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Medieval History of Himachal Pradesh (Mughal and Chamba-Sirmaur)

Mughals and Chamba—
In History there is no mention that Chamba was ever invaded by Muslims before 16th century. However Chamba became tributary to the Mughal Empire after the capture of Kangra Fort. Pratap Singh Varman was a contemporary of Emperor Akbar and in his reign the whole of Hill States including Chamba became tributary to the Mughal Empire and he remained loyal to Mughals. In the war with Kangra, ‘Churi‘ and Gharoh was annexed by Chamba.

Akbar had sent his finance minister, Raja Todar Mal to attack Kangra. In this process the state of Chamba lost Rihlu, Chari and Gharoh after Todar Mal’s revenue settlement.
In 1623, in the battle of Dhalog (near Dalhousie) Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur defeated Raja Janardhan of Chamba.

Later Jagat Singh in a treaty message to Janardhan invited him to meet at the Mughal court at Chamba. Suspicionless Janardan came to Durbar with a few followers. When engaged in conversation, Jagat Singh suddenly drew his dagger and plunged it into Janardan’s chest. Janardan also had dagger in his waistbelt but the handle was tied to the sheath by a cord, so that he could not draw it in time to defend himself. Since then Chamba Rajas began to wear dagger loose in sheath. The date of Janardan’s death was probably 1623. The fact of his having been killed by Jagat Singh is confirmed by a statement to that effect in Badshahnama. This tragedy is said to have occurred in the palace at Chamba.

After this Chamba came under the rule of Jagat Singh for two decades. Jagat Singh had built Taragarh fort around 1626 AD as a safer site for defence. It was built up in three strata and all the three contained wall enclosures formidable enough to be encroached upon. Jagat Singh revolt against the Mughal authority. Shahjahan sent army under the command of Murad Baksh in 1641AD.

Janardhan’s son Prithvi Singh found high time for restoration of the throne with the help of Mandi and Suket. With the help of Raja of Mandi, he passed through Kullu, crossed Rohtang Pass into Lahul and Pangi via Cheni pass and remained successful in capturing his state.
Raja Jagat Singh fought bravely but could not withstand to the mighty Mughal army.He spent his remaining life in the service of Emperor. He was granted Jagir of Jaswan.

Raja Chatar Singh who was contemporary of Aurangzeb, refused to obey royal order to demolition all Hindu temples in Chamba state in 1678 AD. He organized hill chiefs of Basohli, Guler and Jammu against Mughal army led by Mirza Obed Beg. Consequently, the Mughal got defeated.

Mughal and Sirmaur—
Mughal also tried to capture Sirmaur kingdom . Raja Dharam Prakesh and Budhi Prakash were contemporary of Akbar and Jahangir respectively remained loyal to Mughal. Raja Mandhata Prakash who supported Shahjahan forces against Gharwal chief. During the reign of Medni Prakash, Guru Govind Singh was invited to Sirmaur who
founded Paonta sahib, the Sirmaur rulers had established cordial relations with Mughal and were granted with Khilat.

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