History of Chand Dynasty, Who ruled in Kumaun Uttarakhand

 Chand Dynasty

History Of Chand Dynasty

According to Atkinson, the founder of the Chand dynasty was Somchand. At the same time, Badridutt Pandey, the author of the book "Kumaon ka History", also considered Somchand to be the ruler of the Chand dynasty. Whose reign he has considered in 700-721 AD. But British-Garhwal writers Atkinson, Walton, and Neville have called Somchand's rule 935 AD. At the same time, according to Shiv Prasad Dabral Charan, popularly known as the Encyclopedia of Uttarakhand, the reign of Somchand is said to be between 665 AD and 700 AD.

Somchand, brother of Kannauj king, was married by Brahmadev to his daughter and gave a small jagir of Champawat in dowry, while Somchand laid the foundation of his kingdom. The evidence obtained from Gurjar Dev Temple Dwarahat shows that the descendants of the Chand dynasty were related to the descendants of the Pratiharas.

During the rule of the Chand dynasty, the first king of the Malla dynasty (Doti) in Nepal was Vamdev. Which Somchand used to do. After that, the ruler Vamdev, who was born in the same dynasty of Nepal, named his capital Champa after his favorite goddess Champavati. Which later came to be known as Champawat.

A 123 AD old inscription of Challadeva has been received from the Baleshwar temple of Champawat. In which the names of ten Mandalik kings are engraved. At the same time, mention of Mandalikas like Mohan Thap has also been found in Baste (Pithoragarh) copper plate. According to the evidence found from Gopeshwar - Trishul inscription, in 1191 AD, there have been indications of the suzerainty of Ashoka Challa in this area. In the Bodh Gaya inscriptions of Sahanpal and Purushottamsrinh, it has been called the Maharajadhiraja of Khas country.

Doubts in Somchand and Thoharchand, founders of Chand dynasty

On the basis of information received from Harshdev Joshi, who was called Chanakya of Kumaon politics, William Fraser wrote to the Company government in 1815 that the first king of Kumaon was a Rajput named Thoharchand, who died in Jhansi (Allahabad) at the age of 16-17. ) was brought from. However, historians have different views on this. Therefore, the historical architectural evidence of this dynasty has not been found. At the same time, Thoharchand was sitting on the throne of the Chand dynasty after Narchand. Therefore, there is also a doubt that this Thoharchand is not mentioned by Harshdev Joshi. Well Filahal Somchand is credited with the establishment of the Chand dynasty.

Hereditary order of the Chand dynasty

After Somchand, many kings in the Chand dynasty took over the throne of Chand dynasty, which were respectively Purnachandra, Indrachand, Sansarchand, Sudhachandra, Harichand, Veenachand, Veerchand, Narchand, Thoharchand, Trilokchand, Umarchand, Dharmachand, Abhaychand, Karamchand, Gyanchand, Harichand, Dwan Chand. , Atma Chand, Harichand, Vikramchand, Dharamchand, Bharatichand, Ratanchand, Kirtichand, Pratapchand, Tarachand, Manikchand, Kalyanchand, Pooranchand, Bhishmachand, Rudrachand, Balo Kalyan Chand, Rudrachand, Laxmichand, Trimalchand, Dilipchand, Bajbahadur Chand, Bajbahadur Chand, Gyan Chand, Jagatchand, Devichand, Ajit Chand, Kalyan Chand, Deepchand, Mohanchand, Shivchand, and Mahendrachand ruled.

Important information about the Chand dynasty

There is much important information during the Chand dynasty which is given below. Which highlights the important events during the rule of Chandvansh. This information is useful for state-level examinations in terms of the history of the Chand dynasty and famous events during their reign.

Somchand

• Somchand, brother of Kannauj king, was married by Brahmadev to his daughter and gave a small estate of Champawat in dowry, while Somchand laid the foundation of his kingdom.

• The descendants of Chandravansh were related to the descendants of Pratiharas, which reveals Gurjar Dev's hand in the temple.

• The first king of Malla dynasty Doti was Vamadeva. Somchand used to do this.

• Vamdev named his capital Champa after his presiding deity Champavati, which later came to be known as Champawat. He also built some temples at Jageshwar.

• Somchand built Rajbunga Fort in Champawat.

• After Somchand, Atmachand sat on the throne. After that Purnachand ruled from 1066 to 1084.

• After Purna Chand, Indrachand sat on the throne.

• According to Atkins, it was Indrachand who started the work of silk production.

• After Indrachand, there is a mention of Veena Chand, who was called the luxurious king of this dynasty.

Gyan Chand

• Gyanchand ruled from 1365 to 1420. He was the first Chand ruler who went to the court of Delhi Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq to pay a gift.

• Firoz Shah gave the title of Garuda to Gyan Chand. The winner of the noise was also Gyan Chand.

• In the Gopasa copper plate of 1418, there is a mention of him giving the village of Kujoli Pithoragarh to Devraj Tiwari.

• After Gyan Chand, Hariharan Chand, Dwan Chand, Atmachand, Harichand Vikram Chand and Dharamchand ruled.

                           PLAY AND WIN BIG

Bharti Chand

• The duel of Bharatichand's duel with Kumaon's famous heroine Bhaag sound knowledge has also been praised in Pawar Pawad and Bhakade.

• Not only this, Bharti Chand fought against the Doti state (Nepal). At that time Doti Raj was called rank.

• Forming his army from Bharati Chand's Katku in Madua Gudaul, he raised an army against Doti (Nepal) in the area of ​​​​Kataku Naula and Badalu to Gaudihat near Dev Singh Maidan in the headquarters of Pithoragarh.

• After camping in Nepal for 12 years, the Malla king (1451-52 AD) was finally defeated and the Chand kingdom got freedom from Doti.

Balo Kalyan Chand

• Shobha Malla married his daughter to Balu Kalyanchand to establish a marital relationship with the Chands.

• The Maharaja Maharajadhiraj, who is mentioned in the copper letter received from Kalpani Bhad-Bheta (Pithoragarh), was the successor of Bhishmachand.

• After Bhishmachand, Rudrachand sat on the throne.

• Bhishmachand had built the Khagmara fort located in Almora.

Rudra Chand

• Rudrachand was a contemporary of Akbar, who established the city of Rudrapur by winning the Terai region from Hussain Khan in 15-187.

• 84 Mal Pargana Farman was also given to it.

• Malla Mahal of Almora was also built by him.

• Not only this, Rudrachand wrote a book named Dharma Niyaan. On the basis of which the gotras of Brahmins and their family relations were numbered.

• Sarola Brahmins of Garhwal formed a congregation of Chautani Brahmins in Kumaon like cooks.

• At the same time, after collecting one-sixth of the grain from the villages and taking it to the capital, the task of "Kani Khus" was fixed.

• The Malla Mahal fort was built by Rudrachand in Almora.

Laxmi Chand

• After Rudrachand, Lakshmichand ruled.

• During its reign itself, a court named Nyowali was created for the justice of all the people, and the Bishtali court only for military matters.

• It opened Narsingh Bari, Pandey, also got gardens like Kabina and Laxmeshwar, etc. established.

• In 1602 it renovated the Bagnath temple of Bageshwar.

Baj Bahadur Chand

• After Rudrachand, Baz Bahadur Chand sat on the throne. Who had gone to the court of the Mughal emperor.

• Subedar Rustam Khan of Moradabad got the province of Mal Terai from Baz Bahadur Chand. Where Rustam Khan established the city of Bajpur.

• During the time of Baz Bahadur Chand, he drove the Katyuri princes towards Garhwal. These Katyuris started looting in Garhwal, due to which Tilu Rauteli, daughter of Gola Rawat Bhup Singh, had to take up arms.

• This war took place in Barkindo, Deghat, and Tamadhaun in Barkinda and then also in Takolikhal.

Udyot Chand

• Udyot Chand was sitting on the throne after Baz Bahadur Chand, during the time of Udyot Chand, there was the rule of Medinishah in Garhwal and Devpal in Nepal. He defeated both of them and took back his territory while defeating the Dotis in battle and also imposing taxes on them.

• It was the second Chand ruler to invade Nepal.

• After Baz Bahadur, after conquering Ajmer stronghold of Nepal during the time of Udyot Chand, he turned towards Garhwal, then the Garhwalis had to flee to Veeronkhal.

• Baz Bahadur donated lump land for the pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar in 1673 AD. Gunth refers to the land where the priests of the temples live.

• Baj Bahadur also imposed a tax called "Sirti" on Bhotis and Hunis.

• "Ek Hatya Deval" site was built by Baz Bahadur Chand in Pithoragarh itself. Its structure is similar to that of the Kailash temple of Ellora.

• But when Doti attacked again, he attacked Nepal and was defeated by Nepal. Due to defeat and set out in search of peace.

Gyan Chand

• After this Gyanchand sat on the throne, he fought on Garhwal, trampled the fertile region of Tharali and looted Badhan Garh in 1699.

• It also gave land to Vireshwar Joshi in the bonds.

• Not only this, he robbed the golden statue of Nanda Devi and took it away and established this idol in the Nanda Devi temple located in Almora.

• In 1704 it started the Doti campaign to avenge the father.

Also Read - History of Uttarakhand - Prehistoric History

Jagat chand

• Jagatchand became the king after Gyanchand, this period is called the golden period of Kumaon. At that time, an income of Rs 9 lakh was available from Kumaon.

• Jagatchand attacked Srinagar during Fatehshah and plundered it. Not only this, he also gave a valuable gift to the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah.

Devi chand

• After Jagatchand, Devichand, who sat on the throne, is called Muhammad Tughlaq of Kumaon because he had looted many wealth on the advice of sycophants.

• Lalkandi Fort was built by Kalyanchand Bahadur in Almora. It is also known as Fort Moira. Its capital was called Rajbunga.

• During his reign there was also an attack of Ruhels. There was an attack in Bijpur between the brave army of Sardar Ali Mohammad Khata and Kalyanchand of Rohilkhand.

• In the name of Guru Gorakhnath, a hill named Gorkha was named in Gorakhpur and in Nepal, it was Gangnath and Chandravanshi prince who was worshiped in the houses of Almora, who came as a monk.

• Lakshmichand has been given the surname Lakholi Virali.

• The last ruler of the Chand dynasty was Mahendra Chand, who was defeated by the Gorkhas in the Havalbagh war in 1790.

So this was information about the Chand dynasty ruling the Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand. Hope you do not need to go to any other site after reading this.

Also read - History of Panwar Dynasty 

This Whole article is originally written by Deepak Bisht on wegarhwali.com. It is a translated version of that article if you find some errors. Please correct us. :)