Kinnaur & Spiti · Western Himalaya & Trans-Himalaya
There is almost no anti-colonial politics here in the sense the phrase usually carries, and pretending otherwise would misdescribe the place. Kinnaur was the upper tehsil of a princely state and Spiti was a thinly populated British sub-district run through a hereditary wazir; neither had a Congress organisation, a press, or a town large enough to hold a public meeting. What people here actually fought about was begar - the unpaid porterage and labour owed to state officials and travelling officers, which fell hardest on exactly the households living along the routes - and reet, the customary payment attached to marriage. The organised movement, when it came, came late, and it came from the lower Sutlej rather than from the high valleys: the Praja Mandals were founded and led from Rohru, Rampur and the Simla hills, and Kinnaur and Spiti were affected by them rather than sources of them. That asymmetry is the honest finding.
Risings and revolts
A refusal of cooperation with Bushahr state officials across parts of the state, over forest restrictions and revenue and labour exactions. It was a tax and forest protest rather than a nationalist one, and it predates any organised political body in the hill states.
Outcome: Suppressed; the grievances over forced labour and forest access remained the substance of politics here for the next forty years.
A sustained social and legal campaign against unpaid compulsory labour and against reet, the customary payment on marriage that in practice made women transferable for a price. It was carried on through meetings, petitions and press rather than through confrontation, and it did more to change daily life in these valleys than any national campaign.
Outcome: Both practices were formally abolished in the years around independence; enforcement in the high valleys took considerably longer.
The Praja Mandal formed in December 1938 to coordinate political work across the hill states; its Bushahr wing was suppressed, revived in 1945, and launched a satyagraha in March 1947 demanding a representative assembly. Mass arrests and a police firing followed.
Outcome: The raja conceded a representative assembly on 18 April 1947; elections to a Vidhan Parishad were held in October 1947 and the Praja Mandal won every seat. Bushahr merged into Himachal Pradesh on 15 April 1948.
People
| Name | Years | Movement | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Padam DevBhamnol, Rohru - active across Bushahr | born 26 January 1901 | Himalayan Riyasti Praja Mandal | Founder and secretary of the Himalayan Riyasti Praja Mandal in December 1938, and the most persistent campaigner against reet, begar and untouchability in the Bushahr country. He had joined the non-cooperation movement in 1920 and civil disobedience in 1930 before turning to hill-states work. |
| Satya Dev BushahriBushahr | — | Bushahr Praja Mandal | Led the Bushahr Praja Mandal after its revival in 1945, pressing the ruler for a representative assembly and democratic reform. |
| Durga Ram ChauhanBushahr | — | Bushahr Praja Mandal | Co-led the Bushahr Praja Mandal from 1945 through the satyagraha of March 1947. |
| Bhagmal SauthaSimla hill states | — | Praja Mandal | The principal organiser of Praja Mandals across the Simla hill states and a founder member of the Himalayan Riyasti Praja Mandal in 1938.Arrested at Ghanahatti in 1939 while on his way to present demands at Dhami. |
| Chiranji Lal VermaSimla hills | — | Himalayan Riyasti Praja Mandal | Founder member of the Himalayan Riyasti Praja Mandal in December 1938. |
| Sita RamSimla hills | — | Praja Mandal | Founder member of the Himalayan Riyasti Praja Mandal and president of the Dhami Riyasati Praja Mandal. |
| Pandit GhanshyamBushahr | — | Bushahr Praja Mandal | Among the leaders of the Bushahr Praja Mandal in its final phase from 1945. |
People from Kinnaur & Spiti who resisted colonial rule, and the regional risings and revolts that shaped that resistance. (10)