Brief History of District Una – Himachal Pradesh

By | November 7, 2016

Una is a small district located on the south-western border of the State. The present Una district was formally a part of the erstwhile Kangra state. The bulk of the present Una district, which is called as Jaswan Dun was ruled by the Katoch family of Kangra.

Jaswan State: 

It is believed that the Jaswan state, with its capital at Rajpura near Amb, was founded by Purab Chand in 1170 A.D.

From Purab Chand to Umed Singh, 27 princes ruled the Jaswan state. Not much is known about the state until the time of emperor Akbar when it became subject to the Mughal rule.

On the decline of the Mughal Empire and the rise of Sikhs, the Jaswan state came under their dominance and was annexed to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom in 1815 A.D.

Ranjit Singh wanted Umed Singh of Jaswan state to attend the assembly at Sialkot which he refused. As a result, Ranjit Singh imposed fine on him which was beyond his capacity to pay. Consequently, he abdicated his state and accepted a Jagir of Rs.12.00 per annum. In 1848 during the second Sikh war, Umed Singh joined the revolt against the British which was crushed and Raja along with his son departed to Almora where both died.

In 1879, Ram Singh’s grandson of Umer Singh has restored his ancestral jagir at Jaswan originally held by Raja Umed Singh consisting of 21 villages in Jaswan Dun and also a family garden at Amb as well as the building at Rajpura, formerly the palace of Raja Umed Singh. He died in 1892 and was succeeded by his son Raja Raghunath Singh who also died in 1918. Thereafter, Laxman Singh succeeded him who started residing at Amb.

Apart from Jaswan state on the northern extreme was a princely state of Siba which was an offshoot of the Kangra ruling family.

The Eastern side of the present Una district was under the rule of Kutlehrias who were reported to have migrated from Uttar Pradesh.

Formerly princely state Kutlehr is a part of the Una district. Kutlehr was the smallest of all principalities in the Kangra area. The capital of Kutlehr state was Kot-Kutlehr.

Thus, present Una is comprised of three princely states of Jaswan, Dun, Siba, and Kotlehria.

During the British regime, the present Una district excluding Bangana block was part of the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, Una was a tahsil as well as sub-division of that district and present Anandpur Sahib tehsil of Ropar district was its part.

In the re-organization of Punjab state, present Una district was merged within Himachal Pradesh with district headquarters at Dharmsala and the remaining area of present Anandpur Sahib tehsil remained in Punjab. Thus, Una was bifurcated in two states i.e. Himachal and Punjab on the re-organization of states.

On 1.9.1972. Himachal Pradesh government divided the Kangra district into three districts namely Una, Hamirpur, and Kangra.

New Una district was formed by transferring entire Una tehsil, Amb sub-tehsil, and villages of Barsar sub-tehsil from the Kangra district.

The present district Una comprises of two princely states viz. Jaswan and Kutlehr.

Read also:

  1. Brief Geography of District Una – Himachal Pradesh
  2. District Una Highlights of 2011 Census
  3. History of Chintpurni Temple
  4. Contribution of the district Una in various fields
  5. Places of religious, historical or archaeological importance and Tourist interest in district Una
  6. Fairs and Festivals of District Una – Himachal Pradesh

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