Princely state
Kangra (Trigarta)
| Seat | kangra |
|---|---|
| Capital | Nagarkot (Kangra), later Sujanpur Tira and Alampur |
| Dynasty | Katoch |
| Group | Punjab Hill States |
| Founder | Susharma Chandra |
| Founded | traditionally c. 8th–9th century BCE |
| Merged | Annexed by the British, 1846 |
The Katoch house of Kangra claims descent from Susharma Chandra of the Mahabharata, which would make it one of the oldest surviving royal lines in the world. The state's identity is inseparable from Nagarkot (Kangra) fort, the strongest fortress in the western Himalaya and the prize every invader wanted.
Kangra's history is a sequence of losses and recoveries of that fort: sacked by Mahmud Ghazni in 1009, raided by Firoz Shah Tughlaq in 1360, taken by the Mughals in 1620 under Jahangir, recovered by Sansar Chand in 1786, lost to Ranjit Singh in 1809, and finally annexed by the British in 1846 after the First Anglo-Sikh War.
- Trigarta = the land drained by three rivers, usually read as the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
- Panini called the people of Trigarta Ayudhajivi — those who live by arms.
- The fort was ruined by the Kangra earthquake of 4 April 1905.
- Because the British made Kangra a district of Punjab in 1846, it had to be transferred back to HP on 1 November 1966.