Gurkhas in Mussoorie

Image source: Gurkhas

In 1959 the amalgamation of Mussoorie to Uttarakhand took place. Before that around 1803 Gurkhas were known as rulers of the regions. Umar singh Thapa and his gang conquered the whole region including Mussoorie. They could not execute their huge plan, made for the territory. In 1814, Gurkhas came into a direct battle with the Britishers which turned out to be worse for Gurkhas and soon they accepted their defeat. Earlier Mussoorie was a part of Saharanpur district and in 1819, East India Company successfully captured the whole region.

According to the stories told by old locals, before the British it was almost a vacant place with few shepherds who used to visit with their flock of animals. Mussoorie is usually called ‘Mansoori’ by locals due to the shrub called ‘Mansoor’ indigenous to the area.