Pithoragarh

"The district is named after its headquarters town, Pithoragarh. Tradition has it that during the reign of the Chand Rajas of Kumaon, one Piru, also called Prithvi Gosain, built a fort here and named it Prithvigarh which, in the course of time, got changed to Pithoragarh."[2]

A view of Pithoragarh town from the Pithoragarh Fort (also known as London Fort)

Pithoragarh city and its surrounding areas were part of the Manaskhand region, which extended from the Kailash Mountain in the north to Bhabar & Terai in the south, as mentioned in the Skanda Purana.[3]^:12 The Asuras and Nagas appear to be the earliest inhabitants of the region, who were later superseded by the Kiratas, Khasas and the Kunindas.[3]^:13 The Kuninda Kings of the region may have become the feudatories of The Kushana Kings, who held their sway over the region in the last quarter of the 1st century AD.[3]^:16 The region subsequently came under the Kurmanchal kingdom, which had its capital first at Jyotirmath and then at Karikeyapura (Modern day Baijnath) in the Katyur Valley.[4]

Upon the disintegration of the Katyuris and fall of kingdom in 13th century, Pithoragarh came under the rule of Bam kings of Saur. The Bam kings were feudal to the Raikas of Doti and was a branch of katyuri kings, and had their capital at Udaipur near Pithoragarh, However, the Rajas used to come down to Rameshwar and Bailorkol during the winter months.[3]^:24 The Bam kings, who ruled over Saur are:[5]^:216

In the fifteenth century, King Bharti Chand of Champawat amassed a huge army, and started plundering and killing in the regions ruled by the Doti Kings. This resulted in a war, which lasted for 12 years, and ended with a victory for the Chands.[5]^:213–214 After the death of Bharti Chand in 1462, Nagmalla, the king of Doti attacked his son, Ratna Chand who was successful in defending himself.[5]^:213–214 Nagmalla was killed in the war and the Bams became feudatories of the Chands.[5]^:215–216 The pargana of Saur came under direct control of the Kingdom of Kumaon in the sixteenth century during the rule of King Balo Kalyan Chand, when it was gifted to him by the Raika king of Doti as dowry for marrying his Daughter.[5]^:226

In 1790, the Chand kings built a new fort on the hill where the present Girls Inter College is situated. This fort was destroyed by the Indian government in 1962 after China attacked India.^[why?] The Chand rule, at its zenith, is seen as one of the most prominent empires in Kumaon. Their rule also coincides with a period of cultural resurgence. Archeological surveys point towards the development of culture and art forms in this period.

Himalayan view from Pithoragarh

Pithoragarh is located at 29.58°N 80.22°E / 29.58; 80.22.[6] in the district of Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India. It lies in the revenue Division of Kumaon[7] and is located 188 km northeast of Nainital, the administrative headquarters of Kumaon. It has an average elevation of 1,514 metres (4,967 feet).[2][8] It is situated in the centre of the western half of the Saur Valley. The valley is spread across around 50 square kilometers. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone V.[9] It lies in the Moderate damage risk (B) area in Wind & Cyclone Zone and is declared a No Flood Zone.

Pithoragarh is an urban town with a Nagar Palika Parishad or Municipal Council[11] spread over an area of 9 square km.[12] It is divided into 20 wards for the sake of administration.[13] It is also part of the Almora Lok Sabha Constituency, thus has BJP MP Ajay Tamta representing the city[14] and part of the Pithoragarh Vidhan Sabha constituency, represented by BJP's Chandra Pant.[15]

A panoramic view of Pithoragarh

Naini Saini Airport

Pithoragarh is not connected by any direct train services, however it is well connected by road, and it also has an airport. The National Highway 9 passes through Pithoragarh.[17] Landslides and cloudbursts, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, often interrupt transportation networks.[18][19]

The Pithoragarh Airport, also known as the Naini Saini Airport, is located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-east of the city. The airport, which was constructed in 1991 for administrative use,[20][21] was previously mainly used by the Indian Air Force for defence purposes.[22] The airport was upgraded in 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 64.91 crore.[23]

Pithoragarh is connected to all over Uttarakhand by all weather motorable roads. The total road length in Pithoragarh is 80 km.[24]^:683 Haldwani and Tanakpur are two entry points for entering Pithoragarh by road. Both are connected by railway services, the nearest railway stations being Tanakpur (151 km) and Kathgodam (212 km). Regular state bus transport services along with private taxi services are available at both places. Buses, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, K.M.O.U and various private operators.

Temporary campus of Seemant Institute of Technology

Schools in Pithoragarh are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Hindi and English are the primary languages of instruction. Schools in Pithoragarh follow the "10+2+3" plan.

After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in Inter Colleges that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education, CISCE or the Department of Education of the Government of Uttarakhand. They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science.

As of 2011, Pithoragarh had 17 primary schools, 20 middle schools, 22 secondary schools, 14 senior secondary schools, and 1 degree college.[24]^:685 Before independence, during the middle of the 19th century when Pithoragarh was part of Almora, there were only two middle schools in Pithoragarh.[25]

LSM Govt. Post Graduate College is the only government college in the town providing studies up to post-graduation.[26] It is affiliated to Kumaun University, Nainital. With the growing impact of I.T., the government opened SIT Pithoragarh in 2011. Almost a dozen of privately owned computer centres opened up later in the town.[25] A few of the IT centres which are in Pithoragarh town are NIIT, Hiltron, Aptech,UpHill Computers, Info.Park, Sri Calculation and Care Computer.

• Khadg Singh Valdiya
• Vinod Kapri
• Hemant Pandey
• General B.C.Joshi
• Mummu Don

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Pithoragarh.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pithoragarh.

• Pithoragarh website
• Pithoragarh at wikimapia.