THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL HIMALAYAN KINGDOMS (7th to 12th C)
Tara Chandra Tripathi
PROLOGUE
This work is a product of my relentless home work and wintertime wanderings between 1962 and 1982. During this period, the call of wild has led me through myriad mystifying hills and valleys of Uttarakhand, as if hypnotized by the siren song of the little known archaeological sites of the region. This very wanderlust that started as an intense curiosity soon evolved into a systematic and logical methodology of research. It is this methodology that then led me to the priceless threads that soon unraveled themselves into important discoveries.
I have always held a predilection for attempting to solve the problems that initially appear unsolvable. The challenge of deciphering place-names belonging to the little known historical periods of Uttarakhand held a certain sense of novelty and intellectual adventure to me. Since the identification of latter day administrative units is neither so exciting, nor that difficult, I have chosen to limit this text to the place names derived from the land-grants and archeological discoveries belonging to 6th to 12th C.E.
Much of the credit for the success of this work belongs to my cartographer friend Sri Pratap Singh Devdi Bisht. I simply could not have accomplished this work without his dedication and support. .
I owe my passion for history to my teacher Dr. Avadh Biharilal Avasthi. I found my elemental insight into history during the time I spent with Dr. Vishwambhar Nath Upadhyay in the sociological analysis of folk-lore.
In spite of the lack of means that they endured as a result of my obsession with the past, my family has never dampened my enthusiasm for the unknown. It is indeed for the lack of means that the publication of this book had to wait for my retirement benefits which had an unanticipated side-effect of endless refinement and editing of this work, allowing me to remove even the shred of doubt where I had any in my conclusions or in the available evidence.
In this journey, my true accomplishments are those moments of sleep, wakefulness and activity when after days and nights of endlessly poring over maps, several place-names have suddenly flashed on my mind. In these moments, I have often dropped everything to take another look at the survey sheets and then found that such inspired discovery is verified by logical analysis and available evidence. My true finds are the excitement that I have experienced in the caves, hills and ruins, the divinity in people of remote Himalayan villages that gave us shelter, warmth and care despite their own deprivation and those meek animals that saved me and Dr.Prayag Joshi from falling to certain death in the violent turbulence of river Kali.
I am merely an instrument in this monumental undertaking. I have repeatedly felt as if the place names listed in these land-grants are desperate to reveal themselves to us. The place-names that have been comprehensively identified are the ones that have spontaneously inspired my intuition towards an effortless revelation.
Kumaoni - my mother tongue, detailed maps of Uttarakhand and my feet - the twin wandering mystics are the precious references that led me to this work. Long back, in 1974, at the Himalayan Seminar organized by the Kumaon University, I had presented the essence of this work to the learned attendees from the leading universities of India, who recognized my achievement and thus gave me the courage to pursue this experimental science further. I am deeply indebted to all the keepers, collectors and scholars whose generous assistance with the various sources and evidence made this work possible.
If my inquisitiveness to explore the history of Himalayas can awaken similar curiosity in the future generations, my life would have realized its very purpose indeed.
Tara Chandra Tripathi
PROLOGUE
This work is a product of my relentless home work and wintertime wanderings between 1962 and 1982. During this period, the call of wild has led me through myriad mystifying hills and valleys of Uttarakhand, as if hypnotized by the siren song of the little known archaeological sites of the region. This very wanderlust that started as an intense curiosity soon evolved into a systematic and logical methodology of research. It is this methodology that then led me to the priceless threads that soon unraveled themselves into important discoveries.
I have always held a predilection for attempting to solve the problems that initially appear unsolvable. The challenge of deciphering place-names belonging to the little known historical periods of Uttarakhand held a certain sense of novelty and intellectual adventure to me. Since the identification of latter day administrative units is neither so exciting, nor that difficult, I have chosen to limit this text to the place names derived from the land-grants and archeological discoveries belonging to 6th to 12th C.E.
Much of the credit for the success of this work belongs to my cartographer friend Sri Pratap Singh Devdi Bisht. I simply could not have accomplished this work without his dedication and support. .
I owe my passion for history to my teacher Dr. Avadh Biharilal Avasthi. I found my elemental insight into history during the time I spent with Dr. Vishwambhar Nath Upadhyay in the sociological analysis of folk-lore.
In spite of the lack of means that they endured as a result of my obsession with the past, my family has never dampened my enthusiasm for the unknown. It is indeed for the lack of means that the publication of this book had to wait for my retirement benefits which had an unanticipated side-effect of endless refinement and editing of this work, allowing me to remove even the shred of doubt where I had any in my conclusions or in the available evidence.
In this journey, my true accomplishments are those moments of sleep, wakefulness and activity when after days and nights of endlessly poring over maps, several place-names have suddenly flashed on my mind. In these moments, I have often dropped everything to take another look at the survey sheets and then found that such inspired discovery is verified by logical analysis and available evidence. My true finds are the excitement that I have experienced in the caves, hills and ruins, the divinity in people of remote Himalayan villages that gave us shelter, warmth and care despite their own deprivation and those meek animals that saved me and Dr.Prayag Joshi from falling to certain death in the violent turbulence of river Kali.
I am merely an instrument in this monumental undertaking. I have repeatedly felt as if the place names listed in these land-grants are desperate to reveal themselves to us. The place-names that have been comprehensively identified are the ones that have spontaneously inspired my intuition towards an effortless revelation.
Kumaoni - my mother tongue, detailed maps of Uttarakhand and my feet - the twin wandering mystics are the precious references that led me to this work. Long back, in 1974, at the Himalayan Seminar organized by the Kumaon University, I had presented the essence of this work to the learned attendees from the leading universities of India, who recognized my achievement and thus gave me the courage to pursue this experimental science further. I am deeply indebted to all the keepers, collectors and scholars whose generous assistance with the various sources and evidence made this work possible.
If my inquisitiveness to explore the history of Himalayas can awaken similar curiosity in the future generations, my life would have realized its very purpose indeed.
Publisher : Gyanoday Publication, Nainital
Will be Available at
1. Kitabagahr, Almora
2. Pahar,Parkrama' Talla Danda, Naintal.
Price : Hard Bound -500/-
Paper Back -200/-
Will be Available at
1. Kitabagahr, Almora
2. Pahar,Parkrama' Talla Danda, Naintal.
Price : Hard Bound -500/-
Paper Back -200/-
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