<P> By the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Garhwal Kingdom in the west and the Kumaon Kingdom in the east . From the 13th - 18th century, Kumaon prospered under the Chand Rajas who had their origins in the plains of India . During this period, learning and new forms of painting (the Pahari school of art) developed . Modern - day Garhwal was likewise unified under the rule of Parmar / Panwar Rajas, who along with a mass migration of Brahmins and Rajputs, also arrived from the plains . In 1791, the expanding Gurkha Empire of Nepal, overran Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom . In 1803, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to the Gurkhas . With the conclusion of the Anglo - Nepalese War in 1816, a rump portion of the Garhwal Kingdom was reestablished from Tehri, and eastern British Garhwal and Kumaon ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli . </P> <P> In the post-independence period, the Tehri princely state was merged into Uttar Pradesh state, where Uttarakhand composed the Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions . Until 1998, Uttarakhand was the name most commonly used to refer to the region, as various political groups including most significantly the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Uttarakhand Revolutionary Party est. 1979), began agitating for separate statehood under its banner . Although the erstwhile hill kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon were traditional rivals with diverse lingual and cultural influences due to the proximity of different neighbouring ethnic groups, the inseparable and complementary nature of their geography, economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds between the two regions . These bonds formed the basis of the new political identity of Uttarakhand, which gained significant momentum in 1994, when demand for separate statehood (within the Union of India) achieved almost unanimous acceptance among the local populace as well as political parties at the national level . Most notable incident during this period was the Rampur Tiraha firing case on the night of 1 October 1994, which led to public uproar and eventually to the division of the state of Uttar Pradesh in 2000 . </P> <P> However, the term Uttaranchal came into use when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central and Uttar Pradesh state governments initiated a new round of state reorganization in 1998 and introduced its preferred name . Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among the rank and file of the separate state activists who saw it as a political act, however they were not quite as successful as Jharkhand state that successfully thwarted a similar move to impose the name Vananchal . Nevertheless, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage . </P> <P> In August 2006, India's Union Cabinet assented to the four - year - old demand of the Uttaranchal state assembly and leading members of the Uttarakhand movement to rename Uttaranchal state as Uttarakhand . Legislation to that effect was passed by the State Legislative Assembly in October 2006, and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament . The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by the President in December 2006 . Since then, Uttarakhand denotes a state in India </P>

Whose rule in uttarakhand is historically known as golden age