Kullu & Mandi · Western Himalaya & Trans-Himalaya
This region has two resistance histories because after 1846 it had two governments. Kullu was British India, so it produced an 1857 rising and, later, ordinary district politics; Mandi and Suket were princely states, so their movements were aimed first at the raja and his wazir, and only through them at the paramount power. The Mandi record is the fuller one and it runs in three stages: an agitation in 1909 against the state's administration and its forced-labour demand, a conspiracy in 1914–15 in which Ghadar organisers found local backing and money before being caught, and a praja mandal from 1936 that ended in merger in 1948. One correction is worth making, because the two are often confused in lists of Himachal risings: the Pajhota agitation of 1942 belongs to Sirmaur state, several ranges to the south-east, and is not part of this region's history.
Risings and revolts
Eleven years after the annexation, Pratap Singh of the displaced Kullu house attempted a rising with support from the Negi of the Seraj country. The attempt was discovered before it spread.
Outcome: Pratap Singh and Vir Singh were hanged at Dharamshala, the district headquarters, on 3 August 1857.
A movement against the administration of the state's wazir, against the revenue demand pressed through crop failure, and against begar — the unpaid labour and porterage owed to the state.
Outcome: It was suppressed and its leader, Shobha Ram of Sarkaghat, was arrested and sentenced; Himachal accounts say he was transported to the Andamans. The grievances it named were still the state's central political question thirty years later.
Ghadar party organisers held meetings in Mandi and Suket in December 1914 and January 1915 and found local support and funding. The plan was to seize the state's treasury, act against its officials and destroy the Beas bridge.
Outcome: The plan was uncovered before it could be carried out, apart from a robbery at Nagchala. Participants received long prison sentences and a member of the Mandi ruling family was exiled; accounts differ on the individual sentences.
A praja mandal formed at Mandi in 1936, among the first in the hill states, pressed for representative government under heavy restriction, and a conference of hill-state representatives met at Mandi in March 1946.
Outcome: Mandi and Suket merged into the newly formed Himachal Pradesh on 15 April 1948.
People
| Name | Years | Movement | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pratap SinghKullu | died 1857 | 1857 | Led the attempted rising in Kullu in 1857, with support from the Seraj country east of the Beas.Hanged at Dharamshala on 3 August 1857. |
| Vir SinghKullu | died 1857 | 1857 | Took part in the Kullu rising of 1857 alongside Pratap Singh.Hanged at Dharamshala on 3 August 1857. |
| Shobha RamSarkaghat, Mandi state | dates not established | The Mandi agitation of 1909 | Led the first organised political movement in Mandi state, against the wazir's administration, the revenue demand and forced labour.Arrested and sentenced; Himachal accounts record that he was transported to the Andamans. |
| Bhai Hirda RamMandi | dates not established | Ghadar party | A Mandi man who worked with the Ghadar organisers in the Punjab and was among the links between them and the meetings held in Mandi and Suket in 1914–15.Convicted in the Lahore conspiracy proceedings; accounts differ on his sentence. |
| Mian Jawahar SinghMandi | dates not established | The Mandi conspiracy of 1914–15 | A member of the Mandi ruling family's circle who provided funds and shelter to the Ghadar organisers working in the state.Tried and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. |
| The Rani of KhairgarhiMandi | dates not established | The Mandi conspiracy of 1914–15 | A rani of the Mandi house who is recorded as having financed the conspirators.Exiled from the state after the case. |
| Swami PurnanandMandi | dates not established | Mandi Praja Mandal | President of the Mandi Praja Mandal formed in 1936 and later a figure in the hill states' regional council, working for representative government in the princely states of the region. |
People from Kullu & Mandi who resisted colonial rule, and the regional risings and revolts that shaped that resistance. (11)