Ancient history of Himachal Pradesh
The ancient history of Himachal Pradesh, like many other regions of India is lost in obscurity because of the lack accurate source material. Himachal as a state, what we see today was non existent. It was a territory under the control of local rulers, Rajas, Ranans, Thakurs and frequently devastated by natural calamities and foreign aggression . Local rulers were also not in good terms. This also resulted into frequent battles and destruction of invaluable records of the time. According to the Mahabharta, the present day Himachal Pradesh consisted of a number of small republics also known as the Janpadas. The Janpadas were formed by the Aryans were following :
The Adumbras :
The epic Mahabarta testifies that Adumbras were descendents of the sage Vishwamitra, who founded the gotra of the Kaushika group. They were one of the famous tribes of ancient Himachal Pradesh.Their coins hve been found in Kangra, Jwalamukhi, Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur regions. The tribe Adumbaras had republican system with an elected king. Their coins inscribed in Brahmi and Kharosti and supported by a Trident figure.
Sheep rearing was one of the occupation of the people. Adumbaras may have grown prosperous through the sale of woollen goods manufactured by them. Their economic affluence is also testified to by Budhists text like ‘The Vinaya’.
Trigarta :
Trigarta was a kingdom mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Mahabharata mentions two different Trigarta kingdoms, one in the west close to the Sivi Kingdom and the other north to the Kuru Kingdom. Modern Kangra is one of the ancient town in North Trigarta, extending westward to the Punjab area. Multan was the capital of Trigarta with its original name that is Mulasthan. The territory of Trigarta Kingdom is around the three rivers of Satluj, Beas, and Ravi. These Trigarta kings were allies of Duryodhana and enemies of Pandavas and Viratas. Their capital was named Prasthala. They attacked the Virata Kingdom aided by the Kurus to steal cattle from there. The Pandavas living there in anonymity helped the Viratas to resist the combined forces of Trigartas and Kurus. Trigarta kings fought the Kurukshetra War and were killed by Arjuna, after a ruthless and bloody conflict. Arjuna also annihilated an Akshouhini (a large military unit) of Trigarta warriors called the Samsaptakas. These warriors had vowed to either die or kill Arjuna as part of a larger plan by Duryodhana to capture Yudhishthira alive.
Susharma the founder of Trigarta, was an ally of the Kauravas and attacked Virata the king of the Matsya, with whom Pandavas has sought refuge. Historically, Trigarta first finds mention in the works of Panini from the 5th century B.C. who calls the inhabitants of Trigarta as "Ayudhjeevi Sangha" or a martial republic.
The Katoch dynasty is an offshoot of Trigratraje Dynasty. It is claimed to have ruled this area and the above story from the Mahabharata is recorded in their history. Maharaja Susharma Chand had fought against Arjuna. His son built the Kangra Fort. Katoch Dynasty, in Kali Yuga, has also its famous sub clans as Jaswal Dynasty, Guleria Dynasty, Sibaia Dynasty, Chib Dynasty and Dadwal Dynasty.
Kuluta :
Located in the upper Beas Valley with its capital at Naggar. Vishaka Dutt the author of Mudrarakshasa discuss Kuluta as separate political identity. According to this Chandragupta Maurya (324 B.C.) had an alliance with Himalayan state.
The oldest historical record of the kulutas is the legend on a coin found in the Kullu valley bearing the name “Virayasasyarajna kulutasya” (Kullu king Virayasa).
Kullu was another old principality in the Western Himalayas, it was known as Kuluta in ancient times. It was a tribal republic of Janpada. According to Hutchison and Vogel, this state was founded by Behangmani Pal not later than the first century A.D. ^ The ruling family, the tradition holds, "Came from Mayapur (Hardwar, U.P)" Its earliest capital was at Nast or Jagat Sukh. During the reign of Jagat Singh (A.D. 1637-1672). Sultanpur was made the seat of government.
The Kunindas :
These were mountaineers and neighbors of Trigarta. They were mostly found in Sirmaur and Shimla hills and between Ambala and Saharanpur in the plains. In the modern period we can identify Kunindas with the kanets and kunets who form bulk of population of Kullu, Shimla hills and Sirmaur
These republican states flourished in shivalik hills in between 3rd century B.C. to 4th century A.D. Disappeared with the coming of Imperial Guptas. In 4th Century A.D. Samudergupta subdued and overpowered all these Ganas and Sanghas.