VILLAGES: x
AREA: km2
LOCATION: Himachal Pradesh
REVENUE: Rs
DYNASTY: Chand (Katoch)
ANNEXATION: 1823
ACCESSION: xx
RELIGION: Hindu
PRESENT HEAD OF HOUSE: Raja Shri ADITYA DEV CHAND KATOCH, 488th Raja of his line, Head of the Royal House of Kangra, Jagirdar of Lambagraon, Rajgir and Mahal Moria (1988/-) (Clouds End Villa, Dharamsala, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India)
educated at Doon School, Dehra Dun; married 4th December 1968, Rani Shrimati Chandresh Kumari, daughter of HH Raj Rajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Maharaja Shri HANWANT SINGH Sahib Bahadur of Jodhpur, and his wife, HH Maharani Krishna Kumari Ba Sahiba, and has issue.
Tikka Aishwariya Chand Katoch, married about 1997, Tikkarani Shailaja Kumari, daughter of HH Raja VIKRAM SINGH of Sailana, and his wife, HH Rani Chandra Kumari, and has issue.
Natiraj Ambikeshwar Dev Chand Katoch, born 22nd December 1998.
PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY: Reportedly founded in mythical antiquity, with mention of Raja Bhumi Chandra in 4300BC. Rulers were...
Raja MEGH CHAND 1390/1405, fought against Timur, married and had issue.
Raja HARI CHAND I (qv)
Raja KARAN CHAND II (qv)
Raja PRATAP CHAND, founder of Bhimbar.
Raja HARI CHAND I 1405/1415, founded Guler in 1415 with his capital at Haripur, ancestor of the families of Siba and Datarpur.
Raja KARAN CHAND II 1415/1430, granted the title of Bada Raja.
Raja SANSAR CHAND I 1430/1450
Raja DEVANGGA CHAND 1450/1465
Raja NARENDRA CHAND 1465/1480, married (amongst other), a daughter of the Raja of Puna.
Raja SUVIRA CHAND 1480/1490 or 1480/1499, married and had issue.
Raja PRAYAG CHAND (qv)
Raja PRAYAG CHAND 1490/1510 or 1499/1520, married and had issue.
Raja RAM CHAND (qv)
Raja RAM CHAND 1510/1528 or 1520/1538, married and had issue. [He died sp 1538.]
Raja DHARAM CHAND (qv)
Mian Kalyan Chand, married and had issue.
Three generations
Raja CHANDARBHAN CHAND (qv)
Raja DHARAM CHAND 1528/1563, born 1468?, he was granted the title of Maharaja by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, married and had issue. He died 1563.
Raja MANIKA CHAND (qv)
Raja MANIKA CHAND 1563/1570, died 1570.
Raja JAI CHAND V 1570/1585, married and had issue. He died 1585.
Raja BIDHI CHAND (qv)
Raja BIDHI CHAND 1585/1607, fought against the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He died 1607.
Raja TRILOKA CHAND 1607/1612, rebelled against the Mughals, died 1612 [or January 1615]
Raja HARI CHAND II 1612/1627, born 1608 (1603), killed sp 1627 by Padshah Jahangir of Delhi
Raja CHANDARBHAN CHAND 1627/1658, married and had issue. He died 1658 in Delhi.
Raja VIJAY RAM CHAND (qv)
Raja UDAI RAM CHAND (qv)
Mian Narpat Chand of Bijaipur, married and had issue.
Mian Prag Chand, married and had issue.
Mian Agar Chand, married and had issue. He died 1732.
Mian Nigahi Chand, married and had issue. He died 1796.
Generations
Mian Molak Chand, born 1833, married and had issue. He died 1874.
Mian Mordhaj Chand, born 1853, married and had issue. He died 1887.
Mian Devi Chand, born 1881, married and had issue.
Kumari (name unknown), married Raja SURAJ SEN of Mandi.
Raja VIJAY RAM CHAND 1660/1687, received a mansab of 5000 foot, died 1687.
Raja UDAI RAM CHAND 1687/1690, married and had issue. He died 1690.
Raja BHIM CHAND (qv)
Mian Kirpal Chand, died 20th February 1696.
Raja BHIM CHAND 1690/1697, Dharam Rakshak, married and had issue. He died 1697.
Raja ALAM CHAND II (qv)
Raja ALAM CHAND II 1697/1700, founded Alampur, married and had issue. He died 1700.
Raja HAMIR CHAND (qv)
Raja GHAMIR CHAND (qv)
Raja HAMIR CHAND 1700/1747, built the fort of Hamirgarh and founded the town of Hamirpur, married and had issue. He died 1747.
Raja ABHAY CHAND (qv)
Mian (name unknown) Chand, married and had issue.
Raja GHAMAND CHAND (qv)
Raja ABHAY CHAND 1747/1750, built the fort of Riyal-Tira-Abhymanpur and the temple of Thakurdwara, married Rani Suratu Devi of Bhadrawah, and had issue.
Kumari (name unknown), married Raja AMRIT PAL of Basohli.
Raja GHAMIR CHAND 1750/1751, married and had issue, 11 sons excluded from the succession. He died 1751.
Raja SHRINGAR CHAND 1751 (deposed)
Raja GHAMAND CHAND 1751/1774, rebuilt Pathiar Fort, appointed Nazim of the Jalandhar Doab by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1758. He died 1774.
Raja TEGH CHAND (qv)
Raja TEGH CHAND 1774/1775, born about 1745; married and had issue. He died 1775.
Raja SANSAR CHAND II (qv)
Raja Fateh Chand, received the Jagir of Rajgir, married and had issue. He died 1828.
Mian Rudra Chand [Ludar Chand] of Rajgir, married and had issue. He died 1851.
Raja PRATAP CHAND, adopted by the Maharani of Pramodh Chand of Lambagraon.
Mian Kirat Chand, married and had issue.
Mian Jagroop Chand, born 1860, married and had issue.
Kanwarani Amar Dei, married Kanwar Pratap Singh of Chamba, and had issue.
Mian Moti Chand
Mian Udai Chand, married and had issue.
Mian Daljit Singh, born 1866, married and had issue.
Kanwar Pargas Chand, born 1890.
Kanwar Shyam Chand, born 1892.
Mian Rai Singh (natural son), married and had issue.
Rani Katochan, married (as his fourth wife), Maharaja NAUNIHAL SINGH of Lahore. She committed sati November 1840.
Kumari (name unknown), married Raja HIRA SINGH of Jasrota.
Mian Man Chand. died sp.
Kumari (name unknown), married Raja DHARAM PRAKASH of Sirmur.
Raja SANSAR CHAND II 1775/1823, born 1765 in Bijapur, assumed the titles of Naresh and Chhatrapati, lost most of his possessions by the Treaty of Jawalamukhi in 1810, being allocated the small Jagir of Lambagraon for his maintenance, married 1stly Rani (?Prasanna Devi), daughter of Mian Kishan Singh of Suket, married 2ndly, a Rani from Sirmur, married 3rdly, a Rani from Bangahal, married 4thly, Gulab Dassi Gaddan (Nokhu Guddan), and had issue. He died December 1823.
Raja ANIRUDDH CHAND (by first wife), Jagirdar of Lambagraon, married and had issue. (see below)
Kumari (name unknown) (by first wife), married Raja SUDARSHAN SHAH of Tehri-Garhwal.
Kumari (name unknown) (by first wife), married Raja SUDARSHAN SHAH of Tehri-Garhwal.
Raja Sir JODHBIR CHAND (by Gulab Dassi Gaddan), 1st Raja of Nadaun.
Rani Mahtab Devi [Rani Katochan] (by Gulab Dassi Gaddan), married 1829, Maharaja RANJIT SINGH of Lahore. She committed sati 28th June 1839.
Rani Raj Banso Devi (by Gulab Dassi Gaddan), married 1829, Maharaja RANJIT SINGH of Lahore. She committed suicide in 1835.
VILLAGES: 20
AREA: 324 km2
LOCATION: Himachal Pradesh
REVENUE: 40,000Rs
DYNASTY: Chand (Katoch)
ANNEXATION: 1823
ACCESSION: 1953
RELIGION: Hindu
PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY: Following the fall of Kangra, the Raja was granted the Jagir of Lambagraon for his maintenance. Rulers were...
Raja ANIRUDDH CHAND II 1823/1833, son of Raja SANSAR CHAND II of Kangra (see above) which was annexed by Maharaja RANJIT SINGH of Lahore, married 1stly, a Rani from Jasrota, married 2ndly, 1820, a Rani from Suket, and had issue. He died 1833.
Raja RANBIR CHAND (qv)
Raja PRAMODH CHAND (qv)
Raja RANBIR CHAND 1833/1847, born 1808, recieved the Jagir of Mahal Moria in Kangra of 50,000Rs in value. He died spl 1847.
Mian Pradhan Chand, he was granted a jagir at Alampur in 1851; married and had issue, the jagirdars of Alampur. He died 1880.
Raja PRAMODH CHAND 1847/1851, born 1815, opposed the authorities and was deported for life to Almora, official Freedom Fighter of India, married a daughter of Raja RAM SARAN SINGHH of Nalagarh. He died sp 1851 in Almora.
Raja PRATAP CHAND III 1851/1864, born 1822, originally of Rajgir, married a daughter of HH Raja FATEH PRAKASH of Sirmur, and had issue. He died 1864.
Col. Maharaja Sir JAI CHAND VI (qv)
Rajkumari (name unknown), married Raja Ram Singh of Jammu and Kashmir.
Col. Maharaja Sir JAI CHAND VI 1864/1933, born 1862, adopted by the Rani of Raja Pramodh Chand, the Jagir was under the control of the Court of Wards till 1883, the title of Raja was conferred as a hereditary distinction on 15th March 1909 by the Viceroy, Maharaja [cr.1922] (personal), K.C.I.E. [cr.1918], Dharam Ratan, C.S.I. [cr. Jan-1913], F.R.S.A., Member of Council of Governor-General of India and Hon. Lieutenant Colonel Indian Army, granted a personal gun salute of 11 guns, married 1stly, a daughter of Raja AMAR CHAND of Bilaspur, married 2ndly, a Rani from Mankot, married 3rdly, another Rani from Mankot, maried 4thly, a Rani from Manaswal, married 5thly, another Rani from Manaswal, married 6thly, another Rani from Manaswal, married 7thly, another Rani from Manaswal, married 8thly, a Rani from Jammu, married 9thly, a Rani from Suket, and had issue. He died 1935.
Raja Shri DRUV DEV CHAND (qv)
Maharajkumar Dewan Chand, died 1928.
Maharajkumar Baldev Chand
Rani Jwale Dei, married (as his eighth wife), Raja Sir PADAM SINGH of Bashahr, and had issue. She died 22nd July 1949.
Raja Shri DRUV DEV CHAND KATOCH 1935/1988, born 1922, married Rani Narendra Kumari, daughter of Lt.Col. HH Sir Maharaja NARENDRA SHAH Sahib Bahadur of Tehri-Garhwal, and his wife, HH Maharani Kamlendu Mati Devi, and had issue. He died 1988.
Raja Shri ADITYA DEV CHAND KATOCH (qv)
Col. Rajkumar Manikya Dev Chand Katoch, born 3rd May 1947, educated at the Doon School, Dehra Dun, Uttrakhand, later attended the N.D.A. and the I.M.A. and served with the Poona Horse Regiment and saw action in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971; married 4th February 1972, Rajkumar Rani Kiran Kumari of Sarmathura in Dholpur (Rajasthan), and has issue, one son and one daughter.
Kanwar Abhiudaya Chand Katoch, married Baiji Lal Priyanjali Kumari, daughter of Thakur Kesari Singh of Mandawa, and his wife, Thakurani Darshana Kumari.
Kumari Himani Devi Katoch, to marry on 19th February 2009 at Jaipur, Shri Virat Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana, born 12th September 1981 in Kathmandu, son of Shri Gautam Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, and his wife, Rani Bhavna Kumari, daughter of Kunwar Ratan Singh of Dhami.
Raja Shri ADITYA DEV CHAND KATOCH (see above)
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Sansar Chand was born in 1766 at Bijapur, a village about six miles from Lambagraonn in Palampur Tehsil of the Kangra District. The Katoch dynasty which he headed is of enormous antiquity, and Susarman, their ancient ancestor was the ally of the Kauravas of the Mahabharata. The original seat of the family is said to have been at Multan. After the Great Battle at Kurukshetra they lost their lands in Multan, and retired to the District Jalandhara and built the fort of Kangra.
At the beginning of the eleventh century, the kingdom of Jalandharaa or Trigarta, comprised almost all the country between the Satluj and the Ravi in the outer hills, as well as the area in the plains known as Jalandhara Doab. The country to the west of Kangra was also called Katoch, and was one of the three provinces of the Kangra Valley - the other two being Changar and Palam. Changar is the name given to the area south of Palam and consists of chains of barren low hills. Palam is the fertile area to the east between Kangra and Baijnath and is studded with tea gardens and paddy fields.
Sansar Chand was the most renowned of the Rajas who ruled in Kangra. His father, Tegh Chand, had a brief and uneventful rule for a year. However, his grandfather, Ghamand Chand (1751-1774), was a powerful ruler. The Mughal power was on the wane, and Ahmed Shah Durram who acquired supremacy over the Punjab, appointed Ghamand Chand as Governor of Jalandhara Doab. Thus Ghamand Chand was able to extend his power in the hills, becoming the supreme ruler over the Hill States between the Satluj and the Ravi, and gaining control of Palam from Chamba. He embellished his capital, Tira-Sujanpur, with many new buildings.
When Sansar Chand ascended the throne in 1776, he was only ten years of age. There was complete confusion in the plains of the Punjab. The Durranis of Afghanistan were unable to establish their power effectively, and the Sikhs under the missals, were holding sway over the plains, and were also extending their power towards the hills. Sansar Chand raised a large army of mercenaries consisting of Rajputs, Afghans and Rohillas, and extended his rule over all the neighboring Rajput States. He successfully withstood many combinations made against him. He invaded the neighboring States, killed Raja Raj Singh of Chamba in a battle, and made Ishwari Sen, the Raja of Mandi, his captive. Prakash Chand of Guler was virtually his vassal. In 1786 he obtained from Sardar Jai Singh Kanhaya the famous Kangra fort which he had conquered from Saif Ali Khan, the last Mughal Governor. A place impregnable by the arms and artillery of those times-its possession gave control of the neighboring country. There is a proverb in the hills -'He who holds the Kangra fort, holds the Hills'.
With the occupation of the Kangra fort, Sansar Chand became the most powerful Raja of the Kangra Valley. He gained a renown which had not been surpassed by any of his ancestors. He was able to establish law and order in the hills at a time when the Mughal Empire was in the throes of dissolution, and conditions in the plains were chaotic. On account of the peace which he was able to establish in the Kangra Valley, he attracted poets and painters and encouraged the fine arts. Thus writes Ghulam Mohiuddin in his Tawarikh-i-Punjab: "For many years he passed his days in great felicity. He was generous in conduct, kind to his subjects, just as Naushirvan, and a second Akbar in the recognition of men's good qualities. Crowds of people of skill and talent, professional soldiers, and others resorted to Kangra, and gained happiness from his gifts and favors. Those addicted to pleasure, who live for the others, flocked from all quarters and profited exceedingly by gratification of his liberality. Performers and story-tellers collected in such numbers, and received such gifts and favors at his hands that he was regarded as the Hatim of that age, and in generosity the Rustom of the time."
In 1820 Moorcroft, an English traveler, paid a visit to Sansar Chand, while on his way to Samarkand on a mission to purchase ponies. He has left an interesting account of Sansar Chand, his family and his daily life. Thus writes Moorcroft, "In the evening I waited upon the Raja at his desire, and found him with his son and grandson in an open building in a garden. Raja Sansar Chand is a tall well-formed man, about sixty. His complexion is dark and his features are fine and expressive. His son, Rai Aniruddha Chand, has a very handsome face and ruddy complexion, but is remarkably corpulent. He has two sons, one of twelve and the other of five years of age, both less fair than himself. Sansar Chand was formerly the most powerful Raja from the Satluj to the Indus. All the potentates from the former river to Kashmir, were his tributaries or dependents, and he was extremely wealthy, possessing a revenue of thirty-five lakhs of rupees. He is now poor and in danger of being wholly subjected to Ranjit Singh."
After the death of Sansar Chand in December 1823, his son, Aniruddha Chand, became the Raja of Kangra. However, he was Raja only in name and had to go to the court of Ranjit Singh at Lahore to pay tribute from time to time. In 1829, Aniruddha Chand paid a visit to Lahore with his family. He had with him his two sisters. Raja Dhian Singh of Jammu, who was the chief adviser to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, happened to see them, and he wanted Aniruddha Chand to marry them to his son Hira Singh, a handsome boy who had become a great favorite at court. The pride of the hill chief was roused at the proposition of so degrading an alliance, but the influence of Ranjit Singh procured from him a written promise that the two young women should be at his disposal. The mother of Aniruddha Chand, however, succeeded in carrying them off, and took refuge with them in the hills under British protection. Aniruddha Chand soon followed her, leaving his possessions on the other side of the Satluj at the mercy of Ranjit Singh, who sequestered the whole, and received the surrender of them without any resistance from Fateh Chand, Sansar Chand's brother. Gulab Dassi Gaddan, a concubine of Sansar Chand, was enticed away from the family, and fell on this occasion into Ranjit Singh's hands, along with several children she had borne to the late Raja. Ranjit Singh married two of the daughters, Mahtab Devi and Rajbanso, and conferred the title of Raja of Nadaun upon a son.
Aniruddha Chand carried the best paintings from the collection of his father, including those of the Gita Govinda and illustrations to Bihari's Sat Sai with his two sisters to Tehri-Garhwal. The two princesses were married to Raja Sudarshan Shah of Garhwal (1815-1859), and the paintings were given as a wedding dowry.