Doti


Doti, also known as Doti region, Dotigarh as used in the Jagar, in the Farwestern region of Nepal, is a region situated between River Kali bordering the Uttarakhand in the west and the Karnali river on the east. Doti was one of eight different princely states of the Katyuri Kingdom.

Districts

Doti division covers the nine districts of Sudurpashchim Pradesh. They are:
Kailali and Kanchanpur District are Terai districts and rest are hilly districts.

Etymology

The name Doti is believed to have originated from the word Dovati, which means the land area between the confluence of two rivers.
Other view is that the original name of Doti was devatavi= dev+aatavi or aalaya.

History

Doti was an ancient kingdom in far western region of Kumaon which was formed after the disintegration of the Katyuri Kingdom of Kumaon around the 13th century.
Doti was one of eight different princely states Katyuri Kingdom was divided into Eight for their eight Prince and became different independent Kingdom.
Later on, the whole land between Ramganga on the west and the Karnali on the east, came under the Raikas after the origin of Raikas of Katyuris in Doti.
"Brahma Dev Mandi" at Kanchanpur District of Mahakali Zone was established by Katyuri king Brahma Dev.

Raikas of Doti

Niranjan Malla Dev was the founder of Doti Kingdom around the 13th century after the fall of the Katyuri Kingdom. He was the son of Last Katyuris of united Katyuris kingdom.
Kings of Doti were called Raikas. Later on Raikas, after defeating the Khas Malla of Karnali Zone, were able to establish a strong Raika Kingdom in Far Western Region and Kumaun which was Doti. So far, the historical evidences of following Raikas have been discovered:
During the period of Akbar's rule in the 16th century, the Moguls had attacked the Raikas of Doti. They invaded Ajemeru, capital of the Raika Kingdom. Ajemeru is now in Dadeldhura District of far western region of Nepal. Hussain Khan, army chief of Akbar residing in Lucknow had led the attack. According to `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni, Indo-Persian historian during Mughal Empire, Mughal Army chief of Lukhnow, Hussian Khan, lured by the wealth and treasures of the kingdom of the Raikas, wanted to plunder the state, this being the motive behind the assault; but they did not succeed.

Gorkha Invasion

The historic place of war between the Doti Kingdom and Nepal during the period of Gorkha Expansion in 1790, according to the history of Nepal, is Nari-Dang which lies on the bank of the Seti River and Dumrakot was the base of the Doti Kingdom during the fighting against the Gorkhalis.
In the war with the Gorkhalis, the Doti kingdom was defeated and Doteli King fled to Pilibhit..

Khairgarh-Singhai State

Raja Deep Shahi was expelled from Nepal in 1790 A.D and on arriving to Terai of Oudh he established Khairgarh-Singhai State in Khairigarh under British India.
Kanchanpur Praganna was also the parts of his State or Zamindari. He succeeded in defeating the Banjaras rulers of Khairigarh and establishing himself not only in that Pargana but also in parts of Bhur. His state was merged with India In 1947 after Indian Independence.

Geography

The Far-Western Development Region has the Mid-Western Development Region to the east, Uttar Pradesh to the south, Kumaon to the west and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the north.
The highest mountain in the region is the Api Peak, with high; it is in the Darchula district. Other high mountain is Saipal, high, in the Bajhang district.
The most important rivers in the Far-Western Development Region are the Seti and the Mahakali rivers; both rivers are tributaries of the Ghaghara or Karnali river.

Demographics

It is the smallest Development Region of Nepal with an area of and also with the lowest population with 2,552,517 people living there; its population density is the second lowest of all the regions, with 130.6 persons/km2. Main ethnic group are chhetris 76%

Language and culture

The major local languages are Dotiyali and Kumauni, each spoken respectively by and people according to the 2011 census.
Inhabitants of two terai districts Kailali District and Kanchanpur District speak different languages. Rana-tharu and Dangaura-tharu speaks their own language. Language spoken by Rana-tharus is Hindi Dialect and Dangaura-tharu speaks Tharu Language.
Traditional dance and songs Chholiya, Bhada, Jhora Chapeli, Rung Culture of Rung people, Baira song, Deuda,Chait and Jagar are part of the culture. Jagara and Chait tales of bravery is most important culture in Doti since Katyuri period. Chait tales about bravery of Senapati Piri Bohara is singing in Gaura parva. Jhusia Damai of Baskot of Baitadi District was famous Jagar singer. The major festivals of Doti are mainly Gora, Kumauni holi, Bishpati, Harela, Raksha Bandhab Dashin, Diwali, Makar Sankranti, and others.