The ancient history of Garhwal says that it had once been a part of the Mauryan Empire.The history of Garhwal began as a unified whole in the 15th century, when king Ajai Pal merged the 52 principalities of the Garhwal region.Garhwal remained a consolidated kingdom for about 300 years, with Srinagar as its capital.But during the British Period, the territories of Pauri and Dehradun went under the British domain: the two region were given to the Britishers in return of their help during the Gurkha invasion in the 19th century.
Today the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand consists of 7districts, Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Rudraprayag,Haridwar and Tehri Garhwal
Garhwal is surrounded with high snow covered peaks, beautiful valleys, huge flat grasslands or alpine meadows, scenic surroundings, mighty holy rivers and has a large variety of rich and exotic flora and fauna.
There are well known and important tourist places to visit in Garhwal. Some of them are Mussoorie the queen of hills, Chamoli The land of the Gods, Uttarkashi, New Tehri, Pauri, Lansdowne and many more.
The char – Dhams – Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. Haridwar and Hemkund Sahib are very sacred and holy place visited by lakhs of pilgrims from all over the world in the Garhwal Himalayas.
Garhwal is also a paradise for adventure sport tourists. They may choose to trek in the Nanda devi kamet, Pindari and the Gaumukh. The tourists can enjoy skiing in Auli and Dayara bugyal. Adventure Sports like Rafting, Bungee Jumping , Boating, Angling, Aero Sports and Hand Gliding and Paragliding in Rishikesh The Yoga Capital of the world and Pauri Garhwal.
Garhwal has a rich and exotic flora and fauna and the lush green jungles are abundant with pine, oak, rhododendron, juniper and birch trees. The wildlife tourism here is also rich with Tigers, Leopards, Elephants , Himalayan bear, wolves, snow leopards and varieties of deer such as barking deer and the musk deer that can be seen in the wild life sanctuary national parks here.

The Corbett national park, Rajaji national park, Govind wild life sanctuary, Nanda Devi wild life sanctuary, Kedarnath wild life sanctuary, Assan barrage and Chilla are well known wildlife sanctuaries in Garhwal.
The biggest dam of the world with height of around 830 mts and a capacity to generate around 2500 megawatts is located in the Tehri Garhwal district of Garhwal region. The Tehri dam provides clean drinking water to 40 lakhs people living in and around Delhi.
The world heritage sites such as the Valley of Flowers and the Nanda Devi are also in the Chamoli district of Garhwal Himalayas.
Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh have good road, train and air connectivity New Delhi. The nearest airport is Jolly Grant airport .
Chamoli
Chamoli is a beautiful district in the Uttarakhand state of India. Gopeshwar is the headquarter of Chamoli Garhwal. It is situated at an altitude of 3000 ft – 12,000 ft above sea level. it has exceptional natural beautiful surroundings , major pilgrims centres and is surrounded by majestic snow covered peaks.
Dehradun
Dehradun is the gateway of Mussoorie.
It is the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand located in the Doon Valley on the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayas between two of India’s greatest rivers – the Ganges and the Yamuna. Click here to read about Indian Rivers.
Rudraprayag
Rudraprayag is a small town at an altitude of 3000 ft approx above sea – level in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. It lies on the Rishikesh to Badrinath route and is 142 kms from Rishikesh.
The town is located on the confluence of the river Alaknanda and the river Mandakani. The river from here then goes to Devprayag where is joins the Bhagirathi river and gets it name as the river Ganga.
Tehri Garhwal
Tehri Garhwal is a beautiful district in the Uttarakhand state of India. Tehri city is the headquarter of the district. The town is situated at an altitude of 1550 ft above sea level.
The river Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Bhilangna, Alaknanda, Ganga all these mighty river run through Tehri Garhwal. Rudraprayag district and Uttarkashi district were both carved out of Tehri Garhwal.
The newly and modern Tehri town is almost 70kms from Rishikesh. This town was built when people from the old town were rehabilitated due to the building of Tehri dam in the area.
Pauri Garhwal
Pauri Garhwal is a beautiful district in the garhwal region of Uttarakhand India. Pauri city is the headquarter of the district. It is situated at an altitude of 1814ft above sea level on the Kandoliya hills of the garhwal mountains. Pauri Garhwal was a part of British Garhwal till the year 1970 when it was later merged in the Garhwal region. Rudraprayag district and Chamoli district were both carved out of Pauri Garhwal. It is a beautiful hill district with lush green valleys, varied flora and fauna and the majestic view of the Chowkhamba Mountain ranges. Thousands of tourist visit this beautiful hill station every year.
It is a beautiful and quite place, surrounded by Oak, Deodar and Pine forests to visit during the weekends. These majestic mountains, lusty green forests with panoramic views help you forget your worldly tensions and make you one with nature.
Haridwar
It lies in the Shivalik range amidst Bilva and Neel Mountains and is situated on the right banks of the river Ganga.
Haridwar means the Gateway to God, where ‘Hari’ – God and ‘Dwar’ – Gate. Haridwar is also known as Gangadwára or Hardwar. Haridwar was also known as Mayurapura ( Home of Peacocks) and Mayapura ( Goddess Maya Devi ) during olden times.

Uttarkashi
The beautiful hilly town Uttarkashi ( headquarters )is situated on right bank of the river Bhagirathi at an altitude of 1160 mts above sea – level.
Uttarkashi has a lot of religious importance. It was once known as Shivnagri during the puranic age and is also referred as the Kashi of the North It is home to two most important char dham yatra centre , the Gangotri and the Yamunotri.
Uttarkashi has wide and varied topography from the plains of the town at 1160 mts altitude to Tapovan at around 4330 mts above sea level. Around 90% of the region is hilly and covered with huge mountains and lusty green forest of Pine and Oak.

Source(s) and Link(s):
http://www.uttarakhand-tourism.com/garhwal/garhwal-tourism.php http://outstandingindia.blogspot.in/2008/08/history-of-uttarakhand.html

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