Indian Culture (Journal of the Indian Research Institue) (July-September) 1949

It is more probable that after the occupation of the midland region by the Vedic invaders a portion of the pre-occupants called pre-Aryan preferred to serve the victors while the major portion of them retired to the surrounding countries thus forming an out-ward belt round the miland area. [...] same method as that much later tried by the Peshwas or by the successors of Ranjit Singh in order to cope with the unruly Khalsa) ; that Trigarta as the greatest already existing state participant :in the battle of Tarain and nearest to the plains absorbed most of these mercenaries and came out of the struggle victoriously but `that in the longer run a conflict between the old aristocracy and [...] 132513o that of Muhammad Taghlug into --China" in A. D. 1337 and the capture of Kangra Fort by Firoz Shah A. D. 1351 broke the control of Kangra over the surrounding states.'" From the hints of the Muslim chronicles and local circumstances it is evident that the failure of those expeditions was the result of a guerilla war making use of the advantages of the broken hill country. [...] But.guerilla wars which demand a considerable independence of the fighting units tend to disrupt also the pOlitical organization of the victorious party." A second factor may have been a parital return of the Western trade route into the hills during the Mongol and Timilrid invasions and the subsequent disorganization in the Pan jab. [...] During these pilgrimages apparently Ganeiavarman made the acquaintance of a learned Bengali pandit from Benares Surananda and in A. D. 1558 brought him to Chamba as his guru and advser.23 With the family of Surananda Barman the more progressive ideas of the Hindus of the Ganges plains found their way into the long-forgotten valleys of the Himalaya.