Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Kumaon King Jagat Chandra

(History of Kumaon from 1000-1790 AD)

         (History of Chand Dynasty Rule in Kumaon)

History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar) - Part 194

                                              By: Bhishma Kukreti

 Ruling Time Period of Kumaon King Jagat Chand/Chandra -1708-1720

Contemporary North Indian Rulers –

Garhwal- Fate Shah (1664-1716); Upendra Shah (1716-1717); Pradip Shah (1717-1772)

Delhi Mogul Emperor – Bahadur Shah (1707-1712); Jahandar Shah (1712-1713); Farukhshiyar Shah (1713-1719) and Muhammad Shah (1719-1749)

                     Historical Analysis of Attack on Garhwal by Kumaon King Jagat Chand

            In the time of King Gyan Chandra, there were wars for twelve years between Kumaon and Garhwal Kingdoms.

                    Due to regular wars between Kumaon and Garhwal kingdoms the bordering regions became human less and region were as good as barren forest land.

                According to Atkinson, in 1708, Kumaon king Jagat Chandra attacked on Loha Garh the border region of Garhwal and established army camp there.

    According to Atkinson, in 1709, Kumaon King Jagat Chand reached to Shrinagar via Pindar valley and Garhwal King Fate Shah ran away to Dehradun. Jagat Chand distributed loot to his army and poor. Jagat Chand donated Shrinagar to a Brahmin. The story is ridiculous. Fate Shah was a brave Garhwali King who did fight with Guru Govind Singh too. Garhwal King Fate Shah fought with Hoon region (Tibet). Fate Shah captured Saharanpur from Mogul (though the rule could be for some time). Such King would have fought with Kumaon King. It is ridiculous that there was no Garhwal army from Kumaon border to Shri Nagar. There is no record of Donation of Shrinagar by Kumaon King to Brahmin.          There is no record of such war at all. The inscriptions of Jagat Chand do not scribe winning Shrinagar at all.

                      Garsar donation by Garhwal King Fate Shah

 Garhwal King ordered his (inscription of 1710) Badhan army commander that he had offered land of Garsar in Katyur Kumaon for Badrinath temple. Fate Shah ordered Badhan army commander that he would see that Kumaon King does not harass the subject of Garsar. This inscription was also used as witness for Garsar as tax free zone in British rule too.

                   Religious Donation by Kumaon King Jagat Chand

  Jagat Chandra donated thousand of caws. He spent money on religious rituals too. Kumaon King Jagat Chand donated land for temples of Punyagiri, Bhramaridevi, Baijnath, Nagnath and Bhuvneshwar. Jagat Chand also donated land to Pundit Devi Datt family.

 In his ruling period, Padma Dev Pandey wrote ‘Jagat Chandrika’.

                                   Administration in Jagat Chand

               Kumaon king Jagat Chand had annual income of nine lakhs rupees from Tarai region. Jagat chand was sober person. The Joshi of Jhinjhad, Joshi of Galli , Joshi of Danya were on high post of court . Manik Gaida Bisht, Sur Singh Aidi, Pahad Singh Gusain were on high post in Jagat Chand court.

      Jagat Chandra offered Najarana (gift or tribute) as Horses, elephants, Chanvar, Khanda, Peshkash, khunkri, Musk, herbal medicines and gold-silver utensils to Delhi Mogul Emperors.

  Kumaon King Jagat Chand was habitual of gambling. Jagat Chandra levied tax to his subject on gambling.

          Jagat Chand died due to small pox in 1720 and his son Devi Chandra got kingdom.

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti -bckukreti@gmail.com 22/11/2013

                                      References

Dr. Shiv Prasad Dabral, Uttarakhand ka Itihas Bhag 10, Kumaon ka Itihas 1000-1790

Badri Datt Pande, 1937, Kumaon ka Itihas, Shri Almora Book Depo Almora

Devidas Kaysth, Itihas Kumaon Pradesh

Katyur ka Itihas, Pundit Ram Datt Tiwari

Oakley and Gairola, Himalayan Folklore

Atkinson, History of District Gazette

Menhadi Husain, Tuglak Dynasty

Malfujat- E Timuri

Tarikh -e-Mubarakshahi vol 4

Kumar Suresh Singh2005, People of India

Justin Marozzi, 2006, Tamerlane: Sword of Islam

Bakshsingh Nijar, 1968, Punjab under Sultans 1000-1526 

The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 13 page 52 

Bhakt Darshan, Gadhwal ki Divangit Vibhutiyan

Mahajan V.D.1991, History of Medieval India

Majumdar R.C. (edited) 2006, The Sultanate

Rizvi, Uttar Taimur Kalin Bharat

Tarikhe Daudi

Vishweshara nand , Bharat Bharti lekhmala

Aine-e Akbari

Akbari Darbar

Tareekh Badauni

Eraly Abraham, 2004 The Mogul Throne

The Tazuk-i-Jahangiri

Maularam- Gadh Rajvansh Kavya

Ramayan Pradeep

Annatdev’s Smriti-Kaustubh

Sarkar, History of Aurangzeb

Jadunath Sarkar, History of Aurangzeb

(The History of Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar write up is aimed for general readers)

                           

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -195  

History of Kumaon (1000-1790) to be continued….

Himalayan, Indian History of Chand Dynasty rule in Kumaon to be continued…

  (Himalayan, Indian History (740-1790 AD to be continued…)

Notes on Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Kumaon kingdom and King Jagat Chandra; Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Pithoragarh -Kumaon Kingdom ; Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Champawat-Kumaon kingdom and King Jagat Chandra; Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Bageshwar-Kumaon kingdom and King Jagat Chandra; Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Almora-Kumaon kingdom and King Jagat Chandra; Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Nainital-Kumaon kingdom and King Jagat Chandra; Central Himalayan, South Asian History of Kumaon Udham Singh Nagar-kingdom and King Jagat Chandra;