About Himachal

Himachal:
It is the land of eternal snow in the north-west of India. The literal meaning of Himachal is 'Lnad Of Snow'. It is also known as 'Dev Bhoomi' ( the land of Gods). The capital of the state is Shimla and other major towns include Solan, Dharamshala, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, Hamirpur, Dalhousie and Manali. It takes in the frontier zone from the plain to the high Himalaya and in the trans Himalayan region of lahaul and spiti actually crosses that mighty barrier to the Tibetan Plateau

History:
The history of the Himachal begins with the beginnings of the history of the humankind. The german scholar benel and others have called it the abode of the primitive man. According to the Rigveda many human tribes occupied the area before the arrival of the Aryans.

Also according to Rigveda, the non-Arayan tribes of the Koles, the Kiratas , the Kinnaras, the Yakshas and the Nagas, lived here prior to the Arayans. Their king and leader Shamber fought against the Arayan king Divodas in many battles. Eventually Shamber was killed. King Svetasa subjugated a lot of non-Arayan kings and become one of the famous rulers of the Vedic period. A lot of places in the region are named after the famous Aryan saints and warriors.
The Aryan king Sahastrabahu Kartavirya also annexed the Himalayas. Parshurama, the son of Jamadagni defeated and killed him. The puranas refer to the slaying of the demon Talandhar. After his death various parts of his body were flung all over. The region where the ear (kan) fell, came to be known as Kangarh and later as Kangra.

The subsequent history is also full of wars between the kings and the Ranas. Kalhana's Raj Tarangani refers to these clashes. There are many references to the king of Chamba, Meruvarman, extending the boundriesof his kingdom. Near about 700 A.D., the Tibetans attacked Lahaul Spiti. The king of kulu helped the Tibetans and received three villages from them in return. This ended the rule of the sen family in Spiti. In the 10th century A.D., king Suhil varman of Chamba defeated his neighbouring kings also drove away the Kir and the Turushka hordes that were attacking the area

In 1857, the Mutiny came. The hill states did not cooperate with the rebels, perhaps partly because of their geographical isolation and partly because of their own inner problems. In 1876, there was an uprising against Vazir Ghulam Kadir of Nalagarh. In 1880 there was mass movement in sirmaur too. But the first to voice protest against the British domination were the states of Kangra and Noorpur. Vazir Ram Singh Pathana was a hero of this uprising against the British. He annexed (in 1845) the fort of Shahpur and threw the British out, but his plan to helpfrom a federation of the hill states against the British, fell through when the king of guler informed the British of his plans. Eventually his own best friend sold him to the British and Ram Singh was sent to Singapore under a sentence of life imprisonment. He died there.

After 1930, the freedom movement gained strength here. Known as the hill-Gandhi, Kanshi Ram was one of the leaders. On the 15th ofAugust, 1947, India become independent. After defying the leaders for a year, in 1948 the princely states were dissolved and on 15th August, 1958 Himachal become a state in the republic of independence India.

Climate:
Himachal Pradesh is dominated by mountains & associated rivers and valleys. There is great diversification in the climatic conditions due to variation in elevation. Three are three main seasons in Himachal Pradesh. By October to February nights and mornings are very chilled. Lahaul and spiti are completely isolated when these and other passes are blocked by snow. Himachal Pradesh can be easily segregated by its valleys. Lahaul consists of the Chandra and Bhaiga valleys. It is drained by the Chanda river, which turns into the Cheab river, before flowing west into Kashmir. Farther east, the spiti river joins the sutlej river in kinnaur and flows all the way to the Punjab. The kullu valley is drained by the beas river and stretches from Mandi to Manali. It is joined by the Parbati valley from the east. In the west, the beautiful Kangra valley stretches from Mandi to Shahpur, near Pathankot. To the north of the kangra valley, on the other side of the Dhaula Dhar range, that is separated from the remote pattan valley by the pir panjal range. The ravi river flows through Chandra and on to Lahaul in northern Pakistan. During winters snowfall is recorded about 300 meters and lasts from December to march. The main season is the spring season, it is from mid February to march- April. The air is cool and fresh. Colorful flowers & butterflies can be seen adown the valley. The rain start at the end of june. From july to September is the rainy season. The entire landscape becomes green and fresh. It may cause damage to erosion, floods and land slides.