The Garhwal Himalayas have long been a centre of mythology, history and pilgrimage. The region, traditionally known as Uttarakhand, appears in several Puranic texts. The Skanda Purana describes the boundaries of this sacred landscape, and the Mahabharata’s Van Parva refers to its forests and high-altitude routes. The seventh-century Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang also mentions parts of the broader Uttarakhand region in his travel accounts.
Garhwal became closely associated with Adi Shankaracharya in the eighth century. He travelled through these remote snow-covered mountains, established a monastic centre at Joshimath and revived several important shrines, including Badrinath and Kedarnath. These sites remain among the most significant pilgrimage destinations in the Himalayas.
The earliest known ruling dynasty of the wider Uttarakhand region was the Katyuris, who governed from roughly the eighth to the eleventh century. Their early centre was at Joshimath before they moved to the Katyur Valley near present-day Almora. At the height of their influence, the Katyuri kingdom stretched from the Satluj in the west to the Gandaki in the east. As their power declined, numerous small chiefdoms emerged across Garhwal, each controlling its own fort, or Garh.
Garhwal became a unified political entity in the fifteenth century under Ajai Pal, a ruler from the Parmar line. He brought together the many small principalities, which gave the region its name because of the large number of forts under his authority. For several centuries after, Garhwal remained a single kingdom with its capital at Srinagar on the Alaknanda River.
During the early nineteenth century, the Gurkhas invaded Kumaon and Garhwal. The Garhwal ruler Pradyumna Shah died fighting them at Khurbura. The surviving rulers sought British assistance to reclaim their territory, which led to the Anglo-Gurkha War of 1814. After the British victory, part of Garhwal became a British district, while the remainder formed the princely state of Tehri Garhwal under a restored branch of the dynasty.
Under British administration, Garhwal became part of the Kumaon Division. The district developed modestly; grain and coarse cloth were exported, while salt, borax, livestock and wool were imported. Trade with Tibet remained active until the mid-twentieth century. Pauri served as the administrative headquarters, while Srinagar was the largest town.
The Garhwal rulers continued to be recognised as sovereign within their princely domain. They maintained an independent stance against several incursions, including those of the Mughal period. Local accounts recall confrontations during the reigns of Jahangir and Aurangzeb, although these narratives are often embellished through oral tradition.
By the time of the Second World War, Tehri Garhwal remained a princely state. Maharaja Narendra Shah supported the British war effort, for which he received titles and honours. After India gained independence, Tehri Garhwal acceded to the Indian Union, bringing an end to the centuries-old Garhwal monarchy.