38 Abode of Gods
Hanuman who left it near Champawat. As per Puranic story
Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise or Kurma to
destroy the demons. The scene of the fierce battle between
Danawas and Devas came to be known as Kumaon.
In harmony with the geographical, description in the ancient
scriptures, we have definite traces of archaeological finds at
Kalkoot (Kalsi), Haripur, Jagatram, Sinhpur, Lakhamandal,
Birbhadra, Mayapur, Brahmapur, Mordhwaj, Kotedwar,
Khilkuli, Govisana, Ujjaiu, Baijnath, Kartikeiapura
(Joshimath), Champawat, Dwarahat, Gangolihat, Arakote,
Srinagar, Simli, Tunganath, Chandrapuri, Katarmal,.
Gangotihat, and Jageshwar. These places remind the traveller
and compel them to refresh their memory about the glorious
cradle of civilisation that was once Uttarakhand.
The people
This land of fact and fables is peopled by short heighted,
tough and sturdy people who trace their origin from the
Yaksas, Kinnars, Guhyas, and Khasees whose fortunes dis-
appeared into oblivion with the passage of time. The Khasees
have been identified by some historians with the early Aryan
settlers whose counterparts have been found in other" parts of
India, speaking a dialect similar to theirs. Very often, they
have also been identified as Yodheyas Greek writers like
Hirodotiis and Straha have referred to them as 'Kissi'.
Ptolemy calls them 'Kissia'. the JChasiyas divided themselves
into Thoks in lower area of the Himalayas and their chieftain
was known as Thokedar or Sayana.
The Thoks fell before the onslaught of Katyurs who
established a flourishing kingdom with their capital at
Kartikeyapura (Joshimath) and later on at Baijnatk
In fact, Uttarakhand resembles a great smeltering pot, into
which races and tribes have been thrown together and
subjected to every kind of intermixture, as a result of which
the social framewbrk of today fs something very different from
anything belongingto the remote past. There were frequent
in-roads of invading armies who came to conquer but remained
as local citizens an& witn the passage of time their identity
was lost. "However, ^omb of them still maintain their old