About District

The present District Of Mandi was formed with the merger of two princely states Mandi and Suket on 15th April 1948, when the State of Himachal Pradesh came into existence. Ever since the formation of the district, it has not witnessd any changes in it’s jurisdiction. The chiefs of Mandi and Suket are said to be from a common ancestor of the Chandravanshi line of Rajputs of Sena dynasty of Bengal and they claim their descent from the Pandavas of the Mahabharata. The ancestors of the line believed to have ruled for 1,700 years in Indarprastha(Delhi), until one Khemraj was driven out by his Wazir, Bisarp, who then took over the throne. Khemraj, having lost his kingdom, fled eastward and settled in Bengal, where 13 of his successors are said to have ruled for 350 years. From there they had to flee to Ropar in Punjab, but here also the king, Rup Sen, was killed and one of his sons, Bir Sen, fled to the hills and reached Suket. The State of Suket is said to have been founded by Bir Sen, an ancestor of the Sena Dynasty of Bengal.

The history of the states of Mandi and Suket is filled with wars among themselves and neighboring states. Although these two states were rivals and enemies, their warfare did not result in any significant outcome. They both desired and disputed the fertile valley of Balh. On February 21st, 1846, the chiefs of Mandi and Suket visited Mr. Erskine, the Superintendent of the Hill States for the British Government. They declared their allegiance to the British and secured their protection. On March 9th, 1846, a treaty was signed between the British Government and the Sikh Durbar, which ceded the entire Doab area between the Beas and the Sutlej to the British Government. This included the states of Mandi and Suket. On November 1st, 1921, both the state of Mandi and Suket were transferred from the political control of the Punjab Government to that of the Government of India until August 15th, 1947, India’s Independence Day.