Tehri Garhwal 

Lying on the southern slopes of outer Himalayas , Tehri Garhwal is on of the sacred hilly districts of  Uttarakhand State . Before the creation of universe, Lord Brahma is said to have meditated on this sacred land. Muni-ki-Reti and Tapovan of the district are the places of penance for the ancient Rishis. Its hilly terrain and lack of easy communications have helped it to preserve its culture almost intact. Tehri and Garhwal are the two words combined for naming the district as Tehri Garhwal. While  the prefix Tehri is the corrupted form of  the word `Trihari` which signifies a place that washes away all the three types of sins, namely sins born out of thought (Mansa), word (Vacha) and deed (Karmana), the other part `Garh` means country fort. In fact during olden days possession of number of forts was considered as a significant measuring rod of the prosperity and power of their rulers. Prior to 888, the whole of the Garhwal region was divided into small  `garhs` ruled by separate independent kings known as Rana, Rai or Thakur. It is said that the prince Kanakpal who hailed from Malwa visited Badrinath ji (presently in Chamoli district) where he met the then mightiest king Bhanu Pratap. King Bhanu Pratap was impressed with the prince and got his only daughter married to him and also handed over his kingdom. Gradually Kanakpal and his descendents extended their empire by conquering all the garhs. Thus up to 1803 i.e. for 915 years the whole of the Grhwal region remained under their control.

     During 1794-95 Garhwal was under the grip of severe famine and again in 1883, the country was terribly shaken by an earthquake. Gorkhas had by then started invading this territory and heralded their influence  over the region. The people of the region being already affected by natural calamities were in the deplorable condition and therefore could not resist Gorkhas invasion. On the other hand, Gorkhas whose several attempts for capturing the fort Langoor Garhi had earlier failed, were now in powerful position. In 1803, therefore, they again invaded Garhwal region when King Pradumn Shah was the ruler. King Pradumn Shah was killed in the battle in Dehra Dun but his only son (Sudarshan Shah was minor at that time) was cleverly saved by the trusted courtiers. With the victory of Gorkhas in this battle their dominion was established in Garhwal region. Later on their kingdom extended up to Kangara and they ruled over this region continuously for 12 years before they were thrown away from Kangara by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. On the other hand Sudarshan Shah could manage help from East India Company and got his kingdom freed from Gorkha rulers. The East India Company merged Kumaon, Dehra Dun and east Garhwal in the British Empire and the west Garhwal was given to Sudarshan Shah which was then known as Tehri Riyasat.

          King Sudarshan Shah established his capital at Tehri town and afterwards his successors Pratap Shah, Kirti Shah and Narendra Shah established their capital at Pratap Nagar, Kirti Nagar and Narendra Nagar respectively. Their dynasty ruled over this region from 1815 to 1949. During the Quit India Movement people of this region actively participated for the independence of the country. Ultimately when the country was declared independent in 1947, the inhabitants of Tehri Riyasat started their movement for getting themselves freed from the clutches of Maharaja. Due to the movement the situation became out of his control and was difficult for him to rule over the region. Consequently the 60th king of Pawar Vansh Manvendra Shah accepted the sovereignty of Indian Government. Thus in 1949 Tehri Riyasat was merged in Uttar Pradesh and was given the status of a new district. Being a scattered region it posed numerous  problems for expediting development. Resultantly on 24th February 1960 the U.P. Government separated its’ one tehsil which was given status of a separate district named as Uttarkashi

History of Corbett National park
Jim Corbett National Park has a strong historical background, which can be traced from the early 1800 when its forest were private property of the rulers of the Terhi Garhwal. 

Around the 1820's this part of the state was parted to the British Rulers in return of the assistance provided during the Gurkha invasion. 

In 1858 the first step towards protection of Corbett National Park forest was initiated by Major Ramsey in form of a comprehensive plan, wherein farming and cattle intrusion were banned in the lower Patlidun valley. The Forest Department took control of the area and declared it as Reserve forest in 1879 under the forest act. Soon after the condition of these forest showed improvement and possibilities of forming a game sanctuary were proposed in the early 1900 by Michael Keen an officer with the Forest Dept. The proposal was turned down by the then Governor of The United Province John Hewett. More futile attempts were made in the 1916&1917 by E.R. Stevens and Smythies, both DFO's of the area to declare the sanctuary but were turned down.

In 1934 Governor Malcolm Hailey supported the proposal and declared the reserve forest into a sanctuary. Soon after Governor Hailey and Sir Smythies proposed the up gradation of the sanctuary to a national park. During this period Major James E Corbett was getting famous for his Man eating Tiger shoots. Corbett, who was well versed with area was consulted and helped in marking the boundaries for the proposed national park. On August 6th 1936, the UP national park act was enacted and Hailey National Park - named after Governor Hailey, came into being as India's first National Park and the worlds third covering an area of about 325 sq. kms.
Post independence the park was renamed after the Ramganga River - the main perennial lifeline of the area and was called the Ramganga National Park. James E Corbett died on 19th April 1955 in Nyeri, Kenya. In 1957 the park was again renamed, in honor of the legendary hunter turned conversationalist, Jim Corbett who spent most his life in the area and helped in setting up the park. 

The wildlife protection act was enacted in the year 1972 and Corbett National Park was one of the first national park to launch Project Tiger a government sponsored program for the conservation of the Tiger and its habitat on 1st April 1973. 

In 1991 the area of the reserve was further increased with the inclusion of the Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary. Today Corbett National Park stands as one of the prime examples of efforts to conserve and is one of the best protected forest and tiger reserve in the world. xxxxxxxxxxxxx