These were small and had their own chiefs who were responsible for the welfare of the garhs. The area comprises 52 principalities called garhs (fortresses). The Kingdom of Garhwal was founded by Mayal Rajputs nearly 1000 years ago.
Portrait of a couple in a village at Uttarakhand, India It describes the area that contained Gangadwar (Haridwar and Kankhala), Badrinath, Gandhamardan, and Kailash. The earliest reference to this region are found in the Skanda Purana which describes its names as Kedar Khand and Himvat respectively.'. Prior to Mayal, the region of present day "Garhwal" was knowan as "Kedarkhand". After this conquest, the domain under Mayal is said to have been called ‘ Garhwal’, possibly due to the numerous forts in the region. The exact origin of the word Garhwal is believed to be derived from the title ‘ Garh-wala’ (owner of forts) given to the ruler Mayal, who is said to have consolidated 52 principalities to form the kingdom in the 14th century.
Their ethnonym is derived from the word ‘ Garhwal’ or 'Gadwal'.
In modern usage, "Garhwali" is used to refer to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, and ancestral or genetic origins is from the Garhwal Himalayas.
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