Sansar Chand Katoch portrait The Gorkha invasion of Kangra in 1805–06 is a fairly well-known episode in the history of the western Himalayan states. The campaign, that eventually brought Raja Sansar Chand's ambitions to a halt and led to his decline, has been discussed in multiple historical accounts. Yet, while going through some older writings on the history of Nepal, I came across an account that seems to suggest that the confrontation between the Katochs and the Gorkhas was not a one-off; it was one of the multiple confrontations that had occurred, arising from a variety of reasons. The account appears in Ludwig F. Stiller's The Rise of the House of Gorkha: A Study in the Unification of Nepal, 1768–1816 (1973) , which draws upon Francis Buchanan-Hamilton's earlier An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal (1819) . The story begins not with the Gorkhas, but with Sansar Chand's growing influence in the region. Hamilton wrote that after the demise of Dharma Prakash, who had d...
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 interesting episode mentioned, one that I would like to specify here. Around the 6th century A.D., as Kalhana records, there was a certain king Ratisena of the Cholas, who sent his daughter Ranarambha to the residence of his friend, the then king of Kuluta, and where Ranaditya, the king of Kashmir at the time 'went with joy to that not distant land' to receive her. As this incident, highlighted by Hutchison and Vogel, indicates, there were perhaps indications of a larger pan India alliance developed between the Cholas and the Gonandiya Dynasty ruling at the time in Kashmir, but also indicating a position of minor importance for the state of Kuluta. This is an interesting point of reference - little is known of the Chola kings during this period, though it is broadly accepted that the Cholas were at their lowest ebb politically for three centuries starting with the 6th century A.D. Therefore, to find a reference to the Cholas in the North Indian texts at the time is quite surprising. This Ranarambha, according to Rajatarangini, went on to become the queen of Kashmir by marrying Ranaditya. However, it was in Kuluta, a supposed feudatory of the Kashmir king, that the two met before their union.
It is however the reference in the Rajataramgini of Kalhana that we have an interesting episode mentioned, one that I would like to specify here. Around the 6th century A.D., as Kalhana records, there was a certain king Ratisena of the Cholas, who sent his daughter Ranarambha to the residence of his friend, the then king of Kuluta, and where Ranaditya, the king of Kashmir at the time 'went with joy to that not distant land' to receive her. As this incident, highlighted by Hutchison and Vogel, indicates, there were perhaps indications of a larger pan India alliance developed between the Cholas and the Gonandiya Dynasty ruling at the time in Kashmir, but also indicating a position of minor importance for the state of Kuluta. This is an interesting point of reference - little is known of the Chola kings during this period, though it is broadly accepted that the Cholas were at their lowest ebb politically for three centuries starting with the 6th century A.D. Therefore, to find a reference to the Cholas in the North Indian texts at the time is quite surprising. This Ranarambha, according to Rajatarangini, went on to become the queen of Kashmir by marrying Ranaditya. However, it was in Kuluta, a supposed feudatory of the Kashmir king, that the two met before their union.
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