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Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir | |
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Details | |
First monarch | Gulab Singh |
Last monarch | Hari Singh |
Formation | 16 March 1846 |
Abolition | June 1952 |
The Dogra dynasty [1] [2] of Dogra Rajputs from the Shivalik hills created Jammu and Kashmir when all dynastic kingdoms in India were being absorbed by the East India Company. 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 Indian government 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 British India, [lower-alpha 1] receiving a 21-gun salute for its Maharaja in 1921. It was ruled by Gulab Singh and his descendants till 1947. [5] [6]
The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was Hari Singh, who contributed troops to the British war effort in World War II and served on Churchill's Imperial War Cabinet. [7] Following the Partition of India in 1947, Hari Singh faced a rebellion in the western districts of the state and a Pakistan-supported tribal invasion, leading him to accede to the Union of India and receive military assistance. Pakistan contested the accession, giving rise to the enduring Kashmir conflict.
With India's support, the popular leader of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, forced the Maharaja to abdicate in favour of his son, Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh, who subsequently accepted the position of a constitutional head of state (Sadr-i-Riyasat) and voluntarily gave up the title of Maharaja. [8]
The term Dogra is thought to derive from Durgara, the name of a kingdom mentioned in an eleventh century copper-plate inscription in Chamba. In medieval times the term became Dugar, which later turned into Dogra. Kalhana's Rajatarangini makes no mention of a kingdom by this name, but it could have been referred to by its capital (either Vallapura, modern Balor, or Babbapura, modern Babor). In modern times, the term Dogra turned into an ethnic identity, claimed by all those people that speak the Dogri language. [9]
The family of Raja Gulab Singh is referred to as Jamwal (or Jamuwal). According to some accounts, Raja Kapur Dev, who ruled the area of Jammu around 1560 AD had two sons named Jag Dev and Samail Dev. The two sons ruled from the Bahu and Jammu on the opposite banks of the Tawi River and their descendants came to be called Bahuwals and Jamuwals respectively. [10] The members of the family however claim descent from a legendary Suryavanshi (solar) dynasty ruler Jambu Lochan, who is believed to have founded the city of Jammu in antiquity. [11] [12]
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Raja Dhruv Dev laid down the foundations of the Jamwal rulers of Jammu in 1703.[ citation needed ]
His son Raja Ranjit Dev (1728–1780), introduced social reforms such as a ban on sati (immolation of the wife on the pyre of the husband) and female infanticide.
Raja Ranjit Dev was succeeded by Raja Braj Dev who killed his brother and nephew to become king.[ citation needed ] Raja Braj Dev was killed during the Sikh invasion of Jammu in 1787. [13] .His infant son Raja Sampuran Singh (1787–1797) succeeded with Jammu becoming an autonomous tributary under the Sikh Confederacy Misls. [14] Sampuran Singh with no issue, was succeeded by his uncle Raja Jit Singh.
Jit Singh was involved in another conflict with the Sikh empire, which he lost and was exiled into British territory. With Jammu fully annexed by the Sikhs around 1808, Ranjit Singh first allotted it to his son Kharak Singh. However, Kharak Singh's agents were unable to maintain law and order, with locals led by Mian Dedo rebelling against the Sikh jagirdar (governor). [15] [16] In 1820, Ranjit Singh then bestowed the territory as a hereditary fiefdom to Gulab Singh's father Kishore Singh, [17] a distant kinsman of Raja Jit Singh. On his father's death in 1822, Jammu passed to Gulab Singh. [18]
Rulers of Jammu | Reign |
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Raja Dhruv Dev | 1703 – 1728 |
Raja Ranjit Dev | 1728 – 1780 |
Raja Braj Dev | 1780 – 1787 |
Raja Sampuran Singh | 1787 – 1797 |
Raja Jit Dev | 1797 – 1808 |
Direct Sikh Rule | 1808 – 1820 |
Raja Kishore Singh | 1820 – 1822 |
Raja Gulab Singh | 1822 – 1846 |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(February 2017) |
Around 1808, Jammu became part of the Sikh Empire, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh in 1820, bestowed the place as a jagir on Gulab Singh's father Kishore Singh, who belonged to the Jamwal Rajput clan that ruled Jammu. As a jagirdar (governor) for the Sikhs, Gulab Singh extended the boundaries of the Sikh Empire to western Tibet with the help of his fine General Zorawar Singh. The Sikh rule was then extended beyond the Jammu Region and the Kashmir Valley to include the Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh and the Emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar.
In the turmoil for succession of the Sikh empire that followed Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, two of Gulab Singh's sons Udham Singh, and Sohan Singh were killed in the feuding between the Sikh heirs. His youngest brother Suchet Singh, was killed by his own nephew Hira Singh, the Vizir (prime minister) of the Sikh empire. Hira Singh, was a great favourite of Maharaja Ranjit Singh [19] and Gulab Singh once even aspired to have him installed as the Sikh emperor. [20] Hira Singh had become prime minister aged 24, after his father and Gulab Singh's brother Vizir Dhian Singh was assassinated in his blotched September 1843 coup d'état against Sikh emperor Sher Singh in Lahore. During the regency of Maharani Jind Kaur, Hira Singh was killed by the Sikh army in December 1844.
Gulab Singh, came into possession of the Koh-i-noor diamond, after Maharaja Kharak Singh's mysterious death in prison in 1840, and had previously presented the famous stone to Maharaja Sher Singh to win his favour. [20]
After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, Sir Henry Lawrence was appointed British Resident and Vizir Lal Singh on behalf of infant emperor Duleep Singh was asked to surrender Kashmir. [21] Vizir Lal Singh was also a Dogra, and along with Gulab Singh colluded with the British to deliberately break the Sikh army and facilitate the British victory. [22] [23]
Under the terms of the Treaty of Amritsar that followed in March 1846, the British government sold Kashmir for a sum of 7.5 million Nanakshahee rupees to Gulab Singh, hereafter bestowed with the title of Maharaja. Thus the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir came into being under Gulab Singh, as per the treaty of Lahore, signed between the British and the Sikhs.
Maharaja Partab Singh (enthroned in 1885) saw the construction of Banihal Cart Road (B.C. Road) mainly to facilitate telegraph services. During WWI he provided one Mountain Battery and three Infantry Battalions to fight for the British in East Africa, Palestine and Mesopotamia. [24] For the services of his troops the state was awarded a hereditary 21-guns salute.
One of the main residences of the maharajas was the Sher Garhi Palace in their summer capital Srinagar.
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The last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir was Maharaja Hari Singh, who ascended the throne in 1925. He made primary education compulsory in the State, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage and allowed low castes to go to places of worship.[ citation needed ] Hari Singh was as a member of Churchill's British War Cabinet in WWII, and supplied troops for the Allies. [7]
Singh's reign saw the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the newly independent Indian Union in 1947. He originally manoeuvered to maintain his independence by playing India and Pakistan off against each other. There was an armed movement against the Maharaja's rule, especially in the Poonch district of Jammu, where his troops were unable to control the fighters and retreated to Jammu. In October 1947, Singh appealed to India for help and acceded Jammu to India, although there is considerable controversy over exactly at what point, [25] and whether or not his accession included the sovereignty of the state. [26] [27]
In June 1952, Singh's rule was terminated by the state government of Indian-administered Kashmir. [28] [29] His son Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh too abdicated and was elected Sadr-e-Riyasat ('President of the Province') and Governor of the state in 1964.
Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh after serving as the President of Jammu and Kashmir from 1952 to 1964 went on to become the youngest cabinet minister as a leading member of the Indian Congress Party in 1967. He was also the Indian ambassador to the US in 1989. His elder son Vikramaditya Singh was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. Currently in Congress party, [30] Karan Singh's younger son Ajatshatru Singh was a member of the National Conference (NC) headed by Omar Abdullah, grandson of Sheikh Abdullah who had abolished the monarchy in 1952. Ajatshatru Singh had served with the NC as a minister in the Jammu and Kashmir Government from 1996 to 2002. In 2014 he quit the NC to join the BJP, stating that he had done so to satisfy the "people’s desire to have a corruption and dynasty-free government". [31]
Ankit Love, son of Bhim Singh the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, claimed to be the "Emperor (Maharaja) of the Sovereign State of Jammu and Kashmir" [32] when he was a candidate in the 2016 London Mayoral Election, [33] [34] and again in the 2016 Richmond Park by-election for the United Kingdom parliament. [35]
The Treaty of Amritsar, executed by the British East India Company and Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu after the First Anglo-Sikh War, established the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under the suzerainty of the British Indian Empire.
Maharaja Sir Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group living primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring Pakistan, consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Some also live in northeastern Pakistan. Their historical homeland is known as Duggar.
The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the British East India Company in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. It was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous misls. At its peak in the 19th century, the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east as far as Oudh. It was divided into four provinces: Lahore, which became the Sikh capital; Multan; Peshawar; and Kashmir from 1799 to 1849. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 4.5 million in 1831, it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British Empire.
Maharani Jind Kaur was regent of the Sikh Empire from 1843 until 29 March 1847. After the Sikh Empire was dissolved on 29 March 1847 the Sikhs claimed her as the Maharani and successor of Maharaja Duleep Singh. However, on the same day the British took full control and refused to accept the claims.
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 Panjab and 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.
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.
Jamwal is a toponymic surname for a Dogra Rajput clan of the same name from Jammu, in Jammu and Kashmir, India. They claim descent from the traditional founder of Jammu, Jambu Lochan, and there at one time some of their members were rulers of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, often referred to as the Dogra dynasty.
Jasrota kingdom in the Himalayan foothills of India was founded in 1064 A.D at south-eastern Jammu between the Ravi and the Ujh rivers which ended in 1815. The remainants of Jasrota kingdom exists as ruined forts, restored temples, water bodies and canals in Hiranagar tehsil, Narowal tehsil, Nagri tehsil, Kathua tehsil, Marheen tehsil, Dinga Amb tehsil, Ramkot tehsil, Mahanpur tehsil, Billawar tehsil.
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 history of Azad Kashmir, a part of the Kashmir region administered by Pakistan, is related to the history of the Kashmir region during the Dogra rule. Azad Kashmir borders the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west respectively, Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, and the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the east.
Mankotia is an Indian surname belonging to a Rajput clan. The clan predominantly resides in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The name originates from the town Mankot, now Ramkot, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Dogra–Tibetan war or Sino-Sikh war was fought from May 1841 to August 1842, between the forces of the Dogra nobleman Gulab Singh of Jammu, under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire, and those of Tibet, under the protectorate of the Qing dynasty. Gulab Singh's commander was the able general Zorawar Singh Kahluria, who, after the conquest of Ladakh, attempted to extend its boundaries in order to control the trade routes into Ladakh. Zorawar Singh's campaign, suffering from the effects of inclement weather, suffered a defeat at Taklakot (Purang) and Singh was killed. The Tibetans then advanced on Ladakh. Gulab Singh sent reinforcements under the command of his nephew Jawahir Singh. A subsequent battle near Chushul in 1842 led to a Tibetan defeat. A treaty was signed in 1842 maintaining the status quo ante bellum.
The Jammu division is a revenue and administrative division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is bordered by the Kashmir division to the north. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal Range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the eastern districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Its principal river is the Chenab.
Jammu is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an Indian-administered union territory. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of 240 km2 (93 sq mi), is surrounded by the Himalayas in the north and the northern plains in the south. Jammu is the second-most populous city of the union territory. Jammu is known as "City of Temples" for its ancient temples and Hindu shrines.
Chibhal was an independent Kingdom founded by a cadet branch of the Katoch Rajputs of Kangra in 1400.
Raja Dhian Singh was the longest serving wazir of the Sikh Empire, during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and four of his successors. He held the office for twenty five years, from 1818 up till his death. 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.
Dharmarth Trust in Jammu and Kashmir was founded by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846 as an endowment for religious charity, and to manage and support Hinduism. In 1884, and under Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the Ain-i-Dharmath or 'The Regulations for the Dharmarth Trust' were formulated and a government department for religious affairs was created. The trust helped the Dogra dynasty to consolidate and validate its control over its territory and over the functioning of Hinduism in the region.
Mian Dido Jamwal (1780-1821) was a Dogra Rajput warrior from the Jamwal clan who rebelled against the overlords of Jammu during the Sikh Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was descended from Raja Hari Dev of Jammu. Mian Dido was extremely popular among the common people of Jammu, and even today he is the subject of several ballads and legends. He is considered a hero and propagator of the regional identity of Jammu in political terms. He was killed by the troops of Gulab Singh after being surrounded.
The Panchayati Revolution was fought between the Lahore Durbar and the Khalsa Panchayat between 1841 and 1844 in a wide variety of areas. It resulted in the First Anglo-Sikh War to start and the end to Sikh dominance in the Lahore Durbar.
jit singh jammu.