Katoch is a Chandravanshi Rajput clan. [1] [2] Their areas of residence are mainly in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. [3] Traditionally resided in Kangra Fort, Trigarta Kingdom, Jalandhar, Multan.
Katoch Rajputs have four sub-clans Jaswal Dynasty, Sipaia Dynasty, Guleria Dynasty, and Dadwal Dynasty.Chib Dynasty [4]
There are two possible origins for the word Katoch. Members of the clan say it comes from the words Kat (army) and uch (upper class) [5] but other sources say that it comes from kot (fort). The Kangra fort was known as Nagarkot or Kot Kangra, and since the administrators/rulers resided within that particular kot they were vernacularly called "Kot'ch" or कोटच, which means those within the fort. [6] This over time became Katoch.
The main branch of the Katoch clan were the rulers of the Kangra State, which was, by some accounts, the most prominent kingdom between the Ravi and Sutlej in the pre-modern period. [7] [8] The Kangra State was also known as Trigadh, a name derived from the ancient Trigarta Kingdom mentioned in the Mahabharata . [9] The tradition holds that the Katoch were the rulers of Kangra from the times of Mahabharata till the pre-independence era. [10]
In the pre-modern period, the hill states of the modern Himachal Pradesh are said to have constantly warred with each other, despite relations of kinship and intermarriage. In 1333, under the reign of Raja Prithvi Chand, Mohammad Bin Tughlaq attacked Kangra with 100,000 men. Only 10 of them returned to Delhi and were executed by the emperor. [11] [12] Emporer Akbar had failed to conquer them despite a siege of 10 years. [13] Then they were brought under the Mughal suzerainty by the emperor Jehangir. Emperor Jahangir captured the Kangra fort in 1610, annexing the surrounding area. [8] The Mughal control was limited, however. The rulers of the states retained a fair degree of independence.
Multiple attacks by Katochs, Sikhs, and Marathas, led to the decline of the Mughal power. This led Raja Ghamand Chand (r. 1751–1774) to recover the fort and he also recovered most of the territory earlier ceded to the Mughals. His grandson, Maharaja Sansar Chand (r. 1775–1823) established the supremacy of Kangra over all the surrounding hill states and captured lands till Lahore(later lost to Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh). During his reign, Kangra became a major centre for the arts and several palaces were built. [8]
In the year 1805, the neighbouring hill states rebelled, with the aid of the Gurkha army. Raja Sansar Chand was forced to seek the help of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore. By the treaty [14] that followed, The Gurkha army was expelled by Maharajas Sansar Chand and Ranjit Singh. As part of the treaty, Kangra fort was gifted to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and also annexed the most fertile part of the Kangra valley, reducing the Katochs of Kangra to control all of Kangra except villages surrounding the fort.
After the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1846, the whole area was ceded to the British East India Company, eventually integrated into the Punjab province. The Katochs and the surrounding hill rajas were assigned small jagirs over which they had the rights of revenue and magisterial authority. Eventually, the title of Maharaja was restored to the Katoch clan in 1870 and the Kangra fort was returned to the clan in 1905. [8]
The Katoch clan one of the 14 ruling clans of the Himachal Pradesh and Jammu region in the medieval times. [15] [16]
Katochs suffixed 'Chandra' to their names until the rise of the Sikh dynasty in Punjab, after which some clan members started suffixing 'Singh' also. However, most clan members today, including in the sub-clans, suffix Chand. [17]
Until the reforms of 1930s, the Katoch women were only married westward, generally to the Pathania and Jamwal/Jamuwal men and vice-versa. The higher the sub-clan rated its own status, the farther away towards the west they tended to marry. [18]
In past centuries, the clan and its branches ruled several princely states in the region of Trigarta. Trigarta refers to the land between three rivers, namely, Beas, Sutlej, and Ravi. [19] However, the clan lost lands and by the 17th century had been reduced to a small hill state. The originator of the clan was Rajanaka Bhumi Chand. [20] Their rulers include Sansar Chand II and Rajanaka Bhumi Chand, the latter being the founder of the Jwalamukhi temple in Himachal Pradesh.
Kangra district is the most populous district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district.
Kangra-Lambagraon was a historical state and later princely estate (jagir) of British India located in the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh.
Kangra is a city and a municipal council in Kangra district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is also known as Nagarkot.
Trigarta was an ancient Indo-Aryan kingdom based in the region of modern day Punjab. The focal point of its administration was situated in Jalandhar. However at its zenith it encompassed the hill territory extending from the Sutlej to the Ravi, with a secondary capital in Kangra. According to a genealogical record of the Kangra State, the first significant monarch is identified as Susarman, who is recognised for his participation in the Kurukshetra War based in the early Iron Age. It was during this period that the kingdom held Multan.
Sansar Chand was a Rajput ruler of the erstwhile Kangra State in what is now the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
The Kangra Fort is a historic fort located in the Kangra district of the Himachal Pradesh state in India. The fort is also known as 'Nagarkot' and 'Kot Kangra'. This fort stands on a hillock between two rivers, among the foothills of the Dhauladhar range. The fort is the largest in the Indian Himalayas, and is under the protection of the Archeological Survey of India. The Kangra Fort is also the oldest fort in the Himalayas and, according to Indian mythology, has a legendary history spanning approximately 4,000 years.
Tira Sujanpur, also known as Sujanpur Tira or Sujanpur Tihra, is a town and municipal council in the Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh. Founded in the 18th century by the Katoch dynasty, the town is located midst the Himalayan foothills on the southern bank of the Beas River. It was one of the centers of Kangra-style miniature paintings and Hindu temples built in an unusual blend of conventional Nagara architecture shrines with Mughal architecture palace, the latter decorated with floral murals of legends from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Himachal Pradesh was established in 1948 as a Chief Commissioner's Province within the Union of India. The province comprised the hill districts around Shimla and southern hill areas of the former Punjab region. Himachal became a part C state on 1951 with the implementation of the Constitution of India. Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory on 1 November 1956. On 18 December 1970 the State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed by Parliament and the new state came into being on 25 January 1971. Thus Himachal emerged as the eighteenth state of the Indian Union.
Prior to the arrival of the Mughals in the Indian subcontinent, the first instance of Islamic conquest of the region was during the 10th century when Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra. After the entry of the Mughals into the subcontinent, the region fell to Mughal authority as well. Later, due to internal conflicts within the Mughal dynasty the rulers of the hill provinces took complete advantage. Kangra regained its independence under Maharaja Sansar Chand who ruled for nearly 50 years. He was one of the most powerful administrators of the region. After he took the formal possession of Kangra fort, Maharaja Sansar Chand began to expand his territory. The states of Chamba, Suket, Mandi, and, Guler, Jaswan, Siba and Datarpur came under the direct control of Maharaja Sansar Chand.
Ranjanka(Great King) Bhumi Chand was the founder of the Trigarta Dynasty in Satyuga. He was the first great king of the Chandravanshi group of Kshatriyas Rajputs. He is mentioned in the Puran, the holy book of Hindus, as Brahmand Puran. According to this holy book, with the blessing of Goddess Parvati, he was born in the month of April or May, the date on which 'Chetermas ki Asthami' falls.
McLeod Ganj or McLeodganj is a suburb of Dharamshala in Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, India. It is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" as the Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered here and there is a significant population of Tibetans in the region.
Jaswan was a precolonial Indian state in modern-day Himachal Pradesh, commanded by the Jaswal Rajput clan. It was founded in 1170 AD by Raja Purab Chand, a cadet of the Katoch lineage, ancient royal family of Kangra.
Shamirpur is a village in the Kangra district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is located next to National Highway 20, which runs from Pathankot in Punjab to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. It is easily accessible from Dharmasala. The nearest airport is Gaggal Airport, alternatively known as Kangra Airport or Dharamsala-Kangra Airport, which is located in Gaggal near Kangra, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) southwest of Dharamshala.
Nurpur kingdom in the Himalayan foothills of India was founded in 1064 A.D at north-eastern Bari Doab between the Ravi and the Beas rivers at the fusion of Kangra, Duggar, Majha, Dharab and Chamba areas which ended in 1815. The remnants of Nurpur kingdom exist as ruined forts, restored temples, water bodies, and canals in Nurpur tehsil, Fatehpur tehsil, Pathankot tehsil, Dhar Kalan tehsil, Jawali tehsil, Indora tehsil Bhattiyat tehsil, and Sihunta tehsil.
Ichhi is a village and a Village Panchayat in Kangra district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Ichhi village is 8 kilometres from Kangra.
The Nepal–Sikh war was a small conflict in 1809 between the forces of the Kingdom of Nepal under Bahadur Shah of Nepal and the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya was the eldest son and heir of Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the chief of the Kanhaiya Misl. He was the father of Maharani Mehtab Kaur and thus, the father-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire.
Dadwal, also written as Dadhwal and Dhadwal, is a surname prevalent in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. The surname is prevalent in the Rajput community. It is also prevalent in the Jatt community and is a clan name amongst Hindus and Sikhs.
The Hill States–Sikh wars, also known as the Sikh–Pahari Raja wars, was a set of battles and conflicts fought by the Sikhs and the rajas (kings) of the Hill States located in the Sivalik Hills.
The Rajputs in Himachal Pradesh are members of the Rajput community living in the North Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. They ruled a majority of kingdoms of the region and even dominate in Himachal Pradesh politics. The kingdoms of the Hill States of India were mostly in the present day state of Himachal Pradesh, and mostly had Rajput rulers. All of the Chief Ministers who served Himachal Pradesh except for Shanta Kumar belong to the Rajput caste. The Rajputs of Himachal Pradesh fought battles with Tughlaq, Mughal, and Sikh forces, most notable being the Battle of Bhangani, when the Hill States made an alliance against the Sikhs. While some Rajput kingdoms and clans have a long history in Himachal Pradesh, others were established due to the Rajput migrations to the hill regions mostly due to the Islamic invasions.
KATOCH They derive their nomenclature from the word Kat (army) and uch (upper class)
The Kangra fort is situated at a peculiar strategical situation overlooking deep furrows leading to wide spanned stream. The fort, now in ruins, once commanded respect among the hill chieftains... It was popularly known as Nagarkot or Kot Kangra. Kot denotes a fort and Nagar denotes a town, so collectively it meant the fort of the town. The clan who ruled Kot Kangra was named Katoch after Kot. In fact, this fort was so peculiar in its situation and formidable features that it became a unique structure among the prevailing forts. So the clan ruling this fort was known as Katoch.
These rajput clans suffixed their family names after their proper names for instance Katoch rajas suffixed Chandra. Chambials suffixed Varman, Suketias suffixed Sen while as Jaswal and Sibials suffixed Chand.
Trigarta, meaning land of three rivers. The three rivers referred are the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej