British Administration in Kumaon Himalayas (An Old & Rare Book)

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From the historical viewpoint. Kumaon to this day remains a relatively unexplored area. The rugged topography and terrain, had made communication extremely difficult, resulting, to a certain extent, in an insular outlook and an indigenous administrative history. The present study is a pioneer endeavor to collect. collate and synthesize the administrative history of the Kumaon Himalayas mainly on the basis of primary sources. After the British acquisition, Kumaon was constituted as a 'non-regulation' area and thus was ruled by a separate set of uncodified laws.

In the present work an in-depth study of the people of Kumaon against the background of its administrative history has been made. It also brings to light the true aims, policies and modes of operation of the British in Kumaon and the consequent political repercussions.

ARUN K. MITTAL received his Ph.D. in history from Kumaun University, Nainital in 1977 for his work on Sir Henry Ramsay. He then made a comprehensive study of the Administrative History of Kumaon during the British Rule for which he has recently been awarded the D.Litt degree by the same university. He is the author of many text and reference books and has also published several articles and research papers in reputed Journals. He is currently working on the 'Socio- Economic History of Kumaon.

KUMAON is an integral part of the Indian heritage. It is difficult to ascertain the antiquity of the word 'Kumaon People believe it to be a natural evolution from the word 'Kurmanchal', named after the incarnation of lord Vishnu as a tortoise (Kurma).

Little is known about the administration of Kumaon prior to 2500 BC. B.D. Pandey is of the opinion that from 2500 BC. to 700 A.D. this area was ruled by a Suryavanshi clan known as 'Katyuri', while Rahul Sankrityayan puts them between 850-1050 A.D. After the decline of the Katyuri dynasty, the Chands emerged as another prominent dynasty in Kumaon. According to B.D. Pandey they ruled Kumaon from 80 to 1790 A.D.. but Rahul Sankrityayan puts their rule between 1400 to 1790 A.D. Earlier the capital of the Chand rulers were Champawat but it was changed to Almora some- where around 1560 AD. and thereafter Almora became the nucleus of the Chand dominion. The Chand dynasty ruled Kumaon upto 1790 when it was uprooted by the Gukhas of Nepal. The Gurkhas ruled Kumaon for a short period. In 1815, by the treaty of Saigauli, Kumaon was annexed by the British. The treaty of Saigauli also ceded Garhwal to the British. Thus, the British Garhwal also became part of Kumaon Commissionary Upto 1839, Kumaon Commissionary cons- tituted only one district known as Kumaon, but in 1839, it was divided into two districts-Kumaon and British Garhwal In 1842, another district was formed Known as the Tarai distric This arrangement continued upto 1891. In 1892, the names of the districts of Kumaon Commissionary were changed and the new districts were named Almora, Nainital and British Garhwal This system remained in force throughout the British rule. Earlier the headquarter of the Kumaon Commissionary was Almora which was shifted to Nainital in 1857.

During the earlier 19th century the British conquered States (e.g. Oudh and Kumaon) were constituted as non-regulation areas. They were governed directly by the Governor-General with the assistance of a Commissioner and had separate rules and regulations as it was believed that the laws of the regulated provinces might not suit the local conditions of these areas and implementation of identical laws would do injustice to the people of these areas. Therefore, here the Commissioner was much more powerful than his prototype in the regulated areas. The Commissioner of Kumaon had, in civil and criminal cases, the powers equivalent to the powers of a High Court Judge and a Sessions Judge, respectively.

**Contents and Sample Pages**