HIMACHAL PRADESH

state of India. It is located in the extreme northern part of the subcontinent and occupies a region of scenic splendour in the western Himalayas. It has towering snow-clad mountains divided by deep valleys with thick woods, green fields, lakes, and cascading streams. It is bounded on the north by the state of Jammu and Kashmir, on the east by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and, respectively, on the southeast, south, and west by the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. The area is 21,495 square miles (55,673 square kilometres). Shimla, at an elevation of about 7,100 feet, is the state capital and the largest and most popular hill resort in India. Himachal means "Snowy Mountain" (Sanskrit: hima, "snow"; acal, "mountain"); Pradesh means "State." Shimla was the summer headquarters of preindependence British viceroys. Formerly a union territory, Himachal Pradesh became a state of India on Jan. 25, 1971. constituent state of India occupying the extreme northern portion of the subcontinent. A region of scenic splendour, Himachal Pradesh is bounded on the north by Jammu and Kashmir, on the east by China (Tibet), and, in India, on the southeast by Uttar Pradesh, on the south by Haryana, and on the west by Punjab. The state capital is Shimla. Himachal means "snowy mountain" (hima, "snow"; acal, "mountain"), the state taking its name from the Himalayas rising in its midst. The history of the area dates back to the Vedic period; later the Aryans assimilated the indigenous peoples. The area was exposed to successive invasions through the centuries, ending with British domination in the 19th century. Between 1948 and the achievement of statehood in 1971, Himachal Pradesh went through various changes in size and administrative setup. The terrain varies with its many lofty mountains, hills, wooded valleys (carved by glaciers), and flowing rivers. The mountains rise to about 22,000 feet (6,700 m) and include the Himalayan ranges of the Pir Panjal, Hathi, and Dhaola Dhar. The major rivers include the Chenab (Chandra Bhaga), Ravi, and Beas in the west and the Sutlej and Yamuna (Jumna) in the east. The climate ranges from mild to cold, with icy winds sweeping the state and with the hills and valleys remaining covered with snow for months. Himachal Pradesh is one of the least urbanized states in India. Fewer than 10 percent of its people can be classified as urban. The vast majority of the state's population-a mixture of hill tribes including Gadi, Gujari, Kinnauri, Lahuli, and Pangwali-is Hindu, except in the district of Lahul and Spiti, where Buddhism is the prevalent religion. There is a sprinkling of Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians. More than 60 dialects are spoken in the state, the primary language being Pahari-a derivation from Sanskrit and Prakrit. The official state language is Hindi. The state's economy is still based almost entirely on the land, with about 80 percent of the people depending on farming, horticulture, and livestock raising for their livelihood. The chief crops are wheat, corn (maize), barley, rice, and potatoes. One of the top fruit- and vegetable-producing states of India, Himachal Pradesh produces apples, plums, peaches, apricots, and pomegranates, as well as ginger and mushrooms. Sheep and goat rearing are widespread, and wool and pashm (the fleece of the Tibetan goat) are important products. The coniferous forests have also been a source of revenue. Himachal Pradesh, with its snow-fed rivers, has about 20 percent of the total national hydroelectric potential. The Bhakra Dam (completed in 1963) across the Sutlej is the state's largest hydroelectric project. There is immense scope for the development of forests and the establishment of forest-based industries (including newsprint); other industries include electronics and fruit processing. Most of the people, however, remain at a subsistence level, and the state's vast natural resources have yet to be tapped systematically. Except for the rail line from Kalka (in Haryana) to Shimla and a line connecting Pathankot (Punjab) and Jogindarnagar in Himachal, there are no railways in the state. Roads constitute the communications lifeline of Himachal Pradesh. The state is attractive to tourists seeking skiing, golfing, fishing, trekking, and mountain climbing. Himachal Pradesh has a medical college at Shimla and several dozen degree colleges. The Himachal Pradesh University is at Shimla, and the Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University is at Palampur. Research is conducted at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla and at the Central Research Institute at Kasauli. Area 21,495 square miles (55,673 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) 5,111,079. Additional reading S.S. Shashi, Himachal: Nature's Peaceful Paradise (1971), is a useful introduction. Surinder Mohan Bhardwaj, Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography (1973, reissued 1983), contains considerable discussion of holy places in Himachal Pradesh. Hermann Goetz, The Early Wooden Temples of Chamba (1955), is an outstanding work on the art history of the state. J. Hutchison and J. Ph. Vogel, History of the Panjab Hill States, 2 vol. (1933, reprinted 1982), is a classic work on the history and culture of the region. Surinder M. Bhardwaj History The history of this mountainous state is complex and fragmented. It is known that a number of so-called Aryan groups filtered into the more productive valleys during the Vedic Period (c. 1500 to 500 BC) and assimilated the pre-Aryan population. Later, successive Indian empires-such as the Mauryans (c. 321-185 BC), the Guptas (c. 320-540), and the Mughals (1526-1761), all emerging in the Indo-Gangetic Plain-sought to exercise varying degrees of control over trade and pilgrimage routes into this area and between India and Tibet across the Himalayas. The remote, predominantly Buddhist area of Lahul and Spiti was controlled by Ladakh from the decline of the Mughal Empire (about the mid-18th century) until the early 1840s, when it briefly came under Sikh rule. Also during this period, warring, semiautonomous, petty rulers controlled the trade routes as well as desirable segments of agricultural and pastoral land, in the other areas of what is now Himachal Pradesh. Owing to relative isolation, some parts of this state, such as Chamba, escaped the destructive impact of invasions and were thus able to preserve many aspects of ancient Hinduism. British domination of this region followed the Anglo-Sikh Wars of the 1840s and continued, directly or indirectly, for the next 100 years. In 1948 Himachal Pradesh was constituted as an administrative unit comprising 30 princely states. This event, however, was preceded by a movement for the end of feudalism, and one of the princely states, Suket, virtually surrendered to the peaceful demonstrators, hastening the process of change. Between 1948 and the achievement of statehood in 1971, Himachal Pradesh went through various changes in size and administrative form. Initially a substate and then a union territory directly administered by the central government, Himachal Pradesh was enlarged in 1954 by the merger of Bilaspur (a former Indian state and then a chief commissioner's province) and again in 1966 by the merger of numerous Punjab hill areas, including Shimla, Kangra, Kullu, the district of Lahul and Spiti, and parts of Ambala, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur districts. Y.S. Parmar, who since the 1940s had led the hill people of Himachal Pradesh in the quest for self-government, became the state's first chief minister. Chakravarthi Raghavan Surinder M. Bhardwaj