Death of Hastidal in British-Nepal War at Gannath Hill -2

 Second British Attack on Almora -12

           

                 History British Campaign for Capturing Kumaon -55

                                                                                                                                 

          Nepal Rule over Kumaun, Garhwal and Himachal (1790-1815) -270

            History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -799          

                                                           

                          By: Bhishma Kukreti (A History Student)

           The steep of Gannath hill is very difficult. On the hill the place is plan. There was a Shiv Temple on the hill. Hastidal offered 3 Gold coins on Shiv Linga but Coins slipped down and Hastidal thought of inauspicious time for him. He said, Kya Jane Devta Naraj Bhayyo, Bhet Manne na”

        On 23^rd Evening, tired and Hungary British army reached Gannath and the war began at Hill immediately. A gun bullet got on the temple of Hastidal. Hastidal fell down on the ground. Gurkha commander took the charge. Gurkha soldiers ran away after Hastidal falling on the ground. Gurkha could kill two British soldiers and injured 25 soldiers. According to Bamshah, Gurkha killed a captain too and only 9 Gurkha soldiers were killed by British army. According to John Premble, British soldiers killed 80 Nepalese soldiers. As per Atkinson, only 32 Gurkha soldiers were killed. The injured Gurkha soldiers were running towards Almora. Many Gurkha soldiers died on the way to Almora. Hastidal died on Gannath –Almora road. Nepalese commanders were scattered and none reached to Almora. British army captured Gannath Hill. A few soldiers remained at Gannath and balance returned to Almora.

   Hastidal was reputable army man . Frazer praised bravery of Hastidal.   Nicholas also praised the bravery of Hastidal and paid tribute in a letter. Maularam described with high praise that the dead body was taken on Horse cart to Ganga bank and was cremated there. The British soldiers were watching cremation of Hastidal. Mostly, the body of Hastidal was cremated at Kaushikganga River bank.

    There was hopelessness in Gurkha camp after defeat and death of Hastidal, Jairakha and soldiers. Nepalese lost Lobhagarhi too. Now, Nicholas decided for attacking on Almora.

 (From writings of B D Pande, Atkinson, Preamble, Sanwal, Saxsena, Fraser etc) 

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com 13/5/2016

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -800

*** History of Gorkha/Gurkha /Nepal Rule over Kumaun, Garhwal and Himachal (1790-1815) to be continued in next chapter

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

XX                    Reference           

                 

Atkinson E.T., 1884, 1886, Gazetteer of Himalayan Districts …

Hamilton F.B. 1819, An Account of Kingdom of Nepal and the territories

Colnol Kirkpatrik 1811, An Account of Kingdom of Nepal

Dr S.P Dabral, Uttarakhand ka Itihas part 5, Veer Gatha Press, Dogadda

Bandana Rai, 2009 Gorkhas,: The Warrior Race

Krishna Rai Aryal, 1975, Monarchy in Making Nepal, Shanti Sadan, Giridhara, Nepal

I.R.Aryan and T.P. Dhungyal, 1975, A New History of Nepal , Voice of Nepal

L.K Pradhan, Thapa Politics:

Gorkhavansavali, Kashi, Bikram Samvat 2021 

Derek J. Waller, The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia page 172-173

B. D. Pande, Kumaon ka Itihas

Balchandra Sharma, Nepal ko Aitihasik Rup Rekha

Chaudhari , Anglo  –Nepalese Relations

Pande, Vasudha , Compares Histriographical Traditions of Gorkha Rule in Nepal and Kumaon

Pradhan , Kumar, 1991, The Gorkha Conquests , Oxford University  Press

Minyan Govrdhan Singh , History of Himachal Pradesh

A.P Coleman, 1999, A Special Corps

Captain Thomas Smith, 1852,Narrative of a Five Years Residence at Nepal Vol.1

Maula Ram/Mola Ram  , Ranbahadurchandrika and Garhrajvanshkavya

J B Fraser , Asiatic Research

Shyam Ganguli, Doon Rediscovered

Minyan Prem Singh, Guldast Tabarikh Koh Tihri Garhwal

Patiram Garhwal , Ancient and Modern

Tara Datt Gairola, Parvtiy Sanskriti

John Premble, Invasion of Nepal

Chitranjan Nepali, Bhimsen Thapa aur Tatkalin Nepal

Sanwal, Nepal and East India Company

Nagendra kr Singh, Refugee to Ruler

Saxena, Historical papers related to Kumaon

Paper Respecting Nepal War by East India Company (papers in Stock)

Basu, Rise of Christian Power in India)

Moti Lal Ghosh, an article in Amrit Bazar Patrika

XXX

History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Garhwal, Kumaon, Uttarakhand Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal; Himachal; History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Pauri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar Kumaon, Uttarakhand Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal; Sirmour Himachal; History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Chamoli Garhwal, Nainital Kumaon, Uttarakhand; Kangara Himachal Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal; History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Rudraprayag Garhwal, Almora Kumaon, Uttarakhand; Baghat Himachal; History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Tehri Garhwal, Champawat Kumaon, Uttarakhand Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal; Punar Himachal; History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Uttarkashi Garhwal, Bageshwar Kumaon, Uttarakhand;  Nahan Himachal; History Gurkha /Gorkha Rule over Dehradun Garhwal, Pithoragarh Kumaon, Uttarakhand; History Himachal Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal;  History of Nepal, History of Doti Nepal, History of Nepalese/ Gurkha regime

Nepal Itihas, Garhwal Itihas, Kumaon Itihas, Himachal Itihas;  Gurkha/Gorkha ka Kumaon par  Adhikar Itihas , Gurkha/Gorkha Garhwal par Shasan Itihas Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal;  Gurkha/Gorkha Rule in Kumaon, Garhwal Uttarakhand; History Gurkha/Gorkha  Rule in Himachal Ruthless Gurkha/Nepalese Administration in Himachal