Relief of Kangra

01Sansar Chand’s ambition

Raja Sansar Chand Katoch had made Kangra the leading hill state, a patron of the painters whose Kangra miniatures are prized today. His attacks on his neighbours drove the Raja of Kahlur to invite the Gorkha general Amar Singh Thapa across the Sutlej. From 1806 the Gorkhas laid siege to Kangra fort, the old stronghold above the Banganga, and ravaged the country around it. Hunger and disease wore down the defenders.

02The price of help

In 1809 Sansar Chand turned to Ranjit Singh, offering the fort in return for help. The Maharaja marched into the hills in the summer. Amar Singh, his men weakened by the long siege and with Ranjit Singh’s army at hand, gave up and fell back across the Sutlej in August. Ranjit Singh garrisoned the fort under Desa Singh Majithia, and Sansar Chand kept his lands as a tributary.

Dynasty · 1559–2008 CEShah dynasty of NepalFrom the hill fort of Gorkha, Prithvi Narayan Shah built the kingdom of Nepal in the 1760s, and his heirs reigned until 2008. For most of that time Nepal was the world’s only Hindu kingdom, never colonised.Read →