The Nurpur kingdom, originally known as
Dhameri (धमेरी/دھمیری/ਧਮੇਰੀ), was founded towards the middle of the 11th century by
Tomaras of Delhi. Jhetpal the founder of Nurpur Kingdom in 1064 A.D was the younger brother of
Anangpal II of
Tomara dynasty from the family of King
Arjuna of Mahabharata fame, 2250 years before him. King
Vikramaditya who began the Vikrama Samvat era in 57 BCE after defeating the Shakas belonged to the same lineage. The principal era to which the luni-solar system is exclusively adapted is that of Vikramaditya, called Samvat. The prince for whom it was named was of the Tuár dynasty and is supposed to have reigned at Ujjain (Ujjáyini). Tomar Raja Mahipal a k.a Kunwar Pāla (1021-1051) of Delhi in 1043 defeated
Mahmud of Ghazni's grandson
Mawdud of Ghazni and liberated the Nagarkot fort.
Mahmud of Ghazni's fifth son Abd al-Rashid (1049-1052) appointed Hastagin Hajib as the governor of Punjab and recaptured liberated Nagarkot fort in 1052 after the death of Raja Mahipal. Late Raja Mahipal's brother Jhetpal Tomar led an expeditionary force to protect Trigarta king Jagdish Chand of
Katoch dynasty and successfully recaptured the
Kangra fort in 1060 AD. In retaliation,
Ibrahim of Ghazna (1059-1099) sent his son, Mahmud, with an army of
ghazis consisting of 40,000 cavalry to raid
Doab of
Punjab region, between 1063 and 1070. Due to these constant attacks
Trigarta Kingdom shifted its capital from
Doab Jalandhar to
Kangra Fort in 1070 A.D. and to double secure
Kangra Fort Jhetpal Tomar overpowered the garrison of
Ghaznavid Kiladar Kuzbak Khan stationed at Paithan Fort,
Pathankot which was the gateway to
Kangra Valley between
River Ravi and
River Beas from the plains of
Badi doab. Raja Jhetpal, after the death of
Ibrahim of Ghazna in 1099 permanently stationed his garrison at Pathankot and the territorial surname
Pathania became surname of clan. Nurpur reached its peak between 1580 and 1613 during the reign of Raja Basu Dev who built an impressive fort that can still be seen today but his son
Suraj Mal of Nurpur was driven away by Mughals in 1618. In 1620 the change of name from Dhameri to Nurpur was done by
Raja Jagat Singh to honour Mughal emperor and empress as 'Nur' was a common prefix to their names Nur-ud-din Muhammad
Jahangir and
Nur Jahan. Nurpur kingdom paid taxes after it came under Mughals. It rebelled when taxes were raised to 66% and the settlement took place after the War of Taragarh 1640–1642. Till 1739 kingdom remained a feudatory state of
Mughal Empire and became independent during
Campaigns of Nader Shah. During
Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani from (1747-1767) Raja Fateh Singh survived the invader but Raja Prithvi Singh (1770-1805) expelled Muslim branch of
Pathania (1650-1781) based at Shahpurkandi Fort near
Shahpurkandi dam project colony, they migrated to Pakistan in 1947. Also, Prithvi Singh forced his brother Inder Singh (
Rey branch) whom he considered as claimant of Nurpur kingdom to take exile in 1779 at Mahal Moriyan Fort
Kangra State (presently at Mehal Khas,
Bhoranj,
Hamirpur), they later migrated to
Rey in 1823 after the death of
Sansar Chand,
Sikh Empire appointed Inder Singh's son Ishri Singh as courtier in the
Lahore durbar and awarded
Rey jagir. Ishri Singh was also brother-in-law of
Dhian Singh, the longest reigning prime minister of
Sikh Empire from 1818-1843. Raja Bhir Singh had to face threats from all sides bordering
Sikhs,
Gorkhas,
Katoch and
British. Ultimately after just 10 years of his reign
Ranjit Singh the final winner of the contest annexed Nurpur kingdom in 1815. Raja Bhir Singh retook the Nurpur in 1846 but died fighting at the gates of Nurpur Fort. His struggle was continued by his son Raja Jaswant Singh Pathania and his uncle's son , who resorted to
guerilla warfare but was captured by deceit from
Lakhanpur, Jammu Fort by
Jammu and Kashmir (princely state) which was under British control. The state was annexed by the
British East India Company in 1849 and the last ruling monarch of Nurpur, was given Rs 5000/-
financially compensated by the British for the loss of his state. ==See also==