CHAMBA  , a native

state of India, within the Punjab, amid the Himalayas, and lying on the southern border of Kashmir . It has an area of 3216 sq. m . Pop . (19or) 127,834 . The sanatorium of Dalhousie, though within the state, is attached to the district of Gurdaspur . Chamba is entirely mountainous; in the east and north, and in the centre, are snowy ranges . The valleys in the west and south are fertile . The chief rivers are the Chandra and Ravi . The country is much in favour with sports-men . The principal crops are rice, maize and millet . Mineral ores of various kinds are known, but unworked . Trade is chiefly in forest produce .

The

capital of the state is Chamba (pop . 6000), situated above the gorge of the Ravi . External communications are entirely by road . The state was founded in the 6th century, and, though sometimes nominally subject to Kashmir and afterwards tributary to the Mogul empire, always practically maintained its independence . Its chronicles are preserved in a series of inscriptions, mostly engraved on copper . It first came under British influence in 1846, when it was declared independent of Kashmir . The line of the rajas of Chamba was founded in the 6th century A.D. by Marut, of an ancient family of Rajputs . In 1904 Bhuri Singh, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., an enlightened and capable ruler, succeeded .