New Tehri

                                   

                               New Tehri

The district of Tehri Garhwal is one of the largest district of state uttarakhand and which lies from the snow covering Himalayan peaks of Thalaiya Sagar, Jonli and the Gangotri group all the way to the foothills near Rishikesh. Bhagirathi which runs through appears to divide the tehri district into two, while the Bhilangna, Alaknanda, Ganga and Yamuna rivers border it on the east and west. Tehri's neighbouring districts are Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pauri, Rudraprayag and Dehradun. Tehri was a former princely state of British India, named after its capital; area 4180 sq. m.; pop. (2001) 604608. It adjoined the district of Garhwal, and its topographical features are similar. It contained the sources of both the Ganges and the Yamuna, which are visited by thousands of Hindu pilgrims. The gross revenue in 1911 was about 28,000 rupees, of which nearly half was derived from forests. No tribute was paid to the British government.

Pauri garhwal, including today's Chamoli and Rudraprayag (partly) district came to be called British Garhwal until India's independence in 1947. Tehri, at the meeting point of the rivers Bhagirathi and Bhilangna, became the new Capital of Tehri Garhwal.

Tehri Garhwal has it’s own army and police force. However after the formation of India in 1947 and the subsequent merger of the various states in India at the time, the Garhwal Rifles was merged in with the Indian Army. Soldiers from this unit were among the first to receive the Victoria Cross - the highest decoration for a soldier in the British Army, Services rendered by the British. The ruler at the time of the merger of the states into the Indian Union in 1947 was Maharaja Manabendra Shah.

Tehri Garhwal resembles other parts of the Himalayas where various ethnic groups live side by side. Following chiefly the agrarian-pastoral way of life, native Garhwalis make their living from the hilly land the best they can. Some, like the Bhotia traders, migrate far and wide, although the ancient trade routes with Tibet have been closed since 1950. Most of the indigenous people like Jaunsari, Buksha, Tharu, and Raji are heterodox Hindus and Buddhists, while Sikh migrants from West Punjab have settled in the lowlands since 1947. A few Muslim groups are also native to the area, although most of them have settled recently. The Muslim Gujjar herders also migrate to the hills. 

Tehri Garhwal is one of the western most district of the Uttaranchal (now uttarakhand) State located on the outer ranges of the mid Himalayas which comprise low line peaks rising contiguously with the planes of the northern India. The district lies between the parallels of 30.3` and 30.53` north latitude and 77.56` and 79.04` east longitude. Uttarkashi from the north, Rudraprayag from the east, Puri Garhwal from the south and Dehra Dun from the west are bounding the districts. On the western front Yamuna river separates it from Jaunsar Pragana of the Dehra Dun district while Bhagirathi rising from the north of the Gangotri in the district Uttarkashi touches the district near village Nagun. Total area of the district is 4421 sq. kms (Census 1991).The district headquarter is located at New Tehri Town since 1.4.1989, Earlier Narendranagar was the district headquarter.