Not much is known about the
early history prior to the formation of Suket in 765 AD. The area had been
under the control of Ranas or Thakurs. The only place that has an early mention
in literature is Rewalsar and it is mentioned in the Skanda Purana as a sacred
place of pilgrimage. Karnpur, a small village is said to have been 
founded
by Karan, a hero of the Mahabharta. A temple at Gumma points to the locality
where the Pandavas sheltered themselves when the attempt to burn them
downfailed. Beyond this not much of the erstwhile state’s existence can be
found in classical literature. According to the Tibetan tradition, Padam
Sambhav (750-800 AD), the great Buddhist Patriarch, who was summoned by king
Tisong-De-Tsen of Tibet for preaching Buddhism, hailed from Zahor, which
represents the country round about Rewalsar. On the basis of this it is
concluded that Mandi must have been a great place of Buddhist learning about
this time.
The present District
Of Mandi was formed with the merger of two princely states Mandi and Suket on
15th April 1948, when the State of Himachal Pradesh came into existence. Ever
since the formation of the district, it has not witnessd any changes in it’s
jurisdiction. The chiefs of Mandi and Suket are said to be from a common
ancestor of the Chandravanshi line of Rajputs of Sena dynasty of Bengal and
they claim their descent from the Pandavas of the Mahabharata. The ancestors of
the line believed to have ruled for 1,700 years in Indarprastha(Delhi), until
one Khemraj was driven out by his Wazir, Bisarp, who then took over the throne.
Khemraj, having lost his knogdom, fled eastward and settled in Bengal, where 13
of his successors are said to have ruled for 350 years. From there they had to
flee to Ropar in Punjab, but here also the king, Rup Sen, was killed and one of
his sons, Bir Sen, fled to the hills and reached Suket. The State of Suket is
said to have been founded by Bir Sen, an ancestor of the Sena Dynasty of
Bengal.
The seperation of Mandi from
suket took place about the year 1200 AD. Upto that time, it was the single
state of Suket. The then reigning chief Sahu Sen had a quarrel with his younger
brother Bahu Sen, who left Suket to seek his fortunes elsewhere. Bahu Sen after
leaving Suket settled at Manglan in Kullu, where his descendents lived for 11
generations. Then then chief, Kranchan Sen was killed fighting against the
Kullu Raja and his Rani, who was pregnant at that time. fled alone to her
father who was the chief of Seokot, who had no son. Here she gave birth to a
baby boy who was named Ban, the tree under which he was born. Ban had hardly
crossed the age of 15 when he defeated the chief of Kilti who used to plunder
travellers.On the death of the chief of Seokot, Ban succeeded to the chiefship
of Seokot. He, after some time killed the Rana of Sakor and took posesssion of
his lands. he then changed his residence to Bhiu, on the banks of Beas and a
few miles from the present Mandi town. Mandi emerged as a seperate state in the
begining of the sixteenth century. Down the line of descendants of Ban came
Ajbar Sen, nineteenth in descent from Bahu Sen, who founded Mandi Town in 1527
AD, the capital of the erstwhile state of Mandi and the headquarters of the now
Mandi District.
Ajbar Sen was the first
great ruler of Mandi. He was probably the first to assume the designation of
Raja. He consolidated the territories that he had inherited and added to them
new ones that he wrested from the hands of his neighbours. He built a palace
here and adorned it with four towers. He also built the temple of Bhut Nath and
his
Rani constructed that of Trilok Nath. Down the line of descendants was Raja
Sidh Sen, who succeeded Raja Gur Sen in 1978 AD. Mandi had never been so
powerful before his reign and after that never was. He captured great areas
from the adjoining areas. it was during his reign that Guru Govind Singh, the
tenth guru of the sikhs visited Mandi in the close of the 17th century. He had
been imprisoned by Raja singh, the chief of Kullu, from whom he had sought
assistance against Mughal troops and his followers believe that Guruji escaped
by using miraculous powers. Raja Sidh Sen, who is also considered to be a
posessor of great miraculous powers, entertained his with great hospitality. He
built the great tank before the palace.
He also built the temples of
"Sidh Ganesha" and "Trilokinath". The entire history of
both the states of Mandi and Suket is littered with wars with among themselves
and other adjoining states. These two states had always been rivals and
generally enemies, but there was no great result of their warfare. The fertile
valley of Balh was the common ground of desire and dispute. On 21st February
1846 the chiefs of Mandi and Suket visited Mr. Erskine, Suprintendent of the
Hill States for the British Government, owing their allegiance to the
Britishers and securing their protection. on 9th march, 1846 a treaty was
concluded between the British Government and the Sikh Durbar whereby the whole
of the Doab area between the Beas and the Sutlej was ceeded to the British
Government, and this included the ststes of Mandi and Suket also. On 1st
November 1921, both the state of Mandi and Suket were transferred from the
political control of Punjab Government to that of Government of India till 15th
August 1947, India’s Independence Day.
