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Uttarakhand  until 2007 known as Uttaranchal, is a stunningly beautiful state in the
Himalayan North of India. It is broken up into a western part, named "Garhwal", and
an eastern part named "Kumaon". Garhwal is more easily accessed.

The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old
literature, a term which derives from the Sanskrit for Northern Country or Section. In
January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its
interim name, to Uttarakhand, according to the wishes of a large section of its
people. The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head
and the largest city in the region. The small hamlet of Gairsen has been mooted as
the future capital owing to its geographic centrality but controversies and lack of
resources have led Dehradun to remain provisional capital. The High Court of the
state is in Nainital.

Uttarakhand is both the new and traditional name of the state that was formed from
the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Literally North Country or Section in Sanskrit,
the name of Uttarakhand finds mention in the early Hindu scriptures as the
combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. Uttarakhand was also the
ancient Puranic term for the central stretch of the Indian Himalayas. Its peaks and
valleys were well known in ancient times as the abode of gods and goddesses and
source of the Ganga River. Today, it is often called "the Land of the Gods" (Dev
Bhoomi) because of the presence of a multitude of Hindu pilgrimage spots. The
Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Katyuris, Palas, the Chands, and Parmars
or Panwars and the British have ruled Uttarakhand in turns.

The region was originally settled by Kols, an aboriginal people of the Dravidian
physical type who were later joined by Indo-Aryan Khas tribes that arrived from the
northwest by the Vedic period. At that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a
haunt for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that Sage Vyasa scripted the
Mahabharata here as the Pandavas are believed to have traveled and camped in the
region. Among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas
in the 2nd century B.C. who practiced an early form of Shaivism. They traded salt with
Western Tibet. It is evident from the Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that
Buddhism made inroads in this region. Folk shamanic practices deviating from
Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here. However, Garhwal and Kumaon were restored
to nominal Brahmanical rule due to the travails of Shankaracharya and the arrival of
migrants from the plains. In the fourth century, the Kunindas gave way to the Naga
Dynasties. Between the 7th and 14th centuries, the Katyuri dynasty of Khas origin
dominated lands of varying extent from the Katyur (modern day Baijnath) valley in
Kumaon. Other peoples of the Tibeto-Burman group known as Kiratas are thought to
have settled in the northern highlands as well as in pockets throughout the region,
and believed to be the ancestors to the modern day Bhotiya, Raji, Buksha, and Tharu
peoples.

By the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Garhwal Kingdom in
the west and the Kumaon Kingdom in the east. From the 13th-18th century, Kumaon
prospered under the Chand Rajas who had their origins in the plains of India.
During this period, learning and new forms of painting (the Pahari school of art)
developed. Modern-day Garhwal was likewise unified under the rule of
Parmar/Panwar Rajas, who along with a mass migration of Brahmins and Rajputs,
also arrived from the plains. In 1791, the expanding Gurkha Empire of Nepal, overran
Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom. In 1803, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to
the Gurkhas. With the conclusion of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816, a rump portion
of the Garhwal Kingdom was reestablished from Tehri, and eastern British Garhwal
and Kumaon ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli.

In the post-independence period, the Tehri princely state was merged into Uttar
Pradesh state, where Uttarakhand composed the Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions.
Until 1998, Uttarakhand was the name most commonly used to refer to the region,
as various political groups including most significantly the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal
(Uttarakhand Revolutionary Party est. 1979), began agitating for separate statehood
under its banner. Although the erstwhile hill kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon were
traditional rivals with diverse lingual and cultural influences due to the proximity of
different neighbouring ethnic groups, the inseparable and complementary nature of
their geography, economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds
between the two regions.[8] These bonds formed the basis of the new political
identity of Uttarakhand, which gained significant momentum in 1994, when demand
for separate statehood (within the Union of India) achieved almost unanimous
acceptance among the local populace as well as political parties at the national level.



GENERAL INFORMATION


Time zone         IST (UTC+5:30)
Area                   53,566 km² (20,682 sq mi)
Capital               Dehradun†
Largest city        Dehradun
District(s)          13
Population        8,479,562 (19th)
Density             158/km² (409/sq mi)
Language(s)    Hindi, Garhwali, Kumaoni