Tehri Garhwal is a district in the hill state of Uttarakhand, India. Its administrative headquarters is at New Tehri. The district has a population of 618, 931 (2011 census), a 2.35% increase over the previous decade. It is the 7th ranked district of Uttarakhand by population. It is surrounded by Rudraprayag District in the east, Dehradun District in the west, Uttarkashi District in the north, and Pauri Garhwal District in the south. Tehri Garhwal is a part of the Himalayas. Etymology The name Tehri has been derived from Trihari, signifying a place that washes away the three types of sins – sins born out of Mansa, Vacha and Karmana or thought, word and deed, respectively. Garh in Hindi means fort. History Early Prior to 888 CE, the region was divided into 52 which were ruled by independent kings. These were brought into one province by Kanakpal, a prince of Malwa. Kanakpal, on his visit to Badrinath, had met the then mightiest king Bhanu Pratap who later married his only daughter to the prince and handed over his kingdom to him. Kanakpal Singh and his descendants gradually conquered all the and ruled the whole of Garhwal Kingdom for the next 915 years, up to 1803. Gorkha Rule In 1803, the Gorkhas invaded Garhwal commanded by army generals Amar Singh Thapa, Hastidal Shah Chautariya, Bamshah Chautariya and Ranjor Thapa against King Pradyumna Shah and his sons Kunwar Parakrama Shah and Kunwar Pritam Shah. The Garhwal and Gorkha armies fought at Khurbura and the Garhwal king was killed. The Gorkhas occupied Dehradun, Saharanpur and Shimla and later extended their kingdom up to Kangra. From 1787 to 1812, the Gorkhas invaded and occupied nearly 200 villages which were under the control of the East India Company. The British argued with the king but to no avail. The Gurkha War began in 1814, when an army of 8,000 under Major General Marley attacked Kathmandu. Four thousand soldiers under Major General Wood started an operation from Gorakhpur and 3,500 soldiers attempted to take over Dehradun under Major General Zileswy. The British army captured Dehradun on 30 November 1814 and moved towards Kumaon. The Gorkha commanders Hastidal Shah and Jayrakha were killed at Vinayathal. The war ended with the Sugauli Treaty, signed on 2 December 1815 and ratified on 4 March 1816 by Gorkha supreme commander Bamshah and thus, British rule started in the hills. The East