History
In
1805, Sansar Chand attacked the hill State of Bilaspur (Kahlur), which called
in the dangerous aid of the Gurkhas, already masters of the wide tract between
the Gogra and the Sutlej. The Gurkhas responded by crossing the latter
river and attacking the Katochs at Mahal Mori, in May, 1806. The invaders
gained a complete victory, overran a large part of the hill country of Kangra,
and kept up a constant warfare with the Rajput chieftains who still retained
the remainder. The people fled as refugees to the plains, while the minor
princes aggravated the general disorder by acts of anarchy on their own
account. The horrors of the Gurkha invasion still burn in the memories of
the people. The country ran with blood, not a blade of cultivation was to
be seen, and grass grew and tigers whelped in the streets of the deserted
towns. At length, after three years of anarchy, Sansar Chand determined
to invoke the assistance of the Sikhs. Ranjit Singh, always ready to
seize upon every opportunity for aggression, entered Kangra and gave battle to
the Gurkhas in August, 1809.
After
a long and furious contest, the Maharaja was successful, and the Gurkhas
abandoned their conquests beyond the Sutlej. Ranjit Singh at first
guaranteed to Sansar Chand, the possession of all his dominions except the fort
of Kangra and 66 villages, allotted for the support of the garrison; but he
gradually made encroachments upon all the hill chieftains. Sansar Chand died in
1824, an obsequious tributary of Lahore. His son, Anrudh Chand, succeeded
him, but after a reign of four years abandoned his throne, and retired to
Hardwar, rather than submit to a demand from Ranjit Singh for the hand of his
sister in marriage to a son of the Sikh minister Dhian Singh. Immediately
after Anrudh’s flight in 1828, Ranjit Singh attached the whole of his
territory, and the last portion of the once powerful Kangra State came finally
into the possession of the Sikhs.
Kangra passed to the British at the end of the
first Sikh War in 1846 and there were several revolts against the British. Ram
Singh, a Pathania Rajput, invaded the British garrison at Shahpur. The
British immediately rushed their forces, which surrounded Shahpur fort. Ram
Singh finding himself at a disadvantageous position sneaked into the nearby
forest to rearm himself. After the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857, some
disturbances took place in the Kulu subdivision; but the vigorous measures of
precaution adopted by the local authorities, and the summary execution of the
six ring leaders and imprisonment of others on the occasion of the first over
act of rebellion, effectually subdued any tendency to lawlessness. The
disarming of the native troops in the forts of Kangra and Nurpur was effected
quietly and without opposition.
The national movement in Kangra district was spearheaded by Comrade Ram Chandra, Thakur Panchan Chandra and Baba Kanshi Ram. Baba Kanshi Ram did a great deal for liberation movement in Kangra district. He was responsible for the liberation wave in hills. He was given the title of “Hill Gandhi” by Jawahar Lal Nehru for his work and “Bulbule Hills” for his melodious throat by Sarojini Naidu. With the freedom of British India, Kangra district automatically threw away the foreign yoke and entered into the era of democracy.