Lohaghat

Lohaghat (Kumaoni: Loghāt)is a town and a nagar palika in Champawat district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

History

Lohaghat and its surrounding region was earlier known as Sui, and the town has been a place of prominence since the rule of Katyuri kings. A scion of the Katyuri dynasty had established his principality at Sui in the eighth century.[2] The rulers of Sui were feudatory to the Katyuris until the fragmentation of the Katyuri kingdom in the end of the 10th century, after which, they became feudatories of Doti.[3] Brahma Dev Katyuri, the last Katyuri governor of Sui was having trouble managing his areas due to several rebellions by local Khasia chiefs. The Khasia chiefs subsequently unified under a Raut king of Damkot thus increasing problems for Brahmadev, who married off his daughter to prince Somchand, and bestowed him with his principality as dowry.[3]
The Mist conquering the Fort of Banasur in Lohaghat.
The fort was built by the Chand Kings in the 12th century.

Som Chand established his capital at Champawat and after defeating the Raut king of Sui with the help of his military officer Kalu Tadagi, bought the entire region under his authority thus laying the foundations of the rule of Chand dynasty in Kumaon.[4] Lohaghat remained under the Kingdom of Kumaon until the fall of Almora at the hand of Gurkhas in 1790. The Banasur fort was built here by the Chand kings in the 12th century.

Lohaghat came under the control of the East India Company following the defeat of Gurkhas in Anglo-Nepal War of 1814 and the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. The Britishers were impressed by the natural beauty of the place and began to settle here. The lands of Fernhill and Chanuwankhal were leased to Hensi and Mrs Hoskin for tea and fruit production.[5] The lands of Hensi were later transferred to an Englishman named ‘Talak’ which came to be known as ‘Talak Estate’.[6]

Geography and Climate
Lohaghat is located at 29.42°N 80.10°E at an elevation of 1,788 metres (5,866 ft) above the mean sea level,[10] and is spread over an area of 4.5 square kilometres (1.7 sq mi). It is located on the banks of the Lohawati river in the Champawat district, at a distance of 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the district headquarters at Champawat, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Pithoragarh, 85 kilometres (53 mi) from Tanakpur, 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Almora and 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Pancheshwar at the Indo-Nepal Border. Lohaghat is also one of the five tehsils of Champawat,[11] and is bound by the Barakot tehsil on the north, Nepal on the east, Pati tehsil on west and Champawat tehsil on the south.