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Sansar Chand was a scion
of the Katoch dynasty which had ruled Kangra for some centuries
until they were ousted by the mughals in the early 1600's. In 1758,
Sansar Chand's grandfather, Ghamand Chand, had been appointed
governor of Jalandhar by Ahmed Shah Abdali. Building upon this
background, Sansar Chand rallied an army, ousted the then ruler of
Kangra, Saif Ali Khan, and regained possession of his patrimony.
This happened in 1783, and Sansar Chand was aided by the Kanhaiya
misl, one of several informal but well-armed Sikh militias that
roamed the Punjab in that era.
Decline
During the campaign,
Sansar Chand and his mercenary force overran other nearby
principalities and compelled the submission of their rulers. He
reigned over a relatively large part of present-day Himachal Pradesh
for some two decades, but his ambitions brought him into conflict
with the Gorkhas ruling the then nascent state of Nepal. The Gorkhas
and the recently humbled hill-states allied to invade Kangra in
1806. Sansar Chand was defeated and left with no territory beyond
the immediate vicinity of the fortress of Kangra, which he managed
to retain with the help of a small Sikh force sent to his aid by
Ranjit Singh.
In this despair, Sansar Chand treated with Ranjit Singh at
Jawalamukhi in 1809. By that treaty, he surrendered his (now largely
notional) state to Ranjit Singh, in return for a fief to be held
under the suzerainty of the latter. Ranjit Singh duly established
his rule over the land; Sansar Chand received in appenage the estate
of Lambagraon. This estate, spread over an area of 324 sq.km.,
consisted of 20 villages, yielding a revenue of Rs. 40,000/- in
1947.
Later years
Sansar Chand retired to
the estates thus conferred upon him by Ranjit Singh and devoted his
remaining years to cultural pursuits. He died in 1823, and was
succeeded in his estates and titles by his son Anirudh Chand. The
estate, which came under British suzerainty in 1846, was held by the
progeny of Anirudh Chand until 1947, when it acceded unto the
Dominion of India. |
