Kumarsain (; ), also known as Kumharsain, is a town in

Shimla District Shimla district, known as Simla district until 1972, is one of the twelve districts of the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Its headquarters is the state capital of Shimla. Neighbouring districts are Mandi and Kullu in the north, ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

. Formerly under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, it was the capital of princely state of Kumharsain, which was one of the several states of the

Punjab States Agency The Punjab States Agency was an agency of the British Raj. 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 ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

and famous for

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

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 na ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s. Kumarsain was founded in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 (represented by the Roman numerals 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 ...

A.D. as the capital of Kumharsain State. It was occupied by

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

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 in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

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 (India), subdivision of Shimla district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is at an elevation of 2708 meters on the Hindustan-Tibet Road (National Highway 5 (India), NH 5) ...

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 ...

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 River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

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 Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, 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-Thanedhar,

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

, Tani Jubbar Lake, Derthu Mata Temple Deodar forest

Government

Kumarsain was a Constituency of

Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The seat of the Assembly is at Shimla, the capital of the state. There are 68 Members of Legislative Assembly, al ...

and had a separate election seat until 2008

delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

, when it was merged with Theog Assembly constituency. Veteran Congress Minister Vidya Stokes was elected 2 times as MLA in 2003 and 2007 from Kumarsain Assembly Constituency. Kumarsain is a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

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 (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, 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 states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, 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 Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

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. 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 calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

, Kumharsain was a feudatory of Bushahr State, but was declared independent after the expulsion of the

Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

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 importance applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. For individuals, it is most often used for diplomats in attendance at very formal occasions. It can also be used in the context of ...

in the Shimla Hill States and 11th amongst the

Punjab Hill States The Punjab States Agency was an agency of the British Raj. 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 Provin ...

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