SOURCES

                                                         SOURCES                                                  

There is a lack of proper historical material i.e the account of public events with the dates of their happening. In the absence of such material it became very difficult to construct the history of Lahoul. It is difficult to have a connected and coherent past account of the area. Lahoul has been a home of sturdy people who could not only endure and withstand the rigorous of nature, but loved solitude and extremely hard life of forbidding mountains. Their needs have been from the beginning, so few and existence is so bare that no outsider was tempted to establish himself and make any connected account. According to Pran Chopra in his work ' On An Indian Border', faint traces of history of Lahoul, mainly discovered through a study of the languages, go back to about 2000 B.C. But  the Gazetteer of Lahoul Spiti remarks that the first authentic recorded material dates back to no earlier then A.D. 635.

Huien Tsang stated ' LO-U-LO' to be 575 or 610 km distant by road from the middle of Kiu-lu-to [Kullu]. It is a gross overestimate as the first village in Lahoul is only about 75 km from Sultanpur. Despite this error, whatever its source may be, Lahoul is clearly the country referred to here. 

The travelogues and writings of many eminent and enterprising writers helped a lot in unfolding the cultural heritage, customs, rituals etc of the people. The noteworthy among them are Captain A.F.P.Harcourt, Dr. M.S.Randhawa, Dr. Pran Chopra and M.S.Gill. In 1861-62, J.B.Lyall published Kullu Settlement Reports. Mr. Dyke in 1887-90 and Mr. Coldstream in 1910-12 also produced their work. But for historical facts General Cunninghums,' Coins Of Ancient India' and 'Archeological Survey Of India' are considered as authentic work. In 1869-71 Captain A.F.Harcourt 'Assistant Commissioner Kullu' produced his work' The District Of Kullu, Lahoul and Spiti'. His historical letters were given to Vogel, who composed 'History Of The Panjab Hill States'. In 1905-07, Mr. H.Calvert, Assistant Commissioner Kullu, after retirement generally in Kullu valley and especially in Parvati valley searched for mines. 'The Silver Valley' is his work. Mr. Forbes in 1911-12 produced 'Kullu and Back'. Dr. A.H. Francke presented 'The Antiquities of Indian Tibet' which contains a wealth of original material and commentary, indispensable for the historians of Lahoul. But the basis of every body's work was Cunninghum and Lyall. Initially, foreigners only wrote about the history of Lahoul. later some Indian works were also produced. Moorcraft, who was in service in East India Company, travelled from Kullu to Ladhak, and wrote an account on it. 

To complete our work '' LAHOUL- HAMARI KARAM BHUMI'', we have taken  references from  following books:-

Bajpai S.C..............................................................Lahoul-Spiti: A Forbidden Land in the Himalayas

Bhatnager,Satyapal............................................. Kullu ka Itihas evam Sanskriti

Chetwode, Penelope............................................. Kullu, The End of the Habitable World

Chopra,Pran............................................. ............On an Indian Border,

Charak, Sukhdev Singh....................................... History and Culture of Himalayan States

Diack A.H. ...................................... Final Report on the Revised Settlement of the Kullu sub division

Forbes,M.C...........................................................To Kullu and Back

Francke A.N.........................................................Antiquities of Indian Tibet

Francke A.N ........................................................ History of Western Tibet

Gill M.S ................................................................Himalayan Wonderland: Travel in Lahoul Spiti

Goverdhan Singh Mian .......................................History of Himachal Pradesh

Harcourt, A.F.P .................................................The Himalayan Districts of Kullu, Lahoul and Spiti 

Hutchison, J.& J.P.H Vogel ...............................History  of Panjab Hill States

Joshi,K.L ..............................................................Geography of Himachal Pradesh

Khosla, G.D........................................................ Himalayan Circuit

Lyall,J.B ...................................................Settlement Report of Kangra District

Larjay, Anita .......................M.Phil Dissertation, Ascendancy of Kullu Over Lahoul, 17th-18th c

Moorcroft, Mr. William & George.................... Travel in the Himalayan Provinces

Minhaz, Poonam........................................Traditional Trade and Trading centers in Himachal Pradesh 

                                                                  Including Trade routes and Trading committees

Negi,T.S ............................................................... Scheduled Tribes of  Himachal Pradesh

Prarthi,Lal Chand ............................................. Kuluta Desh Ki Kahani

Persheera, Prem Nath ...................................... M.Phil Dissertation, Lahoul from 700 to 1800 A.D

Shering,M.A .................................................... Hindu Tribes and Customs

Tobdan ........................................................... History and Religion of Lahoul

Whistler, Hugh .............................................. In the High Himalayas

Gazetteer of India, Himachal Pradesh, Lahoul and Spiti by M.D. Mamgain

Himachal Pradesh District Gazetteers Kullu by T.C. Janartha

Gazetteer of the Kangra District  

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