Uttarakhand - 1893

On the even of independence, Assam was the only hilly province of independent India that time. Rest all were either part of larger provinces (such as Punjab and United Provinces), or Indian protectorate but yet not part of India (Sikkim) or were still struggling to get its statehood (the Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir). With time, smaller hilly Himalayan states were carved out such as Nagaland (1966), Himachal Pradesh (1971), Meghalaya (1972), Tripura (smaller section of Lushai Hills and other smaller ranges occupy Tripura) and Manipur (1972), Sikkim (1975) Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (1987). The only Himalayan state to be carved out in the 21st century is Uttaranchal (2000) which got renamed in 2006 to Uttarakhand. The need for separate hilly states rose from the difference in geography and economic structure of hills and plains. 

The old cities

On historical maps, one would find Uttarakhand often either associated with Tibet or with old Nepal or a cluster of independent Himalayan kingdoms - mostly Kumaon (spelled as Kemaoon on old maps), Suket and Garwhal. One of the oldest towns of Garhwal, also known as Srinagar (spelled as Serinagur on old maps), can be found on many maps. Situated on the banks of Alaknanda river, the city's establishment was originally surrounded by 4 Shivlings. Another important historical site is Govishana (गोविषाण), the older name for Kashipur, which has been mentioned even by the ancient Chinese traveler Xuanzang. In the 19th century, it was an important Hindu pilgrimage site. Haridwar (also known as Kapilasthana, Gangadwara, Mayapuri and spelled by British as Hurdwar), Devprayag, Kedarnath, Katyur, Gothla, Uttarkashi (Badahat बाड़ाहाट), Tanakpur, Pithoragarh etc. are other important Hindu religious sites that also finds its importance in ancient scriptures and texts. 

The Mughal era

In the 17th century when these smaller kingdoms became Mughal vassals, history started taking a different curve. It was during this time that the first European documentation of Tibet took place via Garhwal. In the year 1625, a Portuguese Jesuit priest named Father António de Andrade crossed Garhwal via Mana village and arrived at Tibet where he was unkindly welcomed. It's interesting to know that by this time, there was not much of European incoming to the Himalayas and absolutely no trade posts settlements in any of the regional kingdoms. This was also the time when Garhwal was ruled by a queen, Rani Karnavati, wife to Raja Mahipat Shah, who had acquired an interesting name by the locals - nak kati rani (नाक कटी रानी). It is said she would chop off noses of the Mughal invaders, hence the reason for the name. Humiliated by this, the Mughals allied up with neighboring rulers of Sirmaur and Kumaon and attacked again but failed to conquer the entire kingdom barring a couple of minor forts. It was Aurangzeb who finally was successful in acquiring the entire kingdom in 1662. 

It wasn't just the Gharwal-Mughal conflict that had tensed this slice of Himalayas. The Gharwal-Kumaon disputes of the 17th-18th centuries are also part of its history. Numerous accounts of battles between Fateh Shah of Gharwal and Gyan Chand of Kumaon are mentioned, the notable one being the 1699 raid at Kumaon villages of Sabli, Khatli and Sainchar. Fateh Shah is one of the highly revered kings even praised by the British and Mughals alike. It is said that like Emperor Akbar, even king Fateh Shah's darbar would consist of the Navratna (nine gems) - a set of nine royal advisors. This was also the time when Uttarakhand's present capital Dehradun was established (in 1675) as Dera Dun or simply, Dehra. The city flourished and developed initially during the reign of king Pradip Shah who ruled between 1709 to 1772. By this time, the East India Company had already established their prominence in the subcontinent. 

The Gurkha regime

The peaceful reign of Pradip Shah was followed by Lalit Shah's turbulent war period. In 1775, he declared war on the Sikhs (and another in 1778) resulting in defeat twice. Followed by Pradyuman Shah who would be the last ruler of Gharwal and a battle in 1804 with the Gorkhas would now spread the Gorkha Empire (the predecessor to modern Nepal) from Sirmaur to Darjiling. But the Gorkha rule would be the darkest period in Gharwal-Kumaon history. Its noted that the local populace of Uttarakhand were subjugated to numerous harsh treatments under the Gorkhas till 1815. The Gurkha War (or the Anglo-Nepalese War) ended with British victory and Treaty of Sugauli that ceded all the former territories to the East India Company. The current border issue between Nepal and India with respect to the Kalapani region is because of different interpretation of India and Nepal over the source of Mahalaki river that flows through Kumaon-Nepal border.

The British hill-stations

Uttarakhand is blessed with hill-stations. The most popular one being Dehradun, Mussoorie, Nainital and Lansdowne. The 19th century would see the British establishing numerous hill-stations across the subcontinent, majorly along the Himalayan range in the north and around Nilgiri hills in the south. Old map of Nainital would find places such as Prospect Lodge, St. Helens, Fairlight Hill, Springfield, Edge Hill, Stanley Hill, Earlscourt, Albion Hotel, Dunedin Hotel etc. - all lodges and hotels which are now occupied by locals. Between 1820s to 1890s, a total of 49 hill-stations were established in British India. At present, the number exceeds more as numerous post-independent hill-stations sprung up as tourism was now available for all Indians. Auli, Chaukori, Dhanaulti, Jageshwar, Kausani, Khirsu, Pauri, Ranikhet, Pangot, Almora etc. 

The love for hill-stations of the Kumaon Division of United Provinces (as the region was now known as during British Raj) made one of its towns unofficial summer capital of India - Mussoorie. Since Simla was already the official summer capital, Mussoorie became a gossip center of lovebirds and honeymoon for newly wed couples. It was also the place where Sir George Everest stayed between 1832 to 1860. The ex-Amir of Afghanistan, Yakub Khan, was put under house arrest at Bellevue Estate in 1880. The Duke and Duchess of Connaught (in Ireland) spent summer here in 1884. Mussoorie is also home to the famous author Ruskin Bond who still stays at Landour cantonment. 

The jungle encounters of British hunter Jim Corbett mentioned in various of his works - Man-Eaters of Kumaon, The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, The Temple Tiger and More Man-eaters of Kumaon etc. - are all based on his adventures in the Kumaon region. Nainital was the home of Jim Corbett and hence the oldest national park of India, established in 1936, is named after him - the Jim Corbett National Park. Nainital was also the summer headquarters of United Provinces before independence and is still the judicial capital of Uttarakhand. 

The internment camps

A lesser known fact of Dehradun is that it held numerous internment camps - at Celement Town and Premnagar Camp - during the second World War. Since Britain was an Allied power, India automatically became one too. But there were numerous Germans, Italians and other foreigners in India that time - businessmen, traders, merchants, authors, filmmakers etc. - who had to be detained during the period of 1939 to 1945. Numerous detainment camps were made to serve this purpose, some of them at Dehradun as well. Josef Wirsching, a cinematographer of German national who had shot numerous early Indian films such as Prem Sanyas (the Light of Asia, 1925) along with its director Franz Osten - a German as well - were kept in internment camps at Ahmednagar, Satara and Dehradun. Henrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer, Peter Aufschnaiter (a fellow climber as well), Bruno Treipel, Hans Kopp, Hiens von Have etc. were all detained at the internment camp. Interestingly, they escaped the camp on 29th April 1944. A 1952 novel and a 1997 Hollywood adaptation with the name Seven Years in Tibet (it stars Brad Pitt in the lead and has Danny Denzongpa as a supporting role as well) is based on the life of Henrich Harrer. 

Post-independence

Garhwal was also a Princely State as well as a district in the British province of United Province. The capital of the Princely State was Tehri, hence the differentiation with the prefix Tehri-Garhwal. The Princely State merged with the Union of India on 18th May 1949. The districts of Garhwal had already merged in 1947. The talk of a new state to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh started in 1998 under the name of Uttaranchal. The new state of Uttaranchal was established on 9th November 2000 and 6 years later, the name was changed to Uttarakhand. 

An interesting less-popular fact that Uttarakhand is one of the only five Indian states having three capitals - Dehradun (administrative), Gairsain (legislative in summers) and Nainital (judicial). Dehradun also serves as the legislative capital in winters. Gairsain is proposed to be the future permanent capital of Uttarakhand. 

The map attached here is Uttarakhand of 1893 with Kumaon and Garhwal regions marked. The red regions denote British territories, the lemon colour are the Princely States.