[1] He was a scion of the house of Kolong, which during the British Raj ruled the mountainous tract of Lahaul in the Kangra district of Punjab Province.

[6][7] The Thakurs of Lahaul had strong bonds with Ladakh, as they married into the latter's royal family, and shared cultural, linguistic, and religious similarities.

[1][7][12][13] Between mid-February and early March 1948, under treacherous and extremely challenging winter conditions, Prithi Chand led a small volunteer group to Ladakh, which comprised Lahauli Buddhists serving in 2 Dogra.

[14][13] Once in Ladakh, the trio raised local militias and conducted guerrilla warfare to thwart and repel invading Pakistani forces in that sector.

[11][15][13][16] The Maha Vir Chakra citation for Thakur Prithi Chand reads as the following:[7] In February 1948, Major Thakur Prithi Chand of the 2nd Dogra Battalion volunteered to command a small force of 18 volunteers from the Indian Army in the Kashmir Valley to Leh to raise and train a militia force, and organise the defence of that area.

On arrival at Leh, Major Prithi Chand took command of two platoons of J&K State Forces, and with his own men, hurriedly raised and trained some 200 militia.

Posterity will sing the praises of Major Prithi Chand and of his small band of men for generations to come, and the people of Ladakh valley will always remember them as their saviors.