Haryana Celebrates 57th Haryana Day: A Journey Through Time and Tradition

Haryana turned 57 years old on 1 November 2023 and is celebrated as Haryana Day. It was carved from East Punjab on 1st November 1966 as a full-fledged state under the Punjab Reorganization Act Act (1966).

On 23 April 1966, the Government of India decided to divide the state of Punjab and set boundaries for the new Haryana state. On 31 May 1966, the commission released its report. According to the report, the districts of Colonel, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Mahendragarh, and Hisar were made part of the new state of Haryana. It also included Jind and Narwana tehsils of the Sangrur district and Narangarh, Ambala, and Jagadhri tehsils. Also, the commission recommended that the lathe tehsil included in Chandigarh (the capital of Punjab) should also be included in Haryana.

The state of Chandigarh was made a Union Territory, which remained the capital of both Punjab and Haryana, and Bhagwat Dayal Sharma became the first Chief Minister of Haryana. Haryana is bound by Uttar Pradesh in the east, Punjab in the west, Himachal Pradesh in the north, and Rajasthan in the south. The National Capital of Delhi is surrounded by Haryana.

With just 1.37 percent of the total geographical area and less than two percent of India’s population, Haryana has carved out a special niche of distinction for itself. Whether it is agriculture or industry, canal-based irrigation, or rural electrification, Haryana keeps marching towards modernity. The state enjoys the unique distinction of being among the first in the country to provide electricity, mettle roads, and potable drinking water to all its villages.

The history of Haryana reads like a saga of the struggle of righteous, forthrightness, and proud people of the state who are known for their traits of bravery and valor. There are many references in Vedic literature about Haryana. It is known from the excavations done in this state that the Indus Valley Civilization and Mohenjodaro Culture developed here.

The scriptures, the Puranas, the creators, and the thinkers, while sitting in the picturesque lap of this Brahmarshi region for a long time, spread the knowledge by writing many religious texts. He always praised Maa Saraswati and the holy Brahmavart in his compositions.

In addition to Brahmavart and Brahmarshi region, this state was also called ‘Uttaravedi of Brahm‘. This state is also considered to be the birthplace of the original world. It is also believed that the Vaastu Manu, which originated from mankind, was the king of this region. In the Avanti Sundari Katha, he has been called a resident of Sthanvishwar. According to archaeologists, many pieces of evidence of many cultures like prehistoric period-Pragarappa, Harappa, later Harappa, etc. have been obtained from excavations at places like Vanavali, Siswal, Kunal, Mirzapur, Daulatpur, and Bhagwanpura, Haryana.

Bharatvanshi Sudas started his victory campaign in this region and organized the power of the Aryans. This Bharatvanshi Arya continued to increase his power in the Far East and South. In the name of the same brave Bharatvanshis, the name of the entire nation went on to become ‘Bharat’.

Aryavanshi Kurus, the centenary of the Mahabharata period, started the agrarian era at this place. According to mythology, he first made the fertile region of 48 Kos of Adirupa Maa Saraswati arable. That is why the arable land of that 48 Kos was called Kurukshetra after the name of the Kurus, which is still considered a sacred region of Indian culture.

For a long time, a large tract of land between Saraswati and Ganga was known as ‘Kuru Pradesh‘. The world-famous war of Mahabharata was fought in Kurukshetra. A wonderful voice emerged from the voices of the conch shells of this war. That tone was that of the age-old Lord Krishna, who preached the Gita right here, Gita, which has become immortal forever as a mantra in Indian culture.

After the Mahabharata period, a blind era started, whose historical reality does not have an edge. But the Aryakul of this region kept their Aryan traditions intact and clashed with the outside invaders. Pura Kuru-Pradesh was divided into counties and districts. There was no king. The ganadhipati were elected by the majority. He was given the title of Ganapathi, and the general was elected, which was called ‘Indu’. This royalty continued until time. This ganas and districts always maintained their pride in the strength of the sword.

The people of this place have loved the tradition of Gana since Arya. They called a district of the village a district. The district administration was handled by elected representatives from the villages. Similarly, many districts used to establish their own ‘gana’. ‘Gan’ took the form of a well-organized political unit. The ‘Gan Sabha‘ was established with the members sent by the districts.

It has also been observed that many such ‘gana’ used to form a sangha together, known as gana-sangha. In the Today period, a huge ‘gana-sangha‘ was formed from the organization of several republics which ruled over the territory from Shatudru to the Ganges.

This system of state management was not only political, but this system had also taken an important place in social life. This was the reason that even when this tradition of republics in the entire country ended under pressure from the imperialist powers, the people of the Haryana state kept it.

The metropolis of this region witnessed the rise and fall of many empires. All those political changes did not have much effect on the life of the people, because these people never tolerated outside interference in their internal-social system.

The rulers also always recognized their traditions. From the Harshakaal to the end of the Mughal period, importance was given to the rule of the supreme panchayat of Haryana. Old documents of the Sarvap Panchayat show that the head of the Sarvakhap Panchayat was given the title of ‘Wazir’ on behalf of the Mughal rulers and the decisions of the Panchayat were fully recognized.

In the Mughal period, the khapas replaced the districts and the ganas were replaced by the Sarvakhap panchayats. The authority of the Sarvakhap Panchayat has been recognized from the Sutlej to the Ganges. The region has a much more well-organized system than the Roman and Greek traditions.

In the Middle Ages, there was an influx of invaders from the northwest. Akranta used to enter the Indus region without any hindrance, but could not face them when they collided with the warriors of Kuru-Pradesh.

Even at the beginning of the Buddhist period, a powerful organization of Yodayyaganas prevails in this region. Alexander did not have the courage to cross the Vyas river because he had become well acquainted with the power of the Magadhas and Yodhis across this Vyasa. He knew that it was not easy to compete with the mighty knights of war. These warriors, who fought outside powers, guarded them for generations as guards of the Sinhawar of India. Therefore, this crossing from Sutlej came to be called the Sinhwar of India. In the era of war, this fertile green earth was also known as multi-region.

As a result of the strong tradition of ancient Haryana, the people here have always remained democratic and in the course of time they took on every imperialist power which also invaded their democratic system. The revolt of 1857 was also a symbol of that faith.

A dark chapter of history has come to light due to the new discoveries made on the Buddhist political system of North India. Sixteen Mahajanapadas are discussed in the early Buddhist period in great detail in Buddhist literature. These include Kuru, Panchal, Surasen, Avanti, Vajji, Kaushal, Anga, Malla, Chaitya, Vatsa, Magadha, Matsya, Askaq, Gandhar, Kamboj, and Kashi. Parts of modern Haryana were then part of the Kuru and Panchal Mahajanapadas.

On the basis of ancient coins, stamps, stamps, postures, inscriptions, and other historical evidence, it is found that the power of the descent emerged in the fourth century BCE. He retained his dominion over the land for a thousand years.

The coins of Yudhyayas have been obtained from many places in the entire landmass of Sutlej and Yamuna. Acharya Bhagwan Dev has collected valuable material from the Yodhaya period from the hollow coat of Rohtak and many other places.

The Yodayya Republic had taken the form of a powerful Gana-Sangha in due course of time, under which the power of many ganas was added. The main ganas of the Yaudheya Gana Sangh – Yodheya, Arjunayan Malav, Agray, and Bhadra. The Arjunayan Republic was based in the modern Bharatpur and Alwar regions and the Malava Republic was earlier located in the modern Malwa region of Punjab but due to Indogreek invasions, the Malavas moved to the Rajputana region.

Their ancient capital was Malvanagar in the Jaipur region. The Agroha was the capital of Agraya Gan. According to one opinion, the Ganapathi and the Ganadhyaksha were decorated with the title of ‘Agrasen’. The Agras were famous for their socialist system. The word forward seems to have become Agarwal over time. Where Agroha was famous for its prosperity and development in ancient times, even today the Agrawal caste considers its development from Agraha.

Even during the Mauryan period, the Yaudhayas were fully power-filled and their majority state remained famous in India for its community, while the other parts of the country were almost destroyed.

In the Gupta period, the war of war took place against the Gupta emperors. The earlier Gupta rulers tried to persuade the war only to accept their sovereignty, but the warriors, who were proud of their republic, were not ready to accept imperial dominance in any way. But this situation changed during the time of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Emperor Vikramaditya resolved to dissolve the war and according to a belief, the two powers fought fiercely for nearly a fourth century, and in the end, that vast totalitarian power destroyed the country’s last possible power.

In the era of war, this state was known as ‘Bahudhanyak’. Yudayya was famous all over the state for sculpture, handicraft, and fine arts. The drums of Rohtak reached Dhur Ujjain and gained fame. He had no answer in wrestling and fighting skills. They were also farmers who lived where there was a terrible war. It is a matter of pride that for a full thousand years, this republic has achieved unprecedented fame in the history of India and led its state to extreme development under the republican political system.

Even in Harshaal, this entire state was divided into several districts. During this period, this tradition of districts and ganas remained the basis of the political system here. King Harshabardhan’s ancestors had consolidated their power from Srikanth district itself. Harsha’s father Prabhakar Vardhan had increased the power of a powerful empire by sitting in Sthanvishwar (Thaneshwar).

He strongly attacked the growing power of the Huns and drove them away from India. By destroying the power of the Guptas and Gandhars, the Vardhans established their suzerainty over all the parts of North India. The most powerful ruler of the Vardhan dynasty was Harshavardhana, who established a vast empire. It was a glory era in the state of Haryana. The Chinese monk Hrensang has beautifully depicted the glory and prosperity of Sthanvishwar (Thaneshwar), the capital of Harsha. Banabhatta in his book titled ‘Harshacharit’ has given a comprehensive description of the life and cultural traditions of the then Haryana region.

The shape of the districts remained as it was in Harshaal. The emperor never intervened in the internal system here. The responsibility of the entire system of administration of a village group rested with the rural heads.

After the death of Emperor Harshavardhana, life here became disturbed. There were constant external attacks. But the people here kept the internal social system with their power.

In 1014 AD, Muhammad Ghaznavi attacked Thaneshwar and destroyed and corrupted the idol of Chakratirth Swamin and many temples. The Tomar ruler of Haryana sought assistance from other Indian rulers to drive away from the Ghaznavis, but no one helped him. Hence, in the eleventh century, the Tomar dynasty of Haryana faced fierce opposition from the Ghaznavi dynasty, the Lohar ruler of Kashmir, and the Chahar (Chahman) rulers of Rajasthan. During the reign of Tomar rulers, trade, art and culture flourished in Haryana, which we find in the tenth century written by Somdev’s text ‘Yashstilak Champu’.

In the twelfth century, the Chauhan ruler Arnoraja (1331–51) invaded the territory of Haryana and defeated the Tomars. In 1156, Bisaldev or Vigraharaj Sastha conquered Delhi and Haryana and captured Delhi and Hansi from the Tomars. This victory made the Chaines the supreme power of India as the authority over Delhi and Haryana under the Tomars became an indicator of all-India prestige.

Thus in the twentieth century, Haryana became the dominion of the Chaines. At that time Delhi was the center of political activity. Delhi was also dominated by the Chaines. Muhammad Ghori was defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan, the Chauhan ruler of Delhi in 1191, but in 1192 he was defeated and killed by Muhammad Ghori. Thus, the right of Muslim invaders was established over Delhi as well as Haryana.

After the death of Muhammad Ghori in 1206, his slave Qutbuddin Aibak laid the foundation of the slave dynasty in India. In 1265, Balban, the ruler of the Slave dynasty, made full efforts to crush the power of the powerful men here. After the fall of Ghulam Dynasty in 1290, the Khilaj dynasty emerged. Alauddin, the most famous Khilji ruler, began the Tughlaq dynasty. The Tughlaq ruler named Feroz Tughlaq established a town named Fatehabad in Hisar district after his son Fateh Khan. He built canals for irrigation.

In 1398, Timur invaded India. Timur emerged victoriously and entered Haryana along the Ghaggar River. The Hindus of Sirsa fled from their homes and fled as soon as Timur received the information of arrival. A lot of wealth came from Taimur’s hands from here. After Sirsa, Timur attacked Fatehabad and the soldiers of Timur brutally massacred the people there. After destroying and corrupting Hisar, Karnal, Kaithal, Asandh, Tughlakpur, Salwan, etc. Timur reached Panipat where Timur looted blood.

The Haryana people took full advantage of the chaos that ensued after Timur left India. The Sayyids created by Timur had neither the desire nor the ability to revive the empire. The rule of the Lodi dynasty began after the Sayyids. In 1517, after Alexander Lodi, Ibrahim Lodi ascended the throne of Delhi.

At that time, Hassan Khan Mewati, Jalal Khan, and Mohan Singh Mandar’s recipes were most famous in Haryana. Among these, Hassan Khan Mewati was the most powerful ruler. His kingdom included Mewat region of Gurgaon district, Narnaul of Mahendergarh, some areas of ​​Kanond, and a large area around Alwar in Rajasthan. He had an army of 10,000 Mewatis. The ruler of Dehli was impressed by his valor. He was an integral friend of Maharana Sangram Singh of Mewar.

Hasan Khan died in the Battle of Khanwa when Babur invaded India in 1526-27. Jalal Khan was the ruler of the pargana of Tawadu and was a Khanzada by caste. He considered Hassan Khan Mewati as his elder brother. He also had a large army of nuts. Therefore, he used to compete with the royal army. Jalal Khan was a great art lover. He got many buildings constructed in Sohna and Tawadu. Jalal Khan ended up in a state of anonymity. The princely state of Mohan Singh Mandhar was in the pargana of Kaithal. He was very brave and popular. This heroic Rajput faced Babur for a long time.

The first Mughal ruler Babur invaded India several times because the situation in India was very pathetic in political terms at that time. The entire country was divided into small states which used to fight among themselves. He rose to the upper limits of Haryana without any opposition. Babur and the ruler of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, had a historic battle at a place called Panipat in which Babur easily captured Delhi after the victory of Ibrahim Lodi’s defeated Panipat.

Baban divided Haryana into four parts to run the administration. After the death of Babur, the administration here remained unchanged during the reign of his successor (son) Humayun. In 1504, Sardar Sher Shah Suri wrested the region from Humayun. Sher Shah took a special interest in the governance of Haryana and he made many reforms to make the condition of the farmers of Haryana better. After Sher Shah’s death, Humayun regained his lost kingdom in 1555. After Humayun, his son Akbar ascended the throne that time in Rewari was ruled by Hemachandra (Hemu), who was Akbar’s most powerful enemy. Hemu had fought 22 battles and was not defeated in one of them.

Hemu had declared himself the ruler of Delhi by sitting under the royal canopy. As a result, there was the second battle of Panipat between Akbar and Hemu in 1556 in which Hemu was defeated. Akbar divided his kingdom into 15 states to run the system in a systematic manner.

The Mughal ruler Shah Jahan made changes in the governance of Haryana during his reign. The Mughal ruler Aurangzeb committed severe atrocities on Hindus during his reign. He imposed a tax on the people of Haryana. As a result, he faced strong opposition from the Satnamis of Narnaul. After the struggle of the Satnamis took a fierce form and after the death of Aurangzean on 3 March 1707, the suzerainty of the Mughals from Haryana gradually came to an end.

In 1750, the Marathas invaded Delhi. But he got success three years later by the Delhi invasion of Khanderao, son of Malharrao Holkar. The Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah and his prime minister Intjam-u-Daula did not have the ability to oppose him.

In 1754, Alamgir (ruler created by the Marathas) offered gratitude to the Marathas and gave them Kurukshetra, the holy place of Haryana. The Marathas dominated Haryana from 1756-57.

After taking over Haryana, the Marathas moved further and they also captured Punjab. The capture of Punjab by the Marathas resulted in the third war of Panipat (Haryana) between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali. Abdali was victorious in this war, but he could not take advantage of that victory because in his absence he revolted in his own country. On his return to his country.

Abdali invaded the northern part of Haryana (Ambala, Jind, Kurukshetra, Karnal district) by the teams of Governor Jankhan of Sirhind, Gain Khan, Durrani Governor of Sirhind. Durrani Governor confronted the Sikhs but in the end, he was defeated and killed by the Sikhs. The Sikhs gained a large area from the Jain Khan. This area extended from the river Yamuna in the east to the state of Bahabalpur in the west and from the Sutlej river in the north to Hisar and Rohtak in the south. Even after this, the Sikhs attacked the state of Haryana many times.

In 1787, George Toman, a resident of a place called Tipperary in Ireland, came to Delhi and joined the army of Begum Samru. After joining the army, he progressed slowly and decided to establish an independent state. Tomas made the capital of the fort of Hansi and after some time he started expanding his kingdom. At that time, the Sikhs were engaged in combating it, then Tomas attacked Jind and seized the opportunity. But the Sikh Sardar Bougain, chasing Tomas, surrounded him in Hansi, and finally, on 23 September 1801, Tomas surrendered. Tamas died in 1802 AD at a place called Baharampur.

In 1708, Lord Wellesley came to India as the Governor-General of the company and he came up with an expansionist plan. On 30 September 1803, Daulatrao Sindhia gave the British their authorized places as well as Haryana, according to the treaty of Sarjirjan. The Meo, Ahir, and Gujjars of Gurgaon in Haryana, Jats, and Rongs of Rohtak, Vishnoi and Jats of Hisar, Rajputs, Karnas, Saini and Sikhs of Karnal and Kurukshetra, the British and the local chieftains appointed by them Till strongly opposed. But finally, in 1809-10, British authority was established over all of Haryana.

In the revolution of 1857, the knights of Haryana took an important part but the British suppressed this revolution very brutally and took away the kingdom of Raja Rao Tularam of Ballabhgarh, Rewari, the Nawabs of Jhajjar, and Bahadurgarh. Then these states were either merged with the British Empire or handed over to the rulers of Nabha, Jind, and Patiala.