Rajputana Agency, and dealt with forty princely states in northwest India formerly dealt with by the Prov ...

Kumarsain's famous Hira Mahal (named after the 56th Rana of Kumharsain, "''Hira Singh''"), which served as the home to the Ranas of this princely state, was burnt because of an accidental fire that took place in the mahal on 25 December 2007. Hira Mahal Kumarsain

Also the first American apple tree grown in India was at

village (a village in Kumharsain tehsil), which was planted by an American immigrant

Satyanand Stokes Satyananda Stokes (born Samuel Evans Stokes, Jr., 16 August 1882 – 14 May 1946) was an American who settled in India and participated in the Indian Independence Movement. He is best remembered today for having introduced apple cultivation to t ...

in 1916.

References

{{reflist

External links

Kumarsain on Google Maps
Princely states of Himachal Pradesh Princely states of Punjab Agencies of British India Historical Indian regions Cities and towns in Shimla district Tehsils of Himachal Pradesh