History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c22.s1.34

v1.c22.s1.34

Kulu and Simla states.—In all these States especially between Nepal and Kangra are spread the Kunet people who are a bratch of the Khaśas. They are very numerous in these regions. These are, according to Cunningham, the ancient Kunindas mentioned by Varāha Mihira and the Kulindas mentioned in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. Kulindas are mentioned in the Mahābhārata list of peoples also but as no locations or even directions are mentioned in that list it is impossible to decide whether these Kulindas are the Himalayan Kunets. When the Aryan immigration among them took place cannot be determined. But the following observations of Cunningham may be given here. "The Kunets and the Khaśas both profess to have been the masters of these hills before the Aryan immigration which followed the Mahomedan conquest. All the ancient remains within the present area of Kunet occupation are assigned to a people who are called Mois or Mons and all agree that these were the Kunets themselves. The fact is that Mon is simply their Tibetan name while Kunind or Kunet is their Indian name" (Arch. S. R. Vol. IX p. 127). Further "in Dvāra Hāth in Garhwal there are a number of monuments like tombs built of large flat tiles which the people attribute to the Mois or Mons. These I take to be the ancient Kunets before they were driven from Dvāra Hāth to Joshimath".