Pinjaur Village
Pinjaur Village, 1908
Head-quarters of the Pinjaur nizamat and tahsil, Patiala State, Punjab, situated in 30degree 48' N. and 76degree 59' E., 3 miles from Kalka on the Simla road, at the confluence of the Koshallia and Jhajhra, two tributaries of the Ghaggar. Population (1901), 812. The name is a corruption of Panchapura, and the place is of considerable antiquity, being mentioned by Abu Rihan in 1030. In 1254 it formed part of the territory of Sirmur, which was ravaged by Nasir-ud- din Mahmud, king of Delhi. It was the fief of Fidai Khan, foster- brother of Aurangzeb, and the R t aja of Sirmur recovered it in 1675 from the son of its former holder, a Hindu. Fidai Khan laid out the beautiful gardens, which still remain. Wrested from the Muham- madans by a Hindu official who made himself master of Mani Majra, it was taken by Patiala in 1769 after a desperate siege, in which the attacking force, though reinforced from Hindur, Kahlur, and Sirmur, suffered severely. There are extensive Hindu remains and fragments of an ancient Sanskrit inscription in the village. Bourquin, Sindhia's partisan leader, dismantled the fort about 1793. The village has a dispensary and a police station, and is famous for its sacred tank, Dharamandal or Dharachettra.
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
