Dehradun: Uttaranchal

Dehradun, previously called Dehra Doon, is the capital city of Uttaranchal state of India and is also the headquarter of Dehradun District. It is located in the Doon valley, 230 kilometers north of Indian captial New Delhi and the Delhi metro. It is surrounded by the Himalayas mountains on the north, Shivalik Hills on the south, and the river Ganges east and the river Yamuna on the west.

The water divide of Ganga and Yamuna passes through the city. It is also located on the northern side of the fertile Gangetic plains of India. Before the creation of Uttaranchal on November 9th 2000, Dehradun was a part of the historic state Uttar Pradesh. Neighbouring cities and towns include Haridwar, Rishikesh, Roorkee, Mussoorie and Saharanpur. A popular item that has made Dehradun known across the world is “Dehradooni basmati rice”, which is grown in the fields surrounding the neighbouring Saharanpur.

Facts
Latitude: 30° 19′ North
Longitude: 78° 04′ East
Altitude: 635 meters (2,100 feet) above sea level
Area: 3088 kilometers square
Temperature: Summer (April-July): 16°C - 36° C. Winter (November-Feburary): 2°C - 24°C .
Telephone area code (STD code within India): 0135
Telephone area code (International): +91 (0)135
Languages spoken: Hindi, English, Garhwali, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Urdu.
Population (1991 census) : 1,025,680 (55% males and 45% females)

History

It is believed that in the Vedic times, the Garhwal Mandal, of which Dehradun is a part, was known as the Kedar Khand. Legend has it that Guru Dronacharaya, a Brahmin teacher of the Kauravas and Pandavas in Mahabharat and son of the mighty river Ganges, set up his ashram or ‘dera’ here. Eventually, the Dron Ashram came to be known as Dehradun. According to another legend, Lord Rama and his brother undertook a penance in Dehradun for killing Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.

The earliest tangible evidence of the history of Dehradun dates back to 300 BC, as indicated by a rock inscription at Kalsi, discovered in 1860. The inscriptions located at the northern outskirts of the city are attributed to King Ashoka. In the inscription, there are 14 edicts carved on a rock and adjacent to these is the site where Raja Shilvarma of the Vrisheri dynasty made three horse sacrifices during his rule in the 3rd century BC.

At the site, large inscribed bricks are arranged to form the shape of a bird with a fire altar in the middle. There is no evidence of any kind of quite a long period after that, and the next prominent rulers of the valley were the Katyuris of Garhwal.

Next, this stronghold of the Katyuri dynasty, passed into the hands of the Sikhs and Mughals and later, the Gorkhas of Nepal ruled here for a long time till the British came into the picture. For many centuries the region formed part of the Garhwal kingdom with some interruption from Rohillas. For about two decades till 1815 it was under the occupation of the Gorkhas. In April 1815 Gorkhas were ousted from Garhwal region and Garhwal was annexed by the British.