Hansi

Hansi is a part of Hissar District of Punjab and apparently one of the most ancient towns in Northern India. It was not ruled by any particular dynasty however, the origin of the city is wrapped in controversies.

Hansi appears to have been a stronghold of the Kushans, though local tradition attributes its foundation to Anang Pal, the Tomar king of Delhi. According to the authorities quoted in Tod's Rajasthan, Asi or Hansi was assigned to the son of Bisaldeo Chauhan in about 1000 A.D. Masud, son of Mahmuid of Ghazni, captured it after one failure in 1036. However according to Firishta it was recovered by Delhi Raja in 1043. Prithvi Raj made considerable additions to the fort of Hansi by converting it into an important military stronghold. It fell into the hands of Muhammad Ghori in 1192 and was until the foundation of Hissar, the administrative headquarters of the neighborhood. In 1707, Lakshman Singh (Banda Singh Bahadur) attacked Hansi and punished the Muslims. Hansi was under Maratha rule in 1736 and, after 3rd battle of Panipat in 1761, was lost to Ahmed Shah Abdali. Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia in 1780s also took this area under his control for some years and then left it.

Hansi was depopulated by the famine of 1783, and lay deserted until 1798, when the famous adventurer George Thomas, who had seized upon the greater part of Haryana, fixed his head-quarters here. Thenceforth the town began to revive. On the establishment of British rule in 1803 it was made a cantonment where a considerable force consisting chiefly of local levies was stationed. In 1857 the troops mutinied, murdered all Europeans upon whom they could lay hands, and combined with the wild Rajput tribes in plundering the country. On the restoration of order, the cantonment was given up. After the mutiny, the houses fell into decay and the streets lay comparatively deserted owing to the removal of the troops.