The Hill States and the Mughals

The syllabus asks for relations, not a narrative. The relationship had a fixed shape: tribute and troops in exchange for internal autonomy, secured by keeping the heir at court.

Akbar (1556–1605)

• Hill states became tributary; princes were held as hostages at court.
• Kangra's plains territory — the Rajgiri tract, said to be 66 villages — was resumed; Raja Jai Chand of Kangra was imprisoned and his son Bidhi Chand recognised.
• Todar Mal's revenue settlement extended to the submontane tracts.
• Akbar besieged but never took Kangra fort.

Jahangir (1605–27)

• Kangra fort fell in 1620 after a long siege completed under Prince Khurram, with help from Raja Suraj Mal and Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur.
• Jahangir visited in 1622, ordered a mosque built inside the fort and considered a residence in the valley.
• Dhameri was renamed Nurpur after Empress Nur Jahan.

Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb

• Jagat Singh of Nurpur rebelled in 1641–42 and was reduced by Prince Murad Baksh and Asalat Khan.
• Hill rajas served in Mughal campaigns in the Deccan, Balkh and Kabul.
• Kehri Singh of Bushahr received the title Chhatrapati from Aurangzeb.
• Aurangzeb's temple-destruction orders were resisted or evaded in the hills; Chamba in particular remained beyond effective reach.

Decline

After 1707 Mughal control dissolved. Ahmad Shah Abdali appointed Ghamand Chand of Kangra Nazim of the Jalandhar Doab in 1758 — the hill states passed from Mughal to Afghan to Sikh overlordship within two generations.