कांगड़े दा टीला ओ माता, गर्वे सिंघे घेरिया। अकबर कांगड़े चढ़ आया ओ मेरी माँ। सुत्ती ऐ की जाग दी तू, जाग अम्बे रानिये। गर्वे ने पाई लिया घेरा ओ मेरी माँ। A very famous bhajan from Kangra of Mata Bajreshwari Devi, remembered often across north-west India today, talks of the Kangre da Tilla or the Mound of Kangra, referring to the place where Bajreswari Devi is present. She is popularly also know as Kangra Mata, and the legend is that the place was set up by burying the kaan or ear of an asura who was killed by the Pandavas on the orders of the Devi. There are such bhajans for other major temples in the region as well, but as a history enthusiast, this one often draws my attention. The story of Kangra is as much the story of the civilizational wounds that the plains experienced; or perhaps it was worse, given how many times temple desecrations were made a conscious strategy. This song, at some level, seems to pass on the memory of one such gory experience that was witnessed by the peopl...
A possible portrait (dated 1730) of Raja Jagat Singh Pathania (from the Eva and Konrad Seitz collection) History is a subject of speculation as much as it is about evidence. The more you read, the more you see gray areas everywhere. However, certain fields of history, like that of the Himalayan states for instance, is a rather problematic subject. Insufficient publicly available evidence, lack of local interest, and 'remoteness' from the larger picture has often rendered the subject to ignominy. However, it is a small but earnest attempt of this blog to keep exploring and writing on the subject in one way or the other. A few months ago, I had talked of the Brajraj Panchashika, and seen the trends of Braj bhasha kavita in the region serving as evidence to suggest certain historical trends. However, there was definitely a broader trend in the region of such Braj bhasha ballads. The ballad of Raja Jagat Singh by Kavi Gambhir Rai is another example of this, and the more you read...