Dehradun's History
Dehradun has seemed to be a hill station all the time but waits I have found some less known facts about the history of this magnificent city and the State of Uttarakhand so stay calm and read.
1. In the Hindu Scriptures, Dehradun was called Kedar Khand i.e."Abode of Shiva" as well as according to Mahabharata, it was the home of the Great Guru Dronacharya, even that's why the city is also known as "Dronagiri". For more info about Guru Dronacharya, check out my other post.
Also according to Ramayana Rama and Laxmana visit the city after coming from Sri Lanka and Laxmana stayed here and practised meditation. The place today is known as "Laxman Siddh".
 |
| Tapkeshwar Mahadev |
2. The city has been a Home of many famous personalities whether they are Indian and Foreign, they stayed up here and spend their lives. Some of them are - Ruskin Bond, Bil Acne, David Cling, Sant Kirpal Singh, Nayantara Sehgal and much more.
3. The eldest son of the 7th Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Rai founded a Gurudwara here which is further referred to as "Dera". Hence the city got its name "Dehradun". The day Guru Ram Rai arrived in the city, is today celebrated as "Jhande ka Mela". For more info about Guru Ram Rai, check out my post on him.
 |
| A View at Jhanda Sahib |
 |
| A monument in Jhanda Sahib |
4. The Demand for the separate state of Uttarakhand came into existence at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress in 1930 led by P.C. Joshi.
5. The Chipko Moment started for saving the Forests by the locals of the state led by Gaura Devi, Sudesh Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt in the year 1973. In the year 1987, the moment got awarded the " Right Livelihood Award". The moment has a significant effect on World's Environment and activities like- Deforestation, Hunting, Poaching and much more.
 |
| Women protecting Tree |
 |
| Gaura Devi |
6. Jim Corbett Park, one of the oldest National park got established in 1936 for the protection of the Royal Bengal Tiger in the memory of Jim Corbett.
7. The first Agricultural University of India, Govind Vallabh Pant University which helped the Green Revolution got established in 1960, earlier it was known as "Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University", but later on in 1972 it gets renamed.
8. The city has been once ruled by Ashoka, the Mauryas who ruled from 273 BC to 232 BC. In 1860 a historian named John Forest found a rock edict in Kalsi, Dehradun which tells the story of the Mauryan Era in Dehradun.
 |
| Mauryan Edict |
9. The city was the only place after Mumbai and Delhi where Cabret Dances were organised till the late 60s.
10. Maharishi Gautam had also lived in the city, the place is now known as "Chandrabani". It is also a fact that during the exile of Pandavas they came up here and stayed in the same place in Chandrabani.
 |
| Maharishi Gautama |
11. The first and the oldest Forest Institute gets established here in 1878 by Dietrich Brandis. It was earlier known as Imperial Forest Research Institute(IFRI). It gets re-established in the year 1906 under British Era. For more info about FRI, check out my post.
 |
| Forest Research Institue |
12. Dehradun was invaded and captured by Najib -ul- Dula, the governor of Saharanpur in the year 1757. After his death, the land was annexed by various tribes which make the city independent. In the year 1803, the city was captured by Gurkhas till 1814. After that British captured the area in 1816, during these two years the land suffered death and clashes.
13. The treaty between the kingdom of Nepal and the British Raj named as Treaty of Sagauli annexed the city of Dehradun and it came under British Raj and get colonised. After that, they also colonised Landour and Mussoorie.
 |
| Treaty of Sagauli |
14. It was not noted but the city was also known for its Prison, after Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dehradun was considered a prison house for slaves, during World War II many German, Austrians and Italians were enslaved while the war was imprisoned here.
 |
| Dehradun Prison |
15. Dehradun was also get invaded by Mahmud of Ghazni during his campaign in India, followed by Taimooralang in the year 1368. After him, Ruahela Nijbuddulo in 1757 and Ghulam Qadir in 1785 invaded the city.
 |
| Mahmud of Ghazni |
16. Rash Behari Bose, one of the key organizers of the Gadar Party and later in the Indian National Army were based in Dehradun till they were forced to move to Japan in 1915.
 |
| Rash Behari Bose |
17. According to historians, earlier Dehradun was under Garhwal Region which was founded by Ajay Pal in 1400. He and his successors ruled the region till 1803 without being get interrupted by other Kingdoms.
18. In 1901 The British Raj Started the Railway system which was connected to the Meerut Province. It was decided that the route must bring to the hilly region of Mussoorie but failed. The evidence gets traced up to Ghantaghar.
 |
| Dehradun Railway station |
19. Katyuri were the initial rulers of the Garhwal Region which ruled the city too. The land was further gets divided into Sikhs and Mughals.
20. The city has one of the oldest Braille Press, established in 1951 by the Indian Government, Ministry of Welfare to make Braille literature available for the Blind. It was followed by the National Institute for Visually Handicapped( NIVH ) in 1967 as a training centre for the Blinds.
 |
| National Institute for Visually Handicapped |
I have listed some lesser-known facts, if I had left anyone then please write about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment