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Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India c8.s2.t7: 6 Rajapura, or Rajaori

Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India c8.s2.t7

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6 Rajapura, or Rajaori

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From Punach, Hwen Thsang proceeded to the south-east for 400 *li*, or 67 miles, to *Ko-lo-she-pu-lo*, or *Râjapura*,* which I long ago identified with the petty chiefship of Rajaori, to the south of Kashmir. The circuit of the district is described as 4000 *li*, or 667 miles, which is about double the true amount, unless, as is not improbable, the whole of the hill-states as far as the Râvi be included within its boundaries. From the native chronicle of Kashmir we learn that the petty chiefships of the hills to the south and south-east of the valley were generally subject to Kashmir; and there is no reason to suppose that they were independent at the time of Hwen Thsang's visit.

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∗ Julien's 'Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 188.

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The district of Rajaori proper is nearly a square of about 40 miles each side, bounded on the north by the Pir Panchâl, on the west by Punach, on the south by Bhimbar, and on the east by Rihâsi and Aknur.[*] By extending its boundary on the east to the Chenab, and on the south to the plains, it would include all these petty places; even then its frontier would not be more than 240 miles, or by road about 320 miles. But if the frontier of these hill-states subject to Kashmir be extended to the Râvi on the east, the circuit would be about 420 miles measured on the map, or not less than 560 miles by road.

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Râjapuri is frequently mentioned during the medieval period of Kashmirian history, but chiefly in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when it was an independent state under its own rajas. In the fifteenth century the Hindu family was dispossessed in favour of a son of the Muhammadan king of Kashmir; and his descendant was so reduced by Gulâb Singh that in 1846 he was glad to accept an estate in the British district of Kângra in exchange for his petty chiefship of Rajaori.

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HILL-STATES OF THE PANJÂB.

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As the Chinese pilgrim has noticed so few of the many hill-states of the Panjâb, I will here add a brief outline of the information which I have myself been able to collect regarding them.

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According to popular opinion the petty states of the Alpine Panjâb, at the present time, consist of

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[*] See Maps Nos. V. and VI.

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twenty-two Muhammadan and twenty-two Hindu chiefships, the former lying to the west, and the latter to the east of the Chenâb river. An older classification divides them into three groups, each named after the most powerful state which formed the head of the confederation. These were Kashmir, Dogra, and Trigartta. The first consisted of the rich valley of Kashmir, and all the petty states between the Indus and Jehlam; the second included Jammu, and the other petty states between the Jhelam and the Râvi; the third comprised Jâlandhar, and the various small states between the Râvi and the Satlej.

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This division into three groups most probably existed prior to the seventh century, as we find that the states to the east of the Râvi were quite independent of Kashmir, while those of Urasa, Punach, and Rajapuri are spoken of in such a way as to show that they had kings of their own previous to their subjection by Kashmir. Trigartta is repeatedly mentioned in the chronicles of Kashmir as an independent kingdom; and its own history shows that one-half of the present petty states of the Jâlandhar hills have sprung from the division of the possessions of a single family.

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The following list gives the names and possessions of the various states attached to Kashmir, or the western division of the Alpine Panjâb:—

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1. Kashmir. Khâka Bambas {
2. Gingal, on the Behat R.
3. Muzafarabad ,,
4. Khâgân, on the Kunihâr R.
5. Garhi, ,, Afghâns . . . {
6. Rash, on Pakhli R.
7. Dhantâwar on Dor R.
8. Gandgarh, ,,
9. Darband, on the Indus R.
10. Torbela, ,, }

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Gakars . . . {
11. Pharwâla, near Behat R.
12. Sultânpur, on Behat R.
13. Khânpur, on Haro R. }

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The *Khâka-Bamba* chiefs hold the valley of the Behat river below Barâhmula, and the whole course of the Kunihâr river to the north-west of Kashmir. They are all Muhammadans, and are most probably the descendants of the early inhabitants of the country, who retired to their present position on the advance of the Afghân invaders.

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The *Afghân* chiefs hold the valleys of the Pakhli and Dor rivers, to the south-west of Kashmir. They are all Muhammadans, and their settlement in this part of the country is of recent date. Abul Fazl mentions that before the time of Akbar, the raja of Pakhli was a tributary of Kashmir. He also states that Timur left a small body of troops in this district, whose descendants were still there in his time.[*]

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The Gakar chiefs hold the lower valley of the Jhelam, and the upper course of the Haro river to the south-west of Kashmir. They are all Muhammadans; but their conversion is comparatively recent, as their names were Indian down to the invasion of Timur. Their occupation of these districts is of very early date; but they are *Turanians*, and not *Arians*, as none but a Gakar will intermarry with a Gakar, a practice that is utterly repugnant to Hinduism, which permits no man to marry one of his own tribe. The Gakars also occupy several portions of the eastern Doab, as Guliâna, near Gujar Khan, and Bugiâl, under the lofty hill of Bâlnâth. But these districts do not properly belong to the hills, although they were subject to Kashmir at the time of Hwen Thsang's visit in the seventh century.

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∗ ‘Ayin Akbari,’ ii. 155.

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The following list gives the names and positions of the various states attached to the central, or Jammu division of the Alpine Panjâb :—

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| Hindus . . . { | 1. Jammu, to east of Chenâb R. 2. Bhao, " |
| | 3. Rihâsi, on Chenâb R. 4. Aknûr, " 5. Punach, on Punach R. 6. Rajaori, on Tohi R. 7. Kotali, on Punach R. Muhammadans. { | 8. Bhimbar, at foot of hills. 9. Khariâli, near Bhimbar. 10. Kâshtwâr, on upper Chenâb R. 11. Bhadrwâr, to south of Kastwar. |
| Hindus . . . { | 12. Chaneni, to west of Bhadrwâr 13. Bandrâlta, to south of Chaneni. 14. Sâmba, to S.W. of Bandrâlta. |

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15. Jasrota, to south of Bandrâlta.
16. Tirikot, near Jasrota. Hindus . . . 17. Mânkot, to south of Bandrâlta
18. Badwâl, or Vaddiwâsa.
19. Ballâwar, or Bisohli.

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The towns of Jammu and Bhao, which were founded by two brothers, are situated on opposite banks of the Tohi, a small stream that joins the Chenab at the foot of the hills. Jammu is mentioned several times in Muhammadan history, from the time when Timur forcibly converted the Raja down to the end of the last century. The three famous brothers of Ranjit Singh's court—Gulâb Singh, Dhyân Singh, and Suchet Singh, belonged to a younger branch of this family, and the son of Gulâb Singh now rules over Kashmir and the whole of the states in the western and central divisions of the Alpine Panjâb.

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The petty chiefs of Rihâsi and Aknur were branches of the Jammu family, on which they were generally dependent. Punach was sometimes independent; but its proximity to Kashmir placed it at the mercy of its more powerful neighbour. Rajaori and Kotali were held in later times by two branches of the royal family of Kashmir, to which they were usually tributary. But in the middle ages, under the Hindu rulers, Kotali formed part of Punach, to which it naturally belonged as part of the same valley. Bhimbar and Khariâli were divisions of the Chibh, or Chibhân, branch of the Somvansi Rajas of Kângra and Jâlandhar. In early times the name of Bhimbar was little used, the common appellation being *Chibhân*, which is found in Sharifuddin's history of Timur, under the form of *Jibhâl*. The conversion of the family to Muhammadanism is probably of late date, as Ferishta mentions Howns Raja of Bhimbar in A.H. 891, or A.D. 1486.* But so many of these hill chiefs retained their Hindu names after they became Muhammadans, that the Hindu name alone cannot be taken as a decisive proof of his being unconverted. *Kâshtwâr* and *Bhadrwâr* are situated on opposite banks of the upper Chenâb river, to the south-east of Kashmir, to which they were generally subject. These nine chief-ships of the central division, added to the thirteen of the western division, form the twenty-two Muhammadan states which the popular belief assigns to the western half of the Alpine Panjâb.

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Of the eight remaining chiefships of this division I am not able to give much information, as many of them became extinct during the early period of Sikh rule, and all of them are now absorbed by the Jammu family in the great kingdom of Kashmir. *Jasrota*, in the outer range of hills, was once of some importance, and its chiefs intermarried with the other Rajput families of the Alpine Panjâb; but I can find no mention of it in any of the histories. *Ballâwar* and *Badwâl* were certainly at one time under a single chief, as Kalasa, the son of Tukka, who is twice mentioned in the ‘Raja Tarangini’† as lord of *Vallâ- pura between 1028 and 1801, is found in the genealogical lists of both families. It is true that *Vaddivâsa* is noticed in the same chronicle* as a separate district at an earlier date, but as there is no mention of any chief, it may be inferred that it formed part of the small kingdom of Vallâpura. As the names in the two genealogical lists differ from *Kalasa* downwards, it seems probable that the state may have been dismembered after his death. It is certain that he was mixed up with Kashmirian politics; and as the contemporary Raja of the neighbouring state of Chamba was put to death by Ananta of Kashmir, I conclude that Ballâwar must have been subjected at the same time.

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∗ Briggs, ‘Ferishta,’ iv. 483.

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† ‘Raja Tarangini,’ vii. 220, 589.

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I may remark that all the chiefs of the Central Division, whose genealogies I possess, trace their origin to the *Surajvansi*, or Solar Race, with the single exception of the intrusive *Chibhân* of Bhimbar. The chiefs of Jammu, Jasrota, and Ballâwar, with their offshoots, amounting together to eight of these petty states, all assert their descent from the Sun, a claim which is admitted by their Rajput neighbours.

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The following list gives the names and positions of the various states attached to the eastern, or Jâlandhar division of the Alpine Panjâb.

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Somvansi . . . {
1. Kângra, or Kâtoch.
2. Guler, to S. W. of Kângra.
3. Jaswâl, on Suhan R.
4. Datârpur, on lower Biâs R.
5. Siba, do. }

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∗ ‘Raja Tarangini’, vi. 318, Nandigupta.

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Surajvansi . . {
6. Chamba, on Râvi R.
7. Kullu, on upper Biâs R.
8. Mandi, on middle Biâs R.
9. Sukhet, to south of Mandi.
10. Nûrpur, between Râvi and Biâs R.
11. Kotila, to E. of Nûrpur.
12. Kotlehar.

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Pundir, or Pândayas . . {

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Of these twelve states no less than five are mere subdivisions of the once rich kingdom of Jâlandhar, which embraced the whole of the Doâb, or plain country, between the Biâs and Satlej, and all the hill country lying between the Râvi and the frontiers of Mandi and Sukket, to the south of the Dhaola-dhâr mountains. This included Nûrpur, Kotila, and Kotlehar; and as Mandi and Sukhet were at first under one rule, there were originally only four chiefships in the eastern division of the Alpine Panjâb, namely, Jâlandhar, Chamba, Kullu, and Mandi.

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