Sudhan (also known as Saddozai Sudhan)[2][3] are one of the major tribes from the Poonch Division in Azad Kashmir with their population centered around Poonch and Sudhanoti, alongside a smaller population in the northern areas of the neighboring Bagh and Kotli.[4] According to the local oral tradition of the tribe, they are allegedly a branch of the Saddozai tribe and originated from Pashtun areas in Afghanistan, and were the founders of their heartland of Sudhanoti.[5][6][4]
The palace of Nawab Jassi Khan, on the Jassi Peer mountain in Mang town in Sudhanoti district of Azad Kashmir.
The tribe claims an Afghan ancestry.[7] According to Syed Ali, Sudhans have a Pashtun descent and moved to the Poonch district of Kashmir region some centuries ago.[8] Sudhans from Poonch considered themselves to be Sudhozai Pathans (Pashtuns).[4] Scholar Iffat Malik of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad writes:
The Sudhans claim their origin from Afghanistan and they consider themselves to be descendants of a common ancestor Jassi Khan, who was an Afghan chief and had earned the name of Sudhan (from Sanskrit, meanings "justice, fair and honest") as a compliment to his valour as he 500 years or so ago landed in Western parts of Poonch and fought for their existence, but the local people dominated them in this period, they multiplied quickly and emerged into a strong and powerful tribe. According to them, they are same as the Sudhazai tribe of high class Afghans. In social habits and customs they also are certainly akin to Sudhazais of Afghanistan. Among Afghans, Sudhazai are a very respected clan with long good history behind them. Sikhs and Dogras had to fight the Sudhans in wars spread over a fairly long time as they had never been reconciled to their rule by them, and there was first rebellion in 1837, after Sudhan people went in revolt against Sikh Empire, had captured hills from Sikhs, however Sudhans were defeated by Sikhs but survived as a strong tribe. In 1947, Sudhans were first to challenge Dogras.[9]
According to some oral traditions, an Afghan chieftan named Jassi Khan is said to be the forefather of the Saddozai Sudhans, and a descendant of one Sadullah Khan. This origin is only present in greater detail in certain books written in the later half of the 20th and 21st centuries, which claim and form the basis of the 1300 invasion origin, with other contemporary and older oral traditions pointing towards different times, different origins, or giving vaguer details.[13][14]
Invasion of Sudhanoti in the 1300s Origin
According to books written throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, such as "The Pearl String of Saddozais" by Sabir Hussain Sabir, Jassi Khan belongs to the lineage of a different Sadullah Khan than the Saddu Khan of the Saddozai branch of the Durrani Confederation. This Sadullah is said to have been born in 961 AD, and was the son of Atman, whom himself was a descendant of one Uthman. This gives way to an "Uthmanzai" branch of a different Saddozai tribe.[15]
Sometime in the 1300s, Jassi Khan gathered an army of soldiers belonging to his clan, from in and around Ghazni, after he had been requested by the local Brahman tribes of present-day Sudhanoti to rescue them from a "tyrannous tribe", allegedly the "Bhagars" whom are said to have recently occupied those territories and ruled the local populace with cruelty.[15][16]
Jassi, after routing the Bhagars from Sudhanoti, was granted the laqab (title) "Sudhan" from Sanskrit by the Brahmans, which is said to translate to "Very fair". Jassi later settled these territories with his troops and their families, accepting the title "Sudhan" and proceeding to rule the region of Sudhanoti until his death. His descendants continued Sudhan rule in Sudhanoti in one form or another until 1837, when after their rebellion against the Sikhs, they were stripped of all autonomy and subjugated to a direct foreign government, with the Sikhs completely annexing Poonch into the Sikh Empire and bringing it under the control of the Lahore government.[17][16][3][18]
1819 - 1832 Resistance Against Sikh Conquest
In 1819, under the leadership of Ranjit Singh, the Sikhs had successfully routed the Saddozai Kingdom from Kashmir. Subsequently, the Sikh Empire came to rule the region of the Kashmir Valley, though they had previously already obtained control over Jammu.[19][20]
The regions of Poonch and Muzaffarabad had not yet been conquered. In Muzaffarabad, the local Rajput clans of Khakha and Bambah led a resistance against Sikh conquest. A Sikh army was then dispatched from Srinagar and defeated them, declaring Sikh suzerainty over Muzaffarabad.[21]
In Poonch, the Sudhans were at the head of resistance against the Sikhs. The Sudhans were led by a local chieftain Shams Khan, and the Sudhan sardars Sabz Ali and Malli Khan. They worked in collaboration with other Muslim tribes of Poonch to form an effective coalition against the Sikhs. The Sikhs were unable to launch a large-scale invasion of Poonch, as the resistance was staunch and they had problems elsewhere.[22][23][24]
After Gulab Singh received the chakla of Jammu as a jagir (autonomous territory), he made renewed attempts at conquering Poonch, but the armies he raised were not large enough to defeat the Sudhan led resistance, and consequently he would face defeats before being forced to withdraw.[23][24]
This continued for several years, until 1832, when Gulab Singh and his brother Dhian Singh made an appeal to Ranjit Singh, requesting him to put an end to the Sudhan-led resistance of Poonch. Ranjit Singh obliged, and marched with an army of 60,000 with a large assortment of hill-cannons.[24][25]
Ranjit Singh's army was overwhelmingly superior in arms and number, with the deadly hill-cannons wreaking havoc upon the local territories. Consequently, Shams Khan and the other sardars made the decision to sue for peace. Ranjit Singh accepted their surrender, as the tribes acknowledged his suzerainty over Poonch. Shams Khan was taken as a hostage, to ensure the tribes would not rebel.[24][25]
Shams Khan, an influential zamindar of Poonch and headman of the Sudhans was the leader of the 1837 rebellion. After the prior successful conquest of Poonch, the local tribes of the region, including the Sudhans, had been pacified. From the Sudhans, Shams Khan was taken as a hostage and given to the care of Dhian Singh, who began to grow a liking for him.[24][26]
In the year 1836, he returned to Poonch and began to take charge once again. At around the same time, the Yusufzai began a revolt, distracting the Sikhs and the leader of the Dogras, Gulab Singh. Rumors of a Sikh defeat began to spread, which in turn began the rise of clashes throughout Poonch between the locals and Sikh garrisons. Gulab Singh gained intelligence that Shams Khan was behind this, and called for the arrest of him and his family. Shams eluded the chasing authorities.[24][26]
After this, an all-out rebellion broke out. The local Muslim tribes too joined the Sudhans and began amassing their armies. Gulab Singh ordered his son Ottam Singh to suppress the revolt before it grew further in strength. Ottam Singh arrived with a Dogra force of five thousand troops, but was defeated by rebels commandeered by Shams and his lieutenants. The prince himself was able to escape with some remnants of the army, but now Poonch was laid bare to the rebels.[24][26]
Assaults over local forts began, resulting in great success. The garrisons were caught off-guard and ill-prepared, and fell to the attacking rebel armies. Some soldiers of the garrisons, whom had previously treated the locals with cruelty were cut-up with their corpses fed to dogs.[24][26][27]
Following the defeats, Gulab Singh quickly forced the Yusufzai into peace, and then marched to Kahuta, where he raised an army of eight thousand regular infantry and twelve thousand irregulars. Though Gulab had raised a sizeable and professional army, he chose not to engage the rebellion immediately to minimize the number of Dogra casualties. He focused on bribing local Sardars of the various tribes and the many enemies of Shams, promising lavish rewards or positions of power if they betrayed Shams and the Sudhan-led rebels. This either neutralized them as foes, or turned a small number to his side completely, resulting in them aiding Gulab with either information or later fighting against the rebels. Thus Gulab had successfully incited treachery within some ranks of the rebellion.[24][26]
After this, Gulab made his way to Poonch through Jhelum, and after some initial victories against local tribes, he paved way towards the Sudhan heartland, aiming to defeat the Sudhans who were both the leaders of the rebellion and made up the majority of its forces. Major clashes occurred at Pallandri, Pallangi, Pachhiot, Paral, Panthal, Baral, Narian and Chokian, alongside smaller clashes in other areas. The deadliest battle occurred in the Sudhan stronghold of Mong, where the local Sudhans both dealt and received heavy casualties. Although the rebels temporarily pushed out occupying Dogra forces in some areas, with the aid of Sikh reinforcements, Gulab counterattacked and overwhelmed the rebels. Many Sudhan commanders and notables were captured, including two sardars (scions) Malli Khan and Sabz Ali Khan, whom alongside Shams were at the head of both the tribe and the rebellion. Thus the remaining rebels had also lost key leaders.[24][26]
To spread terror throughout the ranks of the rebels, Gulab Singh devastated all captured territories, permitting total plunder and terror in great excess. He also set a reward of five rupees for the head of every insurgent and anyone that was connected to him, regardless of age or gender. The remaining rebels were outmatched both in number and arms. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the rebellion collapsed as the rebels raced to protect their own families. Though the majority of the local population managed to escape Gulab's forces by taking refuge in nearby hills, their homes were looted, fields destroyed and cattle seized. Those who could not escape were either massacred or enslaved.[24][26]
Shams Khan had evaded arrest up to this point, but eventually had his hiding place exposed to the Dogras. He was beheaded, alongside his nephew Rajwali. As a result, any remnants of the rebellion ended as the main leader of the Sudhans and the rebels was now dead. The heads of Shams and his nephew were later put in two cages of iron at the very top of the Adha Dek pass. The captured sardars Sabz Ali Khan and Malli Khan were flayed alive, alongside other commanders and notable members of the Sudhans and other rebellious tribes. As all ring leaders were now either dead or captured, any remaining insurgents now in hiding, alongside no remaining resistance, the conflict was concluded and Gulab withdrew his forces.[24][26]
Though the majority of the local populace of Poonch and the Sudhans had survived by taking refuge in the hills, they returned home to barren fields and ransacked homes, alongside the deaths or disappearances of many relatives, including non-combatants and those who had nothing to do with the rebellion. The cruelty shown by the Dogra forces was not forgotten, with British contemporaries being appalled at the treatment of the rebellious tribes and the people of Poonch as a whole by Gulab. In 1846, after the Dogra Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir was created and became a princely state of the British, Gulab Singh was forced to address the issue of his cruelty. He claimed that the actions of him and his forces were vengeance for the treatment the rebels imposed upon Dogra garrisons, and that he had only flayed alive three ring-leaders, though the locals claimed otherwise. To appease the British, he requested an advisor by whose counsel he would avoid further tyrannical action.[28]
A large number of Sudhan tribals had participated in World War I and World War II through the British Indian Army. They had thus obtained expertise in war and some number of arms, which emboldened them to once again stand against the Dogra authorities, whom they had always been keen on expelling. The occurrence of the 1947 Jammu Massacres also served as motivation for the Muslims to revolt. Leveraging these advantages, Sardar Ibrahim Khan and his cause found much support from his tribe alongside other local Muslims living in what is now Azad Kashmir.[31][32][33]
The Sudhans obtained further weaponry from the Pashtuns of FATA, prior to the breakout of rebellion. After rebellion was officially declared, a rebel force (dubbed the 'Azad Army'), made up of local militiamen and veterans from mainly the Sudhans, alongside a smaller number of Dhunds of Bagh, was raised in Poonch. Influential Sudhan figures, such as Khan Muhammad Khan, and Hussain Khan played key roles in raising the rebel forces. The local Dogra garrisons were overwhelmed and defeated, with a provisional government declared with its capital in the Sudhan stronghold of Pallandri, which was later followed by a capture of the majority of the Poonch district. Succeeding this, Pashtun lashkars arrived as reinforcements, all of which caused widespread collapse of Dogra authority in the Kingdom, which ultimately culminated in the creation of Azad Kashmir, Dogra Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir's secession to India and the subsequent Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948.[29][34][35][36][37]
Sudhans played an immense role in the 1955 Poonch rebellion, who revolted against the appointment of Sher Ahmed Khan and dismissal of Sardar Ibrahim Khan. The violent anti government protestors demanded regional autonomy, especially in the administration and for budgets.[38]
Baral Agreement
The Baral Agreement was an agreement between the Government of Pakistan and rebellious Sudhan tribes signed on 20 December 1956 following the 1955 uprising.[39]
Politics and governance
Together with the Dhunds & Rajputs. It is the Sudhans who dominate the politics of Azad Kashmir in the present day, although the Gujjar community is estimated to be the largest among the population.[40]
First Government of Azad Kashmir
On October 4 1947, Azad Kashmir's First Government was established in Sudhanoti. Sudhanoti is the home and centre of the Sudhans, with the tribe overwhelmingly dominating the population of the tehsil[41] By October 4 1947, the rebellion led by the Sudhans successfully captured their heartland from the Dogra regime. [42] As there was no parliamentary house present in Sudhanoti from where the proclaimed government could be run, a temporary government structure was established and run from Moti Mahal in Rawalpindi.[43]
By October 24, the rebel-founded government of Azad Kashmir prepared a 40-room parliamentary house at Sudhanoti's Chonjal Hill in Pallandri, to where the government was shifted.[citation needed] The government was transferred to Muzaffarabad on 1 August 1949. One of the main reasons for the transfer were the growing differences between the Sudhan tribals and the Government of Pakistan, with the Sudhans demanding greater autonomy. This would later culminate in the 1955 Poonch uprising.[44]
Notable people
Shams Khan, tribal chieftain, leader of the Muslim tribal coalition of Poonch, and rebel leader during the 1837 Sudhan Revolt.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (, abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entity and constituting the western portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. Azad Kashmir also shares borders with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west, respectively. On its eastern side, Azad Kashmir is separated from the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir by the Line of Control, which serves as the de facto border between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. Geographically, it covers a total area of 13,297 km2 and has a total population of 4,045,366 as per the 2017 national census.
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.
Poonch District is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is one of the 10 districts of this Pakistan-administered territory. It is bounded on the north by Bagh District, on the north-east by Haveli District, on the south-east by the Poonch District of Indian-administered Kashmir, on the south by Azad Kashmir's Sudhanoti and Kotli districts, and on the west by Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. The Poonch District is part of the greater Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. The district headquarters is the city of Rawalakot. It is the third most populous district of Azad Kashmir.
Rawalakot is the capital of Poonch district in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located in the Pir Panjal Range.
Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the first Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and the founder of the Dogra dynasty. Originally a commander of the Sikh Empire, he sided with the British in the First Anglo-Sikh War and briefly became prime minister of the Sikh Empire in 1846.. In the same year he signed the Treaty of Amritsar with the British, establishing the state of Jammu and Kashmir under the suzerainty of the British Raj; this treaty formalized the transfer of all lands that were ceded by the Sikhs to the British in the Treaty of Lahore.
Pallandri, also spelled Palandri, originally Pulandari, is a Tehsil which serves as the administrative capital of Sudhanoti district of Azad Kashmir. It is located at latitude 33° 42′ 54″ N, longitude 73° 41′ 9″ E, 90 km (56 mi) from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is connected with Rawalpindi and Islamabad through Azad Pattan road. The main tribe of Pallandri is the Sudhan tribe. Here in Palindri the first Government of Sidhnuti Azad Kashmir on October 4,1947 was established
Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan was a revolutionary leader and politician from the western region of Jammu and Kashmir, who led the 1947 Poonch Rebellion against the Maharaja in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and played a key role in the First Kashmir War, supporting Pakistan. He served as the President of Azad Kashmir for 13 years across four non-consecutive terms and still remains the longest-serving president of the state, since its establishment.
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.
Poonch, is a town and the administrative headquarters of the Poonch district, of the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is part of the larger disputed territory of Kashmir. It is located near the Line of Control – the de facto border in the disputed region. Poonch shares a de facto border with the Poonch district of the Pakistan-administered, self-governing territory of Azad Kashmir.
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.
The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (Urdu: آل جموں و کشمیر مسلم کانفرنس) also shortly referred as Muslim Conference (MC) is a political party in Pakistan administered territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Colonel Khan Muhammad Khan was a prominent Sudhan soldier and politician in Poonch, serving in the Legislative Assembly of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir until 1947. Later he served as the Chairman of the War Council during the 1947 Poonch Rebellion.
The history of Azad Kashmir, a disputed part of the Kashmir region currently 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. The region is claimed by India and has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947.
After the Partition of India, during October–November 1947 in the Jammu region of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, many Muslims were massacred and others driven away to West Punjab. The killings were carried out by extremist Hindus and Sikhs, aided and abetted by the forces of Maharaja Hari Singh. The activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) played a key role in planning and executing the riots. An estimated 20,000–100,000 Muslims were massacred. Subsequently, many non-Muslims were massacred by Pakistani tribesmen, in the Mirpur region of today's Pakistani administered Kashmir, and also in the Rajouri area of Jammu division.
The 1955 Poonch revolt, also known as the 1955 Sudhan uprising was a Civil revolt in Azad Jammu and Kashmir against the State of Pakistan. The uprising broke out in February 1955 and was provoked largely by the dismissal of Sardar Ibrahim Khan. It took a year until the uprising was suppressed in October 1956.
In spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir broke out in the Poonch jagir, an area bordering the Rawalpindi district of West Punjab and the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province in the future Pakistan. It was driven by grievances such as high taxes, the Maharaja's neglect of World War veterans, and above all, Muslim nationalism with a desire to join Pakistan. The leader of the rebellion, Sardar Ibrahim Khan, escaped to Lahore by the end of August 1947 and persuaded the Pakistani authorities to back the rebellion. In addition to the backing, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan authorised an invasion of the state, by the ex-Indian National Army personnel in the south and a force led by Major Khurshid Anwar in the north. These invasions eventually led to the First Kashmir War fought between India and Pakistan, and the formation of Azad Kashmir provisional government. The Poonch jagir has since been divided across Azad Kashmir, administered by Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India.
The 1837 Poonch Revolt, also known as the 1837 Poonch Rebellion, was a revolt in the Princely state of Poonch against the Sikh Empire's Dogra rulers. The revolt took place in what is now present day Poonch Division. It was led by an influential zamindars of Poonch.
PC Pak Search Sudhan Operation was a Pakistani military operation of the 1955 Poonch uprising. It was the first major operation of the Pakistan Army inside Pakistan and was conducted against Sudhan tribal insurgents in the Sudhan-majority Sudhanoti, Poonch, Bagh, and Kotli Districts of Azad Kashmir.
The Battle of Rawalakot, was a battle fought by the Azad Kashmir Regular Force against the State of Jammu and Kashmir which took place in the city of Rawalakot and surrounding areas between November 4–14, 1947 during the First Kashmir War, which was initiated by Muslim Sudhan ex-servicemen to fight for the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Dominion of Pakistan. On 15 June, Sardar Ibrahim Khan addressed a meeting in Rawalakot attended by 20,000 people, and gave a speech in "most 'seditious' terms". He told his audience that Pakistan, a Muslim state, was coming into being and the people of Jammu and Kashmir could not remain unaffected. After that day, he says, "a strange atmosphere took the place of the usually peaceful life in these parts". On 22 June, Chaudhary Hamidullah, the acting president of the Muslim Conference, visited Rawalakot and initiated secret plans to organize the ex-servicemen of the district for an eventual confrontation with the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces.
1 2 Snedden, Christopher (2013). Kashmir: The Unwritten History. India: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN978-9350298978.
1 2 3 Snedden, Christopher (December 2013). Kashmir - The Untold Story. HarperCollins India. p.43. ISBN9789350298985. Sudhans from Poonch considered themselves to be Sudho Zai Pathans (Pukhtoons), which explained why the Pashtun tribesmen from NWFP province lost no time coming to help Jammu and Kashmir's Muslims in 1947..
↑ Syed Ali (1998). "South Asia: The Perils of Covert Coercion". In Lawrence Freedman (ed.). Strategic Coercion: Concepts and Cases. Oxford University Press. p.253. ISBN0-19-829349-6. Poonch at the time of partition was predominantly Muslim and the overwhelming majority of them were Sudhans, who were descendants of Pashtuns of Afghanistan, settled in the region some centuries ago.
↑ Syed Ali (1998). "South Asia: The Perils of Covert Coercion". In Lawrence Freedman (ed.). Strategic Coercion: Concepts and Cases. Oxford University Press. p.253. ISBN0-19-829349-6.
↑ Stephens, Ian (1963). Pakistan. Frederick A. Praeger Inc. p.199.
↑ Wikeley, J. M. (1968). Punjabi Musalmans. Pakistan National Publishers. They claim Pathan origin and say that they are descendants of Ismail, who founded Dera Ismail Khan, and also of one Jassi, who was a Pathan.
1 2 Sabir, Sabir (2015). Pearl String of Saddozais. Rawalpindi Arts Council.
↑ Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. p.64. Their rule lasted till 1819 when the State was conquered by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
↑ Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. p.77. The Sikh army which is estimated at thirty thousand entered Srinagar on the 4th of July, 1819.
↑ Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. p.77. Although Sikhs were able, to a large extent, to subdue Muslims of Kashmir valley, they did not succeed in fully subjugating the people living in hilly areas, particularly those in Poonch and Muzaffarabad. Soon after the capture of Srinagar, they marched upon Muzaffarabad. Among other tribes inhabiting the district, the most important were the Rajput tribes known as 'Khakha' and Bamba.
↑ Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. p.77. Although Sikhs were able, to a large extent, to subdue Muslims of Kashmir valley, they did not succeed in fully subjugating the people living in hilly areas, particularly those in Poonch.
1 2 Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. p.85. About the year 1832, Gulab Singh, who had already acquired the Chakla of Jammu as Jagir from Maharaja Ranjit Singh, made many attempts at the conquest of the district of Poonch, which was inhabited by martial tribes like the 'Sudhans'.
1 2 Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. p.85. Gulab Singh prevailed upon Ranjit Singh, mainly through the influence of his brothers Dhian Singh and Suchet Singh, to attack Poonch. Consequently, Ranjit Singh marched at the head of a force as large as sixty thousand equipped with a hundred and fifty pieces of ordinances which boomed day and night in the hills surrounding the territory. Instead of putting up a fight, the local leadership thought it advisable to make peace and accept the Maharaja's sovereignty in order to save their territory from the destruction that such a huge army with its artillery could have inflicted. Shamas Khan, the outstanding local leader, was taken a hostage and entrusted to the care of Dhian Singh.
↑ Griffin, Lepel Henry (1865). The Panjab Chiefs. Oxford University: T.C. McCarthy. p.594.
↑ Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977). Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946(PDF). University of California: Ferozsons. pp.85–89. During our interview, the Maharaja volunteered an explanation of the grounds on which he had obtained the character of a cruel tyrant, saying that in the Suodan country, the people had not only put his garrisons to the sword but cut up many of the soldiers piece-meal and thrown their corpses to the dogs, that in punishment for such atrocities and prevention of them for the future, he had flayed three ring-leaders. He then said that he would request for the services of... ((I Vigne, p. 241. 2 Maulvl Mlr Alam p. 97)) an advisor, after arriving in Kashmir by whose counsel he would abide his conduct."
↑ Syed Ali (1998). "South Asia: The Perils of Covert Coercion". In Lawrence Freedman (ed.). Strategic Coercion: Concepts and Cases. Oxford University Press. p.253. ISBN0-19-829349-6.
↑ Stephens, Ian (1963). Pakistan. Frederick A. Praeger Inc. p.199.
↑ the Pakistani and Azad Kashmir Government officials find it convenient not to mention the Provisional Government of 4 October 1947? (Page 163)PDF paper cover thumbnail Azad Kashmir, is it Azad? Dr Shabir ChoudhryDr Shabir Choudhry https://www.academia.edu/43135608/Azad_Kashmir_is_it_Azad
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