Gurhwai Gurwhal, Or Gurwal, a N. W. district of British India, in the Northwest Provinces, between lat. 30° and 31° 20' N., and Ion. 78° and 79° 20' E., bounded N. and N. E. by the Himalayas, which separate it from Thibet; area, about 4,500 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 309,947. It occupies the S. W. slope of the Himalayas, and includes some of the loftiest peaks of that range. Its surface presents little else than a succession of mountains and deep narrow valleys, among which rise several head streams of the Ganges. Only a small part of the country is cultivated or inhabited, Many of the hills are totally destitute of vegetation, and others are covered with low forests. The chief crop in the low regions is rice. Wheat, barley, buckwheat, battu or amaran-thus, pulse of various kinds, oil seeds, the poppy, cotton, sugar cane, and tea are also cultivated. Field labor is performed by women. Horses are rare, asses are unknown, but cattle, sheep, and goats are carefully reared. The greater part of the inhabitants are Hindoos, the remainder being of Thibetan or of mixed Thibetan and Hindoo origin. They are below the middle size, have dark hair and beards, and a lighter complexion than the Hindoos of the plains.

Their houses are built of layers of stone and squared beams, and are usually three stories high, the ground floor being occupied by the cattle. - Gurwhal was dependent on some of the more powerful hill states until the reign of Mohiput Shah, who declared himself independent and built Serinagur for his capital. Under the sovereigns of this dynasty the state embraced the district of the Dehra Doon, and about one half of Kumaon. In 1803 it was overrun and devastated by the Gorkhas, and in 1814 was wrested from the conquerors by the British and restored to the family of the former rajah.