History of Himachal Pradesh

Ancient trade routes dominate the history of Himachal Pradesh. Large parts of northern Himachal came under Tibetan control in the 10th century, and Buddhist culture is still the defining characteristic of the mountain deserts of Lahaul and Spiti. The more accessible areas in the south and west were ruled by hosts of rajas, ranas and thakurs (noblemen), creating a patchwork of tiny states, with Kangra, Kullu and Chamba the most important. Sikh rajas conquered large areas in the early 19th century, but lost them with the Anglo-Sikh Wars of the 1840s, which brought most of Himachal under British control.

The British started creating little bits of England in the hills of Dalhousie, Dharamsala and Shimla, the last of which, from 1864, became the British Raj’s summer capital. Narrow-gauge railways were later pushed up to Shimla and along the Kangra Valley. The areas under direct British rule were administered as part of the Punjab, while Chamba and the southern princedoms remained nominally independent, known as the Punjab hill states. Himachal Pradesh was formed from these princely states after Independence, liberating many villages from the feudal system. In 1966 the districts administered from Punjab were added, and full statehood was achieved in 1971. Initially neglected by central government, Himachal has been reinvented as the hydropower dynamo for India, with dams producing electricity for half the country.