History of Garhwal

Early History
Garhwal has been held in high esteem by the Hindus. The Vishnu Purana, Mahabharata and Varahasamhita scriptures mention a number of tribes dwelling on the borders of the Bharat of that time and amongst them the Sakas, Nagas, Khasas, Hunas and Kiratas probably lived in the Garhwal- Kumaon region of today.
The Sakas were perhaps the earliest ruling races of the Kumaon hills. They have also been referred to as the Sacae by classical writers of history and as the Indo-Scythians by modern ethnographers. The royal house of, both, the Kumaon and Garhwal hills are probably descendants of the famous Salivahana.
There are many traces of the mysterious race known as the Nagas. They were evidently a race for whom the hooded snake was sacred and later legends have identified the members of the tribe with their emblem. Writing the history of India, Wheeler (as cited by Walton
1910) describes them in the following words, "In Garhwal we have the traces of the Nagas in the names of pattis Nagpur and Urgam and the universal tradition of their residence in the valley of the Alaknanda. At the present day, Sheshnag is honoured at Pandukeshwar, Bhakal Nag at Ratgaon, Sangal Nag at Talor, Banpur Nag at Margaon, Lohandea Nag at Jelam in the Niti valley and Pushkara Nag at Nagnath in Nagpur." 
The name Khasa has a very wide significance. The Khasas were the dominant race in the Garhwal and Kumaon hills till the advent of the Rajputs and Brahmins from the plains. Some authors are of the opinion that the Khasas, like the Nagas, were once a very powerful race and came to settle down in Garhwal from central Asia.
Today's Khasas profess to be Rajputs, who have fallen from their once honourable position by the necessity of living under conditions where the strict observance of the ceremonial usages of their religion was difficult. They are, perhaps, numerically the most dominant race in the Garhwal hills, though the line of division between them and later immigrants from the plains has now become faint.
In the early ages, Garhwal was ruled by a number of petty princes who at a later date assumed the form of a loose federation or Baoni of about fifty two states. It is not very clear whether these chiefs owned the suzerainty of the more powerful kings of the plains. On the basis of local traditions and ancient inscriptions, it can be assumed that two or three chiefdoms or principalities were more important.
These are, first, Brahmapura described by Huein Tsang, the famous Chinese traveller in 629 A.D. Though the exact borders of this kingdom are not known, it must have been somewhere in central Garhwal, probably Barahat in Tehri; and second, Jyotirdham or Joshimath, which was the capital of another important ancient kingdom that covered parts of present day Garhwal and Kumaon. It was ruled by the Katyuris.