The land of gods and temples, home of sages and monks, originator of Ganga and Yamuna, and a cross-section of himalayas, Uttarakhand has completed 22 years of its statehood.

Uttarakhand have always been a home for "Rishis" and "sadhus". It is also believed that Ved Vyasa scripted the Mahabharata here as the pandavas  travelled and camped in the region.

Tracing its roots, the state had its first major dynasty in the 2nd Century B.C., the Kunindas, who practiced an early form of shaivism. Then came buddhism and jainism. Later Adi Shankaracharya also spread Bhramanism.

In the 4th century, the Kunindas gave way to the Naga Dynasties. Then, between 7th and 14th century, the Katyuri dynasty of khas origin dominated the region. Which later led to the origination of 2 divisions- Garhwal (kedarkhand) and Kumaon (manaskhand) region after 14th century.

Garhwal kingdom was established in 823 AD by Kanakpal, the prince of malwa who visited Badrinath temple at that time. He met Bhanupratap the local king and married his daughter and established Garhwal dynasty.

After him, Balbhadra shah became the first Shah ruler. Then mughals came and aurangzeb constructed Dehradun.

In 1803, the Garhwal kingdom also fell to the gurkhas after overrunning Kumaon who had their Iron fist policy. With the conclusion of the Anglo-Nepalese war in 1816, a rump portion of garhwal kingdom was re-established from Tehri, and eastern British garhwal and kumaon ceded to the British as part of the "Treaty of Sugauli".

The modern day Garhwal was ruled by Parmar/Panwar rajas, with a mass migration of brahmins and rajputs, from the plains.

On the other hand, from the 13th-18th century, kumaon/ Kumanchal prospered under the Katyuri Kingdom of chand rajas who had their origins in the plains of india. During this period, learning new forms of painting developed.

In the post independence period, the Tehri princely state was merged into Uttar Pradesh, composing the garhwal and kumaon divisions.

However, after the "Rampur Teraha case" in muzzafarnagar where activists were shot dead by police personnel, while protesting for a seperate state for Uttarakhand, the region got it's seperate statehood in November, 2000.