CHAMBA, an Indian State in the Punjab, amid the Hima layas, on the south border of Kashmir. Area, 3,216sq. miles. Pop. (1931), 146,87o. Revenue, £6o,000. The sanatorium of Dal housie, though within the State, is attached to the district of Gurdaspur. Chamba is entirely mountainous ; in the east, north and centre are snowy ranges. The chief rivers are the Chandra and Ravi. The principal crops are rice, maize and millet. Mineral ores are known but unworked. Trade is chiefly in forest produce. The capital of the State is Chamba (pop., 6,219) picturesquely situated above the Ravi gorge. Founded in the 6th century, sometimes nominally subject to Kashmir and afterwards tributary to the Mogul empire, it was always practically autonomous. Its chronicles are preserved in inscriptions, mostly engraved on cop per. It first came under British influence in 1846, when it was declared independent of Kashmir.