Chibhal State | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kingdom | |||||||
1400–1846 | |||||||
Flag | |||||||
Capital | Bhimber | ||||||
Demonym | Chibhali's | ||||||
Area | |||||||
• | 5,735.45 km2 (2,214.47 sq mi) | ||||||
Population | |||||||
• | 133,000 | ||||||
Historical era | 19th century | ||||||
• Foundation of the state | 1400 | ||||||
• Annexed by the Dogra dynasty | 1846 | ||||||
| |||||||
Today part of | Azad Kashmir Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
Chibhal, or Bhimber state was an Kingdom founded by a cadet branch of the Katoch Rajputs of Kangra in 1400. Its capital was the town of Bhimber. in modern day Azad Kashmir. It was founded in 1400 AD. By Raja Sultan Khan prince of Kangra state.
Chibhal's first ruler was Raja Partab Chand Katoch, who was the youngest son of Raja Megh Chand Katoch of Kangra. [1] [2] Chibhal was also known to Timur's historians by the name Jibhal.[ citation needed ] The territory of Chibhal originally included upper the hill region bordering Hazara. Its rulers converted to Islam during the Timurid era.
The inhabitants of the state were known as Chibhalis. Chibs who ruled this princely state are the direct descendants of Raja Chib Chand Katoch from whom the term Chib, Chibhan and Chibhal are derived. [3]
By the mid-18th century, Bhimber was the most powerful Muslim kingdom in the Pahari hilly region, it stretched from Nowshera to the outskirts of Rajouri, the historic capital of the Jammu and Kashmir region. Meanwhile, conspiracies were reaching new heights in the Punjab plains following the conquest of all other Sikh Misls by the chief who went by the name Ranjit Singh was consolidating his rule over the various Sikh misls and absorbing them into his Sikh Empire. This Sikh chief was able to conquer a large part of Bhimber but was ultimately unable to defeat Raja Sultan Khan, the ruler of Bhimber. These conquered areas were given to a distant relative of Raja Sultan Khan. Raja Sultan was able to retake most of the lost territories after defeating and executing the treacherous relative. This angered the Sikhs. The resulting Sikh invasion was led by Kharak Singh, son of Ranjit Singh. Kharak Singh was militarily humiliated by Raja Sultan Khan and was forced to retreat. Sultan Khan devised an ingenious strategy to lead his forces to the hilltop, an area where the opposing armies were unaccustomed to fighting in mountainous terrain. This led to a fierce battle which resulted in a great Muslim victory against the Sikhs in which Greater Bhimber defeated the armies of famous Sikh Maharaja of Punjab. Later on the state's territories were reduced to no more than twenty five kilometres due to constant invasions from the Sikh Empire. The state was then referred to as the state of Bhimber. At that time it included the towns of Bhimber, Samhani and Mangal Devi. The Chibhalis were known to fiercely resist the Sikhs. They were seen as a threat by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh i.e. Prince Kharak Singh, had called Raja Sultan Khan of Bhimber to Jammu to sign a peace treaty but there Raja Sultan Khan was treacherously put in jail, his kingdom was invaded and annexed into the Sikh Empire. [4]
After the giving over of Jammu and Kashmir to Maharaja Gulab Singh, it became necessary to take measures for the protection and maintenance of the minor hill chiefs, who much against their will had been included in the “properties” forming part of the contract. The matter was arranged in 1847 by Sir Henry Lawrence, Agent and Resident at Lahore, on the one part, and by Diwan Jwala Sahai, the Maharaja's Minister, on the other. It was agreed that the chiefs who elected to settle in British territory should receive perpetual pensions, amounting in the aggregate to Rs. 42,800 annually. The Maharaja ceded to the British Government the ilaka of Sujanpur, part of Pathankot, and certain lands between the Beas and Chaki rivers north of Gurdaspur in satisfaction of the demands, which were to be met from the British treasuries. The Raja Faiz Talib Khan, styled as Bhimbarwala by Sir Henry Lawrence, was allowed hereunder a cash pension of Rs. 10,000 per annum, the same being declared perpetual in his family, to be enjoyed undivided by one individual at a time. This arrangement did not of course please Faiz Talib, who thus found himself invested with a small pension in lieu his patrimony. But who was obliged to accept what had been fixed for him by Sir Henry Lawrence, as there was no hope of getting better terms from the Maharaja. He took up his abode at Shahdara near Lahore; and he and his relatives ever since proved themselves thoroughly loyal to the new Power.
Mirpur, officially known as New Mirpur City, is the capital of Mirpur district located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan which has been subject of the larger Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India since 1947. It is the second largest city of Azad Kashmir and the 74th largest city in Pakistan.
Kangra-Lambagraon was a historical state and later princely estate (jagir) of British India located in the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh.
Chand Kaur was the regent of the Sikh Empire, proclaimed as Malika Muqaddisa on 2 December 1840. She was born to Sardar Jaimal Singh of the Kanhaiya Misl. In 1812, she was married to Crown Prince Kharak Singh, son and heir apparent of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Maharani Datar Kaur. In 1821 she gave birth to their only son Nau Nihal Singh, who became second in line of succession to the throne of Punjab.
Maha Singh, also spelt as Mahan or Mahn Singh, was the second Sardar of the Sukerchakia Misl, which as a Sikh grouping with its guerilla militia was one of twelve Sikh Misls that later became part of the Sikh Empire. He was the eldest son of Sardar Charat Singh and Sardarni Desan Kaur Warraich. He was the father of Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Katoch is a Chandravanshi Rajput clan. Their areas of residence are mainly in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Traditionally resided in Kangra Fort, Trigarta Kingdom, Jalandhar, Multan.
Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was a part of Sikh Empire became the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in the First Anglo-Sikh War. During the war, Gulab Singh would later side with the British and end up becoming the Prime Minister of Sikh Empire. The Treaty of Amritsar (1846) formalised the transfer of all the lands in Kashmir that were ceded to them by the Sikhs by the Treaty of Lahore.
Sansar Chand was a Rajput ruler of the erstwhile Kangra State in what is now the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
The Kangra Fort is a historic fort located in the Kangra district of the Himachal Pradesh state in India. The fort is also known as 'Nagarkot' and 'Kot Kangra'. This fort stands on a hillock between two rivers, among the foothills of the Dhauladhar range. The fort is the largest in the Indian Himalayas, and is under the protection of the Archeological Survey of India. The Kangra Fort is also the oldest fort in the Himalayas and, according to Indian mythology, has a legendary history spanning approximately 4,000 years.
Bhimber is a town and the headquarters of the eponymous district in Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. The town and district are between the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan proper, about 47 km (29 mi) by road southeast of Mirpur.
The Dogra dynasty of Dogra Rajputs from the Shivalik hills created Jammu and Kashmir through the treaties with the East India Company following the First Anglo-Sikh war. Events led the Sikh Empire to recognise Jammu as a vassal state in 1820, and later the British added Kashmir to Jammu with the Treaty of Amritsar in 1846. The founder of the dynasty, Gulab Singh, was an influential noble in the court of the Sikh emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh, while his brother Dhian Singh served as the prime minister of the Sikh Empire. Appointed by Ranjit Singh as the hereditary Raja of the Jammu principality, Gulab Singh established his supremacy over all the hill states surrounding the Kashmir Valley. After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, under the terms of the Treaty of Lahore, 1846, the British East India Company acquired Kashmir from the Sikh Empire and transferred it to Gulab Singh, recognising him as an independent Maharaja. Thus, Jammu and Kashmir was established as one of the largest princely states in India, receiving a 21-gun salute for its Maharaja in 1921. It was ruled by Gulab Singh and his descendants until 1947.
Poonch District was a district of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently divided between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani part of the erstwhile district is now the Poonch Division in the Azad Kashmir territory, whilst the Indian part of the district is the Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. The capital of the Pakistan-controlled side is Rawalakot; while the capital of the Indian-controlled side is Poonch.
The Mangral are a Rajput warrior clan and the historical founders and rulers of the Punjab Hills States of Kotli and Poonch. Their ancestor, Raja Mangar Pal, founded the city of Kotli in modern Azad Kashmir. The Mangrals ruled Kotli State until 1815 and Poonch State until 1819, after which both states were incorporated into the State of Jammu by the Sikh ruler Raja Ranjit Singh.
Bhawpal or sometime pronounced Bhapla, are a Rajput clan that form part of group of tribes that form the Chibhali community. They are found mainly in a region known as Chibhal, that lies on the southern slopes of the Shivalik hills between the Chenab and Jhelum rivers, in the [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] State.
Kharak Singh was the second maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from June 1839 until his dethronement and imprisonment in October 1839. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and his consort, Maharani Datar Kaur. Kharak was succeeded by his only son Nau Nihal Singh.
The Battle of Shopian took place on 3 July 1819 between an expeditionary force from the Sikh Empire and Jabbar Khan, the governor of the Kashmir Valley province of the Durrani Empire. It was the decisive battle during the Sikh expedition into Kashmir in 1819.
Jaswan was a precolonial Indian state in modern-day Himachal Pradesh, commanded by the Jaswal Rajput clan. It was founded in 1170 AD by Raja Purab Chand, a cadet of the Katoch lineage, ancient royal family of Kangra. Its capital was Rajpura.
Ramgarhia Misl was a sovereign state (misl) in the Sikh Confederacy of Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan. The misl's name is derived from Qila Ramgarh, a place located in Ramsar, near Amritsar, which was fortified and redesigned by Ramgarhia Misl chief Jassa Singh Ramgarhia. The Ramgarhia Misl was one of the twelve major Sikh misls, and held land near Amritsar.
Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya was the eldest son and heir of Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the chief of the Kanhaiya Misl. He was the father of Maharani Mehtab Kaur and thus, the father-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire.
Raja Dhian Singh was the longest serving wazir of the Sikh Empire, during the reign of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, and four of his successors. He held the office for twenty five years, from 1818 till his assassination. Dhian Singh was a brother of Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu, who later founded the Dogra dynasty when he became Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under the British Raj. Another brother Suchet Singh also served the empire. The three brothers were collectively known as the "Dogra brothers" in the Sikh empire, based on their ethnicity.
Kunwar Rattan Singh (1805–1845) was the second son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire and his queen consort, Maharani Datar Kaur His elder, Maharaja Kharak Singh was the second Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and nephew, Maharaja Nau Nihal Singh was the third Maharaja. The former reigned for less than four months, and the latter barely four weeks.