BILASPUR

The highest peak in the State is on dhar-Bahadurpur, at 6,164 feet, on which snow falls in winter. The present capital is at, Bilaspur, from which the State takes its present name, having been transferred from Kot-Kahlur at a comparatively recent date. It stands on, a plain on the left bank of the Satluj and overlooking that river.

Traditionally the original name of the place was Biasgufa, the word gufa meaning "a cave", from the tradition that Bias-deo is said to have performed religious penance in the cave. From it the town was named Biaspur, which became corrupted to Bilaspur. It is situated 37 miles north-west of Simla.

Mr. Vigne who passed through it in 1835 and again, in 1839 thus describes its situation: -

"Bilaspur stands about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. The situation is very picturesque: open, cultivated land, comparatively level, extends on both sides of the river. The verdure is of the richest description: the mountains, bold and elevated, surround the outskirts of the landscape and the noble river sweeps round the angle of the bank on which the town is built with a rapidity that would evince its eagerness for the notoriety it has so long deserved, and has hitherto failed to obtain."

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