The terrain and climate of Uttarkashi district
provide uncongenial physical environment for human settlement.
Yet undaunted by hazards and hardships this land was inhabited
by hill tribes since ancient times bringing out the best in man
his adaptive talents. The hill tribes namely Kiratas, Uttara Kurus,
Khasas, Tanganas, Kunindas and Pratanganas find references in
the Upayana Parva of Mahabharata. The land of Uttarkashi district
has been held sacred by Indians since ages where the seers and
sages had found solace and spiritual aspirations and performed
penances and where devas performed their sacrifices and Vedic
language was better known and spoken than elsewhere. People came
here for learning Vedic language and speach. According to an account
given in the Mahabharata, Jada Bharatha a great sage performed
penances at Uttarkashi. the Kedar Khand of Skanda Purna refers
Uttarkashi and the rivers Bhagirathi, Jahanavi and Bheel Ganga.
The district of Uttarkashi was part of Gharwal Kingdom ruled by
Garhwal dynasty that carried the cognomen `Pal' which was changed
to Sah during 15th century conferred by Sultan of Delhi perhaps
Bahlul Lodi. In 1803 Gorkhas of Nepal invaded Garhwal and Amar
Singh Thapa was made Governor of this region. The Gorkhas came
into contact with the British power in 1814 as their frontiers
in Gharwal became determinous with those of the British. The border
troubles prompted the Britishers to invade Garhwal. In April,
1815 Gorkhas were ousted from Garhwal region and Garhwal was annexed
as British district and was split up into eastern and western
Garhwal. The eastern Garhwal was retained by the British Government.
The western Garhwal, lying to the west of the Alaknanda river
with the exception of the Dun was made over to the heir of Garhwal
dynasty Sudarshan Sah. This state came to be known as Tehri Garhwal
and it was merged with the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1949 after
India attained independence in 1947.
GEOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES Lying in the
upper Himalayas, Uttarkashi contains within itself varying geographic
environments ranging from snow free valleys and outer hills to
the high peaks with perpetual snow and glaciers. The terrain runs
into series of ridges and valleys. Each ridge leads to another
coiling up in seemingly unending chains.
Most of the terrain is mountainous consisting
of high rise ridges, hills and plateaus and flat pieces of land
are rare. The land in these areas is now in fertility due to large
content of out crops of boulders and gravels. Made-up of alluvial
soil, valley is a stream bed. Generally forests occur on the upper
ridges that bound the valleys. On their sloping hill sides lie
a chain of sparsely populated settlements interspersed with terrace
cultivation.
The nature expresses itself in breath-taking
variations from beauteous landscape luxuriously decked with vegetation
punctuated by streams, brooks and rivers to high rise awesome
rocky ridges and mountains gently tapering off into lefty snow-capped
peaks. The widely varying climate and topography produce a wise
range of vegetation and serve as habitats to diverse species of
wild life. Forests occupy a place of pride in the environment
of the district not only for the sheer bulk of the area they occupy
but also for the richness of variety of vegetation. As much as
88 percent of the total area of the district is administered by
the Forest Department. Pine forests occur between the altitude
of 900-2000 metres, Deodar forests between 2000-3000 metres, Fix
and Spruce forests over 3000 metres and Kharshu, Birch and Junipers
forests upto the height of 4000 metres. Above the Fir and Spruce
forest zone, alpine pastures are found throughout the district
between the height of 3500 metres to 4877 metres above sea level.
Rich varieties of grass, shrubs and herbs come up during June-
September while during the remaining part of the year these areas
remain covered with snow. A large number of medicinal plants of
great commercial value grow spontaneously in the forests. Some
of these grow in the valleys, some in sub-montane tracts while
some other on higher altitudes. Forestry too does play an important
role in the economy of the district. It employs persons both in
preservation and propagation of forests as well as in their exploitation.
Herbs are the most important minor forest produce. A large variety
of herbs grow wild. They are of a great commercial importance
for their rapeutic value. The herbsare collected through co- operatives.
RIVERS, CANALS AND WATERWAYS
It is the land of Uttarkashi district. That
gives rise to two great and reverent rivers of India the Bhagirathi,
called the Ganga in the plains and the Yamuna. The Ganga coming
up in the glaciers `gaumukh' traverses 128 kms. in Uttarkashi
district before flowing down farther. Hardly ten kms. away from
Gaumukh is the place `Gangotri' of great from the west of Bandarpuch
peak and revered highly is the place `Yamunotri' situated nearby
visited by pilgrims. The third important river of this district
is Tons besides host of tributaries that drain these areas.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES
The district at present comprises of 4 tehsils
and 6 Community Development Blocks. It has 3 towns and 686 villages
(678 inhabited villages and 8 uninhabited villages).
AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
Agriculture in these areas suffer from many constraints.
The availability of cultivable land itself is the greatest restricting
factor on the development of agriculture. It can be seen from
the fact that as much as 88% of the area is either covered by
forests or is barren and uncultivable. The land is low in fertility
except in the valleys and even land is too few and far between.
Shorter agricultural season, low temperature, high altitude, smallness
of land holding, perpetual problem of soil erosion due to steep
gradients etc. are other inhibiting factors effecting agriculture.
The agriculture, therefore, does not offer too much hope for bringing
about well being to the people of the area. Sheep rearing for
production of wool and meat, orchard raising, spinning and weaving
of wool and other cottage industries etc. offer much scope and
their potential be exploited to the fullest extent. The cultivation
in these areas are carried on largely by making terraces on the
sloping hillsides. Some cultivation is done on steep hills also
where terracing and tilling cannot be done and the place is cleared
by burning scrubs and bushes. The seeds are sown with the help
of a hoe. This practice of cultivation is known as `Katil'. Both
Rabi as well as Kharif crops are harvested. The main Kharif crops
are paddy, small millets and potato and chief Rabi crops are wheat
and barley. These crops account for over 80 percent of the total
cropped area. Horticulture is another field that can boost up
the economy of the district. However, it has not made much headway
due to difficulties in marketing the produce, due to poor communications
and remoteness of areas.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
Animal husbandry is an important source of supplementing
income of the rural population. Of the total live-stock, bovine
population and that of sheep accounted for almost one third each.
The production of milk per milch animal is very low. Efforts are
under way for introducing high yielding strain. Sheep rearing
is an important industry in the district. Yet it does not provide
full time employment and it is only avocation for those who are
engaged in its pursuit. As many as sixteen sheep development centres
are functioning.
