Gauchar first attained recognition in the 1920s when Lady Willingdon, wife of the then Viceroy of India landed here by air. Then, in 1938, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru along with his sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit also came here by air on the way to a personal visit to Badrinath. At that time cow dung used to be burnt on the field to gauge the direction of air currents! Since 1943, Gauchar has played host to one of the largest trade fairs in Uttarakhand. The Bhotias of Chamoli District, residing in the border regions of Garhwal Himalayas, are well known for their traditional expertise in making a range of woollen garments and materials, besides processing and colouring of wool. Before 1962, there was trans-border trade between India and former Tibet, and the import of wool was the major source of income for the Bhotia’s woollens-based, indigenous cottage industry. But after 1962, trade was stopped due to conflicts between China and India. The Gauchar Mela served as huge market for the Bhotias to sell their ware including woollen products, precious jewels and heeng (asafoetida), and to buy good for daily necessity such as cloth and salt to carry back with them. This fair was not merely a local fair, but people travelled here from as far as Bijnaur and Kotdwar to participate in the brisk trade.
At a macro level, approximately 1000 AD to 1803, Gauchar – in common with the rest of Garhwal – was ruled by the Pal dynasty which later came to be known as the Shah dynasty. In 1803, taking advantage of the devastating earthquake that killed one-third of the region’s population, the Gorkhas advanced towards Garhwal. Pradyuman Shah was the king at that time, and he lost his life and kingdom in the ensuing battle.
In common with the rest of Garhwal, Gauchar came under Gorkha rule from 1803 to 1815. In 1815, the British who merged the eastern part of Alaknanda and Mandakini along with the capital Srinagar into British Garhwal. Initially, this area was administered from Dehradun and Saharanpur. However, later the British established a new district in this area and named it Pauri. Today’s Chamoli – and Gauchar — was a tehsil of Pauri. On February 24, 1960, Tehsil Chamoli was upgraded to a new district in independent India’s state of Uttar Pradesh. Gauchar became a Nagar Panchayat in 1994.
