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

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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 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 ...

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

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

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 crossed Kutlehar when

Anandpur Sahib Anandpur Sahib, also referred simply as Anandpur (), 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 sacred religious places in Si ...

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) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl ...

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, 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 ...

until the Gorkha 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 (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

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 (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

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 Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

. 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
{{coord, 31, 36, 42, N, 76, 6, 44, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Una district History of Himachal Pradesh 750s establishments 8th-century establishments in India 1957 disestablishments in India Princely states of Himachal Pradesh

History

Rulers

See also

References

External links