Pithoragarh district is the easternmost district in the state of Uttarakhand. It is located in the

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 ...

and has an area of and a population of 483,439 (as of 2011). The city of

Pithoragarh Pithoragarh ( Kumaoni: ''Pithor'garh'') is a Himalayan town with a Municipal corporation in Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the largest hill town in Uttarakhand. Etymology "The district is named after its hea ...

, located in Saur Valley, is its headquarters. The district is within the

Kumaon division Kumaon (; , ; historically romanised as KemāonJames Prinsep (Editor)John McClelland ) is a List of divisions in India, revenue and administrative division in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It spans over the eastern half of the state and is b ...

of Uttarakhand state. The

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

plateau is situated to the north and

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 ...

is to the east. The Kali River which originates from the Kalagiri Mountain flows south, forming the eastern border with Nepal. The Hindu pilgrimage route for

Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; ; ; , ) is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) of the Transhimalaya, in the western part ...

Lake Manasarovar Lake Manasarovar also called Mapam Yumtso (; ) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located at an elevation of , near the western trijunction ...

passes through this district via Lipulekh Pass in the greater Himalayas. The district is administratively divided into six

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 ...

Munsyari Munsyari ( Kumaoni: ''Munsyār'') is the name of the sub-division headquarters, a municipal board, a conglomeration of revenue villages and it also refers to the entire region as Munsiyari Tehsil and Sub Division in the Pithoragarh District i ...

; Dharchula;

Didihat Didihat is a town and a Nagar Palika in Pithoragarh District in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is one of the eleven Tehsils of India, administrative subdivisions of Pithoragarh district and also serves as its administrative headquarter. Wit ...

;

Berinag Berinag is a hill station, located 124 km from Pithoragarh, Pithoragarh city in the Pithoragarh district, which is the easternmost Himalayas, Himalayan district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is one of the six Administrative Subdivis ...

; Gangolihat; and Pithoragarh. Naini Saini Airport is the nearest civil airport, but it does not have a regular scheduled commercial passenger service. The mineral deposits present in the district are

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

, copper ore,

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

. There are 11

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 ...

Etymology

Some attribute the name to King Prithvi Pal (Had his empire to Nainital & parts of UP) / Piru Gusain (Gusain refers to the younger son of a King), here the younger son of King of Askote (Pal)/ Pithora Shahi/ Pithora Chand from the Chand Dynasty, who built a fort named Pithora Garh in the Saur Valley.

History

Pals (Branch of
Katyuri kings The Katyuri kingdom also known as Katyuri dynasty was a medieval ruling kingdom that ruled over the regions in Uttarakhand in India and western Nepal from 500 to 1200 CE. or 700 to 1200 CE. The founder of this dynasty, King Vasu Dev was origin ...
)

After its conquest by Bhartpal, the Rajwar of Uku (now in Nepal), in the year 1364, Pithoragarh was ruled for the rest of the 14th century by three generations of Pals, and the kingdom extended from Pithoragarh to

Askot Askot or Askote is a small Himalayan town in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand in India. It is the part of Kanalichhina development Block and Didihat Tehsil. The place is also famous for the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary dedicated to the conservat ...

Bam Dynasty

According to a ''Tamra Patra'' (inscribed copper or brass plaque) from 1420, the Pal dynasty, based out of Askot, was uprooted by

Chand kings The Chand dynasty was a kingdom that ruled the Kumaon area in present-day Uttarakhand state of India, after the decline of the Katyuri kingdom. At times, their rule also extended to the western parts of present-day Nepal. Somchand establishe ...

. Vijay Brahm (of the Brahm dynasty from

Doti Doti (), also known as Dotigarh (डोटीगढ़) or the Far-Western Development Region was a development region of Nepal situated between River Kali bordering Kumaon division of Uttarakhand, India in the west and the Karnali river on t ...

) took over the empire as King. Following the death of Gyan Chand, in a conflict with Kshetra Pal, the Pals were able to regain the throne.

Chand Dynasty

It is believed that Bharti Chand, an ancestor of Gyan Chand, had replaced Bams, the ruler of Pithoragarh, after defeating them in 1445. In the 16th century, the Chand dynasty again took control over Pithoragarh town and, in 1790, built a new fort on the hill where the present Girls Inter College is situated. The Chand rule, at its zenith, is seen as one of the most prominent empires in Kumaon. Their rule also coincides with a period of cultural resurgence. Archaeological surveys point toward the development of culture and art forms in this period.

Modern history

British rule began on 2 December 1815 when Nepal was forced to sign the Sugauli Treaty. Pithoragarh remained a tehsil under

Almora district Almora is a District (India), district in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand state, India. The headquarters is at Almora. It is 1,638 meters above sea level. The neighbouring regions are Pithoragarh district to the east, Chamoli district to the w ...

until 1960 when its status was elevated to that of a district. There was an army cantonment, a church, and a mission school, resulting in the spread of Christianity in the region. The

Bhotiya Bhotiya or Bhot (, ) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speaking Tibetic languages, as well as some groups speaking other Tibeto-Burman languages living in the Transhimalayan region that divides India from T ...

communities living in the Pithoragarh district historically practised

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and low ...

between summer villages located at higher altitudes, close to the border with Tibet, and winter settlements located at lower altitudes, close to the Himalayan foothills and the Gangetic plains. With transhumance as a base, many of them would engage in annual trade visits to market towns such as

Taklakot Purang or Burang (,, zh, s=普兰镇), is a Towns of China, town which serves as the administrative center of Purang County, Ngari Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), China. The town lies at an altitude of 3,900m (12,795 feet) in ...

in western Tibet, and some would practice nomadic pastoralism as well. This way of life came to an abrupt end in the 1962 due to the

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

. Trans-Himalayan trade was allowed again since the under 1990s. But unlike in the past, it was now to be conducted under state-imposed regulations and limitations, and was allowed only across the Pithoragarh district's Lipu Lekh pass, whereas in earlier times, in Kumaon and Garwhal, the Trans-Himalayan trade had been conducted across several passes. In 1997, part of the Pithoragarh district was cut out to form the new Champawat district.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Pithoragarh district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 483,439, roughly equal to the nation of

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. This gives it a ranking of 546th among the 640

districts of India A district (''Zila (country subdivision), zila''), also known as revenue district, is an Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of an States and union territories of India, Indian state or territory. In some cases, districts ...

. The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 5.13%. Pithoragarh has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 1021

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 82.93%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 24.90% and 4.04% of the population respectively. Native tribes in the district include the Van Rawats and Shaukas. Van Rawats are

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

s. Shaukas are traders. In Pithoragarh the Shaukas are divided into two main tribes. Johari Shaukas and Rung Shaukas. The Johari Shauka community inhabits the areas in Munsiyari while Rung Shaukas tribe are spread among the three valleys of Darma, Chaundas, and Byans. Kangdali Festival, celebrated once every 12 years by inhabitants of Chaundas Valley, is one of the major festivals in this area.

Languages

Kumaoni, with its several dialects, is the most widely spoken language.

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

is the common language between the locals and outsiders, and English is spoken by some people, especially teachers, lecturers, and students in tertiary education. Several

Sino-Tibetan languages Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

of the West Himalayish branch are spoken by small communities. These include the three closely related languages of Byangsi, Chaudangsi, and Darmiya, as well as Rangkas & Rawat. The Van Rawat tribe speaks their own variety of Kumaoni.

Assembly Constituencies

# Dharchula # Didihaat #

# Gangolihaat (SC)

Climate

Pithoragarh town, being in a valley, is relatively warm during summer and cool during winter. During the coldest months of December and January, the tropical and

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

mountain ridges and high locations receive snowfall and have an average temperature of . Pithoragarh district has extreme variation in temperature due to the wide range of variations in altitude. The temperature rises from mid-March through mid-June. The areas above remain in a permanent snow cover. Regions lying at become snowbound for four to six months. At places like the river gorges at Dharchula, Jhulaghat, Ghat and Sera, temperatures reach . The annual average rainfall in lower reaches is . After June the district receives

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

showers. Winter is a time for

– the seasonal migration of the

tribe with their herds of livestock to lower, warmer areas.

Seasons

*Winter (cold weather): December–March *Summer (hot weather): March–June *Season of general rains: North–West monsoon – mid-June to mid-September *Season of retreating monsoon: September–November

Glaciers of Pithoragarh

Locally,

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s are known as Gal. Some important glaciers of the district are as follows: * Milam Glacier * Namik Glacier * Ralam Glacier * Meola Glacier * Sona Glacier * Panchchuli Glacier * Balati Glacier * Shipu Glacier * Rula Glacier * Kalabaland Glacier * Lawan Glacier * Northern Lwanl * Middle Lwanl * Lower Lwanl * Bamlas Glacier * Baldimga Glacier * Terahar Glacier * Poting Glacier * Talkot Glacier * Sankalpa Glacier * Lassar Glacier * Upper Lassar * Lower Lassar * Middle Lassar * Dhauli Glacier * Baling Golfu Glacier * Dhauli Glacier * Sobla Tejam Glacier * Kali Glacier * Kuti Glacier * Yangti Basin Glacier * Lower Dhauli * Middle Dhauli * Upper Dhauli * Lower Kali * Upper Kali

Himalayan peaks of Pithoragarh

Mountain passes of Pithoragarh

International passes to Tibet

Intra-district Himalayan passes

Valleys of Pithoragarh

* Vyas valley (includes

Kuthi Valley Kuthi Valley (or Kuti Valley) is a Himalayan valley situated in the Pithoragarh District, Kumaon division of the Uttarakhand state of India. Located in the eastern part of Uttarakhand at an elevation of , it is the last valley before the border ...

and the valley of

Kalapani River The Kalapani territory is an area under Indian administration as part of Pithoragarh district in the Kumaon division, Kumaon Division of the Uttarakhand state, K. C. SharadKalapani's new 'line of control' Nepali Times, 10 September 2004, p.&nbs ...

) * Kuti-Yangti Valley : Kuti-Yangti valley has 112 glaciers. The passes of Kuti valley Lampiya Dhura (5,553 m), Nuwe Dhura (5,650 m) * Chaudans valley *

Darma Valley Darma valley is a Himalayan valley situated in the Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand state of India. This valley is located in the eastern part of Uttarakhand at Kumaon division. The Darma valley is formed by the Darma River (also called ''D ...

* Goriganga valley : Goriganga has 128 glaciers with largest Milam glacier having 18 km in length. * Dhauliganga valley : Those are source of several streams and rivers. Maximum 135 glaciers found in the Dhauliganga valley. *

Johar Valley Johar Valley (also known as ''Milam Valley'' or ''Gori Ganga Valley'') is a valley located in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, India, along the Gori Ganga river. The valley used to be a major trade route with Tibet. The best known village ...

* Kalabaland valley * Kali valley : Lipu Lekh Pass (5,122 m) (India, Tibet, Nepal) * Lassar Yangti valley * Ralam valley * Saur valley * Ramganga valley :There are 7 glaciers in Ramganga valley and Namik is largest with 2.4 square Km in size. * Saryu /Sarju Valley * Gori Gunkha valley : Belcha Dhura pass (5,384 m), Kungri Bhingri Pass (5,564 m), Keo Dhura pass (5,439 m)

Flora

A wide variety of

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

exists in the district, including many unique sub-tropical, temperate, and alpine plants.

Bryophytes Bryophytes () are a group of land plants ( embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division referred to as Bryophyta '' sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In t ...

(mosses), pteridophytes (ferns),

gymnosperms The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

(conifers), and

angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...

(flowering plants) are present. Rare varieties of

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

are also present in the high-altitude valleys of Milan, Darma, Beyans, and Kuthi. Species present include: * ''

Abies pindrow ''Abies pindrow'', the pindrow fir, West Himalayan fir, or silver fir, is a fir native to the western Himalaya and adjacent mountains, from northeast Afghanistan east through northern Pakistan and India to central Nepal. Description It is a ...

'' * '' Aconitum heterophyllum'' * ''

Berberis aristata ''Berberis aristata'', also known as Indian barberry, Mara manjal (மரமஞ்சள்), chutro, sumba, or tree turmeric, is a shrub belonging to the family Berberidaceae and the genus ''Berberis''. ''B. aristata'' is native to the Himalayas ...

'' (Kirmod) * ''

Betula utilis ''Betula utilis'', the Himalayan birch (''bhojpatra'', ''bhūrjá''), is a deciduous tree native to the Western Himalayas, growing at elevations up to . The Latin specific epithet ''utilis'' means "useful", and refers to the many uses of the dif ...

'' (Himalayan birch or Bhoj Patra) * ''

Cedrus deodara ''Cedrus deodara'', the deodar cedar, Himalayan cedar, or deodar, is a species of cedar native to the Himalayas. Description It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching tall, exceptionally with a trunk up to in diameter. It has a conic ...

'' (Deodar Cedar) * '' Cypripedium cordigerum'' * '' Dendrobium normale'' * '' Myrica esculenta'' (Kafal) * ''

Nardostachys grandiflora ''Nardostachys'' is a genus of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae). ''Nardostachys jatamansi'' is the sole species in genus. It is a perennial that grows in the Himalayas, primarily in a belt through Kumaon division, Kum ...

'' (Jatmasi) * '' Pedicularis punctata'' * '' Picrorhiza kurroa'' (Kutki) * ''

Pinus roxburghii ''Pinus roxburghii'', commonly known as chir pine or longleaf Indian pine, is a species of pine tree Native plant, native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh. Description ''Pinus roxburghii'' is a large tree reaching with a ...

'' (Salla or Chir) * ''

Pinus wallichiana ''Pinus wallichiana'' is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains, from eastern Afghanistan east across northern Pakistan and north west India to Yunnan in southwest China. It grows in mountain v ...

'' (Blue Pine or Raisalla) * '' Prunus cornuta'' * '' Prunus puddum'' * '' Quercus dilatata'' * '' Quercus incana'' * '' Quercus leucotricophora'' (Banjh) * '' Quercus semicarpifolia'' * '' Rhododendron barbatum'' (Burans) * '' Rhododendron campanulatum'' * '' Rubus ellipticus'' (Hisalu) * '' Saussurea obvallata'' (Brahm Kamal) * '' Saussurea simpsonia'' * '' Taxus wallichiana'' ( Himalayan yew) * '' Vanda cristata'' * '' Zanthoxylum armatum'' (Timur) * 10–15 kinds of cactus * Aadu * Different type of pulses like red and green lentils * Figs * Green apples * Himalayan pears * Mulberry * Oranges * Peaches * Red apples *

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

(a local staple) * Simal * Soy beans * Yellow plums

Tourist attractions

* Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary is a 599.93 km² wildlife

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

located around

near Didihat, in Pithoragarh district of the Himalaya of Kumaon in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, India. *

is a

hill station A hill station is a touristic town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The English term was originally used mostly in Western imperialism in Asia, colonial Asia, but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by ...

located 102 km from Pithoragarh at an altitude of 2010 m. *

Chaukori Chaukori is a hill station in the Pithoragarh district set among the lofty peaks of the western Himalayan Range in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, India. To its north is Tibet and to its south is Terai. The Mahakali River, running along its ...

is a hill station located 10 km from Berinag, also with an altitude of 2010 m. *

is a hill station in the northern part of the Pithoragarh district. The valley from Munsyari to Milam is known as

. * Pithoragarh Fort is set atop a hill on the outskirts of the town and now serves as a museum.

Notable people

* Anjali Tatrari – Television actress * General Bipin Chandra Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, ADC – 17th Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army * Dan Singh Bisht –

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

and philanthropist * Lucky Bisht – NSG commando and spy * Nain Singh Rawat – explorer * Prakash Pant – politician *

Pushkar Singh Dhami Pushkar Singh Dhami (born 16 September 1975) is an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, serving as the 10th and the current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand since 2021. He represents the Champawat Assembly constituency i ...

- 10th chief minister of Uttarakhand * Ratan Singh Raypa – anthropologist * Mayukh Mahar - politician * Shekhar Pathak – historian, editor, travel writer, activist * Unmukt Chand – cricketer * Vinod Kapri – filmmaker,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and author * J. S. Titiyal - Indian Ophthalmologist * Prafulla Chandra Pant- Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India * Mahendra Singh Mahra - Former Rajya Sabha member

References

External links

* {{Authority control Districts of Uttarakhand Hill stations in Uttarakhand Tourism in Uttarakhand