The earliest known inhabitants of the region were tribals called Dasas.
Later, Aryans came and they assimilated in the tribes. In the later
centuries, the hill chieftains accepted suzerainty of the Mauryan empire,
the Kaushans, the Guptas and Kanuaj rulers. During the Mughal period, the
Rajas of the hill states made some mutually agreed arrangements which
governed their relations. In the 19th century, Ranjit Singh
annexed/subjugated many of the states. When the British came, they defeated
Gorkhas and entered into treaties with some Rajas and annexed the kingdoms
of others. The situation more or less remained unchanged till 1947. After
Independence, 30 princely states of the area were united and
Himachal
Pradesh was formed on 15th April, 1948. With the recognition of
Punjab on 1st November, 1966, certain areas belonging to
it were also included in
Himachal Pradesh. On 25th
January, 1971,
Himachal Pradesh was made a full-fledged
State.
The State is bordered by
Jammu & Kashmir on North,
Punjab on West and South-West,
Haryana
on South,
Uttar Pradesh on
South-East and
China on the East.
