History of Kangra

Kangra

Ambika Mata
Ambika Mata

The great antiquity of the Kangra family is undoubted, as concluded by Sir A. Conningham (an officer in the British Army) "The Royal family of Jalandhar (Kangra) is one of the oldest in India and their genealogy from the time of the founder, Susarma Chandra appears to me to have a much stronger claim on our belief, than any of the long strings of names now shown by the more powerful families of the Rajputana."

From the days of mythology to about 11th century Kangra has been known as Jalandhar or Trigarth (meaning three great rivers or three great capitals). The kingdom of Kangra comprised of all the country between the rivers Sutlej and Ravi and the plains of the Jalandhar Doab. The kingdom had three capitals Multan, (Presently in Pakistan) oldest city of Asia, also know as Kashyap Pura, Kashyap is the Gotra of Katoch, where fort by the name of Katochgarh still exist which was destroyed by the Muslims in the early years of the Mughal invasion. Jalandhar (present day Jalandhar, Punjab, India) was a flourishing trading city in the center of the kingdom. According to Huien Tsang (who visited the capital in the 5th Century A. D.), said the circuit of the capital was about 13 li (2 miles). Kangra - the third capital situated in the hills was more like a safe house. The fort is in the shape of an ear (Kaangarh). History records show that the name of Kangra was changed quite frequently - Bhimkot, Nagarkot, Susarmapura and Katoch are some of the names associated with Kangra.