[{"content":"The Land of the Tortoise The word Kumaon is derived from Kurmanchal — kurma-anchal, \u0026ldquo;the land of Kurma\u0026rdquo;, the tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Tradition places the site of this incarnation at Kurmachal (Kandadev) hill near Champawat, from which the name spread to the whole region.\nPrehistoric Beginnings Human presence in these hills is far older than any dynasty. Rock paintings discovered at the Lakhu Udyar rock shelter (near Barechhina, on the Almora–Pithoragarh road) point to Mesolithic — middle stone age — settlements in the region, making it one of the oldest inhabited tracts of the central Himalaya.\nThe Early Inhabitants The Kols, a people of Austroasiatic stock, are believed to have been the original inhabitants of Kumaon. According to tradition, sections of the Kols relocated to these hills after losing ground to other groups in the plains. They were later joined — and gradually absorbed — by the Indo-Aryan Khas (Khasas) tribes, whose language and customs left a deep imprint on Kumaoni society that survives to this day.\nThe Kunindas (c. 500 BCE – 600 CE) The first rulers of the region known to history are the Kunindas (referred to as Kulinda in ancient literature), who held sway over a broad swathe of the lower and central Himalaya including Kumaon. Their documented history begins around the 2nd century BCE through their distinctive coinage, and they find mention in the Puranas and the Mahabharata.\nThe Katyuri Dynasty (c. 7th – 11th century CE) Kumaon\u0026rsquo;s first great hill dynasty was founded by King Vasudev Katyuri, originally of Joshimath. The Katyuris ruled from the Katyur valley, with their capital at Kartikeyapura — modern-day Baijnath. At its height the kingdom\u0026rsquo;s influence, according to tradition, extended far beyond Kumaon across the western Himalaya, and the region finds mention in the travelogue of the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang), who travelled through India in the 7th century.\nThe Katyuri kings were prolific temple builders — credited with hundreds of shrines — and were among the first in the region to build with hewn stone rather than brick. Their finest surviving monuments include the Sun Temple of Katarmal near Almora and the temple complexes of Baijnath and Jageshwar.\nFragmentation The 11th century saw the Katyuri dynasty decline through internal rivalry and weak leadership. Between roughly 1191 and 1223 CE, Ashok Malla and Krachalla Deva of the Malla dynasty of Doti (western Nepal) invaded the weakened kingdom. The Katyuri realm disintegrated into eight princely states:\nBaijnath Katyuri Dwarahat Doti (far-western Nepal) Baramandal Askot Sira Sora Sui (Kali Kumaon) The Chand Dynasty (10th century – 1790) The Chand dynasty was established by Raja Som Chand, who according to tradition came to Kumaon in the 10th century from Jhusi, near present-day Prayagraj (some accounts trace the family to Kannauj). Ruling first from Champawat in Kali Kumaon, the dynasty grew steadily; Raja Kalyan Chand later shifted the capital to Almora (1560s), which has remained Kumaon\u0026rsquo;s cultural heart ever since.\nIn 1581, Raja Rudra Chand (r. 1565–1597) defeated Raika Hari Mall of Sira — his own maternal uncle — bringing much of the fragmented Katyuri territory under Chand rule. The Chand kings repeatedly attacked neighbouring Garhwal, and were repulsed as often. In 1665, allied with a Mughal force, they captured the Terai including Dehradun; towards the end of the 17th century they briefly overran Garhwal and Doti themselves, before Garhwal\u0026rsquo;s King Pradip Shah regained his kingdom.\nThis was also the period of Rohilla and Mughal pressure on the hills. Yet apart from a short seven-month Rohilla occupation of Almora, no Mughal or Rohilla commander ever succeeded in holding Kumaon. Relations later warmed to the point that King Dip Chand\u0026rsquo;s forces fought alongside the Rohillas in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761).\nFor a brief spell before the end, Kumaon fell under Garhwal\u0026rsquo;s King Lalit Shah and his son Pradyumna Shah — until 1790, when a far more formidable power arrived from the east.\nGorkha Rule (1790 – 1815) In 1790 the Gorkhas of Nepal, expanding westward under the ambitions set in motion by Prithvi Narayan Shah\u0026rsquo;s unification of Nepal, invaded and conquered Kumaon. Their twenty-four-year rule is remembered in the hills as Gorkhyani — a byword for harshness, heavy taxation, and forced labour.\nGorkha expansion eventually collided with the East India Company, triggering the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816). British troops — joined by some 4,000 Kumaoni fighters rallied by Harak Deo Joshi, minister of the last Chand ruler — defeated the Gorkhas in the Kumaon campaign, capturing Almora in 1815.\nBritish Kumaon (1815 – 1947) With the ratification of the Treaty of Sugauli on 4 March 1816, Kumaon and Garhwal formally became part of British India. Impressed by the fighting qualities of the hillmen during the campaign, the British classed the Kumaonis among the \u0026ldquo;martial races\u0026rdquo; and recruited from them heavily — a lineage that led to the Kumaon Regiment (descended from the earlier Hyderabad Regiment, whose ranks were largely Kumaoni). The colonial era also gave the region its hill stations — Nainital, Ranikhet, Almora cantonment — and its first roads, schools, and survey maps.\nInto the Present After Independence, Kumaon remained part of Uttar Pradesh until the long movement for a separate hill state succeeded: on 9 November 2000, Kumaon and Garhwal together became the new state of Uttarakhand.\nThe Chand line itself continues. Its best-known modern descendant, K. C. Singh Baba(Raja Karan Chand Singh), was born on 29 March 1947 in Lucknow and was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004 from the Nainital constituency. Before politics he made his name in sport: a five-time Uttar Pradesh powerlifting champion and two-time national champion, he holds the national record in the bench press and won two silver and two bronze medals at the 1984 Asian championships in Indonesia. He is married to Rani Mani Mala Devi, has two sons and a daughter, and presently lives in Kashipur — keeping the Chand family\u0026rsquo;s association with Kumaon alive into its second millennium.\nWalk through Kumaon today and this whole story is still visible in stone — Mesolithic paintings at Lakhu Udyar, Katyuri spires at Jageshwar, Baijnath and Katarmal, the Chand-era temples of Champawat and Almora, and the colonial promenades of Nainital. The History section of this site explores each era in depth.\n","permalink":"https://thekumaonhills.com/history/a-history-of-kumaon-from-stone-shelters-to-statehood/","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"the-land-of-the-tortoise\"\u003eThe Land of the Tortoise\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe word \u003cem\u003eKumaon\u003c/em\u003e is derived from \u003cstrong\u003eKurmanchal\u003c/strong\u003e — \u003cem\u003ekurma-anchal\u003c/em\u003e, \u0026ldquo;the land of Kurma\u0026rdquo;, the tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Tradition places the site of this incarnation at Kurmachal (Kandadev) hill near Champawat, from which the name spread to the whole region.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"prehistoric-beginnings\"\u003ePrehistoric Beginnings\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHuman presence in these hills is far older than any dynasty. Rock paintings discovered at the \u003cstrong\u003eLakhu Udyar\u003c/strong\u003e rock shelter (near Barechhina, on the Almora–Pithoragarh road) point to Mesolithic — middle stone age — settlements in the region, making it one of the oldest inhabited tracts of the central Himalaya.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"A History of Kumaon: From Stone Shelters to Statehood"},{"content":"Perched on a horseshoe-shaped ridge, Almora is the cultural heart of Kumaon — a former capital of the Chand dynasty, known for its copperware, the bustling stone-paved Lala Bazaar, and sweeping Himalayan views from Bright End Corner.\nAround the town Kasar Devi, Chitai Golu Devta temple, and the Katarmal Sun Temple are all within a short drive.\n","permalink":"https://thekumaonhills.com/places/almora/","summary":"\u003cp\u003ePerched on a horseshoe-shaped ridge, Almora is the cultural heart of Kumaon —\na former capital of the Chand dynasty, known for its copperware, the bustling\nstone-paved Lala Bazaar, and sweeping Himalayan views from Bright End Corner.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://unpkg.com/leaflet@1.9.4/dist/leaflet.css\" crossorigin=\"\" /\u003e\n\u003cscript src=\"https://unpkg.com/leaflet@1.9.4/dist/leaflet.js\" crossorigin=\"\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"map-0\" style=\"height:380px;border-radius:8px;margin:1rem 0;\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cscript\u003e\n  (function () {\n    var map = L.map(\"map-0\").setView([ 29.5971 ,  79.6591 ], \"12\");\n    L.tileLayer(\"https://tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png\", {\n      maxZoom: 18,\n      attribution: '\u0026copy; \u003ca href=\"https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright\"\u003eOpenStreetMap\u003c/a\u003e contributors'\n    }).addTo(map);\n    L.marker([ 29.5971 ,  79.6591 ]).addTo(map)\n      .bindPopup(\"\\\"Almora\\\"\");\n  })();\n\u003c/script\u003e\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"around-the-town\"\u003eAround the town\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKasar Devi, Chitai Golu Devta temple, and the Katarmal Sun Temple are all\nwithin a short drive.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Almora"},{"content":"About thekumaonhills.com — write your story here (editable from /admin → Site Pages).\n","permalink":"https://thekumaonhills.com/about/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAbout thekumaonhills.com — write your story here (editable from /admin → Site Pages).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"About"}]