Black and White Picture of Raja Ugar Singh of Hindur, 1840-1850 (from Archer's book on Punjab Hills Paintings) Picture the year: 1795. The foothills of the Shivaliks are tense, echoing with the tramp of armed men and the grinding pressure of regional rivalries. Down in the valleys, Raja Ram Saran Singh Handuriya of Handur (modern-day Nalagarh) is caught in a grinding political bind. For years, Handur has ridden the coattails of Kangra’s aggressive campaigns against its bitter historical rival, Bilaspur (then known as Kahlur). But looking out across his contested borders, Ram Saran Singh faces a heavier, more haunting question: Does he continue serving as a satellite to Kangra’s ambitions, or does he break away, side with Maha Chand and Bilaspur, and reclaim a fractured sense of Rajput honor? The friction between Handur and Bilaspur was rooted in continuous struggles over strategic border zones, crucial river-crossing points, and the Satgarha (seven forts) territory. Because Handur...
Kullu is globally known for its vibrant gathering of the various devatas of Kullu valley, all coming to visit the royal family at the time of Dussehra. The royal family have been hosting the idol of Raghunath ji or Sri Rama at the Raghunath temple of Kullu. These devatas, or local deities, are all invited into the Ramchandra darbar by the royal family of Kullu as per tradition. While the festival is recorded to be at least from the 16th century. However, few people know that Kullu is the oldest state after Punjab and Kangra, known in the past as Kuluta. The oldest reference to the state comes from a coin issued by a certain Virayasa, the king who had it issued, dating back to 1-2 CE, as pointed out by Parmeshwari Lal Gupta and Hutchison and Vogel earlier. References to the state comes in the Mahabharata as the tribe north of the Kuru kingdom, alongside the Trigarta and the Kashmir kingdoms. It is however the reference in the Rajataramgini of Kalhana that we have an intere...