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| Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar |
✓Akbar was the first Mughal ruler to plan the conquest of Kangra fort.
✓In A.D.1570 Raja Jai Chand(A.D.1570-85) of Kangra invited the displeasure of Akbar for some reason unknown.
✓An order was issued for his arrest, which was executed by Raja Ram Chand of Guler, and he was put in confinement in Delhi.
✓His son, Bidhi Chand, although a minor, regarding his fathercvas dead, assumed the rule of the State and broke out into revolt.
✓In A.D. 1572 before his Gujarat expedition, Akbar ordered the Governor of Panjab, Khan Jahan Husain Quli Khan, to conquer Nagarkot and hand it over to Raja Birbal, on whom it had been bestowed by the Emperor as Jagir.
✓Mughal army under Husain Quli Khan accompanied by Raja Birbal and other nobels marched from Lahore for Nagarkot by way of Paithan (Pathankot) and Dhameri.
✓On the way twelve miles beyond Nurpur is the fort of Kotla on a high hill.
✓Mughal army snatched it from the Kangra ruler and handed over it to the Raja Ram Chand of Guler to whom it had originally belonged.
✓The siege of Kangra fort was progressing favourably and the garrison were in extremities but it had to be abandoned because of a rebellion in Panjab by Ibrahim Husain Mirza and Masud Mirza, relatives of Akbar.
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| Kotla Fort |
✓Raja Bidhi Chand's standard continued to fly over the fort, though a considerable portion of
his territory was occupied by Mughal army and handed over to Raja Bribal as Jagir.
✓Forced by circumstances, Raja Jai Chand was set at liberty from the Mughal confinement soon after the siege and resumed his position as ruler of the Kangra.
✓After this expedition, in A.D. 1573, Akbar deputed his great finance Minster Todar Mal, to Kangra, in order to create an Imperial demesne by confiscations of territory from the hill states.
✓The portion of the demense taken from Kangra seems to have included sixty-six fertile villages of the valley, and the whole of Rihlu was annexed from Chamba.
✓Todar Mal, in presenting his statement to his royal master, Akbar reported to have made use of the metaphor, that he had "cut off the meat and left the bone", meaning that he had annexed the fertile tracts and left only the bare hills to the hill chiefs.
✓In A.D. 1585 Raja Jai Chand died and his son Bidhi Chand (A.D.1585-1607) ascended the throne of Kangra.
✓Soon after his accession a secret confederation of the hill chiefs of the States in the outer hills between Jammu and Kangra was formed, under the leadership of Raja Bidhi Chand, against the Mughal supremacy.
✓In A.D. 1588-99 they all broke out into rebellion and Zain Khan Koka, Akbar's foster brother was sent with a large force to bring them into subjection.
✓He marched through the hills from Pathankot to the Satluj, and on their submission, thirteen of the hill chiefs accompanied to the Mughal court to offer their allegiance.
✓They included:
1. Raja Bidhi Chand of Nagarkot
2. Raja Basu of Mau (Dhameri)
3. Raja Anrudh of Jaswan
4. Raja Kalmuri of Kahloor (Bilaspur)
5. Rai Bhaso Buzurg of Jasrota
and some rulers from Jammu Hills.
✓It appeared that almost the whole of the hill states between the Chenab and the Satluj were in revolt.
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| Kangra Fort |
✓On their submission they were all considerately dealt with and had their territories and honours restored, but Raja Bidhi Chand had to leave his son, Trilok Chand then a boy, as a hostage at the Akbar's court.
✓To ensure the fidelity of the Hill Chiefs, Akbar adopted the policy of retaining as hostages at his court, a prince or near relative of the ruling chief from each of the States.
✓Alexander Cunningham says that in the beginning of Jahangir's reign there were 22 young princes from the Panjab Hills at the Mughal court.
✓Jahangir gave the title of "Mian" to these princes.
✓Later on the title became the distinctive appellation of all members of the 22 Royal clans to which the princes belonged.
✓In A.D. 1594 hill chiefs led by the Raja of Jasrota Rai Bhabu Buzura revolted against the Mughal supremacy.
✓ Akbar sent Mirza Rustam Qandhari and Shaikh Farid, the emperor's Bakshi or Paymaster with their respective forces to suppress the rising.
✓They surrounded the fort of Mau and after two months the rebellion fell.
✓After this successful campaign Shaikh farid was recalled to Lahore by Akbar and presented with great rewards.
✓Shaikh Farid afterwards received the title of Murtaza Khan for his services at the siege of Kangra fort, in A.D.1615 in collaboration with Suraj Mal (A.D. 1613-1618) of Nurpur.
✓Raja Basu of Nurpur due to his turbulent nature again rebelled against Emperor Akbar in A.D.1602-04.
✓Akbar sent Madhu Singh Kushwaha to punish him but he escaped.
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