'A Short History of Jammu Raj' is an

account of the Dogra people of the

Himalayan tract, told in details for the first
time by a scholar who has conducted
extensive researches in this field. As a
region strategically located Jammu has
existed as a cradle of early man and this
land was rendered habitable lakhs of years
ago, leaving behind traces of human society
in the form of stone age tools recovered
from sites scattered all over the region.
The history of Jammu Raj and its
dependencies forms an important chapter in
the annals of India's resistance to the
stream of invaders ushering out fresh from
the Khaiber and other defiles of Afghanistan.
As fore-sentinels on the borders of India
Dogras were the first to strike blows to the
Arabs, Ghaznavids and Turks. A number of
references in their annals to the resistance
offered by Jammu people to Timur, their
struggle against the Khokhars, their role in
Ghori's invasions and the Punjab politics of
the Sultans and Mughal emperors fill several
lacunaes in our national history. This fact
pushes the Jammu history out of the local
to the national canvas. The conquest of
Himalayan territories of Ladakh and
Baltistan and the invasion of Tib^t by
Gulab Singh's veteran General Zorawar
Singh, have recently assumed national as
well as international importance. The them?
of this book therefore becomes a part of our
national history and has been dealt with in
an interesting and masterly style.

Price : Rs. 250 00

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SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

*
 [Short
HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
From earliest times to 1846 A. D.

by
Dr. SUKHDEV SINGH CHARAK
M.A. (Hist.), M.A. (Pol. Sc.) Ph. D.
Reader in History, University of Jammu

With a foreword of
SHRI G. M. SHAH
Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir State

AJAYA PRAKASHAN
PATHANKOT JAMMU
All rights reserved of this book may be reproduced in any form
without the written permission of the publish

First Edition 1985

Copyright © 1985 by Sukhdev Singh Charak

PUBLISHED BY AJAY KUMAR CHARAK FOR AJAYA PRAKASHAN,

KATHLAUR COLONY, COLLEGE ROAD, PATHANKOT AND
PRINTED BY PEE KAY PRINTERS, ADDA HOSHIARPUR, JALANDHAR
 DEDICATED
to
Dr, Karan Singh, the inheritor of antecedents
described in these pages, as token of Respect
and Gratitude.
 CONTENTS
1. Foreword.
2. Preface.
3. List of Abbreviations used.
4. Chapter One—Introduction.
5. Chapter Two—Antiquities ^and Pre-history of Jammu.
6. Chapter three—The Early History of Jammu Raj.
7. Chapter Four—The Rise of the 'Dev' Dynesty
8. Chapter Five—Jammu Raj in Imperial and Hil Politics,
1400—1733 A.D.
9. Chapter Six—Maharaia Ranjit Dev, 1733—1782 A.D.
10. Chapter Seven—The Grandeur of the Dogra Raj
11. Chapter Eight—Successors of Ranjit Dev and Disint-
egration of Jammu Raj
12. Chapter Nine—The Re-emergence of Dogra Raj
13. Chapter Ten—Expansion of Jammu Raj
14. Chapter Eleven—The Dogra Debacle in Central Asia
and Its Aftermath
15. Chapter Twelve—Spell of Dogra Diplomacy in Sikh
State
16. Chapter Thirteen—Dogras Get Jammu and Kashmir
State
17. Chapter Fourteen—Conclusion
18. Bibliography
19. Appendices
20. Index.
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Archer, W. G W. G. Archer's Indian Paintings from the Punjab
Hills, Delhi, 1972
A. S. I. Archaelogical Survey of India. Annual Reports.
B. I. S. L. (I) Bengal and India Secret Letters in the India office
Library, London
Charak. S. D. S. Kirpa Ram's Gulabnama, annotated Eng. trans.,
New Delhi, 1977
Elliot Elliot, H. M. and Dowson : History of India as
told by her own Historians, 8 Vols. Kitab Mahal,
Delhi reprint
Ganesh Dass Rajdarshani, Persian Ms, British Museum, London
Gulab,/Kirpa Ram Rirpa Ram : Gulabnama (Persian), Srinagar, 1876
Hasrat, P. P. Bikramajit Hasrat, Punjab Papers, Hoshiarpur
H. P. H. S. Voghel, J. Ph. and Hutchison, J. : History of
Punjab Hill States, Lahore, 1933
J. R. A. S. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society
K. C. A. Sikh History Society, Khalsa College Amritsar.
N. A. I. (ND) National Archives of India, New Delhi
t

O. R. P. S. Press Lists, Old Records in Punjab Secretariat,

Lahore, 8 Vols
P. G. R Punjab Government Records, Published in 6 Vols
Rajat Stein, M. A., Kalhana's Rajtarangini, Eng. tr.,
2 Vols. I

R. D. L. (S) Government Research Department Library,

Srinagar
S. A. R. (J> State Archival Repository. Jammu
Sec. consult,/ Secret consultations/ Foreign Secrets. National
For. Sec. Archives, New Delhi
Shahamat Ali Sikhs and Afghans by Shahamat Ali, reprint Patiata,
1970
Smyth, G. C. A History of the Family »f Lahore, reprint
Patiala, 1970
 •

FOREWORD
The history of north-western India cannot be thoroughly under-
stood without a proper knowledge of the annals of a number of frontier
states which had existed in the Hills and northern plains, from the Indus
to the Sutlej. Jammu was one of the important, the oldest and strate-
gically situated states of that group.
In spite of this, its early history is shrouded in the mists of the un-
known, and this fact has given rise to a number of legends and mythe
concerning its early annals. One thin*, however, is certain that as a
region strategically located it has existed as a cradle of early man and
this land was rendered habitable lakhs of years ago, leaving behind
traces of human society in the form of stone age tools recovered from
sites scattered all over the region.
As a price for its strategical location along the road of invaders the
people of this region had to brace the brunt of ever-recurring tnvasions
from the Afghan hills and seem to have continued a constant s truggle
against these intruders. The reminiscenes of these heroic deeds find
vivid outbursts in several martial ballads, legends and folk tales current
among the people of this region. The annals of Dogras, Khokhars and
Chibhalis of Jammu are rich in references to the events of the by-gone
ages and these fill in a number ef lacunas in our national history.
It was not only in the field of chivalry and martial prowess that
the people of this Raj excelled most of their neighbours and rivals which
fact earned for the Jammu Raj the pride of the popular maxim "baiyjan
bich Jammu Sardar hai"— among twenty-two states Jammu is the lead-
ing one. They also made an astonishing contribution to the cultural
pattern of this region, as the present work adequately reveals. The
Akhnur terra-cottas of 6th or 7th centuries, the Krimchi and Babor tem-
ples of 10th and 11th centuries and the miniature painting of Jammu
and Basohli schools belonging to the 17th and 18th centuries strong-
ly bear out that in the domain of fine arts and architecture the people of
Jammu could match any other cultural group of India. The miniature
painting created in the Dogra land have been adjudged as one of the
finest in the world.
And above all, the conquest of Ladakh and Baltistan by the Dogra
chiefs, Gulab Singh and Zorawar Singh, which added a large chunk of
territory to India as was never done in the past two thousand years, was
another achievement of national importance. It is, therefore, in the
logic of the things that the history of Jammu region deserve to be
studied in detail.
However, as most of us know, our knowledge of the history of this
region before the time of Gulab *Singh, had been scanty and quite
fragmentary. The present work by Professor Sukhdev Singh Charak
fills this lacuna. It is for the first time that we find a full length account
of the history of Jammu Kingdom from ancient times to the year of the
Creation of Jammu and Kashmir State. Prof. Charak has finally been
able to identify the long annals of Jammu after a diligent research and
decipherment of a vast documentary and archaeological material, Persian
and Takari manuscripts. His findings, therefore, have a seal of autho-
rity on account of his direct access to the original sources. With his
vast knowledge of history and culture of Himalayan people. |Dr.
Charak has finally succeeded in deciphering the early history of Jammu
region.
This work, I hope felt d of student
and scholars of this region for a full and authetic account of the pe
of this part of State.
G. M. Shah
 PRFFACE
Jammu is one of those principalities whose history prior to their
coming into prominence is shrouded in the mists of the unknown- This
has given birth to several myths about its origin and early history and
the fancy of the drafters of genealogies of the ruling houses of this
region has concocted such events and anecdotes as are untenable on the
logic of history.
Whether Jammu was as old a centre of political power as tradition
avers, cannot be now ascertained on the basis of proven facts for want
of sources for the period prior to the Christian centuries. Even for the
period up to Mahmud's invasions the sources are scanty and it is only
tradition recorded in family genealogies which contains some glimpses
of history of that period.
As such, the amount of effort needed to construct the history of
JAMMU RAJ on somewhat scientific grounds, was immense and in-
volved work for over two decades in researches in this field, resulting
in thefindingscontained in this volume on Dogra history. This un-
folding of history of Jammu has been very gradual but steady and my
journey towards it has been by inches. However, my research in this
direction unlocked a number of sources which have been surveyed in
introductory chapter and the Bibliography ; and after a prolonged
effort the long and chequered annals of this region have been ultima-
tely identified But this is not the final verdict. More detailed and
authentic information may still be added by those scholars who love to
discover the achievements of the Dogras in the field of history and
oulture. If someone takes the spark to enkindle the fire I will deem
my endeavours fulfilled.
The history of Jammu Raj and its dependencies forms an important
chapter in the annals of national resistance to a stream of invaders
from the north-west corner. As Jammu flanked the road taken by
in vaders, its inhabitants acted as the sentinels on the frontiers of India
to strike the first blows to the Arabs and Ghaznavid invaders and to
su tain the first wounds at the hands of rapacious, blood-thirsty inva-
ders fas soon as they emerged fresh out of the Khaiber and other defiles
of Aeghanistan. A number of references in their annals to events of
ancient and medieval history throw much light on some otherwise
littl known facts. It is interesting to know that only Jammu annals
mention the name of the capital of Poros (Raja Puru Sen of Dogra
annals), who, they claim, was related to the Jammu ruling house.
These also contain information about several ruling houses of Taksha-
sila and Sakala who had extended their sway over Jammu territory in
remote past. In the early middle ages the role of the people of Jammu
in country's history and politics assumes extensive dimensions. The
resistance offered by Jammu people to Timur, their struggle against the
Khokhars and their role in Ghori's invasions and the politics of the
 ( xii )
Sultans and Mughal emperors in the Punjab provides many details of
Indian history which are otherwise unknown or wanting in details.
This fact pushes up the Jammu annals out of the local to the national
canvas. Theconquest of Himalayan territories ofLadakh and Baltistan
and the invasion of Tibet by Gulab Singh's veteran general Zorawar
Singh, which are the brightest chipters of the Dogra history, have
recently assumed national as well as international importance.
During the long period of over two decades of my researches in
this field, a number of people helped me in various ways. I particularly
put on record my gratitude towards the authorities of National Library,
Calcutta ; National Archives, Delhi ; State Archives, Public Libraries
and University libraries at Patiala, Chandigarh, Srinagar and lammu and
V. V. R. I., Hoshiarpur. l a m beholden to eminent historians, Dr.
Hari Ram Gupta ,former Professor and Head of the Deptt. of History,
Punjab University, Chandigarh : Dr. S. S. Bal, Professor and Head of
the Deptt of History, Punjabi Uaiversity, Patiala ; and Dr. A. C. Bose,
former Head of the Deptt. of History, University of Janmu, for offer-
ing me valuable guidance in research at various stages. I am also
indebted to my friend Shri Satyam of Afghan Studies Centre. Pathan-
kot, for his precious help to me in the early years of my research endea-
vours. His vast collection of rare books has been of great help
to me.
I am also thankful to a series of Vice-Chancellors of the Univer-
sity of Jammu—Dr. J. N. Bhan, Shri J. D Sharmi IAS (Rtd), Prof.
S. C. Dube. Prof. Satya Bhushan and Prof. M R. Pari who have kept
me associated with the University and shown great interest in resear-
ches in the history and culture of Jammu region. I will be failing in
my duty if I d:> not express my indebtedness to Prof. Michael H. Fisher
of Western Washington University (USA) for his valuable comments on
my series on the History and Culture of Himalayan States and useful
suggestions thereto, and to Prof. De' Wit C. Ellinwood of New York
University.
Last of all, I acknowledge my indebtedness to my son Ajay Charak,
my daughter Mrs. Anita Bilauria, M.A., M. Phil and my niece and
research assistant Rekha Trehan, M.A., B.Ed., for lately helping me in
the collection of research material and preparation of bibliographies and
indexes for my books. In fact, my researches in Dogra history of Jammu
are the result of my endeavours aided in various ways by my helpers
and well wishers.

Vijay Dashmi, 4th Oct; 1984. SUKHDEV SINGH

Department of History ^ CHARAK
University of Jammu.
 CORRIGENDA
Page Line Incorrect Correct
3 10 from below Kashua Kathua
6 Last line Ladkahi Ladakhi
11 11 from below 192 1924
21 7 from below re resented represented
24 14 from below living vying
25 last line Visnudhar Mottara Visnudharmottara
40 20 Surities Sonrities
45 26 coverted coveted
46 5 bad had
46 19 Raja Raja Hodi
49 1 clam clan
54 22 for far
54 23 srong strong
57 5 from below Chattar till Dev till Chattar Dev
67 16 1381 1398
80 5 from below wrata wrath
82 1 DEY DEV
82 16 from below Bar tap Partap
89 3 Chevelerous Chivalrous
96 3 anamoly anomaly
96 4 from below mad mud
101 8 from below bewtowed bestowed
109 23 Bahute rritories Bahu territories
119 last line eithty eighty
120 2 averston aversion
128 11 resalt result
130 15 cerated cerbated
135 8 from below form from
139 3 from below Jaman Zaman
141 7 000 . 0,000
144 8 wist with
144 22 included induced
145 14 los; lost
153 6 yone yore
153 16 "DOGRA RAJ" DOGRA TRIO
154 5 mintster minister
158 11 from * and put
158 34 surrepitiously surreptitiously
164 4 1819 1779
171 3 uctually actually
l7 12 been seen
l 1 Spiritual Spirited
1
 ( xiv )
Page Line Incorrect Correct
185 2 had have
188 12 & 14 Puru Sum
195 24 fronters frontiers
201 4 from below adjoined and joined
207 6 Jupoas Jupons
207 2 from below take attack
208 15 oalv only
209 6 positton position
210 5 from below and had
223 5 Himalawan Himalayan
223 15 reca pining recapturing
226 25 fall
230 25 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

231 20 rapproaehement
resuming rapprochement
resulting
232 3 tranquility tranquility
232 16 coatrol control
232 last line Rnther Rather
233 25 & 26 soverigns sovereigns
234 20 recommed recommend
536 18 polilion position
237 17 from below calition coalition
238 21 somerines sometimes
238 3 from below plalas plains
243 26 Baga Bagh
249 15 from below futre future
266 16 hand band
261 3 from below antagoised antagonised
2 9 13 eeceived received
271 14 hey-stone key- stone
273 6- codtinue continue
278 13 from below K-owing knowing
279 10 from below several severe
280 13 from below sieze siege
282 first line entedred entered
282 8 from below fa!f fall
283 2 appeciated appreciated
287 10 appearing appeasing
292 7 Chenab Ravi
292 10 addel added
293 2 th-ir their
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 I

CHAPTER ONE

THE STAGE
Jammu, once capital of the ' Jammu Raj' stands quite on the outer-
most range overlooking the Punjab, and though now a terminus of the
Northern Railway, was formerly "One of the most oriental and
1
picturesque towns." The Tawi forces its way through the narrow
gorges below the town, and was formerly only crossed by a bridge of
boats, which was frequently swept by the sudden floods. The cliffs
which overhang the river were crowned with picturesque forts and
palaces.

From the lofty terraces of Jammu one looks south and west over
the plains. To the east and north rise the Panjal mountains, not as
one steep wall, but in a series of ridges with intervening valleys, gradual-
2
ly rising higher, beyond which lie Ladakh, Kashmir and Gilgit, the
other component parts of Jammu and Kashmir State.

This state, situated in the extreme north-western corner of India,

lies between 32° — 17 and 36° — 58 North Latitude and 73° — 26
3
and 80° 30 East Latitude. Formerly, it was the largest state among
4
the princely states of India. With an area of 84,471 sq. miles in 1947,
it was larger than the erstwhile Hyderabad state.

It consisted of three provinces—the Frontier districts, including the

Gilgit agency, Kashmir Province, and the Jammu Province. The latter
included the jagirs of Punch and Chaneni, as well as Ladakh. The
partition of the country in 1947, however, has adversely effected the
- territorial integrity of the State. Through a naked aggression Pakistan
occupied a large portion and keeps it under its illegal occupation upto
the Line of control and calls this portion 'Azad Kashmir'. Therefore
the State as constituted within the Line of control is administratively
divided into three distinct geographical and linguistic divisions with
Kashmiri, Dogri and Ladakhi as their principal languages. These
1. Arthur Neve, Picturesque Kashmir, Sands & Company, London, 1900, p. 2.
2. Ibid
3. A Hand-book of Jammu & Kashmir State, Publicity Department Jammu &
Kashmir State, 3rd edition, 1947, p I.
4. Ibid. Also see Jammu & Kashmir By Jyoti Bhushan Das Gupta. 1968, p. 12,
where the area of the state has been calculated to 2 22, 800 Kilometers.
2 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

consist of (i) Kashmir Valley, (ii) Ladakh district, including Leh,

Kargil and Zanskar, and (iii) Jammu Province.
i

These three regions governed each from Srinagar, Leh and Jammu
respectively, are separated from each other by snow-bound mountain
ranges and have therefore evolved their distinct political and cultural
systems in the past before being integrated into one state in 1846. The
territories of three powers, viz. India, Russia and China, and of the
independent kingdom of Afghanistan met on the northern border
5
reaches of the Indus and the Korakorom mountains. The portions of
the state immediately concerned with the history of Jammu kingdom
were Ladakh and Jammu region, the former touching the Korakorams
on the north.

At the Korakorom Pass (18,317 feet) the frontier zigzags, and to

the north-east is a high corner-bastion of mountain plains at an eleva-
tion of over 17,000 feet, called the Linzitang Plain which has salt lakes
dotted about. The frontier line on this side, which is formed on
mountains of an elevation of about 20,000 feet, encloses the Aksai
tract and crosses lakes like Pangkong lying at a height of nearly 14,000
feet.

The eastern boundry repeats the same features—grand mountains

running to peaks of over 20,000 feet; but farther west, where the
slopes dip down more rapidly to the South, the elevation is easier, and
we come to Bhadarwah (5,427 feet) and to still easier heights of
6
Basohli (2,170 feet), on the Ravi river. From Madhopur, the head-
works of the Bari Doab Canal in the Panjab, the Ravi river ceases to
be the boundary, and a line crossing the Ujh river and the watershed
of the Low Dogra hills, runs fairly straight to the Chenab, a little above
the confluence of the Tawi with this river. A similar line, runs swift
from the Chenab to the Jhelum river ; from the South-west corner of
the territories the Jhelum river forms an almost straight boundary on
the west upto the Rattan Pir skirting Punch on the west. As a result
of the invasion of 1948, Pakistan has illegally occupied a narrow strip
of land of Jammu Province along the left bank of the Jhelum in addi-
tion ^o a broad mountainous region to the north-west and north of
Kashmir beyond a line drawn curved about Uri and Skardu.

This vast mountain country may be conveniently divided into the

following divisions—The lofty mountains and high plateau tracts in ihe
north, containing the districts of Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh ; the
middle region of the Happy Valley of Kashmir ; and last, the large
mountainous and sub-mountain region of Jammu which is skirted by
long stripe of fertile plain in the south.

5. A Hand-book of Jammu & Kashmir State, (Op. Cit.)t p. I.

6. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. 1909. pp. 72-73.
INTRODUCTION 3

THE ACTORS *

Jammu was a land of people of several races and a mixed culture.

The mountain ranges of Dhauladhar-Zanskar and Pirpanjal, separated
it physically from Kashmir and Ladakh and governed the racial distri-
bution over the State. The Indo-Aryan Kashmiri, Muslim as well as
Hindu, were mostly confined to the Kashmir valley north of the Panjal
range ; the Buddha, Champa and Dard Turanians, lived north-ward
beyond the Zanskar Range, in the regions of Ladakh, Baltistan and
d i g i t ; and the Aryan tribes of Hindu Dogras, and Muslim Chibhalis,
Paharies, Guddis and Muslim Gujjars inhabited the lower hills and
plain areas lying to the south of the Panjal Range. The southern
slopes of the Panjal Range were, however, sprinkled with an outflow
of Kashmiris.
The earliest population figures for the districts of Jammu region
were available in 1873 which recorded a total of 4,37,274 Hindus
(2,23,122 men and 2,14,152 women), 3,27,544 Muslims (1,74,271 men
and 1,63,273 women), and 86,257 (43,742 men and 42,515 women)
of sundry castes. Thus out of a total population of 8,61,075 Muslims
formed 39.2 percent.
The plain at the foot of the hills, being for the most part capable
of cultivation and in great part already cultivated, was thickly peopled;
everywhere populous villages were to be found, but on the hills them-
selves , villages were rarely met with, and these but small ; scattered
hamlets and scattered houses denoted how scarce was land that could be
made fit for tilling. Recent decades have marked greater concentrations
of population in the towns of Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba,
Akhnur, Rajouri and Poonch.
The partition of India and a certain amount of exodus of the
Muslim population, as well as the absorption of the major part of
Punch and the district of Mirpur into what is called Azad Kashmir—
the Pakistan held part of Kashmir—caused a considerable movement
of population and brought about a quantitative change in Jammu which
nevertheless remained a non-Muslim majority area. According to the
census of 1961 the population figures of Jammu Province stood at
15,68,982, out of which Muslims were 5,98,492 persons; i.e. about
38 percent of the total population, whereas Sikhs in all the five districts
were 46,273 persons. The breakup of the population districtwise reveals
that Hindus predominated in three districts only, i.e. Udhampur, Jammu
and Kashua. In Doda and Punch Muslims predominated. P;unch
had 2,59,082 Muslims as against 58,712 Hindus and 8,193 Sikhs and
Doda recorded 1,74,499 Muslims interspersed with 92,797 Hindus and
only 480 Sikhs. Udhampur showed 1,65,506 Hindus, 86,059 Muslims,
and 2,259 Sikhs ; Jammu returned 4,28,835 Hindus, 51,847 Muslims
and 32,788 Sikhs. In Kathua 1,77,666 Hindus have 27,005 Muslims
and 2,553 Sikhs as their neighbours. In the census of 1971 communal
breakup of the population has not been shown. The total for six
districts of Jammu is however 20,75,640 (10,87,277 males and 9,88,363
females), of which Jammu district alone claims some 35.3 percent.
*

A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

•4

Varied as was the form of Jammu principality and its other

physical characters, its population was not less so. The several tribes
that dwelt here, dotted over the lower hills, or sheltering in the valleys
that divide the loftier mountains, were some of widely different origin
and of widely different character. Ethnically Jammu region was
inhabited by the people of two races :—
A nS n udi
™ J' T ; j fi °g Dogras (Hindus) aad Chibhails
(Muhammadans) of the lower hills and the plain on the south, the
Pahans and Kashmiris, inhabiting the next higher mountains.
2. TuraniaD, subdivided into (a) Baltis, living at an elevation of
6,000 to 11,000 feet, (b) Ladakhis, dwelling in villages 9,500 to
13,500 feet above sea, and (c) Champas who wander among the high
7
level valleys of Rupshu for pastral purposes.
The outer Hill region and the 'Plain in front of the Hills' was
occupied by the Dogra race of Aryan stock who have been the ruling
3
race of all these territories . They were divided into castes in nearly
the same way as were the Hindus generally—Brahman; Rajputs, divided
into Mians and working Rajputs; Khatri ; Thakar; Jat; Bania and Krar •
Nai; Jiur ; and the so-called low-castes Dhiyar, Megh and Dum.
The Dogra Brahmans were mostly cultivators and very few of them
followed spiritual pursuits, yet all were given due respect usual to
their tribe among the Hindus. The Dogra Rajputs were in consider-
able number. They had held for many centuries the temporal power
and hence had developed into good fighters. Though they are not
13
large men "but they are active and untiring." In character they
14
are "simple and childlike. The Khatris were the higher class
of traders, they were "less inured to physical exertion, but they
are much keener, and are men of better judgement and greater
power of mind." The Thakars were the chief cultivating class
in the hills. In occupation they corresporded with the Jats in the
15
Panjab. . Banias, Krars and Nais were the low class traders, and
Jhiur served as carriers of load and also as water-millers. The lowest
7. Gazetterof Kashmir and Ladakh, 1890, Op Cit., p. 25.
8. Drew, Frederic. The Northern Barrier of India, Reprint, Li«ht and Life
Publishers, Jammu, 1971, p. 21.
9. Ibid.
10. Drew, Frederic, The Northern Barrier of India, Op. Cit., p. 30
11. Drew. Frederic. The Jammu and Kashmir Territories, London 1875 -
reprint, oriental publishers. DeIhi-6, 1971, p. 59. '
12. Jyoti Bhushan Das Gupta, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, The Hague. 1968,

13. Gazetter of Kashmir and Ladakh , 1890, Op. Cit., p. 398 ; Frederic Drew
The Jammu and Kashmir Territories, opt. Cit., p 106.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid, p. 27.
INTRODUCTION 5

in the Dogra society were the Meghs, Dums, and their various
kinsmen. These were the servile classes. They were in large numbers
ia Jammu, and were scattered also over all the country, both the
Outer Hills and the next higher mountains, The Dhiyar follow the
occupation of iron-smelting. All these tribes formed the labourer class
of the Dogra Hills. "The servile tribes of Meghs and Dums," were
scattered about everywhere and form a considerable part of the
16
population. .

The Dogras had a light brown complexion, clearly-cut features,

and black hair, which were cut to form a firinge below the turban.
The hair was worn on the face. The Thakars among Dogras were a
well-made race, somewhat more powerful in body than the Dogra
Rajputs, whilst the Meghs and Dums were darker in colour smaller in
9
limb, shorter in stature and less bearded . They followed the Hindu
religion and occupied eastern part of the outer Hills.

The western part of the Outer Hills was inhabited by Muhammadan

race, called Chibhali from the name of their country, Chibhal, which
is a region lying between the Chenab and Jhelam rivers. The Chibhalis
10
seem to be for the most part Muhammanised Dogras . Thus, some
of the subdivisions of the Hindus Rajputs, as Chib, Jaral, Pal, & c ,
existed also among the Muhammadans and they are generally designat-
10
ed as Muslim Rajputs . Some other tribes like Maliks, Sudan and
Gakkars also inhabited the Chibhal area and the latter have been the
old dwellers of these hills and had long sustained their independence
there.
"The Chibhalis on the whole, resembled the Dogras, although the
Muhammadan way of cutting the moustache made a difference. "The
Chibhalis are," Mr. Drew thinks "Stronger, more muscular than the
11
others, and are quite equally active.
•

m the region of the Middle Mountains, with an elevation ranging

12
from 4,000 to 13,000 feet above see, inhabited a tribe, called 'Panaris'
13
which extended only as far west as Budil in the valley of the Ans. .
They had remained Hindu and were a strong hardy people, of good
powerful frame, but still active. Their men all wore a light grey thick
woollen cloth called 'Pattu', which was made in almost every house.
In some parts they wore a short coat, in others a long and full one,
hitched up by woollen rope, usually black, wound many scores of times
round. Their pyjamas were loose down to the knees, but below that fit
close ; a very useful style for hill countries.

They put on caps of various shapes and colours. Lastly, a Loi

or Blanket enabled them to withstand all the severe weather they
16. Atkinson, Edwin T , The Himalayan Gazetteer, Reprint ; Cosmo Publishers,
Delhi-6, 1973. p. 31. (First Published Allahabad, 1882, under the title
"The Himalayan Districts of Northern-Western Provinces of India."
6 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

were exposed to. Their woman had long gown of the same handspun,
<
and the Kamarband\ Some times they wore a low red cap.

The caste that among the Paharis is found numerous was the
Thakar. They ineeed had all the land in proprietorship in the hills; they
14
were the peasantry of the mountains . The Paharis led a hard life speak-
ing a mixed dialect from Hindi, Punjabi, Dogri and Sanskrit words.

At the south-east end of the Middle Mountain region where it

borders on the Chamba country there was a race called Gaddis, who had
come from the Chamba Hills. They were Hindus and had the same
sub-division of castes. They reared large flocks of sheep and herds of
goats, and they migrated with them to different altitudes according to
the season. In the upper valley of the Tawi lived some Gaddis in
communities of their own with their own headmen i.i small villages
separated from those of the other hill men. In physique the Gaddis
resemble the other Paharis. Their dress, except for the cap or hat, was
the same as of other Paharis.
There was another race who spent half their life on these mountains
and half at lower altitudes, viz., the Gujjars. Unlike the Gaddis they
had their homes below, in the plains outside the hills, here and there
among the lower hills. Though holding some land, they were a
migrating, pastoral tribe. In figure they were tall and gaunt ; in
motion slow and ungainly. "They are rather surly in disposition,
having that kind of independence which consists in liking to be left
15
alone and to have as little as possible to do with other races.
They usually dressed somewhat scantily—a coloured sheet tugged
loosely around the waist, with a black jacket above a shirt. Their
women were fond of wearing heavy ornaments of silver, a 'Suthan
(tight pyjamas) and a long loose shirt with colourful designs. Those
who settled farther among the mountains, adopted a dress like that of
their neighbours, better suited for severe weather. They all were
Mussalmans. They were the possessors of herds of buffaloes which
they drove into the higher mountain pastures as the spring and
summer advanced. They moved in large groups, with their wives and
families, and all belongings. They spoke a mixed dialect ofPanjabi,
or Dogri, and Pahari. They belonged to the Aryan stock of race.

Beyond the Middle Mountains, on the slopes of lofty mountains

and the valleys of the Indus, in Baltistan and Ladkh, the land of the
Bhauttas, inhabited a people of Tibetan or Mongol origin having the
16
characteristics of the Turanian family . These people fell into four
groups—namely, Champa, Ladkahi, Balti and Dard. The first three
14. Drew, Frederic, The Jammoo and Kashmir Territories. Op. Cit.,
pp. 106- 107.
15. Drew, F., Op. Cit., p. 108
16. Gazetter of Kashmir and Ladakh, 1890, (Opt. Cit.), p. 25.
INTRODUCTION 7
belonged to the Tibetan race. The Champa were those who lead
nomadic life on the upland flat-bottomed valleys of Rupshu, more tfc
13000 feet above sea, fit only for pastoral uses. They were not ve:
different from Ladakhis, except that 'Champas have rather a project n
& a more expressive mouth. They are most hard and
most cheerful set of people. Living all their lives in a severely cold
climate,17 and getting a scanty subsistance, they still have the best of
spirits. Their lives were spent in tents, they stayed for a month
or two at a time in a spot to graze their flocks and herds and then
they moved with them to furthur pastures. The dress and religion
of the Champas was almost the same as of Ladakhis. Only their
young men did not become Lamas. The number of these Champas in
the country is very small only a few hundred families.
LA GUAGE AND SCRIPT
This medley of races spoke as many as ten languages or dialects
within the Jammu—Ladakh region, possibly these had a greater number
of subdivisions Thus differences between these languages were very
marked.. These can, however, be put together in three great groups as
follows :
A. Aryan (1) (Southern Group) Dogri, Chibali and Pahari
Rambani, Badarwahi, Padari, dialect of Doda, Kishtwari,
Kashmiri).
B. (3) Turanian (Southern Division).
C. (4> Tibetan, Languages of Baltistan and Ladakh; Languages
18
of the Champas.
For some centuries past the official written language of Jammu
region had been Persian, probably of imperial correspondence, along
with Takari for use in local and regional purposes. The mutual
correspondence of hill Rajas was carried on in Takari. Whatever
records are available, belonging mostly to 18th and 19th centuries,
are in Persian Character and language. Orders given by the rulers, as
well as the government's accounts were also written in Persian, and in
almost every case that language was the medium of official communica-
tion, though in some cases Dogri was also used. There were two
other scripts used for languages spoken. These were Dogri {Takari),
and Tibetan. Chibhali and the Pahari dialects were unwritten. Of the
people who spoke Tibetan, 19
the Ladakhis were the only one who could
at all generally write it. The Shastri or Devanagari script was also
used for religious books.
Thus three alphabets were used by the people of this part of the
state, viz. Persian, Dogri ond Tibetan.
17. Drew, Frederic, The Jam moo and Kashmir Territories, Opt. Cit.,
pp. 241-42.
18. Gazetter of Kashmir and Ladakh, p. 26.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
8 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

(3) POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPT OF

JAMMU.
The formation and extension of the geographical and political
concept of Jammu was the result of historical evolution and the
gradual expansion of the sway of the petty Jammu principality towards
its periphery over a few centuries. Ferishta has recorded a tradition
connected with Jammu which is presumed to pertain to the first
20
century A.D. , for which however, no corroborating evidence is forth-
coming. The fact, however, remains that the 'Durgara' or Dugar
State, which had probably been founded as early as the age of later
Guptas finds its first inscriptional mention on two copper-plate title-
deeds found in Chamba, issued in the middle of the eleventh century and
recording events which must have taken place in the early part of the
21
tenth century in the reign of Sahil Varman (A. D. 930—950) of
Chamba.
It is a matter of considerable surprise that no mention of Jammu
is to be found in the Rajatarangini and the explanation most probably
22
is, that it did not become the capital of the State till later period .
The account of the Rajatarangini closes with the reign of Jayasimha
23
A.D. 112i-l 149 . Till sometime after this date, Babbapura remained
the capital of the Dogra State. Probably the seat of the government
seems to have been transferred to Jammu by Raja Mai Dev (A. D.
1370-1407), whom tradition attributed the raising of the first royal
u
mansions there, called Mal-Dev-Ki-Mandi or Purani Mandt . Jammu
probably was an insignificant village and appears in history when it is
mentioned in the Mulfuzat-i-Timuri, the autobiography of Amir Timur,
25
who invaded and plundered the town in A.D. 1399 . Jammu, which
had b.en founded, according to the Tarikh-i-Kashmir of Azmi, about
26
A.D. 900 , had by then become the capital ot the State known after
its name and Timur mentions a "Raja of Jammu," without of course
giving his personal name. These inscriptions and events prove that
27
Dugar then existed as a state ruled by its own Raja .

After becoming the capital of the Dogra State, Jammu attained

importance, rather rapidly. It is noteworthy that of the twenty two
principalities, which tradition associates with the Jammu region, no
20. Briggs, J. (Tr.) Tarikh-i-Firishta or Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi, London, 1829"
Introduction.
21. / R.A,S.., 1907, p. 403 ; Chamba Gazetter, 1962, p. 46.
22. HP.HS , Vol. I, p. 46.
23. Raj at.t II, p. 268.
24. Charak, S. D. S., Kirpa Ram's Gulabnama, Eog. tr., p. 81 ; Smyth, G. C.
p. 2.34.
25. Elliofs Hist., Vol. HI, pp. 463 70. Also see Zafarnoma in Elliot's Hist.,
vol. Ill, pp. 517-520.
26. Cf H P.H.S., pp ^22-523.
27. Ibid. p. 46.
 INTRODUCTION 9

fewer than ten were ruled by the branches of the same family, acknow-
28
ledging the rulers of Jammu as their head . The extensive ramifications
of the family strongly support both its claim to antiquity as well as
suzerainty over the entire region as early as the thirteenth or fourteenth
century. Probably it was then that these constituent states came into
29
existence as fiefs dependent on Jammu . As early as the fourteenth
century the conception of the "Jammu Raj" covered, at least, the'
territory spreading from Lakhanpur and Jasrota on the bank of the
Ravi in the east, to Akhnur some twenty miles to the west on the
Chenab, and up to the Siwalik heights to the north of Krimchi. the
capital of Bhoti. Basohli and Bhadarwah were then probably out of its
30
fold. A note in the chamba annals , dated c. 1670-1680, concerning
an incident in which Kirpal Dev is referred to as "of Jammu" (rather
than of Bahu), supports the view that "Bahu comprising the eastern
part of the Jammu State (i.e., the portion adjoining Basohli and
31
Chamba) was usually known as 'Jammu' itself"

Thus Jammu as a political concept came to be attributed to the'

territory and it had gradually evolved into the "Jammu Raj", the
32
boundaries of which gradually but constantly extended all around . It
33
even included Nurpur and Chamba.
Afterwards, the assiduous endeavours of Gulab Singh and Dhian
Singh further extended the boundaries of Jammu Raj, by conquest ana
by aequisition. By AX>. I820andl84l they possessed whole of the-
territory now included in the Jammu Province and Ladakh.
Thus by the later middle centuries at least the name of Jammu
had become firmly applicable to the entire territory from the Ravi to
the Jehlum, and from Banihal and Kishtwar to Kathua, Suchetgarh
and Mirpur. Ladakh, Baltistan and parts of Gilrgit were also acknow*
ledged parts of this emerging state, though not of this region.
(4)
SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF HISTORY AND
CULTURE OF JAMMU
The region which gradually came to acquire the name of Jammu
during the middle ages, seems to have played an important role in the*
history and politics of north-western India, at least during the period
I - M — — • . — • — • II • - • •! , ,

28. These ten states were Jammu, Bahu, Dalpatpur, Samba, Jasrota,.
Tiriko/ Lakhanpur, Mankot, Bhoti and Akhnur. Cf. H.P.H S , vol. I . p. 47.
29 HP.H S. ? Vol. I, p. 47.
30. H.P.H.S.9Vol. II, p. 538.
31. Archer, W.G.. p, 117.
32. During the reigns of Dhruv Dev (1703—1733) and Ranjit Dev (1733-82)
the Jammu Raj extended upto Bhadarwah and Kishtwar- Cf. Voghal's
Catalogue ofBhuri Singh Museum, Chomba, 19.
33. The Chamba records in the Bhuri Singh Museum at Chamba include
several Takari letters and sanads which were exchanged between the Rajas*
of Jammu, Basohli, Chamba and Kishtwar.
 A
±v ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • • ^ ^ ^ • H SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
for which any kind of records of its activities are available. In all
probability some type of account of these events may have been
compiled, but none is available before the middle of nineteenth century.
The long and eventful history of this very important region therefore
lies obscure hidden in various forms of sources, in which form the wheel
of time, Kala Chakkar, has left behind imprints of every activity of
mankind in this region.
A true history evolves out of social, economic and political events
which can be gleaned from a study of the past records.
*

A detached evaluation of the available sources is therefore necessary

to sift reality from fiction and to cast findings in a frame which presents
some glimpse of the ever-changing patterns of society. Thus writing of
history amounts to recapitulation of the past of a people by a historian.
For this purpose any thing can serve as a source which enlightens us
on any social, political, economic or intellectual event. Such source
material is available in abundance in this region or elsewhere.

The most important original source for our purpose are the
Vansavalis of the ruling families and chiefs of Jammu and several other
minor dynasties of this region. From remote times it has been custo-
mary in the royal and noble families in India to keep a careful record
of their pedigree in the shape of Vansavalis, The pedigrees of those
ancient dynasties which acquired national stature, became incorporated
in the various Puranas in their Vansanucharita sections. This tradition
was faithfully followed by ruling familes in the north-western parts also.
As early as the first decade of eleventh century, al-Biruni reports of the
Vansavali of the Shahi rulers k ept in the fort of Kangra, written on silk
cloth. During eighteen-forties Major G.C. Smyth learnt the Vanasavali
of the Jammu Rajas and compiled a short account of "The Lords of the
Hills" as a part of his semi-historical work A History of the Ruling
34
Family of Lahore. A prolific historian, Ganesh Das Badehra, had
mostly to depend on the manuscripts of Rajavalis, i. e., Vansavalis, which
were in possession of several Brahmanas of Jammu. Diwan Kirpa Ram,
the author of Gulabnama, also copied from the Vansavali long lists of
names and a cryptic account of events for the period prior to Gulab
Singh. Thet Vansavalis of local rulers were fondly copied and preserved
35
is borne out by a manuscript of an Urdu history of Jammu, by an
unknown author who informs us :hat his family possesses an old
Vansavali in Braj Bhasha, which he has translated into Urdu.

Probably the original Vansavali has been lost and Thakur Kahn
Singh Balawia had mostly to depend on the Gulabnama for his account
of Jammu ruling house and on the memory of elders who were wont
to listen from the family bards and pick up the narration.
*

34. Ganesh Das, Rajdarshani, MS Sri Pratap Singh Museum, Srinagar, folio 2 b.
35. MS NO : 770, Research Department Government of Jammu and Kashmir,
s
^ ^ B Srinagar. •) I^^H^^^^^^^H^^B^^H^^B^^H ^B
INTRODUCTION 11
36
When Hutchison and Vogel wrote a chapter on "Jammu State",
the Vansavali was 'not available in original, neither any MS of
Rajdarshani had come to light and the only copy available was in the
Oulabnama, which "contains little more than a long list of names,
37
dating from that of the mythical founder down to the present time."
The authors were of the opinion that'as there is no corroborative evi-
33
dence for the early portion, it must be received with caution In my
present, as well as earlier, efforts, I could find much corroborative
evidence for the portion of Vansavali from about Mahmud's invasions
and after, and in my for this period
at least receive a measure of credibility. Sir A. Cunningham recog-
nised the importance of Vansavalis and the authors of the History of the
Panjab Hill States, had formed a mixed opinion of these after examining
a large number of those of the states from Rajouri and Punch to
Bilaspur, and concluded that "some of them are of doubtful value ;
while others possess the accuracy of true historical records." To which
category the Vansavalis of tha States of Dugar of Jammu Grout) belong,
is difficult to decide at this stage though much reliance cannot be placed
on their earlier portion dealing with prehistoric and legendry heroes and
rulers A considerable doubt is thrown on Vansavalis by the record of
60 and 70 years ascribed to the rule of some Raias. The copies of the
same Vansavali do not tallv in some details. Moreover the Vansavalis
of the roval house of Jarnmu the rule of one
dynasty over a period of thousands of years, ignoring the evident fact
that several dynasties ruled over Jammu one after the other.
The earliest available source to record the Vnnsavali in derail fc the
Rajdarshani which was compiled in August 1847. Its author. Ganesh
Das, states to have consulted the various MSS of this docum^t avail-
able with Pandit Ram Krishan, Brahm Brat. Gosaon °andit pnd Raina
Narsing Das. The official copv of the document was consulted and
copied by Diwan Kirpa Ram in his Gulahnama There are minor vari-
ation of insignificent historical value in these two records. A Vnmnvati
was prin'ed bv the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, during the
reign of Maharaja Pratap Singh, in 192 A D., in bilingual script. Urdu
and Hindi An endorsement on this document shows that thi<? version
came from one Pandit Lai Jadu, probablv the purohit of the then
Maharaja. The original of Pandit La' Jadu is not available However,
there is an incomplete original copv in the file which traces the h'neaee
from Raja Bhoj Dev (about A D. 950) to Raja Dhruv Dev (A D 1703-
33). This seems to be an old document belonging in the reisn of
Dhruv Dev.
The inspection and comparison of all these versions bear out the
fact that the succession, they record and the brief events these narrate
may be historical facts from the beginning of the Christian era.
36. See History of the Panjab Hill States, by J. Hutchison and J Ph. Vogel,
Lahore, 1933, Vol, 11, pp. 514-563.
37. Ibid. p. 514 -

38. Ibid. .
t
12 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The names of several Rajas and occurrences recorded in the Vansa-

vali have found mention in other sources also which lends much credi-
bility to these family records.
The ancient and recent literary works are also replete with references
to the land and people of Jammu and their political and social institu-
tions, and even epic literature has been presumed to refer to the ancient
country and its inhabitants. However, the references are very vague
and open to various, and often contradictory, interpretations. Neverthe-
less, the Jammu region from the Ravi to the Jhelum was known to the
Vedic rishis and the later Pur ana compilers. Some ancient tribes of
this region, such as the Salavas and their constituent Madras, were the
most ancient people of this area known to the Vedic and post-vedic
literature. The Atharva Veda and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad also
knew of Madra, the ancient people of this land.

Ashtadhyayi subdivisions
of Madras, as well as the rivers and geographical features of Jammu
region, as detailed in the next chapter. The republican tribes and
topography of the region find mention tn several Sanskrit works such
as the Mahabharata, the Brihat-samhita, the Kashika-vritti, the chandra-
vritti, Vishnu-Purana, Pa dam-Purana, Nilamta and several other Puranas.
Similarly, Darva and Abhisara, as well as the holy Devika river, find
mention in most Vishnu Purana seems to
mention even the Pur-mandal shrine on the bank of the Devika river ;
and Nilamata, the local Purana of Kashmir has also several references
to the enthnographv and geographv of Jammu.
Earlier, Alexander's historians mentioned the rulers of Abhisara,
as also of Darva. The Chinese pilgrim Yuan-Chwang visited Rajapuri
(Rajaori), and makes mention of Tak-desa, lying between the
Chenab and the Satluj, most probably including Jammu. The Raja-
tararangini is a valuable Sanskrit source for history of Jammu region. It
contains historical details of Pruntsa (Punch), Lohara (Loharin), and
Rajapuri (Rajaori), and makes reference to the historical events of
Kasbtawata (Kashtwar), Vallapur (Balawar-Basohli), Bhadravaksha
(Bhadarwah) Kanda (probably Kandi), Khasha, Darvabhisara and Babba-
pura, the present Babor village, some 30 miles to the north-east of
Jammu city. Al-beruni describes a trade route which passed through
Ballawar, Ladda and Rajagiri. He also mentions Trikuta mountain. A
few chapters in his Tahqiqal Hind probably describe religious beliefs,
superstitions and social customs of Jammu hills. About this time the
first recorded mention of ' Durgara' or Dugar country is found on two
copper-plate title-deeds discovered in the Chamba territory. Jammu
also finds first recorded mention in Timur's biography and histoty. The
Persian histories from this time onwards, make frequent mention of
events happening in the Jammu hill states. More detailed accounts are
contained in Malfuzat-i-Timuri, Tar ikh-i-Mubarak Shah*, Tar ikh-i-Firoze
Shahi, Tar ikh-i-Muhammad Shah', Tabkat-i-Akbari Akbarnama, Badshah
nama, Tar ikh-i-Alifi, Rauzat-us-saffa, Mud'sir ul-Umara, Tarkh-i-Firishtay
INTRODUCTION ^ ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ H H ^ H ^ H l 3
•

Tarikh-i-Daudi and a score of other Persian chronicles pertaining to the

Sultanate and the Mughal regimes.
The tradition of composing local chronicles seem to have become
popular with the rise of eminent Dogra rulers like Ranjit Dev and
39
Gulab Singh. A short martial ballad, entitled 'Brajraj Panchasika,
composed by Ranjit Dev's court poet, Datt Kavi, gives a graphic
account of the Dogra conquest of Kangra and the defeat of Katoch
ruler, Raja Ghamand Chand. The first place among local chronicles
may, however, be conceded to a full 1 ength Persian history of Jammu,
entitled 'RajdarshanV by Ganesh Das, referred to earlier. The author
held a post in Gulab Singh's revenue department. Three copies of this
work are known. The one in the British Museum, London, is a well
preserved MS of 305 folios ; another in the India Office Library,
London, has only 144 folios, whereas the third, a motheaten and
damaged MS in SPS Museum Srinagar, is an incomplete copy having
1 to 232 folios while the remaining are missing. It gives detailed his-
tory of Jammu before the rise of the 'Dogra Trio' ; and only a concise
account for the period between 1810 and 1846. In this respect it
supplements Gulabnama of Diwan Kirpa Ram. Ganesh Dass was a
chronicler of repute and much literary experience. Gulabnama is a
source book for the history of Jammu, as well as of the Punjab, for the
period between 1750 and 1857. It throws a considerable light on the
careers of Maharaja Gulab Singh, Dhyan Singh and Hin Singh, the
Dogra chiefs, as well as on the events of Lahore Darbar from 1839 to
40
1849. E. Rehatsak and K.M. Panikkar acknowledged Gulabnama as a
41
reliable source of history and "a remarkable historical document. "
The author had a lot of original source material before him which he
uses judiciously. Both the Persian works read together, lend con-
siderable insight into the political condition of Jammu from the begin-
ning of the Christian era to the death of Gulab Singh in 1857. 'Tarikh-
i-Kishtwar' by Sheoji Dhar, is another Persian work of importance on
local history which was completed in 1925.

There are also chronicles in Vernacular, which however are only a

few, including only two in manuscript form in Urdu. Without excep-
tion all these are recent compilations and none is earlier than the
present century. In addition to the Urdu translation of the Vansavali
or local history in Brajbhasha, referred to above, there are two chroni-
cles written in Urdu by Thakur Kahn Singh Balauria, born about
1870-71 A.D. He served in the Police Department of Jammu and
Kashmir State as a petty officer. He had a great interest in the history of
the Rajput dynasties of the territories of Jammu, and the present Hima-
chal Pradesh and the adjoining plain region. He had recorded his findings
and researches in two works, viz., Twarikh-i-Rajputan-i-Mulk-i-Punjab
and Tarikh-i-Rajgan-i-Jammu wa Kashmir. The one was published in
39. see appendices for the reproduction of the poem.
40. Charak, S.D.S., Gulabnama, Eng. trans., Delhi., 1977, p. xxvii.
^•41 Mibid. •^^H^^I^^H^^H^^I^^H^HI^^HIi^HHH
 %

14 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

%

1912 and the second in 1929 and 1931. These give quite a reliable
account of the history of the Hill States, from Bilaspur upto Punch,
with a separate volume on the history of the Jamwal ruling dynasty
and its various 'als' (offshoots). The Thakur was a laborious researcher.
He mentions about thirty sources which he consulted, in addition to
the dynastic Vansavalis and tradition. The most important of these are
Rajatarangini, Prithvi Raj Raso, Todd's Rajasthan, Tawarikh-i-Rajgan-i-
zila Kangra, Twarikh-i-Garh Amaithi, Jama-ul-Tawarikh, Gulabnama-
Shahjahan-nama, Tarikh-i-Firishta, Sair-ul-Matakharin, and Waqai,
Babw.

Though the Thakur does not mention Sohan Lai's Persian diary>
Umdat-id-Tawarikh, he has extensively borrowed material from this
work for his account of the Period of Gulab Singh and his brothers.
He has copied several sanads and family documents also. But he could
not use several contemporary sources in English. Nevertheless, what-
ever he has written, bears the seal of authority. His works have been
largely depended upon by writers like Vogel, Hutchison, Goetz,.
Randhawa and Archer for their notes on the history of Hill States.
An Urdu annalist, Muhammad Din 'Fauq' has also written a number of
accounts of tribes of Kashmir, Punch and other parts of Jammu, like
Ghakhars and Chibhalis. His Tarikh-i-Aqwam-i-Punch and Mukammal'
Tarikh-i-Kashmir in four volumes (1912), are of some value for the
history of this state. His works, however, are predominated by heresay
and anecdotes, and lack analytical and scientific approach. Of similar
character is a short treatise by Thakur Mehjar Singh, entitled Tarikh-i-
Chibhcd, which traces the origin oi the Chib Rajputs and their severali
branches. A passing reference may also be made to two voluminous
Urdu works, Tar ikhi-Jammu wa Fatuhat-i-Raja Gulab Singh by
Hashmatullah Khan, published in 1939, and Tarikh-i-Dogra Des by
Narsing Das Nargis, published in 1967. Hashmatullah's book is of
little value for the history of Jammu but is a valuable source for the
history of Ladakh and Baltistan, Dogra conquests of Ladakh and
Tibet, and tribal territories of Gllgit. The work of Narsing Das
Nargis suffers from all the drawbacks of a bad history and it has little
value except for minor references not recorded by Thakur Khan Singh
Balauria.

Among Urdu works which include detailed references on the history

of Jammu during the period 1750 to 1849, Tarikh-i-Gulshan-i-Punjab
(1850), of Debi Prashad, Tarikhi-Guru Khalsa, vol. Ill (1893) of Gian
Singh ai:d Tarikh-i-Punjab (1888) of Muhammad Latif deserve mention.
Tarikh-i-Rajawar by an unknown writer is another important local
history. Some stray references to Jammu are found in several Persian
histories of Kashmir, such as Kitab-i-Tarikh-i-Kashmir by Khawaja
Azim Deda Meri, Wajez-ul-Tawarikh of Mulla Ghulam Ali Kashmiri,,
Risala-i-Tuhfat-ul-Ahbab, all in the Manuscript collection of the Govern-
ment Research Department, Srinagar. A recent Persian work, Tarikh>i~
Hasan, contains detailed account of the latest Dogra dynasty.
«

INTRODUCTION 15

Among earlier documents are the Persian sandas of Mughal and

Afghan rulers given to Rajas Dhruv Dev, Ranjit Dev and his succes-
sors. Of similar character area few Persian letters of Mughal and
Afghan overlords written to these rulers of Jammu. The Bhuri Singh,
Museum, Chamba preserves a number of Takari letters and agreements
which were exchanged between the Rajas of Jammu, Basohli, Bhadarwa
and Kishtwar on the one hand and the Rajas of Chamba, Kangra and
adjoining states on the other. These records, which pertain to the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, are valuable for the study of
the conduct of rulers of Jammu principalities in war and peace. A
similar collection of about 70 sanads and documents in Persian, pertain-
ing to Gulab Singh's period, and known as Chattar Singh Collection,
are preserved in the State Archives, Patiala.
The State Archival Respository at Jammu, however, is the richest
mine of Persian Dogri and English records, including correspondence
with the British Government and local chiefs and officials, Govern-
ment Irshads (orders), and papers of general information, pertaining
mostly to the period after 1846 A.D.
These original sources are indispensable for the reconstruction of
political, economic and administrative picture of Jammu territories
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The remanants art and and Medals, as well
as other archaeological objects, which have now been discovered in
ppreciable
the of Jammu The sto temples of Babor and
Krimchi may be assigned a period s the seventh to tenth
centuries.
The terracotta figures excavated Ambaran d Akhnur
the figures of Gandhara Art in execution and grandaur, may be
ned to a period between 700 and 732 A.D The art of statuetary
and temple architecture in Jammu perfect as anywhere
seems tolbe part of
India from the eighth to the twelfth centuries. Several old
\es belong Mughal and Mughal day fort of Mahor
, and the ] ces of Ramnagar and Basohli were once famous far
wide for t exquisite beauty and embellishment. The latter was
dered the wonder of the hills before it was destroyed by the
invaders from Chamba in about 1774 A.D Thus in of
difficult and scarcity of amenities found fertile plains, this
mountainous was in no way lagging behind
of those days
the field of the art of miniature painting and murals Jammu
ies were one of the prolific producers. Hundreds of paintines
42. Fabri, Charles, Murti Hindi Trans., Rajpal and sons,
Delhi, 1970 p. 51.
 16 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

of high standard belonging to Jammu, Basohli, Ramnagar and Jasrota

schools adorn the Art Galleries in India and abroad. Their study
, throws much light on the social and religious conditions of the con-
temporary courts and society. All art reflects the social and intellectual
attainments of the people who creates it. i he standard of art and
architecture attained by the people of Jammu region throughout the
last twelve centuries can be a matter of pride for any race. The deco-
rative and floral designs and murals on the walls of the old palaces of
Jammu, Ramnagar, Basohli, Riasi and Punch and several temples are
still extant. Though these belong to the latest period yet these speak
highly of the artistic achievements of the Dogras during the 17th and
18th centuries. The 'Baoli art' was also popularly cultivated throughout
this region. Several such lovely cisterns are scattered all over, decora-
ted with stone friezes of rare exquisite loveliness. Several hili forts,
.fiarais and mansions belonging to Mughal days are still standing in
Rajouri, Bhimber, Naoshera, Punch and their suburbs.
The inscriptional and numismatic finds from this region are extre-
mely scarce. A few signed and inscribed oval stones, and two stone
slab inscriptions probably in Sarda-Takari script, one from Akhnur
and the other from the shrine of Uttar Behni, have been removed to the
Dogra Art Gallery, Jammu, lying there yet undeciphered. A small
hoard of silver and copper coins, almost all belonging to the Mughals,
and a few to the latest Dogra rulers, is all that the Dogra Art Gallery
possesses. Ranjit Dev also issued coins, and four of his fabric, having
much historical value, have been noticed by C.J. Rodgers in an article
in the Journal of the Numistic Society of Bengal. This important and
the most reliable source of history is yet very scanty in Jammu
principalities.
Last of all the accounts of European travellers and missionaries
and the records of the British officials of the East India Company are
exceptionally very extensive source for the history of Jammu during the
last quarter of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth
century. Travellers like George Forster (1783), Moorcroft and Tr.beck,
Baron Charles Hugel, Victor Jacquemont and G.T. Vigne journeyed
through Jammu territory and wrote about it in their travellogues. The
British Government also envinced great interest in the history and
country of the Dogras and their politics, and their agencies at Kaithal,
Karnal, Delhi, Ambala, Simla, Ludhiana, Ferozepur and Lahore,
and their secret agents, like Mirza Saifuddia of Kashmir, sent
reports of the political activities of the Dogras to their British
masters, which, when used judiciously, prove quite useful a source for
the modern history of Jammu. Such information is contained in the
files of Punjab Akhbarat, Punjab intelligence and MSS in the ational
Archives Delhi and State Archival Repositories at Patiala, Jammu and
Kashmir. Some records pertaining to the period of Gulab Singh and
Ranbir Singh are a part of the family collections in England and
Scotland, of former Governors-General of India. A large number of
files in the erstwhile India Office Library in England, Parliamentary
INTRODUCTION 17
Papers, secret reports and consultations of the Foreign Department,
refer to political events of Jammu region and the career of Gulab Singh
and his brothers and successors.
number books have been written by foreigners
who were in the service either of Lahore Darbar or the British Gove
ment of ln< These books refer to Jammu affair rather frequently,
But as thes e written with some purpose and prejudice so these
need be us< itiously. Some of the imnortant v >rks of this nature
have been given in the Bibliography at the end of this work.
This survey of sources of the history of Jammu reveals that, as in
the case of other regions of India so with Jammu, sources for ancient
and early middle ages are very scanty and unreliable. In case of certain
periods these are altogether non-existent; Archaeological sources parti-
cularly have not so far been tapped and discovered. The result has
been that with the existing knowledge a connected and altogether
reliable history of Jammu territory seems to be an impossibility. This,
however, applies to the period prior to the eleventh century. For the
history after that date we are lucky in having a variety of reliable
sources at our disposal which enable us to come out of conjectures
and to work out an interesting and almost trustworthy account of the
country and people of Jammu.

,
•

• / . . ;

'
 CHAPTER TWO

Antiquities And Pre-History of Jammu

SECTION A : PREHISTORIC JAMMU
(1) Stone Age Culture in Jammu :
THE JAMMU REGION, comprised of submontane and mountai-
nous surface fringed in the south by the south-ward sloping strip of
plain, represents a typical habitat for the primitive man. Spreading
from the Jehlum to the Ravi, containing elevated and low lands, high
and firm river banks, abundant natural flora and fauna, and above all
loose stone pebbles and rocks of all descriptions, It should provide a
congenial and ideal shelter to the primitive human society. Hence its
surface and under surface raav be strewn with antiquities and traces of
early man, although much excavation work has not been done to un-
cover the mysteries of the archaeological ages.
Whatever little excavation and survey work has recently been done
in the districts of Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur at some stray and
scattered spots, it has yielded stone tools belonging to the early man,
termed as pre-Soanian and Soanian in relation to those discovered at
this known site. The Soan valley is in Western Punjab near Rawalpindi
where a significant discovery of stone tools was made by Dr. D. N.
Wadia and others between 1928 and 1952. The tools found there show
a kind of evolution in the sense that the earliest tools are large and
rude whereas the later ones are smaller and fine. These have there-
fore, been distinguished as Early Soan and Soan tools.
Such primitive type of stone age tools have now been discovered in
Jammu region also. In Jammu district proper, field exploration has
revealed two Soanian pebble sites at Nagrota on the Tawi aud Koota
1
on the Bein , which have yielded tools like choppers, scrapers, discoids
as main tool-types. A few flakes showing the technique of shading
stones into rough tools, known as proto-levalioisian, were also seen.
This type reveals the fact that the pre-historc man of Jammu adopted
a more advanced and skilful method of preparing flakes known as the
levalloisian technique, which were struck from a prepared core of
dressed pebble. Some more sites in the bed of the Ravi have also
yielded stone age tools. At Lakhanpur some sites of the Pleistocene
Age. i.e., 'the most new' period, extending from some 3,00,000 to
about 30^000 years from today, were discovered. A large number of
1. Indian Archaeology 1966—67—A Review, New Delhi, 1975, p, 16,
18
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 19

similar tools were found at Kurro, Pingani and Tarra which include
pre-Soan type of huge flakes, rolled early Soan unifacial pebble
choppers and flakes which are heavily covered on the entire surface
with a coating of darker colour, usually red, as proof of their great age.
Pebble tools and flakes were also picked up at the neighbouring villages
of Mali and Jagatpur. These pre-Soan flakes are large and are of
quartzite, heavily rolled and covered with a coating of darker colour
(patina), having unifaceted striking platform. Though the pebbles are
flat, the cones are well-developed.
In Kathua district also similar Early Stone Age Tools were
collected from the bed of the Basantar just near Samba and at Nandi,
Mananu and Palth which yielded more than fifty pebble tools of various
description, including discoids, flakes and cores. Besides, two sand-
stone mace-heads were obtained from Palth along with a gritty red-
ware. The pottery is hand made, medium to thick in fabric and shows
2
medium-grained sandy inclusion. Two stray mace-heads were found
at Mananu and Diyalachak, some twenty kilometers east of Samba. The
region around the village Sutah on the right bank of Basantar river has
also yielded early Stone Age tools, comprising a bifacial hand-axe,
unifacial choppers, scrapers, discoids and flakes. The southern slopes
of the Udhampur district, particularly on the banks of the Gambhir
Khad (Jammu Tawi) near the village Kishanpur Nagrota, yielded a few
early stone age tools of this kind. "Among the tools, particularly
noteworthy was a bifacial hand-axe on quartzite which shows consid-
erable rolling. The working edge and the pointed end of this tool are
3
rounded and it shows a yellowish or creamy patina."

These explorations reveal that the habitations of Early and Soanian

Stone Age man were scattered all over the Jammu region lying between
the Chenab and the Ravi. The Early Soan pebble tools are made on
quartzite pebbles, unifacially flaked by using the natural plain surface
as a striking-platform and obtaining the sharp working-edge across the
length of the pebble. Typologically these tools can be grouped as
under: i

1. Choppers with round butt and crescentic working edge ;

2. Choppers with pointed butt haying irregular working-edge ;
3. Rectangular tools with straight butt aud working-edge ;
4. Smaller-sized
4
pebble tools with round butt and crescentic
working-edge.
These tools are associated with the following three flake
techniques :
(i) Clactonian, (ii) Proto-Levalloisian, and (Hi) Levalloisian.
2 Indian Archaeology 1968—69—A Review, New Delhi, 1976 p, 9.
3. Archeology, 1971-72—A Review, New Delhi, 1975, p. 24.
4. Indian Archaeology 1966 66—A Review, A. S. I., New Delhi, 1973, p. 19.
20 A SHORT HISTORY OF IAMMU RAJ

Clactonian tools are generally crude, large, massive flakes, having un-
facetcd striking-platform with an angle of more than 90% the dorsal
side retaiuing the natural cortex or roundness, or they are just suitable
5
flakes used as tools. They show the attempt of the earliest pre-
historic man for making effective use of stones as tools. The next
evolutionary stage in the existence of the pre-historic man, is the
Levallois flakes, a peculiar type of flakes struck from a prepared core
by a more advanced and skilful method." This technique involved
greater skill and precision and accurate use of hammer. The flakes are
« -* « ^% « - • • • i r
ched from show
>re-historic man of Jammu region as elsewhere, adopted another
m 3d of flaking which led to the production of uniformly thin,
6
o ated and parallel-sided flakes commonly known as blades .

These implements are the evidence of the presence of primitive

human society subsisting on stone tools in Jammu region. The techni-
que used in some specimens belong both to the pre-Soanian and Soanian
periods. The Soan cultural complex gave a succession of pebble cores
and flake industries for the entire stretch of the Pleistocene beginning
from the Second lnterglacial. Thus all the explorations made to date
seem to indicate that Jammu's earliest evidence of human occupation
dates in common with North West India and particularly the Punjab and
Himachal, from the Second Himalyan lnterglacial, and that pebbles
and flakes detached from pebble represent :he predominant characteristic
of culture in this region which has been conveniently assigned to the
Middle and the Lower Palaeolithic Ages, ranging between one to two
lakhs of years from today.

At the same time the rock of the Pinjore stage exposes in this region,
and conglomerates contain some pebbles and boulders of fluvioglacial
origin, in that they are polished, faceted and striated. These are met
with at Khanpur near Jammu and indicate the setting in of the Pleisto-
cene ice-age. Rocks of the Siwalik system are fossiliferous, contain-
ing the remains of molars, tusks, limb-bones, etc.. of elephants,
hippopotamus, horses, pigs, oxen, buffaloes, etc., Nagrota, north of
Jammu city, and Uttar Behni near Purmandal are favourite places for
7
the collection of these fossils . These animals were, therefore, the
companions of the pre-historic man of Jammu region which was quite
favourable for the habitation both of man and beast.

(2) Harappan Culture in Jammu—The Evidence of Pottery.

;

With the passage of geological ages, however, the mammoth and

hippopotamus, disappeared, and probably migrated towards south, to
the regions of the Indus Valley, where they were found till 5 or 6

5. Bhattacharya, D.K., Pre-historic Archaeology, Delhi, 1972, p. 27.

6. Ibid, pp. 28-29.
7. Mehdiratta, R. C.\ Geology of India, Pakistan ond Burma, second ed. r
Delhi, 1962, p. 158.
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 21

thousand years ago and were represented on the Indus Seals. The
primitive man of Jammu region changed during the process of cultural
evolution. Tn proto-historic ages he took to cattle rearing and agricul-
ture and adopted a settled domestic life, building mud or wooden
shelters with thatched roofs, a peculiarity which persists in the hills and
the kandi tracts to this day.
At Jhiri, near Akhnur, some earthen vessels and two fragmentary
stone axes of the New Stone Age were picked up. The pottery found here
is generally hand-made leading to the conclusion that the people changed
their nomadic character of Old Stone Age, took to a settled life and
started produce of food. They made pottery and practised agricuiure
with stone implements. Incidenatly, two stray agricultural tools known
in archaeological terms as 'mace-heads', were found at Diyalachak and
Mananu. These archaeological finds lift curtain from the face of the
proto-historical era of Jammu region, and we see the agro-pastoral man
in a comparatively settled civilised society. The picture is represented
by pottery shreds, pottery and a few domestic articles
The exploration within thirty kilometers to the north-west of
Jammu city has revealed early historical sites at Akhnur, Ambaran,
Guda and Mandli-ka-Merah In Akhnur plain red-ware, sometimes
slipped, was found. The types represented include the bowel with a
vertical, sharp-edged rim and sides tapering to a flat, thickened base,
sprinkler basin, bottle-necked jar, vase with splayed-out flat rim having
cordon below it, handle having deep incised oblique designs and
8
sprouts. A few black-painted red and uncised shreds were also found.
At Mandli-ka-Merah and Guda also pottery, including the painted and
the decorated variety, similar to that obtained at Akhnur, was found.
The types represented were the jar with oblique incised notches on the
out side of the rim, the lid, basin, and deep bowel. Some of the
painted shreds of this lot recall the ceramic tradition of the Rangmahal
culture of north Rajasthan roughly contemporaneous with Kushan and
early Gupta periods. Of much interest was a damaged terra-cotta head
of archaic type with pinched eyes and nose and slightly uplifted face.
The hair style and modelling technique is reminiscent of the Kushan
period."" Further exploration at more than a dozen sites in Jammu
yielded material belonging to the historical and the medieval periods.
As already pointed out, Akhnur yielded pottery of the early Christian
era re resented by the sprinkler ioid bowel; whereas Ambaran, Dalpat,
Pamberwan, Bahor and a few other sites yielded the bowel and lid and
typical Gupta terra cottas of the late historical period. Mediaeval finds
were discovered at Ambi, Bamal, Bandwal, Man Chak, Mandiala,
10
Lehrian and Kurora with stamped and glazed pottery. Some shreds
have been supposed to belong to the first or second millenium before
Christ.
—— -^

8. Indian Archeology 1961-62—A Review, A.S.I., New Delhi, 1964, pp.

16-17.
9. Ibid.
10. Indian Archaeology 1962-63,—A Review, A.S.I., New Delhi, 1965, p. 9.
22 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

However, the sensational discovery of a proto-historic site at the

village of Manda in Akhnur, on the left bank of the Chenab has re-
vealed the existence of Harappan, late-Harappau red ware, grey ware
and black slipped ware. Furrher excavations at the site revealed three-
fold sequence in a cultural deposit, the earliest marked by the arrival
of the Harappan represented by the pottery consisting mainly of pre-
Harappan red ware and Harappan red ware. Among the antiquities
found are copper double-spiral-headed pin having West Asian affinityy
bone arrow heads, terra eotta bangles, triangular terra cotta cakes and
also pot shreds with Harappan grafti.

The next period is determined by Harappan red ware and grey ware.
This period is followed by pottery of early historical period, which, in
its last phase is followed by Kushan pottery both incised and plain and
includes terra cotta figures, bone arrow-heads, iron daggars and
copper antimony rods. Such cultural remains have been found at
several other sites in Jammu aud Akhnur tahsils, viz., Tikri Mounds,
Guru Baba ka Tiba, Batda, Jhiri, Gullwade, Jafarchak and Dhetrial.
These finds give us the cultural sequence of Jammu from the Harappan.
age, about 2,500 B. C , to early Christiau eras.
(3) Antiquities of the Proto-historical Period.
Of much interest and importance are the Akhnur-Ambaran terra-
cottas a number of which were found by Dr. Charles Fabri unnamed
in Lahore Museum. Later, when he visited the desolation of the hamlet
of Pamberwan near Akhnur, he discovered a number of fragments of
terracottas and one lovely little head of a woman almost complete and
11
entirely identical with the heads in the Lahore Museum. In the course
of explorations du.ing 1961 and 1962 a fairly large number of similar
terracotta heads were discovered at Ambaran, ascribable variously to the
12
fourth, fifth and the eighth centuries. These include Buddha-heads of
the finest and natural quality, in various sizes, and a large number of
male and female heads, all with ornamental head-dresses and curly hair.
Of these the Buddha head in Mr. S.N. Gupta's collection, and 'The
Sufferer', 'The lady with the Dreaming Eyes' and the 'Prince of the
Sad Countenance' are the most exquisite and unrivalled in execution.
The Aknur terracotta school seems to be a unique one in style and
is free from Greaco-Buddhist influence, though it may have-
been originated in the Gandhara school of Art. The site which
Charles Fabri visited had remains of a Buddhist monastery, probably of
the Gupta age ascertainable from three coins, later Gupte coppers, about
13
500 A.D., which were found there. The finest of these many scores-
of terracotta pieces is the 'Great Buddha of Akhnur'with a princely
visage and well cut lips, possessed of great dignity and natural nobility.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^"^^^^

11.Fabri, Dr. Charles, "Akhnur Terracottas"—Marg, Vol. VIII, No. 2r

March 1955, p. 61.
12. Indian Archaeology 1961-62—A Review, New Delhi, 1964, p. 17.
13. Fabri, Dr. Charles, op. cit., pp. 61-62.
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTOKY OF JAMMU 23
These and many more male and female heads are proof of the acme of
art reached by the people of Jammu region. They speak of highly
cultured society which inhabited this land during the centuries before
Harshavardhana's rule. These figurines of burnt clay seem to have long
history of their own. They reveal late Gandhara influence, and though
some specimens are devoid of spontaniety and freedom of the early
Gandhara, these fragments are within their own limit and are excellent
mo Jelling, and nossess the distinction of being the earliest
examples of such an art in this
Akhnur has also yielded some interesting shell-inscriptions on rough
unhewn pebbles found in the compound of the Kameshwara temple.
These are the pilgrim-records, engraved in the southern ornamental
characters; ihe so-called conch-shell script, of about 6th-7th century. The
inscriptions mention names of pilgrims like bahu-vijneya, Sukhigamti,
14
Mahiso, Bhupamgama, Nahusha and Balasrayavirya. The most inte-
resting bearing of these south Indian inscriptions found in this far
distant northern region, is that southerners, the ardent devotees of Siva,
used to come on pilgrimage to such a distant place, a fact which proves
the presence of a great and famous Siva shrine in the area during the
ancient ages. It also corroborates the tradition of the Ambariyan
Rajputs ihat Ambaran, which was once their capital, had been named
after Amba, a na.ne of Durga or Kali, the consort of Siva . Probably
there was a far-famed Siva temple at the site which was possibly pulled
down later by the Muslim invaders.
-r

Another document of note is the Trisula or Trident inscription

found in the Siva temple at Shuddh Mahadeva, engraved on the broken
shaft of an iron Trishul. The writing consists of three lines and is only
partially preserved. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and the
characters belong to the north-western variety of the Indian alphabet of
15 16
the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. , or probably seventh century. It
mentions such rulers as Vibhunaga. It is interesting to note that this
ruler also figures in another trident inscription at Gopeshwar, District
Chamoli of Uttar Pradesh. The names of several Naga kings are men-
tioned in Samundragupta's pillar inscription, the nine Nagas, who were
conquered by the Emperor in North India. During the 3rd and 4th
centuries two families of Nagas ruled, the one from Mathura and the
other at Padmavati in Gwalior, the latter being the more important one,
and its rulers were most probably known also as the Bharasivas. The
Bharasivas were ardent devotees of Siva, and "were very particular to
carry always a Sivalinga on their shoulders." They gave a prominent
17
place to Siva's emblem Trishula and vehicle Nandi The coins dis-
14. Indian Archaeology 1961-62, p. 81 ; Ibid, 1962-63, p. 50.
15. Agrawal, Jaeannath, "Suddh Mahadev Inscription of the son of (Maha-
raja) "Vibhunaga*', V.I Paper Series—194, Hoshiarpur. 1967.
16. Indians Archaeology 1969-70—A Review, A.S.I., New Delhi. 1973, p. 47.
17. Majumdar , R.C. and Altekar, A.S., The Vakataka-Gupta Age, Rep.
Banaras, 1954, pp. 33-34.
 24 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

close names of some ten Naga rulers, [including Vibhunaga and

18
Ganapatinaga' and some of these ruled in the north and north-western
Punjab also. Our inscription has been partially read as under :

Text : 1. ftrgT [ I j ^RT^T *T3c^ <HT *T *RT

2. fWTTiRsr <T# [ *T ] Mfd«1l *ffr ( ? )
3. T ^ r T ^ CT ^T
Translation: "Success has been attained. In the year five of his
own rule by the son of (Maharaja) Vibhunaga, the lord of..... (the
U9
benefactor of the) world but those who perish
This record, though brief and imperfectly preserved is important for
the reason it proves that in the 4th century A.D., Suddh Mahadeva was
20
regarded as a sacred place worthy of the visit by the king. The Kala
Dehra Temple, Babor also bears an inscription in Sharda characters of
8th or 9th century. Two inscribed stones in local script also lie undeci-
phered at the Dogra Art Gallery, Jammu, and a large number of Baoli
inscriptions are awaitihg deciphement to divulge historical secrets they
bear.
The antiquities and archaeological finds of Jammu lead to the inevit-
able conclnsion that it witnessed the entire cycle of cultural evolution of
north Indian society. It has been the cradle of man from the early
geological Jges,—the old and the new stone ages ; and the pre-Soanian
and Soanian primitive man made the rugged plateau and river valleys of
Jammu his habitat. He evolved the whole span of his crude culture in
these hills, probably being influenced by his brethern in the adjoining
plains, into a finer and advanced society of the Harappan era, followed
by still more cultured pattern represented by the artistic terracottas living
in elegance even with those of the Gandhara schools. The primitive and
the historical society of Jammu seems to have been a part of that of the
northern India and in that capacity, was influenced by all the cultural
currents which swept from age to age over the whole of north India from
Bengaf5o Baluchistan.
SECTION B : JAMMU IN VEDIC AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE
Physical Features :
The territory of Jammu closed on the north aud west by lofty
mountains, is quite open towards tha south, where its arid, stony
lowlands merge into the Southern plain Its inner mountains contain
pleasant and cool valleys inter-spersed by streams flowing with crystal
clear water. All this is so pleasant, lovely and inviting that we can
presume, tribes in ancient ages might have made this land their
abocje and pre-Aryan and Aryan society must have inhabited this land,
18. Ibid, p . 34.
19. Agrawal, Jagannath, Op. cit.
20. Ibid.
ANTIQUITIES M*D PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 25

so easy of approach from the south and the south-west. We can

therefore expect some stray references to the geography and topograpay
of this country in the Aryan literature. Most of the mountains and
Tivers might have been referred to but it is not possible to identify all
these references. The mountain system finds references in early
literature. The Pali literature, for example mentions 'Chulla Himavanta'
and the Nilamata Purana refers to the same inner Himalayas as
'AntargirP spreading from Kishtwar and Bhadarwah to Punch and
21
Rajouri . The Mahabharata and the Astadhyayi know one more
22
division 'UpagirP which signifies the Tarai or Siwalik range spreading
in Jammu and Kangra region. Another well known mountain, 'Usiraka'
23
iinds mention in the Nilamata Purana and the same mountain seems
to have been called Usiradhwaja in the Vinayo texts, Usiragiri in the
24
Divyavadana and Usinara in the Pali literature , and it seems to possess
some sacred character which gave it a special place in religious texts
•of the old. It may probably have been another name of the mountain
containing the shrine of the goddess Vaishno. This tri-peaked mountain
is now known as Trikuta, and may possibly have been the Trikakuda
of the Vedic texts. Similarly, the Kalakukuda Anjangiri and Lohitgir
perhaps refer to Kalakot and other iron and coal bearing ranges of Riasi
and Kishtwar.

A local Purana of Kashmir and the surrounding territories, belonging -

25
1o 600-800 A.D , refers to the Jammu region as a part of the
Madradesh, which was respected for its rivers like Apaga. Chandra-
bhaga, Devika, Iravati, Tausi and Udda and Visvamitra. Of these the
Devika has been considered the most sacred and finds mention in the
26
Mahabharata, Amarkosa, Brihatsamhita and a number of Puranas , and
is still called in Jammu by the same name and flows through the Punjab
(Pakistan) under the name Degh or Dek. According to the Visnu
Purana, the famous tirtha, Pur, now called Pur-mandal in Jammn
27
regions is located on the bank of the Devika. . Apaga is another
Tiver of Jammu region mentioned in the Nilamata and even earlier
83
works and the same may be identified with the Ayuk or Ayek Nadi.
The Ujh river flowing through Kathua district has been mentioned
by Panini as Uddhya and Urddha and Udda by Visnudhar Mottara

21. Agrawal V. S., 'The Himalayas in Sanskrit Literature, The Himalayo>

No. 1. p. 85,
22. Ved Kumari, Dr. The Nilamata Purano, Vol. I. p. 24.
23. Ibid, Vol II, v. 966.
24. Law, B.C. Historical Geography of Ancient India, p. 132.
25. Ved Kumari, Dr. The Nilamata Purana, vol. I. p. 14.
26. Mbh., Bhismaparva IX, 16, Padma Pu„ III. XXV 14, Vishnn, 81. 5, 897,
Amarkosa, 1.10.36, Brihatsamhita, XI 35 ; Kalika Pu, XX/Il 137 ;
Astadhyayi, VII 3 1 ; Mahabhasya (ed. Keithornj III, p 316.
27. Vishnu Pu. Ch. XV v. 6.
28. Cunningham A. Arte Geog of India, pp. 156, 176, Dey, N.L. Geog Diet,
p. 9.
26 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
29
Purana and the Nilamata respectively. Panini also mentions a river
30
Bhidya, identified with Bein, a neighbour of the Uddhya or Ujh. '
Kalidas refers to Ujh (Uddhya) and Bein (Biddhya) in flood and
compares them with ihe youthful couple, Rama and Lakshamana. The
Nilamata also mentions a stream, Visvamitra, in the neighbourhood of
Ujh, which may be identified with Vasantar river flowing past Samba.
A group of streams of the Jammu region under the common name
31
Tausi or Tohi, finds mention in ancient literature, the Ntlamata P.
the Rajatarangini and other works. One such river flows by Punchr
another by Naushehra and a third by Jammu and are known after the
name of these town, such as the Jammu—Tohi, which rises in the
32
hills of Shudh Mahadeva, and joins the Chenab near Sialkot. . The
two great rivers of the region, the Ravi and the Chenab find frequent
mention in all the great literature under their ancient names, Iravati
or Purushini and Asikini respectively. The geographical features of
the Jammu were thus well known to the ancients.

Ancient Tribes :
The early inhabitants of this area also find mention in ancient and
later literature, although much trustworthy and detailed data on the
subject cannot be extracted on account of the high mobility of tribes in
ancient Punjab and the Hills. In ancier.t times, Jammu like the rest of
Indian sub-continent, was inhabited by non-Aryan aboriginal tribes on
most of its soil. These dark-skinned people, who seem to have left
behind their true descendent in the low castes like Domb (Dum) and
Megh, Batwal, Koli and their akin people. According to the Rgveda,
Shambar, the leader of a people inhabiting the sub-montainous upper
reaches of the Parushini, that is, the Ravi, had offered tough resistance
to the early Aryan adventurers, for forty long years. He belonged to a
race of dark skinned people, who worshipped Shishna, i.e., phallic
symbol. The rishi Vashishta calls them "Shishnadevas". They had
at least 100 stone castles, to destroy which Indra, the battle-god, was
33
invoked time and again by the Vedic priests . This probably refers
to the ancient inhabitants of the upper Ravi valley, on both sides,
including the Kathua belt of Jammu region. The local tradition also-
postulates that the dark-skinned Meghs and Batwals were the original
inhabitants of this region. The scholars like S. Levi. Przyluski, and
Graham Baily also identify the pre-Vedic peoples of this region as
Austro-Asiatic races with a substra um of a dark-skinned people who
may be termed as proto-Dravidians. These were probably the
29. Astadhyayi, III. 115. VisnudhormoUra Pu. I. 148 Nilomata Pu- v o l . 1 .
p. 109.
30. Aggarwal, V.S., India as known to Panini, pp. 43-47.
31. Prof. Buhler regards Tausi as the ancient form of the term Tohi (Tao
Tawi in Dogri dialect), see A Report on a Tour in search of Sanskrit
MSS., tie. 1877, p-3.
32. Ved Kumari, Dr. The Nilamata Purana, Vol I, p. 35.
33. Rgveda. VII.. 21.51 V. 42.14 : VII. 5 50, 21.51.
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 27'
u
Audumbaras or Odumbaras, refered to in the Ganapatha of Panini
for the first time and later mentioned in the Mahabharata, the Puranas^
6 7 38
Brihatsamhita* , Kasika* and Ganaratna-Mahodadhi .
J. Przyluski opines that the Audumbaras were a non-Aryan tribe
and belonged to the Austro-Asiatic race. The very naire Udumbara
has come from a non-Aryan language. In his opinion 'Domba',
i.e., Dum, meaning in Sanskrit a low-caste man, has decended
from Odumbara, and it appears in the list of Mlech as
39
in Jaina books , Audumbaras were a part of a large con-
40
federacy of Salvas, including Madrakaras or Madras . Madras and
Audumbaras were thus the most ancient inhabitants of this region
and date back at least to 700 B.C. wheu their confederacy, the Salavas,
1
find mention in the Satapatha Brahmana* .

According to a legend, Vayusi-tasava had seven children—three

Salavas and four Madras, by his wife Bhadra Kaksivati. Madra people
had their capital at Sakala or Sagala which appears to have been derived
from Saka, 'Scythian'. Thus the Salava and their confederates, including-
Audumbaras and Madras, seem to belong to the Shaka race. Their
ancestor, Vyusitasava, is probably Sanskritised form of the Iranian
42
name, Vistaspa, the father of Darius . This fact also proves the non-
Indian origin of these ancient races of the Jammu region. They were
a corporation of warriors and enjoyed the title of rajas. Ti.e great-
scholars like Uddalak Aruni and Yajnavalkya belonged to the Madra.
Panini about 700 B.C. refers to Madra as a country of Sanskrit
speaking Brahamans. This country may have once extended from the
43
Indus to the Satluj , and the river Devika is said to have its rise in the
Madradesa.
The Madra country thus ^eems to have a vast territory which
included the Jammu region with its divisions of Darva, Abhisara,
Khasha. Udumbara and others. After the fall of the Maurya^ they
were conquered by Greeks and Parthians. But they seem to have
34. Ganapatha, IV. 2.53, enumerates the peoples classed as the Rajanyas,
and the Udumbaras were one of them.
35. The Puronas like the Vuyu 91.98 ; Brahmanda, III, 66.70 ; Markendeya,
58.10 ; refer to the Audumbaras.
36. Brihatsamhita. XIV, V 4.
37. Kasika Damodara Shastri's ed., p. 121, 4.1.73.
38. Ganaratna-Mahodadhi, Eggeling's ed.f d. 314. v. 266%
39. Hobson-Jobson, 'dome'.
40. The Chandravyaharna counts the following six republics which formed?
the Salava confederacy :
"Udambara, Tilkhala, Madrakara, Yu 5 andhra, Bhulinga and Shardanda
are the sections of the "salavas".
41. Dasgupta, K K., "The Antiquities of Audumbaras," Procdgs. lnd. Hist*
Cong., Delhi.. I960 p . 46.
42. Mbh , I. 121, 4695 if.
- 28 A SHORT HISTORY OF IAMMU RAJ

Teviyed their independence fcr sometime at the rise of the Guptas.

Their meniion in iheAllahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta
shows that they had re-established their independence sometime before
the middle of the fourth, century A.D. The country between the Ravi
44
and the Chenab was known as Madrades . There is no doubt that
AudumbaTa republic disappeared in 2nd-1st. century B.C., and did not
revive afterwards. Probably they merged in their akin people, the
Madrakas, and both disappeared when new tribal States of the Hunas,
Takkas and Gurjaras arose in the north-west Punjab.
Although Jammu region was a part of the great confederacy of
the Salva-Madrakas. yet there were several smaller republican tribes
in this region. Of these, the names of Darvas, Abhisaras, Khasas,
Gurjaras and Durgaras have been preserved in the written records,
from pre-Christian eras to about tenth century A.D.
The Darvas and the Abhisaras were two different tribes, but were
sometimes coupled together as Darvabhisara, particularly when the
geographical territory of the Hills between the Ravi and the Jhelum
was to be denoted. Darvabhisaras are mentioned in the Mahabharata,
the Britbatsamhita and the Puranas among the tribes of the Punjab.
Tha Puranas attribute the origin of the Darvas to the legendary
Chandravansi king Usinara. One of his queens was named Darva
whose son was known as Darvin. From him originated the royal tribe
of the Darvas. The Jammu Balaor territory which they inhabited, was
known as Darva.
The Markandeya and Brahmanda Puranas also mentioned Darva,
Varahamihira counts the Darvas along with the Abhisaras, Khasas.
Dardas and others. Darva, the country of the Darvas, has
45
been identified with the Jammu-Balour region . The expression
Darvabhisara occurs mostly as a continuous territory, including pro-
45
vinces of Punch, Jammu, etc. The Abhisaras, however, were a
separate people who helped the Asskenori in offering resistance
to Alexander but afterwards made alliance with the latter who confirmed
47
their rule under the title of Satrap . Thus the Abhisaras were a
powerful people as early as 326 B.C.
Khasa is another important tribe of the region which finds mention
among the mountain tribes, parvatasrayinah, in the Markandeya^ P.,
and the Brihatsamhita. Stein points out lhat the Khasas occupied
"the valleys lying immediately to the south and the west of the Pir
Pantsal range between the middle course of the Vitasta in the west
49
and Kastavata in the east." The rulers of Rajapuri (Rajaori) are
43. Mbh., Adiparva, Ch. II.
44. A Comprehensive History of India, Vol. II, 1957, p. 256.
45. Jaya Chandra, BharatabhumiaurUskeNiwasi.p. 146.
46. Stein, Rajatarangini, trans, Vol. I, 180 n.
47. Camb Hisi. 2nd ; Vol. I, p . 316.
-43. Markandeya P , LVH. 56.
49. Stein, Rajatarangini, Trans., Vol. I, 317 n.
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 29 '

referred to in the Rajatarangini as Khasa-lords and their soldiers as

50
Khasas.

The Naga tribe may also have something to do in the Jammu region
where several Naga legends are current. The Nihmata Purana probably
refers to the migration of some Nagas from Kashmir to Jammu, in the •
legend of Sadangufa Naga. This Naga was an evil one, so the Naga
King Nila exiled him from Kashmir and allotted to him the Mount
Usiraka in the land of Darva (Jammu). The ShudhaiMahadeva
Trishul ihcription of 4th-5th century A D . , mentions a son of the Naga
51
king, Vibhunaga. The legends of Vasuki and Rehr nagas have been
very popular in Jammu, and may have retained reminiscences of some
Naga invasion and occupation of the land.

The mention of Gurjaras (Gujjars) and Burgaras (Duggars or

Dogras), two important tribes of the region, is made during the 8th
and 10th centuries. A Rajput kingdom of the Gurjara-Pratiharas had
been established in Antarvedi with its capital at Kanyakubja (Kanauj)
on the ruins of Harshavardhana's kingdom after 647 A.D. This extend-
ed at least up to Thanesar and Trigarta. Another Gurjara kingdom
had been established in the north-western Punjab which was invaded
by King Lalitaditya Muktapida, A.D. 700—736. And the Rajatarangini
informs us that "The ruler of Gurjara gave up to him humbly the
52
Takka-land, preserving thereby his own country " . The Takka-
desa or Takkavisaya, has been identified by Cunningham with that of
the "Kingdom of Tseh-kia," which Hiuen-Tsang reached after travell-
53
ing to the S.E. of Rajapuri or Rajauri. This Kingdom is described
as bordering in the E. on the Bias, and in the W. on the Indus. Its
capital was She-Kia Lo, i.e., Sakala-Sialkot. The Tak or the Takshak
54
tribe once ruled a large territory from their ancient seat at Takshilla .
This kingdom was quite large during the 7th century. As Jammu
annals tell us, a dynasty of Tuk Kings of Takshilla ruled over Jammu
for some centuries. But towards the end of the ninth century its power
must have been considerably reduced.
i

It was during the Gurjara supremacy in the Punjab that this tribe •
entered Jammu territorities along with the Durgaras who are first
mentioned in the Chamba copper plates, referring to the events of the
55
first part of the tenth century in which 'Durgaresvara' ('Lord of the
Durgara') participated. f

' " " " • ^ — — — — • *

50. Ibid. VII, 978-79, 1271, 1276 ; VIII. 887, 1466, 1868. 1895.
51. Agarwal, J. N., op. cit.
52. Rajatarangini 9> B.K. IV, VerselSO.
53. Cunningham, Anc. Geog. 2nd., pp. 14S-Sqq.
54. Ibid., pp. 179. Sqq ; Si-Yu-ki, Vol. I, pp. 165 Sqq.
55. Vopel, T. Ph., Antiquities of Champa State, Calcutta 1911, P a r t i , pp.
184, 192.

I
30 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAI

Political Divisions :
A reasonably clear political picture of Jammu region can be glean-
ed from the ancient literature. The name of Abhisara, as we have
already noted, was applied to the whole tract of the lower and middle
hills between the Chandrabhaga and Vitasta (Jhelum). A chief of this
region under the ethnic appellation of Abhisara figures in the accounts
of Alexander's Indian campaigns. In the early middle ages this region
was cojsidered part of a wider tract known as Khasal or Khashali,
lying to the south of Kashmir and extending from -'Kashtwar in the
south east to the Vitasta (JhelumMn the west," and it included the hill
56
States of Rajapuri (Rajauri) and Lohara (Punch) . The Muhammadan
records and historians refer to this tract under the name 'Chibhal
"that part of the outer Hill region lying between the Chi nab and Jhelum
58
rivers" , which stood for "the country of Bhimbar and Chibhal includ-
59
ing Punch .
Pruntsa or Punch was probably the first state to be founded in the
Abhisara tract and may have existed much earlier than the visit of
'Hiuen-tsiang : Its capital in ancient days was Lohara, a town to the
south-east of Punch. In Hiuen-tsiang's time, who visited Punch on his
-way from Kashmir to Rajauri, the state extended over an area of
60 61
2000 li li or 333 miles in circuit. The earliest name was Lohara ,
but in Hiuen-tsiang's time the State had come to be known by the name
parnotsa. In A.D. 830, there seems to have occurred a political revo-
lution in Parnotsa when Lohara State was founded by Nara, a local
62
petty chief of Khasa tribe .

The most important and powerful of the hill states of this territory
was certainly Rajauri, whose ancient recorded name was Rajapuri, lying
63
in valleys which are drained by the Tauhi of Rajauri and tributaries .
The first historical notice of Rajapuri occurs in the travels of Hiuen-
tsiang, who in A.D. 633, traversed the country on his way from
64
Kashmir to the Punjab, when it was snbject to Kashmir . Alberuni
describes exactly the position of "Rajawar". and speaks of it as the
•

M Eng, tr. Vol. II, note i. p. 180,

432 1

57. Ibid Vol. II,''Ancient Geo raphv of Kashmir", p. 430; Markandeya

Pu. Ch. 57; Charak, Gulabnama, Eng. tr , p. I l l , n, 3 and p. 78, n. 4.
5R Drew. F.. Jammu and Kashmir Territories, p. 57 ; Charak, op c//., p.
157, n. 2.
59. Document No. MJ507, State Archives, Patiala.
60. Stein, M.A.. Rajatarangini, Eng. tr., IV. 184 n. II, p. 433 ; Si-yu-Ki,
Beal, S., tr., Vol. I, p. 163.
61. Beal, S., Si-yu-Ki ', or Buddhist Records of the Western World, London,
1881-2. Vol. I, p. 163.
62. Hutchison. J. and Voghel, J.Pn. HPHS, Vol. II, p. 721.
63. Stein, M.A„op, clt.. Vol. II, p. 433.
64. Si-yu-Ki, Vol. I, p. 163 ; Stein, op. ctt., Vol. II, p. 433 ; HPHS, Vol. II,
p. 48.
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 31
65
farthest place in which Muhammadan merchants in his time traded .
He also speaks of its capital and the stronghold of Rajagiri as lying on
Toute from Kanauj to Kashmir, via Pinjore, Dahmala (Dhameri or mod.
66
Nurpur), Ballawar (Basohli), and Ladda .
The other States of Abhisara region, viz., Bhimbar, Khari-
Khariali, Mirpur and Akhnur, were found subsequent to the fourteenth
century.
The political condition of the Darva or the Dogra territory between
the Chandrabhaga (Chenab) and the Iravati (Ravi), can also be fairly
gleaned for the early middle ages, from the Rajataragini and other
sources. Apart from Jammu and Bhau, the most ancient State formed
in this territory seems to be that of Basohli, which finds repeated men-
tion in Rajatarangini under its original name Vallapura, (Ballawar-
Balor) The first historical mention of Vallapura occurs in the reign of
67
Ananta-deva of Kashmir (A.D. 1028-63) . The earlier name of the
State may have been Sumatika, which finds mention in a Chamba
copper-plate title deed under the name of Sumatika as having joined the
68
Durgaras in about 940 A.D. in an invasion of Chamba . Vallapura
may have been founded earlier, during the 8th century. About a century
after this invasion a part of the State was formed into a separate State
69
known as Bhadu, , probably in A.D. 1043. Later, in the 17th century,
the capital of Vallapur or Balawar State was shifted to Basohli on the
Ravi and it came to be called Basohli Raj.

Bhadarwah, another branch of Vallapura, also finds mention in the

70
Rajatarangini under its ancient name Bhadravaksa meaning literally
"Happy Region" and it seems to have become a separate State during
the 10th century. The Rajatarangini mentions another small principality
"belonging to the Vallapura group, named Vartula, in the
Chenab valley, which probably modern form
71
Batala !
The Rajatarangini also makes references to Babbapura, the ancient
•capital of Durgara, and a few other small states or localities probably
situated in the Jammu-Bandralta tract. Vajradhara Lord of Babbapura,
finds mention in Kashmir chronicle in connection with the events of the
< - i *
- ' \.

reigns of Kalasa, Sussala and Bhiksachara, rulers of Kashmir during

the 11 th-12th centuries. A copper coin of Kalasa of Kashmir (A.D.
1063-1089), who was married to Bappika, the daughter of Salvahana of
Alberunil
66] Ibid., (ed.l914) ,p. 205.
220-70, w - 588, 590 ; VIII. vv. 539
632.
J.Ph., Antiquities of
seq
J.J
70. Rajatarangini, VIII, V. 501 ; Stein, Vol. II, p. 431.
•71. Ibid.. VIII. w . 287 n, 537-541.
 32 A SHORT HISTOAY OF JAMMU RAJ

Chamba, was found on the site of Babor, which is the modern form of
72
Babbapura This strengthens the statements of Kalhana bearing
some kind subordination of Kashmir for some time
Kalhana probably refers to this territory as Nilapura and Bappanila ;
the latter name sounds like a of Babbapura and Nilapu
Nilapura was probably the territory of and around Sruinsar and.
N'ansar lakes.
Similarly, Kishtwar, in its ancient form Kashthavata, is first referr-
ed to in the Rajatarcmgini during the reign of Raja Kalsa of Kashmir
73
(A.D. 1063-89), when "Uttamaraja, the rulers of Kashthavata *' visited
the court of the Kashmiri king in company with several other hill chiefs
to pay their respects to the Raja. Afterwards, there are several refer-
74 75
ences to this State in the 2nd and 3rd chronicles , and in Ferishta .
Mankot, Jasrota, Samba, Bhoti
Chanehni, etc , came existence during the later middle The
Darvabhis region, i.e., present Jammu region thus
finds freqi mention in ancient chronicles northern and
seems to have been an important political centre.

SECTION C : TRADITIONAL HISTORY

The :ient historical tradition as narrated in Rajadarshni ascribes
the foui tion of Jammu to about 550 years before setting in of the
76 that is, in about 3650 B.C. or some 5630 years from today.
Kaliyug
claims that Raja Agnigarbh, the founder of the chieftainship of
Jammu, spreading over a wide area of Siwalik Hills hedged in by the
two rivers, Ravi and Chenab, belonged to the solar race of Ayodhia,
which commenced with the primeaval patriarch, Manu presumed
to have descended through the famous world-conqueror lkshvaku,
Mandhata, Harish Chandra, Dalip, Bha Rama
from Rama, the hero of the Ramavaua
had and
his thirty-six descendants ; upto the last Sumitra, ruled in Ayodhia.
The younger brother, Agni-gir migrated to the Siwalik Hills, travelled
via Nagarkot and reached the bank of the Ravi in the region of the
present Kathua. There he subjugated the people of the surrounding

72. J.RAS. 1907, pp. 403 ff ; V.A. Smith, Cat. of

Vol.. pi. XXVII. 15
73. Rojatarangini, VII. V. 590 ; Stein, I, pp, 30, 315.
74. J
75. Ferishta, Briggs'trans., 1910, Vol. IV, pp. 500, 522, 529.
_

76. Ganesh Dass Wadehra, Rajdarshni (Persian), Sri Pratap Singh Museem,
Srina^ar M S. (SPM) folio 53 : "nine hundred years according t o some,
whereas one thousand niDe hundred and ninety years according to
Others \. In Alexander Cunningham's opinion Kali era started on 3102
B.C. (The Book of Indian Eras, Indian rep. 1971, p. 31), but Prof
Buhler says Kali-yuga started in 3050 B.C.
- i
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 33
villages and ruled at Bupanagari
77
and founded the towns of Pushpavati
and Airava on the Iravatl .
To this small kingdom his son, Vayu-Sharb, succeeded. In his
time there was a jogi, named Uttamacharya, who lived in the "Saiva
temple at Airava. According to another tradition, Vayu-Sharb
married the daughter of the chief of Parol (Kathua) whose name was
Airan Devi, and it was in her memory that he founded the town of
Airvan-watl, now called Airwan, where her Samadhi is said to exist to
this day and has become a place of pilgrimage where a Baisakhi fair is
held every year. He extended his possessions upto the Ujh and left
these to his son. Parmetra. The latter was succeeded to the chiefship
by Puran Singh, Lakhn, Khat-joshan and Agnigarbh, one after the
other in succession.
Agnigarbh seems to have been a powerful chief. He had eighteen
sons with whose assistance he extended possession upto the Tawi and
beyond. After his death he was succeeded by his eldest son, Bahu-
Lochan, who transferred his seat of government from Airwan to a
spot on the bank of the Tawi which was known as Dharanagari. There
he founded Bahu-nagar where stands the famous Bahu fort. The tract
to the north and east of this fort is called Dhara-nagari to this day.
Probably in his attempt to encroach upon the plain country lying to the
south, he came in conflict with Raja Chandar Has, ruler of Madra-desh,
i.e., the Punjab, whose capital was probably at Sialkot. In this battle 78
he was killed. "The reference is interesting and probably historical .
Tradition affirms the fact that in former times the territory extended
much farther to the south than now, and the Raja of Sialkot would
naturally oppose such encroachments on his territory. The establish-
ment of a strong state in the vicinity of the ancient capital of the Panjab
led to a long struggle between the two powers in which the rulers of
the new State of the Duggar suffered several set-backs at the hands of
the strongly entrenched ancient State of the Sakalas. Sialkot has been
identified with the ancient Sakala, the Sagala of the Buddhist texts
which is thus proved to be one of the oldest cities in the Panjab. In
very ancient times, probably before Panini, it was the capital of ancient
tribe of Madras who are known to the Satapatha-Brahmana composed
prior to the eighth century B.C. Sakaladvipa or the "land of the
Sakalas" was the ancient name of the Doab between the rivers Chandr-
bhaga (Chenab) and Iravati (Ravi). During 200-100 B.C. Sakala was
the capital of the later Graeco-Indian kings of the house of Euthy-
demos, who ruled the Eastern Panjab, and it was the capital of
Menander, king Milinda of the well known Buddhist text 'Milinda.
panho', who ruled about 150 B.C. At a still later period Sakala was
the capital of Salavahana, whose son, Rasalu, is the great hero of the
great legends of the Panjab and the Jammu Hills. After the Huna
77. Annon : Tarikh-i-Jammu, M.S. Research Department Library, Srinagar
(RDL—S), p. 8 ; Rajdarshani, folio, 54 a,
78. Hutchison, J. and Voghel, J.Ph., History of Panjab Hill States, Lahore,
1933, p. 520. {H.P.H,S.).
 34 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

invasions in the later part of the fifth century A.D., it was occupied by
Toramana and his son, Mihirakula (or Mihiragula) who ruled over
northern Punjab and also probably over Kashmir. As Jammu is only
forty kilometres from Sialkot, and its boundary, even at the present
time, is within eleven kilometres of the latter place, "it is evident that
frequent disputes must have 79arisen in the former times, similar to that
referred to in the Vansavali" .

Bahu Lochan had died issueless so his younger brother, Jambu

Lochan, became chief of the principality which had then extended up to
the Chenab. He continued the war with Chandarahas, in which the
latter was slain. He then annexed Sialkot and brought Abhisara and the
neighbouring countries of Hazara and the Punjab upto the borders of
Sind under his Sway. After founding a vast dominion, he cherished the
idea of building his capital at a suitable place. Incidently, while hunting
one day on the ridge on the right bank of Tawi, he saw in the jungle a
deer and a tiger drinking at the same pond. Being surprised at the sight
he sought explanaiion of the incident. They replied that the soil of the
place excelled in virtues, and for that reason no living creature bore ene-
mity against another. The Raja therefore came to the conclusion that
this was just the kind of site he was looking for. He founded the new
s0
town at that spot and called it Jambupura . The spot on which the
81
tank was founded is now called Purani Mandi , a locality in the centre
of the old Jammu town. The Purani Mandi is the spot where the palace
of Jambulochan stood and in which the Rajas resided long after him
Jammu has no encient buildings or remains, nor anythiug to indi-
cate that it is a place of great antiquity. The place has a large popula-
tion, but its, prosperity is of recent date, probably in Ranjit Dev's reign.
The earliest historical reference to the town of Jammu is to be found in
the Malfuzat-i-Timuri, in connection with Timur's invasion in 1399
A. D. However, the Tar ikh~i-Kashmir-i-Azami (A. D. 1417), refers
to a Raja of Jammu, and speaks of Jammu town "as then about five
hundred years old". We may, therefore, conclude that It was founded
about A. D. 900. It is quite possible, however, that Jammu may date
from an earlier period, as the legend says ; though it may not have been
a place of any importance and did not become the capital till a later
time. From earliest times, as there is good reason to believe, the capital
was at Bahu and the Rajas resided in the strong fort; and this probably
continued to be their residence till they retired to Babapura after the
82
Muhammada-i invasions began , "perhaps in the nineth or tenth
century, which brought the Gurjara power to Takka-desa lying between
the upper courses of Jhelum and the Ravi.
79. H. P. H S.. Vol. II. p, 521.
£0. Rajdarshani, op. cit., fol. 54 b, 55 a.
81. Mandi among Rajputs is the name in use for the courtyard in front of
the house. In Jammu it is outer court of the palace where all state busi-
ness is done. HPHS, p. 521.
82. H P. H. S., pp. 521-22.
 ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 35

This legend about the foundation of Jammu, however, is not the

last word. According to another tradition, there was a cave on the bank
of the Tawi river attributed to Jamwant, from which fact the place came
to be called Jambu or Jammu. Some people derive the name 83
from
Jambulin (Jamnu) tree which grew in abundance on this ridge . These,
however, are only myths or shere ingenuity of folk-lore and finds no
' basis in old literature or records. In the absence of ancient foundations
at Jammu,
84
its long antiquity cannot be accepted without any reserva
tions . However, several historical events show it is at least as old as
the first or second century B. C. Most of the legends concerning Jammu
and its ancient annals seem to have been concocted by bards and
charans, and cannot be accepted at their face value.
Jambu86
Lochan is said to have ruled during the sixth century of
Kaliyuga , i. e. in about 2500 B. C. His only son, Puran Karan,be-
came ruler of Jammu. He probably shifted his capital from Bahu to the
newly-founded Jammu and is said to have been the first ruler of Jammu.
He had two sons Daya Karan ane Dharam Karan. It is interesting to
note that Daya Karan became the ruler of Kashmir. A surprising
tradition concerning this occurrence is fonnd in Vansavali. Kashmir is
said to have been in disorder then, and Puran Karan was appealed to for
help He sent his elder son, Daya Karan, who restored order and became
ruler of the country. From the line af Raja Daya Karan, 86
fifty-five
Jammu R.ajas ruled over Kashmir for a period of 653 years . This line
of the rulers of Kashmir terminated with Raja Som Datt. One of the
distant descendants of Daya Karan was Bhau Dev from whom descen-
ded the Bhau branch of Rajputs who claim that their ancestor, Saran
Dev, son of Bhau Dev was driven out of Kashmir and he founded the
the Sahran State, whose former capital was ot Kaleth, near Akhnur.
Thus the Bhau Rajputs of Jammu claim to have migrated from
83. Rajdarshani, fol. 55a.
84. Some scholars, not well-versed in the Puranic lore equate Jammu with
Jambu divpa or Jambu-marg without any logic and only on the similarity
of sound.
85. Kahan Singh Balauria, Thakur, Tarikh-i-Rajgan-i-Jammu-wa-Kashmir9
Vol. I. S. 1986 (1929) A. D., p. 3.
86. On the testimony of numerous but varying historical traditions; the
author of Rajdarshani (SPM, fol, 55b) related that there were twenty-two
Rajas of the Jammu line who ruled over Kashmir for 650 years. Accor-
ding to another testimony there were 55 rulers who ruled Kashmir for
one thousand and seven hundred years. The author of Gulabnama (£ng.
trans., S. S. Charrk, p. 9). and Kahan Singh Balarauria Tarikh i-Ragan-i-
Jammu-w a-Kashmir, op. cit., p. 3) also write 55 generations,
The author of Tarikh-i-Hasan writes on the testimony of Rajatarangim that
the mutual feuds between the Koth Rajas of Kashmir led one of them
to seek the assistance of the Jammu Raja, who senf Daya Karan, one of
his sons, with a large force t o Kashmir. He crushed the refractory forces
in the valley and restored order soon. From this time onwards, the
Jammu rulers continued to rale Kashmir for 653 years. Nothing is known
about the names and events of the reign of these Rajas.
jHowever, Hasbmatullah {Tarikh-i-Jammn, p. 4) is of the opinion that " t h e
rule lasted for three generations and for 55 pears only".
36 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Kashmir. This fact iends some credence to the tradition of the rule of a
branch of Jammu Rajas over Kashmir Valley in that hoary past.
Puran Karan's second son Dharam Karan, ruled at Jammu. He
was followed in succession by Kirat Karan, Agni Karan and Shakti
Karan, one after the other. The last named Raja is said to have invented
the Dogri alphabet. He was a great scholar of Sanskrit aud he ruled
according to scriptures—Shashtras—and was hence known as 'Raja
Shastri'. He extended his kingdom to the water-shed of the Banihal
87
Pir . He also started the Shastri era which begins from the first day
ofBaisakh. ^ I ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ ^ ^ I ^ H ^ H i
This line of Rajas came to an end during the rule of Raja Shiv
Parkash, who was defeated by Raja Shal of Sialkot, who ruled the
north as Gandhara (Peshawar). The town of Jimmu was
destroyed, and ght
mountains, where he and his successors are said to have lived
some generations. This Raja Shal of Sialkot is said to be no other
than the famous Mahabharata hero, who was the maternal uncle of the
Pandus and was killed in the Mahabharata com
army of the Kauravas. After Shal's death the andus annexed his
kingdom and Jammu. Consequently, Arjan's son, Babru-vahan, came
and occupied Jammu region and founded Babbapura (mod. Babaur and
made it his capital. His descendants are said to have ruled in the
Dogra land from Babaur for ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Jammu thus remained desolate aud abandoned except by some 'Karmath
Brahmana', Megh and Batwal families, who, since then, owned agri-
88
had the region.
89
The authors of HPHS identify Shal with Raja Salavahana of
Sialkot, the Indo-scythian ruler, the founder of the Saka era in 78 A.D.,
and the father of Raja Rasalu, the famous hero of many legends. The
identification, however, is untenable. The name 'Shal' itself exists
independently, as in the Mahabharata and the Chamba Vansavali, and
there was no iieed to contract Salavahana into Sal if that Raja was
meant. The tradition of conquest of Jammu region by Shal of Maha-
bharata is not improbable being in so close a proximity to the Dogra
land, particularly when the rulers of this region have oftenly coveted
the possession of Sialkot so often.
After a lapse of several centuries Rajas Joti Prakash and Sarva
Prakash re-conquered Jammu after a prolonged battle with the abori-
ginals who had occupied this territory, after the fall of the Pandava
line in the Panjab. Ganesh Dass copies the tradition that Joti Prakash
and Sari Prakash, also called Jai Dev, were sons of Dharam Prakash,
son of Sham Prakash, who came a few generations after Shiv Parkash,
87. Nargis, Narsing Dass, op. cit., p.53.
88. Anon, Tarikh-i-Jammu, op. cit., p. 17.
89. HPHS., pp. 522-23.
ANTIQUITIES AND PRE-HISTORY OF JAMMU 37
90
and belonged to the line of Shakt Karan. But the new rulers seem to
belong to a separate dynasty, though they may have claimed connection
with the ousted family, in order to strengthen their right to Jammu
Raj.
Bhushan-or Jai-Prakash also called Jai Singh, third or fourth
descendant of Joti Prakash, avenged the defeat of Jammu by conquer-
ing and destroying Sialkot, and for the time being we see an end to the
Jammu-Sakala struggle during the proto-historic period.
Jai Singh ruled for 50 years, and was followed in chiefship by
Rattan Prakash for 43 years,Bhushan Prakash for 60 years and Brahma
Prakash one after the other. The reign of the last named king is
remembered for the great deluge which engulfed whole of the north-
western plain of the Panjab and the land between the Chenab and the
Satluj became flooded and turned into a sheet of water like a Lake and
caused much havoc.
The succession after Brahma Prakash is a little confused. The
Anonymous writer of Tarikh-i-Jammu, gives the following succsssion
upto Bodh Arjan :
1. Brahma Prakash, 30 years
2. Jaman Prakash, 50 years
j. Kishor Inder, 43 years
4. Ajendar, 25 years
5. Ra jendar, 55 years
6. Bri jendar, 30 years
7. Hari Chandar, 22 years
•
8. Haran Kamal, 31 years
9. Kamal Baran, 41 years
10. Dhatu Baran, 70 years
11. Taj Baran, 25 years
12. Bali Baran, 20 years
13. Bodh Arjan.

Kahan Singh Balauria gives the same succession with the exception
that he omits No. 5 and adds Hem Baran between Nos. 11 and 12. He
91
names Ajendra as Narendar. Narsing Dass Nargis also follows the
same sequence with the exception that he reads Sindu-Inder at No. 4
92
mis-reads Dyalu for Dhatu at No. (0. The Jammu history in Bra-
jbhasha, which our anonymous writer translates into Urdu, has followed
93
exactly the genealogy preserved in the State Archives, Jammu. Ganesh
Dass also gives the same line of succession with addition of Narendar
90. Rajdarshani, fol. 59 a.
91. Kahan Singh Balauria, Toakar, Thakur-i-Rajgan Jammu wa Kashmir,
op. cit. p. 56.
92. Nargis, Narsingh Dass, op.cit, p, 54.
93. File No. 1352 (Vernacular), Table No. 7, 19 (ii)—SAR (J).
38 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

between Nos. 6 and 7. He narrates that Narendar killed a cow by

mistake, performed expiatory penances, but did not get peace of mind.
Consequently, he burnt himself at Purmandal on the bank of the
Devika. Raja Tej Baran died in the battle field while fighting against
the Rajas of Nagarkot Kangra. He was succeeded by his nephew,
Bali Baran, who most probably ruled during the sixth century B.C.
Tej Tej Varuna is said to have performed
the Mount Kailash on the bank of the Tawi He
devotee so the place on the came to be called
Bhairon or Bhair Devata, and became nma
people. Later, in the reign of Raja Ajeo Dev (A. D. 1423-144?),
fishing became prohibited m that river.
With the termination of the reign of Bali Baran, the epo< f
highly legendary history of Jammu region seems to have come
close. During the large span of about more pre-
history, we have no material to ascertain the facts, except the local
tradition and the Pni AUj TTU1V1J, W* ^ ^ * 1
^ " w
* ^ *^^ » -—

coming from differe However, some local legends and im

seem to have been served in the
folk memory, as is the over the world, pertaining to the pre-
times. The archaeological finds of this region corroborate
some extend the trend of evolution of history and culture of this
preserved
 CHAPTER THREE

The Early History Of Jammu Raj

500 B.C. to 350 A D .
(I) THE FIRST HISTORICAL DYNASTY
After the death of Bali Baran there seems to have occurred a
dynastic change with the accession of Raja Bodh Arjan, probably during
the first half of the 5th century B C. This was the century marked
by spectacular events. It witnessed the birth of a new religious and
;
social reform movement in India init ated by the Buddha. This also
witnessed the expansion into the north-west India, of the powerful
Iranian dynasty, the Achaemenians. The historical tradition of Jammu
seems to capture the impact of both these events.
Raja Bodh Arjan
The ruler of Jammu, who came after Bali Baran, has been acclaimed
by the authors of the Vansavali as the most famous of the Rajas
of Jammu, who subdued all the chiefs of the Himalayan Tarai and
the Kingdoms of Bengal and Kamarupa The Dogra tradition, what-
ever its worth, attributes to this king conquering expeditions upto
Cape Comerin and thence to Sangaldeep or Ceylone. He is said to have
married a Ceylonese Princess and returned via Maharashtra. Ujjain,
Gujarat, Sindh and Multan to Jammu. But what is the basis of this
conjecture is hard to trace. There is no contemporary record to test
the verasity of this controversial claim which is conte ted by several
rulers of local dynasties. Ganesh Dass Wadehra states that Raja
Bodh Arjan received twenty one lakhs of rupees as tribute from the
1
Indian Rajas . He levied only one-sixth produce of land as revenue
from the population of Kohistan which in the local language is known
2
SiS'Satha . The Government officials, e g. numberdars, paid 1/lUof
their produce. There was no tax levied on the orchards. The
merchants whelher they were local or outsiders had to pay a tax of
Rs. 100 on a merchandise costing one lakh of rupees.

His paternal attitude towards his subjects and baneful measures

resulted in the increase of the population of the city of Jammu and it
expanded up to the Chak Lehrian in the East, to Top Sherkhanian in the
1. Rajdarshani, fol, 77b.
Tarikh-i-Jammu, pp. 15-16.
2. Rajdarshani, folio, 78a.
39
40 ^ ^ H | ^ ^ H ^ ^ H ^ ^ H ^ ^ H H A SHORT HISTORY
West, to tbe South upto Babaliana and Dagyana ; to the north upto
Nagrota. The township of Jammu spread on both banks of the
Tawi. Beautiful gardens and orchards were laid out in the city. The
houses were built of white marble. There was a large tank in the
centre of the city which could provide water to the entire city for the
whole year.
3
On the banks of Tawi, a chain of beautiful temples dedicated
to various gods, had been built. The temple of Sun was very prominent.
The idol of Sun God was made of Gold and its crown contained
the most precious jewels. The Priests of Sun God clad themselves
in yellow brocaded, robes. There were separate temples for all
planetary gods, like Moon, Mangal, Buddh, Mustri, Zubra and
Sanichar. With all these temples, separate Sarais were constructed for
the stay of the worshippers where meals were served free.
In the centre of these temples were constructed a large fire altar
where the fire burnt continuously and 'Havcm' was performed with all
rituals. The Gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh with different
female goddesses occupied a place of respect in th ir separate temples.
A large college was founded where instruction was imparted in the
sacred lore of the Shruties and Surities. The students flocked to this
institution from all parts of the country. They were looked after by
the State and their Board and lodging including their books were a
charge on the State. Raja Bodh Arjun died after a long reign of eighty
4
years .

The claim of the Vansavali is too lofty to be credible, and in the

absence of any coins or other historical evidence in any form it is not
possible to give any credence to this tradition about this aia of
Jammu, who most probably flourished before 500 B.C. when Hakhamans
were founding their rule in Persia. Indian legends name several other
rulers, including Mukta-pida, of Kashmir who undertook similar
expeditions.
The ruling dynasty of Bodh Arjan continued to rule in Jammu or
elsewhere for a period of 357 years and during the period a number of
great political upheavals struck the Dogra land, which altogether
demolished the structure of the empire and disintegration set in. The
neighbouring ruler of Kangra-Nagarkot, Raja Mangal Chand, invaded
5
Jammu and defeated and killed Raj Vallabh , the seventh descendant
of Bodh Arjan, who ruled Jammu around 450 B.C. All his sons were
killed and the city of Jammu with its beautiful mansions and gardens
was razed to the ground. Being apprised of the catastrophy of
3. Ikid, 78b-79-a.
4. Ibid, folios, 79-80.
5. Anon, Tarikh-Jammu, pp. 17-18.
Rajdarshani., folio 83a, 83b ; Kahan Singh Balauria, Tarikh-iRojga Jammu-
57. ^ ^ ^ ^ | ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ | ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ | ^ ^ ^ | ^ ^ |
THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 41

Jammu, Bhanu Jakh or Yaksha, a cousin of Raja Raj Ballabh came

from Bharakh to avenge the defeat of his cousin with the aid of Akhnur.
Raja Mangal Chand was defeated and killed in the battle but the city
of Jammu could not be restored back to its former opulence and
giandeur. Bhanu Jakh's descendants 1ried to build their capitals at
Dharanagari and other neighbouring localities but the people could not
be attracted to these seats of the Government as they dreaded the
repisals by the Kangra rulers. Jammu continued to be populated by the
low castes for more than three centuries, and was spotted here and there
by thatched dwellings of the Rajas and handful of their courtiers. Due tc
aggressive designs and raids of the Punjab Chieftains life at Jammu
remained unsettled for a long time. In times of raids the populace had
to seek asylum in thick jungle foliage and distant mountain fast-
nesses . The dynasty of Raja Bhoom Datt consisting of six descendants
failed to restore and establish themselves firmly on the ancient seat of
their forefathers.

During this period, and probably immediately after Raj Vallabh,

the sovereignty of Jammu passed away, and it was reduced to a small
principality ruled by local Ranas, under the suzerainty either of the
Salava-Madras of Sialkot or the Takshaks of Taxila. Vansavali seems
to have added to the list of succession a number of their Takshak over-
lords. Raj-vallabh's son and successor was reduced to the status of a
small Rana of Jammu where his successors Bhanu Yaksha, Samundar
Yaksha, Singh Haran, tvlariga Haran, Karma Varma, Jaykar, Dev Kar
and Adi-Varah ruled one after the other as vassals of Takslila house, or
possibly of the Hukhamanashyas (Achaemenians) of Gandhara.
For a brief period after 500 B.C., part of the Punjab may have
6
formed a Persian province, the Indian satrapy conquered by Darius. In
the Behistun inscription of Darayavaush (Darius, I, C. 522, 486 B.C.).,
the third sovereign of the Achaemenian dynasty, the people of
Gandhara (Gadara) appear among the subject peoples of the Persian
7
Empire. It has been inferred that the 'Indian' (Hidus) were conquered
8
at some date between 519 B.C. and 513 B C. Khshayarsha (4^6-465
B.C.) the son of Darius I, maintained his hold on the Indian provinces.
But 'he Persian Empire rapidly declined after his death. Yet Artaxerxes
II 40S358 B C. is believed to have received costly presents from India
9
even in the fourth century B.C. .

The Achaemenian Emperors of Persia were thus over-lords of

Gandhara region of India whi Ji spread on both sides of the Indus, with
two chief cities. Pushklavati on the west and Taxila on the east between
the Indus and the Jehlum. Probably, the Gandhara province extended
6. Imperial Gasetteer of India. Vol. XX, Punjab, 1908, p. 260.
7. Ancient Persian Lexican and the Texts of the Achae.nsnian Inscriptions
y
H.C. Tolmon.
8. Olmstead, History of the Persinn Empire, p. 145.
9. Ind. Anti., Vol. X, 1861, pp. 304-310.
n
^ A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

up to the Ravi or Bias and the Jammu region, then known under the
combined name of Darvabhisara, was a part of that satrapy. Later,
Alexander's march up to the west bank of the Bias was intended to-
round of the eastern most fronti r of the once extensive Persian
Empire. Thus it is not improbable that in the struggle between the
Madras of Sialkot and the Gandhara satraps of Taxila, Jammu had lost
its entity and had been relegated to a subordinate position. There is a
reference in the Vansavali that the line of kings from Adi Varah down
to Damodar Dutt, a dynasty of 8 kings, ruled from Takshila, and held
10
away over Jammu, Kashmir as well as the Punjab.
Here it is interesting to mention the historical events of these
centuries, narrated by Ferishta, concerning Jammu and the Panjab.
With a slight variation of names, he writes that Iskandar (Alexandar)
led his army to India and fought with Raja Fur (Poros-Paurava). After-
wards, Sansar Chand (Chandragupta) seized the reins of authority in
Hindustan and conquered whole of the country. According to his
sources, Fur or Paurava (Purab Sen of the Dogra tradition) had usurped
power after killing Raja Dilhu, the founder of Delhi who had ruled
for 40 years. This Dihlu was the brother of Jai Chand, Commander-
in-Chief of Kaid Raj, and King of Hindustan for 60 years. This Kaid
Raj seems to have ruled in the Panjab some decades before the Paurava
King. If Paurava came to power in about 340 B.C., Kaid Raj must
have remained ruler of the Panjab from about 390 B.C., as he is stated
to have ruled for 43 years.
Ferishta further states that Kaid Raj dwelt for some time in one
of the cities of Behra, and then built the fort of Jammu. In it he
placed one of his adherents, a man of the Ghakkar tribe, named Durg,
and made him governor of it. "From that day", asserts Ferishta,
12
"that fortress has remained in the possession of that tribe till now
(i. e., upto about 1610 A.D.).
These Ghakhars are in fact Khokhars, who claim a Persian descent,
13
from Sultan Kaid. son of Kaigohar This Kaid was probably the
Kaid Raj who held sway over Gandhara and the Panjab as a Persian
Satrap of the Achaemenians, with Jai Chand as his governor of his
13
province of the north-west Panjab. Gen. Cunningham identifies these
with the subjects of Abhisari, mentioned by Alexandar's historians as
10. Kahan Smgh Batauria, Tarikh-i-Rajgan,p. 57.
The succession given in the Vansavalis is as under :
Adi Varaha. Bhumi Dutt, Bhay Dutt, Kusam Dutt, Kahan Dutt,
Jai Dutt, Vi Jay Dutt, Damodar Duti,
Cf File No. 1352 {Vernacular), Table No. 7 (19-11) SAR (J) J
Ganesh Dass, SPS MS. folio 85 a; Tarikh-i-Jammu (Anon),
p. 16 Kahan Singh Balauria, op.cit., p. 57.
11. Torikh-i-FerishtA, Introduction, pp. 36-36.
12. The Punjab Gazetteer-Rawalpindi District, p. 31.
13. Cunningham. Sir A., Anc Geog. of Iudia, p. 208.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 4>

being king of the hilly country north and north-east of Taxila,

mentioned as Abhisara in the Mahahharata and the Puranas. The
tradition preserved among the Khokhars of Khokharain on the Bias,
also confirms their origin from Kabul Shah of Kabul, i.e., Gandhara.
These Khokhars became very powerful during the 14th and 15th
centuries, and Timur had to kill }heir leader Sheikha and capture and
carry away his son, Jasrath a prisoner in 1399. Timur also mentions of
a fort near Jammu which was in possession of a Khokhar chief related
to Sheikho Khokar.

The Khokhhr chief thus ruled over the northern Panjab from
Takshila during the pre-Alexander period and a number of their
rulers have been included in the Jammu Vansavali.
Even after Damodar Dutt, the line of the kings who followed,
are said to have ruled over Jammu, probably from Gandhara, and have
been considered by some to have belonged to a family different from
the Jammu ruling dynasty. Kahan Singh Balauria opines that this
confusion has arisen because of the fact that some of these rulers went
14
to Kashmir and thence to Kandhar to conquer those countries These'
kings are—
Damodar Dutt, Udey Chand, Lakhan Chand, Samudra-Bhushan5
Jagat Singh, Bhagat Singh alias Shakti-Bhushan, Gajey Singh.
Ajay Singh, Dev Gupta, Ran* Gupta, Chandra Gupta, Nand Gupt.
This brings us down to the period in the history of Jammu
when the Macedonian invader, Alexander, invaded the north-
western India. At that time Ajay Singh, seventh descendant
of Damodar Dutt in the above list, was Raja of Jammu, and
Purva Sen or Puru or Purva (Poros of Greek historians) was the
ruler of Madra country, i.e., the country on both sides of the river
Chenab. The Jammu Vansavali gives some elaborate detai's of the
events of those days. Here we come to k tow for the first time that
Goti-Pani was the capital of Paurava which was situated on the east ot
the Behat (Vitasta, i.e., Jehlum). The place, however, has not been
identified: but most probably it was somewhere around modern Gujrat
town. Raja Puru returned to his capital after subduing territoris on
river Sindh. He received the report that the chiefs of the Hill country
had become rebellious and in order to chastise them he started on a
campaign of conquest of these areas. Rajas of Jallundhar, Nagarkot
and Chamba purchased peace by accepting him their overlord and pro-'
mised to pay tribute, but Raja Ajay Singh did not submit. He fought
an engagement with Raja Puru but was over-powered and brought in
chains to Goti Pani. Puru's daughter, however, caught infatuation
for him, and he was not only restored to his principality but was also
married to the Madra princess, Rani Manglan Dai, Raja Puru's
daughter. Late, when Alexander invaded Puru's territory in 326 A. D.
and the latter fought a pitched battle, near Nandana according t o Sir
14. Kahan Singh Balauria. op.cit., p. 57.
44 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
15
.Aurel Stein, Raja Ajay Singh was killed while fighting on the side of
his father-in-Law. The Rajdarahani states that on the advice of one
Mohdi, a deserter from the court of Darius III, Ajay Singh's son Bijay
Singh, presented himself before Alexander on his way back, and the
latter restored him his ancestral principality. His descendants extended
the territories of Jammu upto Jehlum and one Ram Gupt constructed
16
the fortress of Ramgarh in Khari area on the banks of river Jehlum,
from where the Ramgaria Rajputs trace their origin.
(2) 'RAF DYNASTY
After the end of rule of Takshila dynasty with the death of Nand
Gupta in The middle of first century B . C . Jammu, seems to have
acquired independence once again under the new indigeneous dynasty
of 'Rai' Kings, incepted by Adi Rai. According to Vansavali his
accession fell in the year 3044 of the Kaliyugaera, i. e., 58 B.C. He
is said to have been contemporary of Vikramaditya of Dharanagari,
Ujjain, to whom he pro:essed allegiance. He ruled for 48 years and
was succeeded by his son Dev Rai, who, according to Kalian Singh
Balauria, came back to Jammu and made it his capital in about 10 B.C.
He married his son Gandharb, in the Salehria family of Samhalur,
which he later annexed to his kingdom. Adi Rai had already conquered
Bhupa Nagri, where he had appointed his governor, named Gobind
Chand who claimed descent from Udey Chand. During these days
there lived in this kingdom a great Brahman musician, named Madhu
Nal, who was the hero of many a legend. It was during Dev Rai's
reign that Christ was born in the west. It was also during his reign
that Mr. Andrews, one of the twelve disciples of Christ came to the
18
court of Raja Dev Rai in 39 A.D., and impressed the Raja with his
piety and virtue. He cured the son of the Raja of a disease with his
•prayers and blessings. Before his departnre from the court of the
Raja he gave him two documents written in Assyrian language and
script, and instructed him to keep them in safe custody as these would
be of considerable use to his descendants after one thousand eight
hundred years. These documents were probably lost during the reign
of Akbar. Raja Ranjit Dev ordered a thorough search for them during
19
his reign but no trace was found.
Gandharb Rai, son of Dev Rai, succeeded to the gaddi in about
40 A.D. He was the contemporary of Raja of Kashmir who
was imprisoned by his brother Hiran and his (Torman's) enciente
wife who was :he princess of the Surya Vanshi Raja of a minor
principality under Jammu, sought refuge in the house of a potter
where she gave birth to a son who was named Pravara Sen. Pravara
,15. Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology for the Year 1931, Leyden,
1933, p. 4.
16. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 87.
17. Anon Tarikh-i-Jammu, op, cit., p. 20.
18. Rajdarshani, SPM„ folios 91b, 92 a.
19. Ibid., folios 92b; 93a.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 45

Sen when came of age came to Jammu along with his mother and=
joined service at the court of Raja Dev Rai of Jammu and distinguished
himself in the conquest of NagarKot. With the assistance of this Raja
of Jammu he regained the ancestral throne of Kashmir.

Gandharb Rai ruled for 35 years, upto about 90 A.D. It was most
probably during his reign that the invasion of Ram Dev Rathor took
place, to which Ferishta makes short reference in his Introduction. This
event might have happened two or three generations after Vikramditya
the founder of his era, i.e., about the close of the first century A.D.
The Raja ruling in India at that time from Kanaj was Ram Deo
Rathor, who led an expedition into the Siwaliks, conquered Kumaum,
received submission and tribute from the Raja of Nagarkot (Kangra>
and went towards the fort of Jammu. The Raja of Jammu, confident
in the valour of his army, the strength of his forces, the difficulty of
access, the density of the jungle and the abundance of the supplies,
refused to surrender, and came forth to fight. But he was unable to
stand against Ram Dev, and his army fled. Afterwards the Raja of
Jammu came humbly to wait upon hinr He demanded the daughter
of the Raja for another son of his, and then departed. From the river
Behat, (Vitasta) which descends fram Kashmir, that land of Paradise,
20
into the Punjab, he proceeded to Bengal and the shores of the sea."

Gandharb Rai might have submtted before a superior power which

was then rising in Madhyadesa at Kanyakubja and in the east, under
the Gupta's in later centuries. But the main centre of power near
Jammu territories, was Sialkot, the possession of which the rulers of
Jammu coverted from time to time. But the powers emerging from the
nort-west, in Gandhar and Takshasila, and sending their tentacles to
Sakala and beyond upto Mathura, not only ejected the rulers of Jammu
from this ancient seat of power in northern Panjab, but also reduced
them to submission so often. The Jammu Vansavali refers to such
events which might have happened either in Kadamb Rai's reign or in
that of his predecessor, Dev Rai, who ruled during the first half of the
first century A.D. It refers to the invasion of Raja Salvahan on
Sialkot and his recognition of the Raja of Jammu, probably Dev Rai,
21
as his vassal and governor of all the Hill principalities. The Vansavali
makes this Salabahan contemporary of Vikramajit, whom he is said to
have defeated before coming to the Panjab and finally to Sialkot. No
doubt there is a jumbling of fact, as usually happened with tribal
traditions concerning the hazy past. According to the Yadu-Bhatti
annals. Salbahan was son of Raja Gaj, founder of Gajni or Gazni who
seated on the throne in the year 3008 of the Samvat Dharma-raja
(Yudhishtra), corresponding to 9th B.C. soon the Saka tribes of Khura-
san started their invasions, attacked Gajni and killed Guj. Salvahan-
20. Farish:a, Tarikh-i-Farishta or Gnlshan-i-Ibraham Indroduction, pp. 36—37
Kahan Singh Balauria, Tarikh-i-Rajgam9 p. 2 aad Guldasia~i-Kannauf)
referred to by Balauria.
21. Anon., Tarikh-i-Jammu. op.cit., p. 22*
A6 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

had already been sent to the east long before this event and he had
founded Salbahanpoor near Lahore. He fought with tho Sakas, def-
eated them and conquered the whole of the Panjab.
22
The foundation
of Salbahan-poor was laid in S. 72 or A.D. 16. His son was Raja
Rasalu who was married to princess Luna of Champa, (Chamba) bad a
son by another Rani Achhran, who was named Puran,—all of them
popular theme of legends and folklore of the Panjab and the Jammu
Hills.
According to Sir A. Cuningham, Salvahana was Raja of Sialkot,
then called Sakala, probably about the beginning of the first century
A.D. In his opinion he seems to have belonged to the Yadava family,
who may have succeeded the Graeco-Indian kings. The first capital of
the family, according to Cunningham, was at Gajnipur, now Rawal-
pindi, from where they were driven by the inflowing tide of the Indo-
23
Seythian or Saka invasions, when they retired to Sakala . Salavahan
is said to have defeated the Sakas in a great battle, near Multan and
established the Saka era to commerate his victory. He was succeeded
by his son, Rasalu, the famous hero of tend
ed Jakas, but on his death his kingdom passed to one Raje
24
enemy, and probably a Saka prince of Peshawar accord-
Jammu
Kadamb R i had th Shalabahan. He
for 46 years and was succeeded to Jammu Raj by his son, Karain Raj, in
S. 181 (A D, 124). He is said to have buried alive his new born girl
as astrologers had declared her to be very insuspicious for the Raja
22. Tod. Annaals and Antiquities of Raiasthan, Vol. I I , p. 177, f n, 6.
23. Achaeologieal Surrey of ludio. Vol. II, pp. 21-22.
24. H.P.HS. Vol. II, p. 522-23.
25. The local tradition concerning Salabahan's conquest of the Panjab and
the foundation of Sialkot, is translated as under : —
"After the demise of Gaadharab Rai, his eldest son Kadam (or
Kadamb) Raj, also called Kam Raj and Kam Rup, succeeded t o the
goddi in the year 135 of Bikrami, coiresponding to the first year of
the Shaka-Shalibahan era. I t was during his reiga that Raja Sahlabhan
, of Vialwa, Ujjain and Dakhin, came to the Panjab. When his
retinue entered the desolate country of Sialkot, packs of jackals ushered
out of the deserted place and attacked his forces. The Raja, considering
the place endowed with a chivalrous spirit, built there a new fort
called Shalkot, also written as Sialkot, after his name. He also fouDded
a big city there and made it h's capital, Some say that as a jackal in
Indian language is called 'Sial' (Siyar), hence the town, came to be
called Sialkot. Yet thzre is anolher derivation of the name from 'Shal'
i.e. Shali o r rice, whtch grow in abundnace in the region, from which,
-fact the town came to be called 'Shalkot' (house of rice).
In short, Raja Shalabahan conquered the Punjab aed occupied the
hills and married prince.*s Luna of Chamba.
After this the tradition follows the well known legend of Puian
and Shalbahan's son, Raja Rasalu, Rani Kokila aDd Raja Hodi, Rasalu's
..enemy of Peshawar,
RaidarshanL SPM. Folic 94b-95a, b .
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 47

long before her birth. Thus he is said to have initiated among the
hill Rajputs, the tradition of hurrying alive their female babies at the
time of birth.
He ruled for eighty years and was succeeded by his son, Kehar or
Khir Rai for 25 years, Khakhar Rai for 32 years, and Sind Rai, one
after the other. The last named is said to have ascended the throne in
S. 318 (A.D. 260-61). He fought many battles in the hills and sub-
dued most of the chiefs there. This refers probably to the numerous
Ranas who held sway over tiny principalities lying in narrow defiles,
hammed in by ridges and ranges difficult of access, and who were in the
habit of raising their heads now and then. The occasion was probably
the rebellion of his vassals of Babaor, who claimed to be Chandra-
wanshis, descendants of the Pandavas. Sind Rai's contemporary at
Babaor was Raja Padam Rai, son of Chatter Rai, who was subdued
by force and killed, According to the tradition Babaor had been
founded about 500 years before the arrival of the Jammu ruling house
in the hills of the Rechana Doab. The Rajas of Jammu subdued the
ancient Babbapura principality but did not annex it and it continued as
a subordinate chiefship. However, they used to rebel now and then
and Raja Padam Rai kept up the tradition of rebellion, but was badly
crushed and annihilated and the place was pulled to the ground.

Sind Rai is said to have conquered all the Hill principalities and
extended his kingdom into the southern plains upto Sind. He ruled for
50 years upto S. 368 (A.D. 310), and was succeeded by his son Jagat
Rai, also called Narad Rai and Sink Rai, who ruled for 20 years. He
was followed on the throne by his son Dudh Rai for 12 years.

It is not easy to reconcile the annals of Jammu with the recorded

history of north-western India. A large portion of the north-western
India was occupied and ruled by foreign tribes who entered this part
after the fall of the Mauryan dynasty. According to Tranatha, one
Virasena established his sway over Gandhara in about 225 B. C. His
successor, Subbagasena, tendered his submission to Antochios III, the
26
Seleucid, when he invaded Gandhara in about 207-206 B.C. The
great Bacterian Greek king, Demetrius conquered whole of the northern
Panjab about 185 B.C., and even extended his sway upto Saketa and
27
Pataliputra. Indo-Greek family which ruled over the northern Punjab
was that of Euthydemos, probably Raja Hodi of the Jammu legends
concerning Salavahan and Rasalu. Euthydemos ruled from Euthydemia
or Sialkot, in the first century B. C. One of his successors was
Menander, who also ruled at Sakala. He was known to the Budhists
as Milinda, after whom one of the Buddhist text, Milindapanho, has
28
been named, According to Tarn he died about 145 B.C.
26. J.A,S.B„ 1920. pp. 305, 320.
27. Tarau, W,W., The Greeks in Bcctria and India, pp. 195-97.
28. Bid., p. 226.

•
48 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The Greek power in the Panjab and Gandhara was over-thrown by

Saka-Pehlavas under their famous king MAUES or Moga, who calls
himself, 'Maharaya' in the Texila copper plate. He ruled probarbly
29
about 50 B.C. Gandophernes was the greatest-Indo-Parthian monarch
who ruled in eastern Iran and north-western India between 19 aud 45
30
A.D. The Parthians in their turn were overthrown in India by the
Kushanas in about 65 A.D. Vima Kadphices was the first Kushana
ruler of the Punjab, who used the epithet,'Mahashwara* on his coins
as also Nandi and the figure of Siva on their reverse, Kanishka, how-
ever, was the greatest Kushana emperor who is said to have started his
31
era from 78 A.D. He ruled from Peshawar. He was succeeded in
the Panjab by Vasiska, Huviska, and Vasudeva the last named ruling
possibly upto 175 A. D.
According to V.A. Smith, the decay of the Kushana power must
have been hastened by Persian invasions like the one recorded by
32
Ferishta as having been undertaken by the first Sassanian king.
Ferishta relates that Ardhashir Babgan (c. 225-241 A.D.) advanced upto
33
Sirhind from where he retired after exacting tribute from Junah . The
rise of the Nagas and other native dynasties, like the Rai dynasty in
Jammu hills, was however responsible for their over-throw, In the north-
west the Kidara Kushanas extirminated the remnants of the Kushanas.
These rulers were probably known to the Puranas as the Gadaharas.
Towards the beginning of the 4th century A.D., the Gadharas lost a
portion of their kingdom in the Central Punjab to the Madras who had
"eventually succeeded in establishing their independent republic in the
34
Ravi-Lhenab Doab. Sialkot was probably their capital." Though
no Madra coins have been found, their existence at this period is known
from the evidence of Allahabad inscriptions of Samudragupta.
The territories of Jammu Hills were probably subject to Indo-
Greek. Indo-Parthian, Saka- Pahlava and Kushana rulers before the
re-emergence of the Madras of Sakala. It seems that several foreign
tribes settled in the foot-hills and the adjoining plain, ruled as jagirdart
and petty satraps, and after the fall of central power, established their
i
own tiny principalities under the title 'Rajanka' or Rana\ Some new
Rajput clans of Jammu and the adjoining regions were probably
remnants of these foreign chiefs. The rise of Salahrias and Charaks,
Katals and Lellotras, may have been from the similar circumstances.
29. Dr. Rayachaudhuri thinks that he ruled after 33 B.C., but before the
later half of the first century A.D, Pol Hist. Anc. lnd.9 4th ed., p. 365).
But Sten Konow assigns him about 90 B.C. (Jaur. Ind. Hist., 1933, p. 19).
30. Sten Konow, Corp. Ind., P I , I I , No, XX, pp. 57-62; Early Hist. Ind, 4th
ed,, p. 248, note 1.
31. Tripathi R.S., Hist, of Anc. Ind., 1977, p. 224.
32. Smith, V. A., Early Hist, of India, 4th ed. pp. 288-289.
33. HIED, Vol. VI, "Introduction to Ferishta*s History; pp. 557-58; Early Hist.
Ind , 4th ed., p. 289-n-3.
34. Majumdar, R.C., and Altekar, A.S., The Vakataka-Gupta Age$ Banaras^
1954, pp, 30-31.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 49

In my opinion the parent clam of Jamwals was probably an off shoot of

Saka-Pahlavas. All these tribes of Jammu region seem to have come
into prominence during the first four centuries of Christian era. The
Khokhars, Gurjaras or Gujars, Khashas and Thakkuras seem to have
similar origin. All of these were received in Hindu fold as Rajputs
when that great professional group of ruling people came into existence.
Numismatic evidence shows that a number of petty rulers like Kritavi-
rya, Siladitya Sarvayasas, Bhasvan, Kusala and Prakasa, were ruling in
the Punjab during the first half of the 5th century A.D. They were pro
35
bably Kidara Kushana rulers These local Kidara chiefs were swept
away easily and completely when the Huna avalanche broke in its full
36
fury by the middle of the 5th century A.D. Probably Madras also
disappeared as a ruling tribe from the Punjab for ever at this time.
The greatest rulers of Huna. tribe were Toramana and Mihrakula
who ruled over Kashmir, Gandhara and a large part of the Punjab
from the principal centres of their power in India at Pavvaiya on the
37
Chenab and Sakala, modern Sialkot. They probably ruled from about
500 to 535 A.D. The Huna power was supplanted by that of the
Takkas who were ruling between the Jehlam and the Bias when Hiuen
Tsiang visited these territories in 635 A.D. The rulers of Jammu were
probably subject to these powerful tribes out of which they themselves
seem to have grown.
JOGRAI: (also called Jog Raj and Jaggu Rai);
His date of accession is variously given. The tradition followed
by Ganesh Dass fixed it at Samvat 400, corresponding to the year 265
of the Salivahan era, whereas Kahan Singh Balauria gives the Vikrama
year 484 (A.D, 427) on the authority of Baharistan and Tarikh-i-Sialkot.
He ruled for 87 years. He had an extensive kingdom which included
Sialkot also.
It was about his days, narrates the tradition, that Angpal, the
Turwar Rajput, laid the foundation of Delhi near Indarpat, in S. 429
(A.D. 372), and his descendents afterwards ruled there for 490 years,
i.e. upto about 860 A.D., before it passed into the hands of the
Chohans.
Jog Rai had two sons, Malhan Hans and Suraj Dhar. Malhan
38
Hans, also called Manharas, ruled in Sialkot. He had a large num-
ber of sons, among whom he divided a number of villages as jagirs for
their sustenance on both sides of the Chenab. In due course of time
their numerous offspring took to agriculture. Hence whole of their
35. Ibid., p. 22.
36. Ibid.
37. Rayachaudhuri. H . C , Pol. Hist.Anc. lndy 6th ed„ Calcutta, 1953, p. 628.
38. Kahan Singh Balauria, 'Tarikh-Rajgan-i-Jammu-war-Kashmir, op.cit.,
p. 51.
 50 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
39
tribe came to be called Manhas , or Malnhas or Manharas after Raja
Malhan Hans. The villages of Pargowal, Chaprar, Thub and Ghor-
Suha and others belong to them. They were found in large numbers in
territories south of Jammu and in small numbers scattered in Shahpur,
Montgomery and Hoshiarpur. Bara Manga and Darya Pind were their
40
main habitation . On account of their adoption of the profession of
cultivation, they were looked down upon by their collateral brethren,
41
Jamwals, who continued to stick to the ancient avocation of a soldier .

The tradition current among the Manhas confirms the above

account. It claims Solar origin for them, in direct descent from Rama
Chandra, whose descendant Likalghar took up his abode in the Doab of
Sialkot. His son, Jamu Lochan became famous, defeated Chandar Has,
Raja of the Madra Des and built the city of Jammu. The ruling family
of Jammu and Kashmir are his lineal descendants and owe their family
name of Jamwal to him. One of this royal race, named Malan Hans
took to the plough and lost status, so that his descendants have been
disparagingly termed Manhas ever since. Traditions as to the migration
of the Manhas vary. "They say their ancestor came from Ajodhia,
but some aver that they settled in Sialkot before they conquered Jammu,
while others say they went first to Kashmir, then to Sialkot and then to
Jammu. All seem agreed that they moved into Jammu from the plains,
It is probably safest to regard the Jamwal as the territorial title of the

39. Manhasi is a tribe of Rajputs, which was found in large numbers

throughout the country below the Jammu border, i,e. in Rawalpindi, Jhelum,
Sialkot, Gurdaspur, etc., all territories now in Pakistan, from where they migrated
to India in 1947 and settled mostly in Gurdaspur, Kangra and Hoshiarpur districts.
They were also found scattered in the distri ts of Shahpur and Mont omery and in
Una. They belong to the same tribe as the Jamwals. But as the latter were
confined t o the royal braneh of Jammu and Kashmir and did not engage in
agriculture, so they looked down upon their cultivating brethern the Manhas. They
used to call their eldest son Raja, and the younger sons Mian, but this probably only
applied to the ruling, or at least principal families. 'Chindavanda' is said to be the
universal rule of inheritance among the Manhas tribe.
They gave daughters to the Salahrias, but did not get brides in return. They
intermarry on equal terms, with the Chambial, Guleria, Charak, Bagal and Bagwal
Rajputs Some of them had a curious custom of legitimazation, If a man had a
natural son by a woman whom he might have married, he succeeds equally with the
legitimate sons, provided the deceased's brother marries her, in which event she was
called a dhual, But if he did not marry her she was called a bothaU and her son a
chhatrora, and he then was only entitled to 5 per cent of his father's land and five
mar las for a building site {History of Sialkot, 73).
The Manhas are for the most part Hindus. They pour water on a goat's head
at Mukhtawa, and consider that his shaking his head in consequence is pleasing to
pitras (ancestors).
Most of the Manhas give their Brahmanical gotra as Bharadwaj and adopt that
name in religious rites. Their Brahmans are Sarasuts of the Khajur Dogra group,
Thev have to provide dower (dihej for daughters given in marriage to higher septs
of Rajputs, but per contra receive dowers with brides taken from lower grades. (A
Glossary of Tribes and Castes, Vol. I l l , pp. 67-68).
40. Anon., Tarikh i-Jammu, op. cit.> p. 24.
41. Rajdarshani, SPM , folio 103b,
THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 51

ruling family or clan of the Manhas tribe, but now confined to the royal
branch who do not engage in agriculture, and so looks down upon their
42
cultivating brethren, the Manhas."
3. DHAR DYNASTY
Raja Jog Raj was followed in the ruling line of Jammu by his
younger son, Suraj Dhar or Suraj Hans, who succeeded in S< 487
(A.D. 430). With him ushered in Jammu territories the rule of DHAR
DYNASTY, which was supreme in the land for 390 years, upto about
A.D. 825, and ruled for eight generations. Suraj Dhar seems to have
been a noble king and became so popular among his people that he was
almost worshipped by them. He was invested with some divine attributes
so that having his 'darshancf was considered auspicious by his subjects.
The Vansavali makes Suraj Dhar contemporary of the famous Bhoj
Parmar of Dharnagari, the famous hero of many legends.
Suraj Dhar ruled for 56 years and died in about 490 A.D. He had
two sons ; Ganga Dhar being the elder, succeeded to the gaddi. He
ruled for forty-five years and was followed by his son, Devala Dhar,
who ruled from about 535 to 585 A.D. He is said to have been a con-
temporary of Anushirwan of Persia. Ganesh Das narrates an annecdote
that on the request of that Iranian king, an Indian Brahman came to
Jammu, and with the blessings of Pandit Brij Basi, a councillor of the
Raja of Jammu, copied secretly the booL of political wisdom, entitled
Kalila-o-Dimna for the benefit of Anushirwan. The latter king learnt
wisdom from the study of that book and thereby got universal fame as a
43
just king .
*

It is related that Suraj Dhar did not have a son for long, so he
sought the blessings oi goddess Kalka in the Bahu fort and took a vow
to offer one of his sons in case he got two. By the.divine grace two sons
were born in his house one after the other, rhe elder was named
f
Ganga Dhar and the younger, Sojla Dhar and the latter was offered o
the deity in observance of the vow. Consequently he became known as
Sojla "Chahrak", i e., "the offered". His offspring became famous as
Charak clan of Rajputs of Jammu who owned a large tract of land from
44
the slopes of Bahu fort to the borders of Jammu in the south , tradition-
ally including 84 large villages. The genealogy and tradition of the
Charak clan confirm the statements of Kahan Singh Balauria and of
the Urdu Tankh-i-Jammu. The formation of the Charak tribe took place
in about 500 A.D. Hence the fifth century was marked by the birth of

42. Ibbetson, Sir Denzil ; Mac Lagan, E.D., and Rose, H.A„
A Glossary of Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and the North-West Frontier
Province, reprint, Patiala, 1970, Vol. I l l , p. 67.
43. Rajdarshani, SPM., folio 106 b. The Kalila-o-Dimna is the Arabic title of
the Arabic translation of the famous Sanskri' work PanchaTantra.
44. Kaban Singh Balauria, Thakur, Tarikh-i-Rajgan-i-Jammu wa-Kashmir,
p. 58.
52 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

two important land-owning tribes of the region of Jammu and the

45
northern Panjab : the Charak and the Manhas.
The history of Jammu during the supremacy of Dhar dynasty re-
lapses into obscurity, and not much details of events are given in the
Dhar after him
es Ganga Dhar, Devala Dhar, Sarabla Dhar, Kirat Dhar, Ajay
Dhar Bijay Dhar and Bajarla (or Bajar) Dhar. Sarbala Dhar, son of
Devala Dhar, ruled probably between 590 and 650 A.D. The only event
recorded of his reign is the coming of a Muslim savant, named Roshan
Shah Wali, to Jammu who lived for some years near Gumat where he
died in about 650 A.D. Sarbla Dhar built a Khangah over his grave
which came Naoaazah'. and exists on that
spot to this day. The Raja of Jammu seems to have been friendly to
him which accounts for the perpetuation of the tradition and the erection
46
of a beautiful Masoleum over his grave .

The reign of the next Raja of Jammu, Kirat Dhar, which lasted
from about 650 to 700 A.D., has been marked by the occurrence of a
revolution in Delhi which had been founded about three centuries earlier.
Bikram commi
of invading Rai Tilok Chand, king of Braj in S. 724 (A.D. 667). The
from Jammu, defeated Bikram Pal and conquered and
47
pied Delhi 144 years . These rulers of
Delhi maintained a constant communion of friendship with the
Jammu.
45. Charaks have a considerable population in Jammu and Ranbir Singhpura
Tehsils of Jammu District. From their original seat of Bahu and the
neighbouring villages of Deelee, Kalu Chak and Chaodi, they expanded
upto Birpur and Mahin. As a result of interDacine stru gle among the
prominent families some of them migrated southwards, upto the borders
of Sialkot, and occupied villages of Jagtu Chak, Salainr, Bishna, Ala,.
Charw^h and others, numbering 84 in all. During the demarcation of
boundary between the British and the State possessions in 1865 A.D.. two
villages, Charwah and Jarwal belonging to Charaks of Jammu, were trans-
ferred to the British territory of Sialkot.
The chief place of the Charaks in later middle ages was Birpur some
20 kilometres to the east of Jammu, a place marked by the :Samadh' or
Memorial of the Brahman 'Data Ran Pat'. As a result of a social tragedy
which occurred at this place most of Charak families radicasted all round
and went to live in the territories where they are found today In a family
feud over land the two brothers drew their swords. Their family priest,
Pan Pat, tried to mediate in which effort the one brother, Bangi, killed
the priest in the error of fury, and his descendants migrated from that
place some changed their caste, and a few families even changed their
religion and became Muslims, for fear of 'Brahma Hativa'—'Murder of a
Brahman'. In order to appease the soul of the noble priest they raised
his 'Samadh' at Birpur where they worship him and seek his blessings on
several ceremonial occasions and rites.
46. Tarikh-i- Jammu, pp. 24-25 ;
Rajdarshani, fol. 106.b ;
Kahan Singh Balauria, p. 58.
47. Rajdorshani, fol. 107b.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ 53

The next two reigns were uneventful, till we come to Bajarla or

Bajar Dhar, the last of the Dhar dynasty, who ruled from about 785 to
845 A.D. His reign was also marked by another revolution at Delhi.
A certain king, Baldev Chohan, ruled in Hindustan, probably at Kanauj.
He invaded Delhi and defeated the 48
last descendant of the Tuar line estab-
lished there by Raja Bikram Pal . Bajar Dhar's relations with the new
rulers of Delhi are not known. There is little doubt in Jammu's sub-
jection to the rulers of Delhi during these centuries. Bajar Dhar probably
lost the support of Baldev Chohan with the result that his brothers and
rivals made his stay in Jammu impossible. Consequently he fled to
Banehr, a place in the territory of Garh-Babaor, and settled there for
the last years of his life. He died in about 850 A.D. Before that time
a new dynasty had established its rule in Jammu which probably occu-
pied Banehr and Babaor as well after his death.

48. Ibid,, folio 107-b.

 CHAPTER FOUR

The Rise Of The 'Dev-Dynasty'

The political convulsions which struck the Dogra land about the
beginning of the nineteeth century were marked by the ejection of
Bajar Dhar from Jammu, and the rise of a new ruling dynasty to the
Dogra Raj ; the names of its rulers are suffixed by the terminal 'Dev I
The Vansavali, as usual, tieats the succeeding ruler Suraj Dev, as the
son of Bajar Dhar. It is not only this striking change which gives clue
to the accession of a new dynasty. Some other factors also tended to a
change.
A number of fresh political changes were taking place in the north-
western regions of India, the most important being Arab invasions from
Multan or Mansura and Mukran on the Hindu Kingdom of Kabul and
its dependencies in north-western Punjab. Consequently, so^e tribes
from these regions, like those of the Khokhar and Gurjaras, were dis-
located who might have migrated north-eastwards, causing upheavals in
the hills between the Jhelum and the Sutlej. The kings of Kashmir
were also sallying forth from their mountain-ringed isolation, Thus a
weak ruler like Bajar Dhar could no longer secure his position at Jammu
which was open to frequent attacks of invading armies. For many
centuries afterwards Jammu town became relegated to the background
and might have remained only an advance post of the Dogra rulers of
the 'Dev-dynasty ; who now ruled from their imperial seat in the inner
mountains, not for removed from Jammu. The latter place, however,
remained a srong out-post of the Dogra rulers, magnificently guarding
the entrance to the inner mountains along the Tawi valley, both from
the Bahu fort and the Jammu heights.
Thus the new dynasty came to power during the most crucial period
in the history of north-western Punjab when centres of political power
were breaking up too oftenly and north-western and western inlets into
India had become flooded with foreign invaders once again. This
dynasty has therefore to brace numberless onslaughts and to struggle
hard for its existance. And in spite of all odds arrayed against it, it
existed upto 1816 when the last ruler of the senior branch, was deposed
by Maharaja Ranjit Singh aud Jammu kingdom was annexed to the
Sikh kingdom of Lahore,
SURAJ DEV—A.D. 840-912.
Suraj Dev was the first ruler of the new dynasty who assumed au-
thority about A.D. 840. He ruled from Banehr or Babbapura, although
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 55

he might have recovered Jammu, as he is credited with wide conquests

of hill territories extending upto the borders of Khata and Tibet. The
seat of government remained probably at Babaur called Babbapura in
1
the Rajatarangini, and the principality may have been known as Dur-
gara or Dugger, as events of mid-tenth century mention. This arrange-
ment might have continued till the accession of Raja Mai Dev in the
last quarter of the fourteenth century.
Suraj Dev ascended the throne on the 3rd of Bhadron, V.S. 872
(corresponding to 15 August, 815). He seems to have been a brave
king and wise administrator. He divided all his state affairs into seven
departments, corresponding to seven days of the week, and entrusted
each of these to separate Vakils, so that on appointed days each one of
them cor ducted himself into the presence of the Raja and submitted his
2
report and sought his guidance and instructions. The seven Vakils or
ministers bore separate titles each and performed different functions.
Raj Mehta or Mehta-deodhi, was the minister of royal household, work-
3
shops and building ; the Vakil-i* Riy ay a or Mehta Raj Mehtri, was mini-
ster of public welfare ; Mehta Dalpati was the commander-hr chief of
royal forces ; Mehta Kachehri or Mehta-Tharha was minister for civil and
military accounts ; Mehta Dharma Rai was the acclesiastical minister,
Mehta Rang Ras was minister for entertainment and reception, and
4
Mehta Karond Singh looked after law and order in the state.
I

For the management of all these affairs and conduct of expeditions

concerning them, a standing force of 700 cavalry and 2100 infantry was
employed for royal service. Out of these, a contingent of 300 foot and
100 horsemen each was always on duty every day at the Deodhi by turns,
and formed the royal retinue as well as the guard of the royal court.
Every footman was equipped with a shield and a sword and carried
a short javelin. Horsemen possessed bows and arrows as well as shields
and swords on their bodies. Raja Suraj Dev seems to have been an
efficient ruler and probably he conducted administrative reforms and
improved upon the existing system. The title of 'Mehta'' continued long
after him. and the tradition relates the popular anecdate of 'Mehta' Bir
Singh and the brahmin, Bawa Jitto, which occurred in the reign of Aje
or Ajab Dev who most probably ruled after Raja Mai Dev, from about
A.D. 1423. The term Mehta-thara was also in vogue in Chamba state.
His administrative system seems to have continued after him and became
the basis of the government of this hill state and its dependencies.

The local tradition attributes to him a pathetic end and narrates the
story of the fidelity and bravery of his lovely spouse, Neela Rani. It is
stated that a Muslim chief Sultan Mohammed invaded Ghazni and fought
against the Hindu Shahiya ruler in about 850 A.D. Suraj Dev probably
1. Stein, M.A., Rajatarangini, Eng. Trans , Vol. II, p. 247.
2. Rajdarshani, folio 103 a ; Charak, Gulabnama p. 18
3. Ibid.
4. Rajdarshani, folios 108 b and 108 109 a.
 56 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

went to Kabul in aid of the Hindu Shahiya ruler and was captured and
kept imprisoned in a cage by a Muslim commander Sherif Khan. Later
he was asked to choose beween Islam and death and the brave Dogra
chief chose the latter. His queen reached there in disguise but her hus-
band was buried alive in a masonary tower before her eyes before she
could render any help to the hero. The same night she burnt herself
alive aud became a Sati. The legand probably refers to one of the
raids of the Arab general Umar bin Lais Saffar who fought many battles
with Lalliya Shahi, the founder of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Kabul,
and his successor Kamluka or Kamal Verman. It was probably in one
of these battles that Suraj Dev was imprisoned and afterwards murdered.
r
The Dogra rulers, as vassals or friends of the indu rulers of Kabul,
used to participate on the side of their co-religionists in their struggle
against Muslim invaders and their annals are full of heroic deeds on
similar occasions.
THE TURK INVADERS AND THE 'DEV RULERS
BHOJ DEV—912 to 982-83 A D .
Suraj Dev was succeeded to the gaddi of Jammu Raj at Babbapura
by his eldest son, Bhoj Dev who seems to have been the first eminent
ruler of the'Dev'dynasty. He was a great hill ruler, and some short
Vansavalis of the Dogra kings start with his name.
The tradition makes him contemporary with Sabuktigin. The
5
Vansavali states that he was killed in Anand Pal's first battle with
Sabuktigin which was fought in A D . 982-8 ?, which gives the date of
his death. As he is said to have ruled for 70 years, his date of accession
has to be fixed in A.D. 912.
The one notable event of his reign was the attack on Chamba by a
confederate army in which the Dogra contingents under Bhoj Dev and
7
Raja Som Pal of Sambarth (or Saumattika), associated with the inva-
y
ders, a people named 'Kira in a Chamba copper-plate title-deed of
King Asata of Chamba, mentioning the events of the reign of Sahila-
8
Varman (A.D. 930-40). The Dogra ruler has been mentioned there as
'Durgareswara'—the 'Lord of the Dugger'. The expedition was a
failure and the powerful Raja of Chamba routed the invaders in a pitched
battle. The events, however, indicate the trend of political affiliations
and ambitions of the psople of the Dogra region some ten centuries ago.
It reveals the close association of Jammu and Basohli right from
their earliest historical mention. The bearing of 'Kira' people is not
*

5. Rajadarshani, folio 109 b .

6 Elliot, H.M., History of India as told by its own Historians, reprint, Kitab
Mahal, Allahabad 1969 Vol. 11, p. 424
7. Kahan Singh Balaurla, Thakur, Op. Cit., pp. 59-60.
8. Prof. Keilhom, Ind. Antiq., 1888.» p. 9 Por details see History and cul-
ture of Himalayan States, Vol. I I , p. 38, and Rise and Fall of Jammu
Kingdom, p . 4.
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 57

clear. Some authorities equate it with the Kashmiris, whereas some

associate them with a part of the inhabitants of Kangra. There is a
village near Baijnath (ancient Vaidyanath) called Kira-gram, and it is
opined that the Kiras of the copperplate may have been the people of
this region. However, the equation of 'Kira' invaders with Kashmiri
is not improbable, as soon after this event, we find bigger Kashmiri
forces invading Chamba. The Rajatarangani reveals that Kashmir had
always asserted a suzerainty over Chamba, and on several occasions the
Rajas of Chamba are mentioned as present in Kashmir Court. It is,
therefore, certain that the 'Kiras' of the copper-plate refer to the Kash-
miri forces. If so, the association of the Dogras with Kashmir in some
form since the early middle ages is established. During the following
centuries this association seems to have increased and we find the states
of Jammu-Kangra hills, Punch and Kashmir coming frequently in clash
with one another.
9
The Vansavali gives V S 987 as the date of this event which corres-
ponds with 930 A.D. which exactly tallies with the date of Chamba
annals.
Roja Bhoj Dev was also on friendlv terms with the Shahis of Kabul,
and in collaboration with them fought against the Muslim invaders. When
Sabuktigin encroached on Jaipal Shahi's territory, the latter retaliated
by invading the principality of the former and a battle wes fought at
10
Sakawand in A.D. 982. Bhoj Dev fought on the side of Jaipal. The
Indian army of Jaipal was defeated due to bad weather and heavy snow-
fall, and was annihilated. Bhoj Dev died in the battle-field in that year
after reigning for 70 years. ^
*

He had four sons, Karan Dev from one wife, and Avtar Dev,
Kharak Dev and Pahlad Dev from the other. He separated the depen-
dancy of Banehr from Jammu and installed Karan Dev R^ja thereof.
This he did probably to avoid any possible dispute over succession
among the half-brothers. The fourth descendant of Karan Dev was
Manak Dev, after whose name the new principality came to be called
Manak-kot or Mankot, and his descendants were known as Mnnkotias.
11
Sixteen generations ruled at Mankot after Manak Dev Chattar till Dev.
AVTAR DEV (982 to about 1020 A.D.)
Bhoj Dev was succeeded to the gaddi of Jammu by his second son
Avtar Dev, who also professed allegiance to the Shahis and sent his
brother, Pahlad Dev, to help King Jaipal against Mahmud.
9. Kahan Singh Balauria, Thakur, Op. Cit., p. 59.
10. Raj darsh an i, fo 1 io 110-b.
11. AHiudi Vansavali states that Karan Dev's full name wa Mani Karan
Dev, hence he changed the name of Banehr to Manipur, which in turn
gave the name Mankotia to the ruling clan The line of succession of Man-
kotia Rajas is as under :—Manak Dev, Ude Dev Nagar Dev, Uttam Dev,
Harichander Dev, Pratap Dev, Arjan Dev. Sheeta/ Dev, Thota Dev, Irati
Dev, Ajmat Dev, Dalel Singh and Chattar Dev.-Rajdarsnani, Op.Ut.,
folio 110-a.
58 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

In this battle fought near Pashawar in 1001 A.D., Pahlad Dev was
12
killed along with Gopal. Avtar Dev also gave shelter to Jaipal in his
defeat and permitted the fugitive prince to live at Basohli. Probably
offended with these hostile activities of the Raja of Jammu Mahmud
entrusted the Siwalik territory between the Chenab and Jehlum to a
Ghakhar (i.e., Khokhar) chief and sent his son Masud to the Jammu
Siwaliks to reduce Mangarh and other forts and to plunder and ravage
13
Jammu territory and carry the Raja of that place a prisoner. Avtar
Dev sent his force under his son Nar Dev and his brother, Kharak Dev,
14
and a number of his officers and vassal rajas, against the invader, The
Dogra army laid an ambush in the jungle, defeated and plundered
Masud who found safety in a hurried retreat. It is narrated that Rais of
Kangra, Mangarh, Mahva-Dhamhri, Chamba, Basohli, Kishtwar and
15
Adi-dhak all participated on the side of the Raja of Jammu. Most
probably this resistance was organised by Anandpal, son and suceessor
of Jaipal Shahi, who had taken refuge with the Raja of Jammu. How-
ever, the Ghaznavid invaders were more fortunate in subsequent raid
when they succeeded in carrying away some three hundred camel-load
16
of booty from Jammu hills.

JAS DEV (1020 to 1053 A. D.). Avtar Dev ruled for 44 years
and died in about 1020 A.D. and was succeeded by his eldest son Jas
Dev. the founder of Jasrota town which later became the headquarters
of one of the most powerful principalities in the hills. He gave the
newly founded town to his brother, Karan Dev whose descendants ruled
there for many generations and came to be called 'Jasrotias\
Jas Dev's reign is known for a strange event. The people of Jammu
were once greatly harassed by the pests of scorpions and snakes. The
king knew by divination or in a dream that Bhairon or Bhair-devata (the
Dogri form for Varun, a river-god of Vedic age), who had his abode in
the waters of the Tawi desires proptiation. The Raja, therefore, gathered
all his people on the river bank and forbade catching offish in the Tawi,.
and worshipped Bhair-devata as the guardian-deity of the city. He
also appointed a brahmin of the Lahri caste as th? priest of that god
and assigned a village in the name of that diety where the descendants
of that priest still reside and the village came to be called Bhair after
the name of that god. This act of the Raja and the people pleased the
river-god who clained his lineage from Bask (Vasuki) Nag of legendry
fame. This removed the malady of the people. The worship of Bhair-
devata, and that of Kali Devi of Bahu fort as its manifestation, has been
traced in Jammu from the days of Jas Dev.

12. Rajdarsham, Op. Cit., folio 112. a

13. Ibid, B M. folio 120-b : SPM. folio 113. a
14. Ibid, BM. folio 121 a ; SPM folio 114 a.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid, folio 122 b.

e
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 59'

SANGRAM DEV, (1053 to 1094 A.D.).

Jas Dcv seems to have ruled from Babbapura, and died about 1053.
He was succeeded to his gaddi by his eldest son, Sangram Dev, who is
said to have been a just ruler. Many anecdotes of his love of justice'
were narrated among the people. Nothing much, however, has been
recorded of his reign. It seems that after the extinction of the Shahis
in about A.D. 1026, the Dogras like many other tribes, who were
vassals of the Hindu rulers of Kabul, had become independent, resisted'
intrusion of the Ghaznavis in hills and flouted the authority of Kashmir.
King Ananta of Kashmir (1028-1063 A.D.) had conquered the adjoining
hill principalities and the rulers of Champa (Chamba) Darvabhisara,
17
Trigarta and Vartula accepted Atlanta's supremacy but when he
marched against Kalasa, the ruler cf Vallapura (Balawar), the Dogras
badly defeated him and he was saved by his min ister Haladhara who
18
showed great presense of mind.

JASAKARA DEV ALIAS CHAK OR CHAKAR

DEV A.D. 1094—1164.
There seems to be some confusion concerning the succession after'
19
Sangram Dev. Ganesh Dass gives the name Chakar Dev, whereas-
20
Hutchison and Vogel make Jasakar Dev succeed him and Chak Dev
to follow the latter on the gaddi. Thakur Kahan Singh Balauria opines
that Jasakar and Chak are the names of the same person. But this
seems to be improbable. The long reign of 70 years assigned to one
24
ruler was probably shared by the two. The genealogies, however,
omit Jasakar Dev, who was probably an unimportant ruler.
t

H
Chak or Chakar Dev had also to lace Muhammadan invasions on
his territory like his predecessors. From the beginning of the Muham-
madan invasions, there must have been almost continuous warfare, in
which several Dogra Rajas, accompanying the army of Anang Pal of
Delhi fell in battles, and Durgara with other Hill States mo^t probably
participated in this long drawn struggle, Though the Mohammadans
held Lahore and the plains of the Punjab, they were unable to penetrate
into the mountains, where the Rajput chiefs still preserved their
22
independence."
A fresh menace which Chakar Dev had to face was the rising power
of the Khokhars who had suddenly apoeared on the political horizon of
Jammu Hills. They had been subject to Jammu But Malik Khusrau
(1173—1201), the last of the Ghaznavis, who had been driven out of his
17. Bilhana, Vikarmankadevacharita, XVIII, 38.
18. Rajatarangini, I, VII—220,
19. Rajdarshani,io\, 134,
20. H. P.H.S. p. 528.
21. File No: 1352 {Vernacular), Persian Records, SAR (J>
22. H.P.H.S., p. 528.
60 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H A SHORT JAMMU RAJ

native land and had established himself at Lahore, incited the Khokhars
of Mangla to rebel and won them to his side. Hard pressed by this
hostile combination Chakar Dev is said to have sent his son, Ram Dev,
to the rising Ghori chief, Shahabu-d-Din Muhammad, and invited him
to invade Lahore, ihe capital of his Ghaznavid enemy. Muhammad
Ghori beseiged Lahore in 1174 A.D. but failed to take it. He, however,
repaired and strengthened the fori of Sialkot on Chakar Dev's advice
23
and placed Hussain as thanahdar in it. After his departure Khusrau
Malik laid siege to the fortress of Sialkot assisted by the Khokhar
tribes, but failed to take it as the Raja of Jammu promptly moved his
24
contingents in aid of the besieged. Later, however, Munammad
Ghori invaded Laho A.D. and out an end
the Ghaznavid rule in the Punjab. Chakar Dev probably shifted his
loyalty to his new protege in an effort to counter the Khokhar menace
which had become parennial for Jammu rulers and the very existence
of Jammu was threatened at the hands of this new political power which
was gathering strength at the cost of Jammu and Lahore rulers. Thakur
25
Kahan Singh Balauria says that Chakar Dev has been named
Dhar in the Rajatarangini* who Kashmir. He
Kashmir aff;

that countrv had

Uchbala and Sussala in 1100 A.D. and Bhoja's infant son Bhikshachar,
had been removed out of the returned in order
to make an attempt to recover his paternal throne, and on his way, while
at Kurukshetra he fell in with several hill chiefs who had come there on
pilgrimage. Among these there were three local chieftains and two
heir-apparents of small principalities : Vajradhara (Chakar Dev) of
Babbapura, Jasata of Champa (Chamba), Raja Sahajpala of Vartula,
and juvarajas, Balha and Anandaraja of Trigarta and Vallapura (Balour)
26
respectively. They entered into an alliance against Sussala (A.D.
1101-1 111), and agreed to restore Bikshachara to the throne of Kashmir.
Assured of help from them Bhikshachara entered the hills, and in order
to strengthen his positior also married the daughter of the ruler of
27
>uia (Balaor, i.e. mod. Basohli) Soon after this Bhikshachara
made Kashmir
had from Vajradhara of Durgara we do not know.. He and Jasata of
Chamba soon lost interest in the royal claimant, and changed sides
when things looked unfavourable. Kalhana's notices make this quite
clear that Vajradhara returned to28 his allegiance, like Jasata of Chamba
and left Bhikshachara to his fate .
23. Rajdarshani—folio 135 b ; Tshwari Prasad, A short History of Muslim Rule
in India, Allahabad, 3rd. Ed., p. 59.
24. Ibid. See also Tabakat-i-Nasseri, Eng. Trans, by Raverty, pp. 453-55,
which confirms these sfatements of Rajdarshani.
25. Kahan Singh Belauria, Thakur, Op. Cit., p. 58.
26. Rajatrongini, VIII, vs. 537-541.
27. Ibid. vs. 547-48.
2ZMH.P.H.S. 527 . ^ H ^ ^ ^ ^ I ^ ^ ^ ^ I ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I ^ ^ ^ H
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 61'

Some 25 years before this also the rulers of the Durgara circle have
been mentioned in the Rajatarangini in connection with the events of
Kashmir which took place during the reign of Chakar Dev's predecessor,
Sangram Dev (A.D. 1054-90). The reference is to an assemblage of
eight hill chiefs at the court of Raja Kalasa (A.EJ. 1063-89) of Kashmir,,
29
son of Ananta Deva. These chiefs. were the following :—
1. Kirtiraja of Bhaddhapura (Babbapura, Jammu).
2. Asata of Champa (mod. Chamba),
3. Kalasa of Vallapura (Balaor),
4. Sangramapala of Rajapuri (Rajauri).
5. Utkarsha of Lohara,
6. Gambhirasimha of Kanda.
7. Uttmaraja of Kashthavata (mod. Kashtvvar) and
8. Sangata of Urasa (mod. Hazara).
1
King Kalasa convened this meeting of neighbouring rulers and
potentates at his capital in 1087-88 A.D. to discuss common problems,
obviously the common danger of Muslim incursions to which all of
them were exposed, and forge a united front. Probably they were all
subject to Kashmir. Evidently Kashmir had not then relaxed its hold
on the States of the outer hills. The prominent position given to Kirti
in the list seems to indicate that he held a prominent place among the
Hill Chiefs, and may have been a Kinsman or Samanta, representative
of the Raja of Jammu. There is another reference to "Kirtiraja, lord
of Nilapura, whose daughter, Bhuvanamati, was married to Kalasa.
Anyhow, the mention of Vajradhara (i.e., Chakar Dev) is the last
reference to the Dogra State in the Rajatarangini. This Raja ruled upto
about 1164. It is narrated that his first wife, named Rani Parmeshwari,
was from the Rakwal family. For a long time the Raja did not have
any issue, so he took another wife from the Charak family who
became a great favourite with him. The neglected Parmeshwari
lived separate but like a devoted wife worshipped, her husband. Once
the Raja took her and the younger wife on pilgrimage to the Jagannatha
Puri where she made an end to her life by throwing herself into the
Ganga. The repentant Raja, on coming back to Jammu, raised a
temple in her memory which has been named after her and stands to
this day at the end of the Dhakki Parmeshwari on .he bank of the Tawi.
The Raja also declared her to be a family deity of the ruling house, to-
30
be propitiated on all auspicious occasions and this custom has been
observed by the ruling clan of Iammu till recently.
BAJ OR BIJAY DEV. A.D. 1164 to 1215.
Chakar Dev's son and successor Baj Dev or Bijay Dev was con-
temporary of Muhammad Ghori. When the latter invaded the Punjab
in Hejira 583 (A.D. 1187), Bijay Dev sent his representative Puro andl
his son Narsing Dev, to wait upon the Ghori who had occupied Lahore
29. Rajatarangini, [, vii, 387-388-90, 583-86.
30. Anon., Tarikh-i-Jammu, MS. RDL (S), pp. 142-46.
62 ^^^•HHI^^^H^^H^^^H A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

and imprisoned and later murdered Khusrau Malik. The Ghori con-
queror sent back the Dogra Chiefs with Khilats and bestowed the
Parganah of Sialkot on the Dogra Raja.
Ganessh Dass records the local tradition that the title of 'Mian*
Or 'MianjV was bestowed on the Jamwal rulers by Muhammud Ghori
though ihe tradition in other hills where the title 'Mian' is in use,
avers that it was introduced in the hills by the Mughal rulers in about
1560 A.D The term in its original form 'Mianjf means 'a mediator'
or representatives or a go between ; and may have been applied to the
Vakils or representatives of Rajas, who were usually royal brothers or
sons. Jt was soon31adopted by the ruling clans as a title of honour and
insignia of royality .
Like his father, Bijay Dev, too, allied himself to the interests of
the Ghori in his battle of Tarain fought with Prithvi Raj Chauhan—
'the Rai Pathora' of the Dogra traditions. At the battle field of Tarain
the Raja of Jammu was found on the side of Muhammad Ghori along
with Jai Chand. The Jammu contingent was commanded by Narsing
Dev, son of the Raja. The Rajdarshani narrates that Prithvi Raj's
brother, Khande
32
Rao, was killed in the battle of Tarain at the hands of
Narsing Dev .
Baj Dev ruled for 51 years and was succeeded by his son Narsing
Dev in about 1220 A.D. who ruled for 30 years. He was followed on
the gaddi by his son Arjan Dev, from 1250 to about 1310 A.D. His
reign was marked by rebellion of the Bhalwals of Bhalwalta on the
instigation of the Raja ofMankot. Arjan Dev got the Bhalwal chief
murdered by a stratagem, but one of the Bhalwal chiefs, named
Dulla, defied the Jammu authority and took to the ways of way-
farers and decoits. Soon he became a terror in the hills and the
ferocious rebel came to be called 'Dulla Murdam Khor"—'Dulla, the
canibalist ! The Raja of Jammu finally curbed the rebellion and killed
33
the outlaw chief .
JODH DEV, A.D. 1310 to 1361.
During these centuries the most notable Dogra ruler was Jodh
Dev, the immediate successor of Arjan Dev. He became Raja
probably after A.D. 1310. It was in his days that Zulfiqar Turk
invaded Kashmir in 724H. (1324 A.D.) through the Barahmula pass
occupied the country and put the inhabitants' of Srinagar to the
sword. Seh Deva the ruler of Kashmir fled the country and took
refuge in Kishtwar. After about six months when the invader had
left, the country, Jodh Dev helped him to return to the valley, but
meanwhile 'Ratan. Ju' (Rinchen Bhot), the ruler of Tibet, had occupied
the valley and had been accepted by the Kashmiris as their Raja. Sah
31. Rajdarshani, folio 136 a.
32. Rajdarshani, SPM., fol. 138 a.
33. Ibid, fol. 140 b.

•
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 63
Dev came back 34to Kishtwar and the Raja of Jammu made provision for
his sustenance.
Jodh Dev was contemporary of Feroz Shah of Delhi who became
ruler there in H. 750 (1349 A.D.)
C. RAJA MAL DEV (1361—1400)
Jodh Dev was succeeded to the gaddi of the Dogra Raj by his son
Mai Dev, the hero of several legends and ballads of the Dogra. The
date of the accession of this Dogra ruler is quite uncertain. Ganesh
85
Dass has 1404 Bikrami (1347 A.D.) and Hejira 763 (A.D. 1361) ;
36
whereas G. C. Smyth has 1389 Bikrami (A.D. 1332) and Hajire 749
(A.D. 1348). His date of accession therefore, varies from 1332 to
1361 A.D. At the same time tradition makes him contemporary with
Timur's invasion of India wh A.D
said to have ruled for fo may
placed in 1360—61 A.D
He most probably shifted the Dogra capital to Jammu which had
been abandoned by the rulers during the period of the recurring invasions
of Trucks since the days of Mahmud of Ghazni, though Jammu had
remained their military outpost ever afterwards. Tradition amply
proves this fact. It is a stated that he brought a big rock from the
bed of the Tawi and placed it at a spot where it lies 'o this day in the
mohalla 'Kali-Janni', gathered his Kinsmen and the subject people and
annointed himself 'Raja' sitting on that rock which long afcerwards
served as sacred place for every new king to celebrate his 'Raj-tilak
(accession to gaddi). "Henceforward this Rajput colony was treated
with greater respect by the country people around, while the Meghs
and numerous other new-comers and temporary inhabitants, Hindus,
who had fled from the Muslim Rule and migrated from the Panjab
hither—all now looked up to the Rajput chief (Mai Dev) as their
38
rightful lord, prince and protector."

Thus Jammu once again became the capital of the Dogra kingdom.
The building of Purani Mandi, now extinct except an old spot where
stands the subsequently built mansion housing the Amar Kshatriya
39
Rajput Sabha ; are said to have been erected by Raja Mai Dev . A
corner of this mansion houses a small shrine marking the spot where
Mai Dev first sat on his gaddi as the ruler of Jammu, and at this spot
all the subsequent Dogra rulers upto the last one, Maharaja Hari
34. Rajdarihani, SPM. M.S. fol. 141 a.
35. Rajdarshani, SPS M.S. fol. 142 a.
36. Smyth, G.C.,A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore, etc., 1847,
p. 234.
37. Rajadarshani, op, cit,, fol, 144b ; Tarikh-i-Jammu (Urdu), p. 33.
38. Smyth, G.C., Op. Cit., p. 235.
.39. Rajdarshani, SPS. MS. fol 142 ; H.P.H,S., p. 528 ; Tariah-i-Jammu,
p. 33.
64 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Siroh received their Raj-tilak at the time ofaccessioE. The rock

'Kalijanni'. Once lay within the precincts of this palace which was also
known as 'Maldev-ki-Mandi'.
An interesting anecdote is narrated about the erection of the pucca
palaces on this spot by Maldev at later date. Once he became offend-
40
ed with Rana Kailasa (A.D. 1357-1397) , the Raja of Nurpur, who
was the husband of his sister. The furious Dogra chief made a sur-
prise attack on his relative and in the scuffle that ensued the Pathania
Raja was killed, and the victor dismantled the Nurpur fort and palace
and carried the bricks to Jammu out of which he built his brick palace
at the Purani Mandi. This must have taken place in A.D. 1397 when
Raja Kailsa, the conqueror of Tatar Khan, the Tughlaq governor ot
Lahore under Muhammad Tughlaq, is stated to have been killed.
This event led to impairment of Mai Dev's relations with the
Tughlaq Sultans of Delhi. The wazir of Nurpur (then called
Dhammari), went to Delhi and complained against Mai Dev's high
handedness. Thereupon Mai Dev destroyed and plundered the palace
and town of the Pathanias and made preparations for battle with
imperial forces. In the battle Mai Dev routed the Delhi army sent
against him. However, Mai Dev's half-brothers, Jankar Dev and
Inder Dev, went over to the imperial forces and helped them in seizing
Mai Hev's person by treachery. He was carried to Delhi a prisoner
and his half-brothers were installed in power at Jammu by the imperial
officers. He was, howeve, reconciled to the Tughlaq Sultan of Delhi by
show of his super-human power in a bout and was released and restored
42
to power. The Sultan acknowledged him ruler of Jammu . The
Dogra Raja however, continued to flout the authority of the Sultans-
of Delhi like most of the chiefs. Mai Dev was able, when occasion
required, to assemble round him three or four hundred armed
followers, and with such instruments at his command he did not lose
the opportunity of "making himself known and dreaded all over the
neighbouring lowlands" and by his heroic acts and nightly inroads,
he showed that he little respected and even defied the great Moslem
power of the age, the disturbances of the times gave him and some of
his descendants opportunties to revage the lowlands on different
43
occasions upto some forty or fifty coss" , some hundred kilometers.
Thus Mai Dev extended his kingdom on all sides. He conquered
44
territories in the east up to the river Beas , and ravaged and plundered
the plain region many miles south of Sialkot.

40. Charak, S.S., History and Culture of Himalayan States, Vol. I, p. 269.
41. Tarikh-i-Jammu, pp. 27-28 ; Ramju Dar, Tarikh-V Shahi KJiandaa-i-Dogrc
MS. RDL (S), fol-160-170.
42. Ibid, pp-31-32.
43. Smyth, G.C., Op. Cit., pp. 236-37.
44. Tarikh-i-Jammu, Op, Cit., p. 32.
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 65

The Dogras may have been forced to pay tribute to the Sultana
now aud then, but mostly they asserted their independence and Amir
Timur was informed in 1399 A.D. that the inhabitants of Jammu 45
region "were not submissive and obedient to Sultans of Hindustan."
Mai Dev had made his kingdom independent and had sought to
extend it towards the west, beyond the river Chenab also. His political
ambition and the chaos caused by Turk and tribal invasions dragged
Jammu into a long drawn struggle with hostile forces entrenched all
around. The period of about a century from Mai Dev's accession in
1361, was the most eventful for the people and rulers of Jammu. They
had a busy time with invaders and in conflicts with their warlike neigh-
bours, the Khokhars, and with rulers of Delhi and their governors
at Lahore. The Mongol inroads on the north-western regions of
India had started distressing people. The Turks had entrenched them-
selves in power in Afghanistan and north-western Punjab. Forcible
conversion of Hindus to Islam in Kashmir and in the Punjab had
become a routine of Muslim rule in India, which was then represented
at Delhi by the imbecile rule of the later Tughlaks, followed by
the Sayyid Sultans, and the Lodhis in quick succession. The plains
of Punjab and the low hills of Jammu-Kangra region had become a
cock-pit of continuous struggle between the invaders, free-booter
plundering tribes of Khokhars, Chibhs and Awans, the empire builders
of Delhi and their representatives at Dibalpur and Lahore ; and last
of all, tribal raiders and foreigners seeking and carrying men and
women to slavery, rapine and loot. These Muslim bands in various
garbs had made this region a veritable hell for the so called 'infidels'
whom they mercilessly and frequently slaughtered in the name of Islam
and sent them to hell.
The most numerous and troublous subjects of the Dogras were the
Khokhars who were scattered along the foot-hills from the Jahlum to
the Ravi with their larger concentrations in the plain around Gujarat,
Pind Dadan Khan, Rawalpindi and the Salt Range, and in the tract of
Hoshiarpur District called Khokharain. They trace their origin from
the days of Achamaenians, and Ferishta informs us that Kaid Raj,
a general of Darius Hystaspes, built the fort of Jammu and placed it
under the commander, Virk Khokhar, and that 46
since then to his day,
Jammu was in possession of the Khokhars. Their connection with
Jammu has been referred to above. They arrayed a force 30,000
strong in aid of Anandpal Shahi against Mahmud of Ghazani. They had
built their power in the hills north of Mangla fort along the left bank
of the Jhelum. They revolted under their leaders Bakan and Sarki in
the reign of Qutubuddin Aibek, and again created troubles for
Muhammad Ghuri who was finally assassinated by a Khokhar in 1206
A. D. The History of the Rajas of Jammu confirms such activities of
Khokhars. It narrates that "The tribe of Khokhar, who dwelt round
about Mangla fort at the foot of the hills and were subject to the Jammu
45. Malfuzat-i-Timuri, HIED, Vol. iii, 468.
46. HIED, Vol. II. p. 447
 66 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

dynasty, having received encouragement from the Lahore ruler (Malik

Khusru), and sure of his support, refused any longer to pay tax and
47
tribute to Jammu and threw oft'its yoke." In return the Khokhars
assisted Malik Khusrau in his attempt to wresj Sialkot from the Ghuri
48
Officers "Who were befriended by the Jammu forces ; and because of
the timely help of the Raja of Jammu in favour of the besieged Malik
Khusrau 'retired without being able to effect his object !
The Khokhars were thus gathering strength by aligning themselves
with the enemies of Jammu whose authority they oftenly flouted. Their
activities spread over the region of Jud hills (The Salt Range) and the
present Chibhal or Bhimber and Mangla. Their leader was called
'Khokhar Rai'. who rebelled against the Raja of Jammu and this gave
rise to long-drawn struggle between the Dogras and Khokhars which
turned grim at the close of the fourteenth century. The one cause of
this enmity was that the Khokhar Rai, called Khokhar Sanka in the
49
Tabakat-i-Nasiri, had embraced Islam. In the reign of Muhammad
Tuglak they became restive and rebelled against the authority of Delhi
in 1342-43 A. D. under their leader Chandar.
What relationship the Khokhars had with Jammu during these
turbulous days, is not clear. But it is certain that they held sway west
of the Chenab, with their strong holds at Bhimbar, Thakhar lying to the
north of Mangla fort. They were also thinly scattered upto Akhnur
50
and in the district of Jammu where they had a small fort near Jammu.
One of the eminent chiefs of Khokhars of Jammu region was Sarpal.
Sixth from him in descent was Chuchak or Anchu, and Malik Shaikha,
51
the contemporary of Raja Mai Dev, was the seventh. Shaikha is
said to have founded a fort called Shaikha after himj and also a village
named Dhankar (probably Tekhar) in the hills of Bhawan, north of
52
Mangla, holding the hill-country and the tracts west of Gujarat. He
still seems to have been a local chief, subject probably to Raja Mai Dev
whom Sultan Mahmud Tughlak had acknowledged Raja of Jammu
53
and the adjoining country. But Shaikha soon became so powerful
that he was appointed governor of Lahore by the Sultan of Delhi and
his brother, Nusrat, opposed Timur's army on behalf of the Tughlaks,
with only 2 000 men on [the Beas. The power of the Khokhars of
Jammu region had thus out grown that of Jammu, and for the next 60
years a struggle raged between the Khokhars and the rulers of Delhi
47. )f the Panjab and North-West
Provine, 1883, p. 544.
48. trans, by Major H. G. Ravert, Rep,
19 70, Vol! I p. 455.
49. Ibid. *

50. HIED, Vol. II, p. 46J.

51. A Glassary of Tribes of the Panjab, etc., p . 54
52. Ibid See also Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 142 b .
53. — V p -
'
(Tabakat —
the general
name by which the chiefs of the tribe styled themselves, hence Jasrath is
often styled Jasrath Shaikha.
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 67
I
i
•

in which Rajas of Jammu were always found in the camp of the

Sultans of Delhi. 1

/
B

The first rebellion of Shaikha occurred in 1393, in the reign of

Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Tughlak. But the Sultan died before
any force could be moved against the rebel. When Mahmud Tughlak
became Sultan he appointed Sarang Khan to the fief of Dibalpur and
directed him against the rebel Khokhar. In September, 1394 Sarang
moved his forces against Lahore which was held by Shaikha Khokhar.
54
The rebel was defeated and took shelter in Jammu territory. Sarang
Khan appointed his own brother, Malik Kandhu, governor of Lahore.
Soon after, Delhi was convulsed by a fairly confused civil war,
in which all the powerful nobles, including Mallu, Tatar Khan, Sarang
Khan, Muqarrab Khan and Nusrat Khan were involved. Mallu,
getting cooperation of the Tughlaq Sultan, Mahmud, had done away
with most of his rivals and was pursuing his only remaining enemy,
Tatar Khan when in October, 1381, Amir Timur had taken Multan
55
and Talamba. During this chaos at Delhi, the Khokhars had again
56
gained strength and had reoccupied Lahore. His brother, Nusrat,
was probably raised to the Faujdari of Hoshiarpur and he had his head-
quarters at Khokarain on the Bias, where he guarded the frontier.
When Timur "halted at Jal on the bank of the river Bias, opposite to
Shahpur," in October, 1398, he came to know of Nusrat's preparation
for resistance with his 'two thousand blood thirsty soldiers in a
57
fortress; he attacked Nusrat, and completely routed him, taking
immense booty in cattle and burning Nusrat's residence. Thereupon,
his brother, Shaikha, submitted to Timur, and had accompanied him
on his march towards Delhi. Shaikha, however, obtained Timur's
leave to return to Lahore, where he soon incurred the suspicion of
being luke warm to Timur's cause and Timur got him arrested. After
his arrest by Timur, Shaikha disappears from history. Some authorities
say that Shaikha died a natural death, while others allege that he was
58
put to death. Jasrath his son, being imprisoned in Samarqand,
purchased his release after Timur's death in 1405 A. D., came to the
Punjab, gathered strength and reappeared on the scene in 1420 A. D.
TIMUR'S INVASION OF JAMMU
Amir Timur oceupied Delhi in December, 1398. After plundering
the capital of the Sultans for about 3 weeks, he left it on hearing of the
Hindus, who inhabited the outer hills (Siwaliks) determined to carry a
54. Rajadarshani, SPM, MS., fol. 142 b.
55. The Cambridge History of India, Vol, III, p. 195.
56. Ibid, p. 176.
57. MaJfuzat-i-Timuri, in HIED., Vol. I l l , p. 415
58. The Malfuzat-i-Timuri, HIED, l i t , 455-56, states that Shaikha treacherously
fell on Timur at Kutila with five hundered men and was wounded and
captured When he was brought before Timur, " t h e awe of my presence
added to his wounds and he surrendered his soul to the Lord of Hell."
68 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
m

holy war against them on his way back to the Indus. After storming
Meeruth and Haridwar in January, 1399 he entered the Siwalik,
defeating, slaughtering and plundering on all sides. Between the Satluj
and the Beas he had severe conflicts in the outer valleys with the forces
of the Raja of Nagarkot (Kangra). Between January 24 and Febrnary
23, when he reached the neighbourhood of Jammu he had fought twenty
battles and gained as many victories, and conquered several forts which
Tirnur numbers at eight.
It is not clear which route he traversed from Kangra to Jammu.
But most probably he entered Jammu territory at Shahpur Kandi on the
Ravi, and marched along the caravan route from Basohli to Mansar.
On the way probably he had a detour northwards to Thalora and Babor,
where Timur locates one of the eight forts stormed by him, which
belonged to a chief named Shaikha, a relation of Malik Shaikha
Khokhar. The people there were disarmed by a stratagem, and some
forty Hindus were ordered to serve Timur's treasurer which order the
people resisted out of "disobedient rebellions spirit", Timur ordered a
general assault on the fort which was stormed and its inhabitants
annihilated. "Two thousand then perished and were sent to hell* The
women and children were made prisoners, and buildings were levelled
59
with the ground." The ruins of Thalora-Babor region are mute
spectators of Timur's vendalism^

Here Timur was informed that the castle of Jammu was near, that
it was connected with the Siwalik and Kuka (probably Trikuta) moun-
tains and that inhabitants were not submissive and obedients to the
60
Sultans of Hindustan. He decided to carry his arms against the infidels
of Jammu, and on 23rd, February, 1399 he marched from Mansar six
Kos (about 9 miles) and encamped at the village of Baila in the territory
of Jammu. Probably Timur passed through Purmandal and Uttarbehni I
and the locality of Baila (possibly a forest of rushes along foot-hill
stream) was a few miles south of it on the bank of the Devika. There
could not be any considerable village in those desolations. Timur sent
a force against the village the inhabitants of which "Confident in their
numbers, in the density of the Jungle, and in the altitude of the position,
had placed themselves in ambush in many places along the borders of
61
the jungle prepared to give battle and offer resistance. " Timur's officers
could not dare to attack them. Consequently, Timur himself arrived there
next day. He too thought it prudent not to provoke the defenders who \
had completely deserted the village and removed their valuables to
higher forests. The troops were ordered to enter the deserted village
and plundered the remnants of "grain, sugar and oil." After that they t
set fire to the houses and destroyed the buildings. I
The same day, 24th, Feburuary, he advanced about six miles and
then encamped, probably in the vicinity of the modern Bari-Brahmanaa
59. Malfuzat-i-Timuri; HEW, Voi. Ill, pp. 467-68.
60. Ibid, pp. 468-69. I
61. Ibid p . 469. I
THE RISE OF THE DEV-DYNASTY 69

or Kalu Chak on the bank of the Balol torret as Timur descended along
it from the rugged hills to the fertile plain through which he marched
on to Jammu. It was at this place that the envoy of Sultan Sikandar of
Kashmir reached Timur's camp on 24th Feburuary, and Timur wanted
the Sultan to be informed that he should62wait upon him on the banks of
the Indus without bringing any presents. Sikandar set out from Srinagar
but on reaching Baramula learnt that Timur had hurriedly
68
left the Indian
frontier for Samarqand and returned to his capital.
On 26th Timur again marched, and came up opposite to the city of
Jammu, and there camped. The five or six Kos (about 9 miles) which
he tranversed on that day was entirely through a cultivated country. He
did not see anywhere dry or waste land. He probably encamped in the
Satwari plain where "there was grain and grass enough between the tents
64
to feed the animals.'*
Sharafud-Din Yazdi's account of Timur's march to Jammu gives a
little more details. He says that "The men of Baila were very brave,
and they had some strong jungles. They placed palicades aloug the
edges, and then stood ready fight and slay." Timur evaded fighting them
and only plundered the already deserted village and set fire to it. The
invaders then marched four Kos (6 miles) and encamped near a village.
Here the envoys from Kashmir presented themselves before Timur.
This village at the foot of a mountain, had many people. There was a
fight, Hindus were put to sword and the village plundered and set on
fire. On the same day, in the afternoon
65
they attacked two other villages
which were near, for provisions. The hill people, though quite small
in numbers seem to have lurked about Timur's baggage and plundered it
here and there leading to skirmishes and smart fights in which one of
Timur's officers was badly wounded with an arrow.
*

The record of Timur's proceedings agatnst Jammu is not proud one.

He evaded a direct fight with the people of Jammu "The rai, with a force
of bold and fearless men, had taken his stand in a strong position on the
mountain, wnere they discharged their arrows and kept on shouting like
66
dogs baying the moon." Timur was not in a mood to fight a pitched
battle as his soldiers were burdened with spoils of Hindustan, and in
addition, he was in hurry to clear away from India to reach Iran hastily
as he had received the distressing news of a rebellion in the eastern parts
67
of his empire. He, therefore, adopted a cunning stratagy.
On 27th, February, he sent army over the river to the foot of the
mountain, on the left of the town, and to the village of Manu on the
62. Ibid, p. 470 ; Camb. Hist, of India, vol. HI, p. 279.
63. Camb. Hist, of India, vol, I I I , p. 279.
64. Malfuzat-i-Tamuri, HIED, Vol. I l l , p. 471.
65. Zafar-Nama, HIED, Vol. III. p. 517.
66. Ibid, v-519.
67. Ibid, p. 520.
 I

70 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

right. The people of Jammu sent off their wives and children from their
villages to the tops of the mountains, and they fortified themselves in
their villages. The Raja with his warlike Rajputs took his post in the
valley. Timur ordered his soldiers not to go towards them, but to
attack and plunder the town of Jammu and the village of Manu. Accor-
dingly his forces fell to plundering, and secured an enormous booty in
grain, goods of all kinds, and cattle. The invaders then returned to-
their eamp for the night. Next day Timur sounded his march towards
the Chenab, leaving oehind a force in ambush in the Babu forest. When
the Raja and his people came down they were treacherously seized and
carried in the presence of Timur, and in the words of Timur ; "When my
eyes fell upon the Raja of Jammu, who was wounded and a prisoner,
fear took possession of his heart and he agreed to pay certain sums of
money and to become a Musulman if I would spare his life. I instantly
ordered him to be taught the creed, and he repeated it and became a
Muhammadan. Among these infidels there is no greater crime and abo-
mination than eating the flesh of cow or killing a cow, but he ate the
flesh in the company of Musulmans. When he had thus been received
into the fold of the feithful, I ordered my surgeons to attend to his-
wounds, and I honoured him with a robe and royal favours.''
The fact of Mai Dev's conversion to Islam under, ccmplusion can-
not be ruled out. During these centuries and after, such conversions cf
rulers at the point of sword, were usual. But Mai Dev seems to have
abjured as soon as the invader had crossed the Indus. During these
centuries of their struggle with the Muslims, Hindu rulers had learnt to
play 6uch game of conversion under compulsion as a matter of policy
and come back to their religion by performing 'ptayshchita'' laid down
fot such cases. The proof of this is furnished by the fact that the ruling:
dynasty and the clan was treated quite a pure Hindu even after this inci-
dent the occurrence of which seems quite doubtful.
f imur's own account of the invasion of Jammu is quite confused.
Timur sent his army to the foot of hill on the left of the Tawi, on which
side nis army also was encamped. This no doubt refers to the fort of
Bahu and the village situated in its neighbourhood. The village of Manu
on me rig t bank, i,e., Jammu side, is not identifiable. Possibly it was
some small habitation below, and to the west of the Gumut ascent, a
little away from the hill top occupied by Jammu town at that time. As
Timur himself says the Raja and his gabres had taken their post in the
river valley, probably in a horse-shoe shape from the present Pir-Kho to-
the Tawi bridge, Timur's forces could not plunder Jammu town without
coming into conflict with the defenders who were presenting to the inva-
der a formidable face. This Timur avoided. The village they plundered'
69
could be Bahu and not Jammu. Voghel is also of the same view. The-
dense jungle, along the low-lying valley of the Tawi on both banks, to<
which Timur refers, existed upto about 1950, and it is easy to understand
how a successful ambush could be laid for the Jammu forces as related.
68. Ibid, pp. 471-72.
69. HPHS, Vol. II.p. 529.

-
THE RISE OF THE D8V-DYNASTY 71

After leaving his forces in ambush he moved from Jammu along

the left bank of the Tawi for a long distance before he crossed over to
the right bank at a spot from which he traversed about 6 miles and en-
camped on the bank of the river Chenab. On 24th he crossed that river
into Bajwat, marched westward into the Chibhan or Bimbar and crossed
the river Jhelum probably a little way above the present town of the same
name. There he left his army and travelled by forced marches to
Indus on his way back to Samarqand. We are not told the name of the
'Raja of Jammu* who was then captured. But the tradition recorded
by Ganesh Da s and G.C. Smyth affirms that it was Mai Dev, who was
contemporary < f Timur and who died in about 1400 A.D. The Dogra
folk ballands gi e a different version of Mai Dev's role in the affair. In
one of the lege*.ds it is narrated that Mai Dev organised a confedercy
of Rajas against Timur and fought the invaders in defending Kangra,
and died there a heroic death. Another balled lauds Mai Dev's terrible
battle with the invaders in which Timur was badly repulsed. It is pro-
bable that the "Raja of Jammu" which Timur's men captured in ambush
cade, was not the Raja, but only a vassal of the King of Jammu, who,
along with 'fifty rais and Rajputs' might have come down the valley of
the Tawi on way to the plain country lying across it, and fell iuto
ambuscade. It was some zamindar or rai who was forcibly converted to
Islam, and not the King of Jammu. That is why the great Rakwal,
Chandel and Chauhan Rajput dynasties did not besitate to marry their
daughters to Mai Dev's successor. In case of Mai Dev's conversion to
Islam this could not have been possible in Rajputs, who were over-
zealous for the preservation of the purity of their blood.
V
•

Ganesh Dass records another tradition. He siates that Timur

invited Mai Dev to submission and conversion to Islam, to which the
proud Raja replied by recourse to fight. Mai Dev made a sudden sally,
surprised and routed the invading force and took shelter in lofty fast-
nesses. Timur's
70
forces reacted by advancing upto the foot of the hill
of Jammu. but retreated after plundering the neighbouring villages.
TimurV battles in the hills seem to have been against the crowds of
people, who were wont to hover around the recreating invaders with the
intention of reli ving them of some of the booty.
Moreover, the eight forts stormed by him did not include any worth
the name, like those of Kangra, Taragarh, Man, Pathan Kot, Dhamari,
Jasrota These forts could only be taken after p tched battle and seige
lasting for months together and not by a retreating invader scurrying
the safe route through the hills for the safety of his loot. Anyhow,
Timur's retreat through Jammu hills, has left memories of many a
heroic scuffles by the Dogra martial clans with one of the greatest
scourges of central Asia.

70. Rajdarshani, SPM. MS., Folios 143b-l44a.

 CHAPTER FIVE

Jammu Raj In Imperial And Hill

Politics, 1400—1733, A.D.
(A)
HAMIR DEV (1400-1423)
1
The reign of "Suraj Bansi Rajah Maharajah, Mai Deva" was a
glorious chapter of the history of Jammu which make him the hero of
many a folk tales and ballads describing him as a brave warrior who
fought three or four battles against Timur. He left behind strong and
well established principality to his son and successor, Hamir Dev. He
is said to have been given the title of Rai Bhim by his protege from
Delhi, the Sayyid ruler, Sultan Mubarak Shah, with whom he had formed
a sort of confederacy against the rising power of the Khokhars. Hamir
Dev had also inherited a number of difficulties, including strong rivals
in the north and west, in Kashmir and the Chibhal respectively. In
order to resolve these he boldly formed political alliances with the
powers which could be helpful in exterminating his rivals and actively
participated in the politics of the north-western India during the first
quarter of the fifteenth centurv.
Anarchy and Chaos prevailed in Delhi and the Punjab in the wake
of Timur's invasion. The reign of Sultan Mahmud Tughleq was marked
by risings of nobles and pretenders to the throne of Delhi. In this chaos
Khizr Khan, the governor of Multan, and Timur's deputy in Hindustan,
made a bid to capture power and on May 23, 1414 he easily acquired
Delhi and laid the foundation of the Sayyid dynasty. Raja Hamir Dev
formed a confederacy with Khizr Khan (1414—1421 A.D ) and his
successor, Mubarak Shah (1421—1434), and fought constant battles
against their common enemy, the Khokhars.
In the politics of Kashmir also Hamir Dev had gained an influential
position by supporting the cause of Sultan Ali Shah (1413—1419 A D.).
The Khokhars who were once the subjects of the Rajas of Jammu had
grown very powerful. But their power seems to have been crushed by
Timur after which they seem to have probably come back to the yoke of
Jammu for some time. But after his return from Samarqand, Jasrath
Khokhar had once again started organising the Khokhar tribe of Chibhal
in his bid to occupy the territories of the northern Punjab A triangular
GC A Histor
*' ^HSflP* " y °f'he Reigning Family of Lahore, reprint, Patiala,
1970 p. 236.
72
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 73

struggle thus ensued, in which Delhi, Jammu and the Khokhars were
the parties which occasionally interfered in the politics of Kashmir to
their benefit. Hamir Dev*s politicBl manoeuvres were singularly success-
ful and he made Jammu the orbit of power politics of Delhi, Kashmir
and of the northern Punjab. He befriended the rulers of Kashmir also,
who, like their Dogra counterpart of Jammu, were much harassed by
the Khokhars who had encroached much of their territory in the Rajauri-
Punch region, once a part of Kashmiri empire to the south of Rattan-Pir
Range. The common enemy had thus brought Jammu and Kashmir in a
close political alliance which became possible after the anti-Hindu,
9
ferocious bigot Sultan Sikandar, 'the Butskikan (Iconoclast), had died in
2
June 1413 . He left behind three sons, but had, before his death, installed
his second son, Mir Khan, by his Muslim queen, setting aside the right
of his eldest son, Firuz. This led to a civil war in the valley in wrrch
Jammu supported Mir Khan who had ascended throne under the name
Ali Shah. Prince Firuz had been exiled, but he came back, joined hands
3
with rebels and invaded Kashmir, but was defeated . The challange,
however, was now taken up by his younger brother, Shahi Khan, who
successfully rebelled, killed Prime Minister Hamsa Bhatta in a battle
and gained popularity. In order to appease his powerful rival, Ali Shah
made Shahi Khan his Prime Minister, but their relations could not
improve, and Ali Shah, finding his position constantly being under-mined,
deputed Shahi Khan his regent, and left the Valley, obviously on his
pronounced intention of Hajj, but in order secretly to assess the extent of
help he could get from his Dogra ally of Jammu and the latter's friends.
The factual picture of political trends "reveals that affairs had gone
against him" to the extent that he feared dethronment by Shahi Khan
who had called in troops from the Panjab and was disposed to fight with
4
Ali Shah. According to Ganesh Dass, this event occurred af'er 6 years'
rule of Ali Shah, i.e., in 1419 A D . When he left for Ka'ba via
5
Jammu. Hamir Dev offered his protege, Ali Shah adequate military
aid to oust Shahi Khan, because he latter had somehow contracted
friendship wirh Hamir Dev's arch-enemies, the Khokhars of Bhimbar
and Mangla region, who were equally hostile to the Chibhali vassals
of Jammu, the rulers of Akhnur and Rajouri. When autumn set in the
combined forces of Jammu and Rajouri accompanied him and entered
the Valley via Tosha Maidan Pass Shahi Khan was probably taken
unprepared and could find no time to get aid from his allies, so the Raja

2. Jonaraia. has the Laukika era 80. i.e., four thousand four hundred eighty-
nine (stanza 622, Raja-tar on gini of Jonaraia. ed, Sri Kanth Kaul, Hoshiar-
pur 1967) ; Baharistan-I-Shahi, MS. fol. 37a). However, Ferishla has the
year 819 A.H., corresponding: to 1406 A.D. (Briges* Eng. t r . , p . 391).
Wholseley Haig also adopts ^erishta's date : Cf. Camb. Hfct of India,vol.
I l l p, 280. rr 0 r full discussion on the subject refer to Dx. R.K. Parmu's A
History of Muslim Rule in Kashmir, 1320—1819, New Delhi, 1969, pp- 126—
127.
3. Srikanth Kaul (ed.), Rajatarangini of Jonaraja, Hoshiarpur, 1967, Stanzas
645—48.
4. Rajatarangini of Jonaraja, ed. Sri Kanth Kaul, op. cit..
Stanzas 690—695 ; Tarikh-USayyid 'AW MS. NO ; 739, RPL(S) fol. 15 b.
5. Rajadarshanit SPM, fo 1. 145 a.
 74 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

of Jammu compelled 6Zain-iil-'abidin and his supporting Thakkuras to

seek flight in safety.
AH Shah was installed on the throne and influence of Jammu was
once again re-established in the Valley of Kashmir.
The struggle did not, however, end here. After his escape, Shahi 7
Khan took shelter with Jasrath Khokhar at Sialkot and sought his help .
On the other side AH Shah did not rule wisely after regaining the throne
retainers
8
and the troops from Madra, i.e.,
Rajoun, harassed the country. Consequently, discontent in the country
mounted. The shrewd Khokhar chief, Jasrath, sought to benefit by this
situation. He offered help to Shahi Khan in conquering Kashmir, there
by seeking to establish his hold on the valley and to weaken the influence
and power of his rival, Raja Hamir Dev.
4

(B) THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN KHOKHARS AND RULERS OF

JAMMU.
Soon
j,. after his return from Samarqand to his homeland Jasrath
Khokhar had seized Jullundur and 9
Kalanaur and regained his power and
influence m the
re an d h a d
northern Panjab. Jasrath aspired also to re-conquer
f £? , . designs even on Delhi. He desired to use the resources
ot Kashmir for that purpose, either by placing his candidate on throne 10
or
even by usurping Kashmir for himself, as aluded to by 'Srivara ! and
also wanted to cut at the Dogra influence at the court of Kashmir. He
therefore espoused Shahi Khan's cause against his enemies with sincerity
and vigour. In June 1420, Shahi Khan accompanied by Jasrath and his
army made up his mind to meet the Kashmiri army in a battle at a
strategic place, They marched via Bhimber-Rajouri route and reached
some 20 kilometers from pied
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ the Kashmiri army
them. AH Shah seems to have been be
Khan's artful men who had got access to his camp, and led him to
Khokhar
chief. move. "Ali Shah ventured
11
upon the expedition which was destined to fail. The Raja of Jammu
knew the artful moves of the Khokhars on the battle field. He had
therefore advised Ali Shah to remain inside the valley where he was safe
and invulnerable. But being indiscreet, and allured by false promises of
he ma and committed the folly of
with tired army on the enemy which was strongly
6. Rajatarangini of Jonaraja, op. pit, Stanza 716.
7. Rajdarshani, SPM., fol. 1458 b.
8. Rajatarangini of Jonaraja, op. cit.t stanzas 717-7,
9. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, Erg. trans, by Ravcrtv, 368 n ; JRAS
10. Jaina-Rajatarangini of Srivara, ed. by Sr/katjth Kaul, Hoshjarpur 1966 IV,
143, Srivara says that Muhammad Margesa saved the Kingdom from being
usurped by Jasrath after the fall of Ali Shah
f
11. Srikanth Kaul (ed.) Rajatarangini of Jonaraja^ p. 104.

•
 JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 75'
•

entrenched in a safe and strategic place at Thanna. Moreover, the

Khokhars had won over the Raja of Rajouri to the side of Shahi Khan.
The ruthless Khokhais fell upon the Kashmiri army and cut it down.
12
Ali Shah was captured and probably killed by Jasrath's men. Shahi'
Khan then entered Kashmir and became its ruler under the title Zain-ul-'
Abidin !

Hamir Dev did not probably help his ally by sending troops. The*
nature of his participation on the side of Ali Shah is not known.
However, Ali Shah's downfall and death gave a severe blow to the Dogra
influence in Kashmir court and politics, which shrewd Hamir retrieved
only after much difficulty, and probably with the help of prestige he
earned by establishing very cordial relations with Sultan Mubarak Shah
of Delhi, who accended the throne in 1421 A.D. The main object of
this Jammu-Delhi axis was the over-thr< *w of the Khckhars who had
become a great menace for both the powers, particularly when Jasrath-
and Zain-ul-'Abidin had become allies.
Hamir's other object was to re-escablish his hold on the valley and"
the exclusion of the Khokhar influence therefrom.
*

Jasarth had enriched his resources by plundering the camp of Ali

Shah and by receipt of men and material from Kashmir in return for his
aid. On the death of Khizr Khan in 1421 he came out of the hills, rav-
aged the plains, and in the words of the author or Tarikh-i-Mubarak
Shahi" elated with the strength of his forces, he began to have
visions about Delhi " He crossed the Bias and the Satluj and fell upon
Talwandi Rai and drove the Sayyed chief before him, plundered the
country from 13the town of Ludhiana to the neighbourhood of Rupar
on the Satluj, and laid seige to the fort of Sarhind but failed to take
it. The new Sayyid Sultan Mubarak Shah, marched towards Samana,
and the Khokhar raised the siege of Sarhind and fled northword along
the foot of the hills, pursued by the Sultan, In hurried retreat he fled
from the Satluj to the Bias and thence to the Ravi, leaving his baggage
behind. The Sultan also reached the Ravi at the town of Bhowa near
Pathankot, at which Jasrath crossed the Ravi 14
south of Kathua and
made for the Chenab and proceeded to Tekhar, in the hills of Chibhal.15
The Raja of Jammu, called *Rai Bhim' in the Tarikh i-Mubarak Shahi,
the sworn enemy of the Khokhars, met the Sultan at some place south
of Jammu, and undertook to act as guide. "He crossed the Janhava
(Chenab), and conducted the royal army to Tekhar, which was his

12. Srivara, Jaina-Rajataraugini, Calcutta, 1835, p. 130.

13. HIED, vol. IV pp. 56-57.
14. "Tekhar" in Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi. but called "Telhar" at another
place "Thankar" in the Tabakat--i-Akbari. Gunesh Dass also gives the
same name ; Badauni has "Talhar" Ganesh Dass writes "Thakar" or
"Tehkar" and locates it in the Mount Bhawnn, north of Manglan, along,
the Jehlam.
15. Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, HIED, the Vol. IV, pp. 56-59 Jehlam,
'° A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
16
(Jasrath Khokhar's ) strongest place. They destroyed the place, and
made many of those who had there sought refuge prisoners. The royal
17
army then retired victorious towards Lahore.
Jasrath had escaped farther north to the Dhak hills. Sultan Mubark
"Shah is said to have conferred the title of "Rai Bhim" on Hamir Dev
and in lieu of his assistance against Khokhars, recognised him over-
18
lord over twenty-two raja (principalities) of Kohistan.
From the hills Mubarak Shah went to Lahore, raised a mud fort
there, placed a garrison in it and retired to Delhi. In May, 1422,
Jasrath had reassembled his army, descended from hills and invested the
new fort of Lahore, but was repulsed. However, he continued to
harass Mahmud for about a month by desultory Skirmishes, an J at last
retired to Kalanaur, Rai Bhim had already reached Kalanaur on his way
to Lahore to render assistance to Mahmud. "He had already excited
the enmity of Jasrath, and when the latter approached, constant fighting
went on, but neither partv could prevail. So the strife continued ; but
subsequently, in the month of Ramzan, they made peace. Jasrath then
went towards the Ravi, and there he gathered together all the people of
the territory of the Khokhars who were in alliance with him ; but on
approach of a royal army he fled towards the hills and took shelter in
his stronghold of Tekhar. The royal forces advanced in pursuit. On
reaching the confines of Jammu, they were joined by Rai Bhim and the
19
combined forces defeated the remnants of Khokhars on the banks of
the Chenab and scattered them, and plundered the Khokhar country.
20
Jasrath had already escaped into the higher mountains.
The Sultan of Delhi entrusted the suppression of the Khokhars to
the governor of Lahore and the Raja of Jammu. Hamir had time and
again fought against Jasrath Khokhar and routed him on every occas-
ion. But the power of the Khokhars was not broken. At last in April,
1423, Jasrath once again came out of his hills with a large following
and directly made for Jammu this time to settle his accounts with Hamir
Dev. "There was a fighting between Jasrath and Rai Bhim. The rai
was killed, and the greater portion of his horses and arms fell into the
hands of Jasrath. On ascertaining the death of Rai Bhim, Jasrath united
a small army of Mongols with his own, and attacked the territories
of Dibalpur and Lahore and overran and plundered these. Sikandar
Tuhfa, however, repulsed him and compelled him to take shelter in
his hill fastnesses. Jasrath Khokhar sustained defeat after defeat,
but his spirits remained high and he continued to be a thorn in
22
the flesh of the Sayyid Sultans for many years. As Jonaraja narrates
^^^^^

16. Tabakat-i-Akbari.
17. Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, HIED, Vol. IV. p 56.
18. Rajdarshani, SPM., fol. 146 a.
19. Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, HIED, Vol. *V pp. 57-58.
20 Haig, Camb. Hist. Ind., Vol. I l l , pp. 211-12.
21. Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi HIED, Vol. I V p. 59.
22. Rajatarangini of Jonaraja, ed. Srikanth Kaul, Stanza 785.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 77
1*

whenever he was defeated and chased by the troops ©f Mubarak Shah,-

the Sayyid ruler of Delhi. Zain-ul-abidin gave him protection. In
1431-32 Jasrath
23
made an alliance with the governor of Kabul, Mir
Shaikh Ali and vigorously continued aggressive designs against Sultan
Muhammad, son and successor of Mubark Shah, who became Sultan
in 1434 A.D. In 1441 A.D. the Sultan conferred upon Bahlol Khan
Lodi the country of Dibalpur and Lahore and sent him against Jasrath.
Khokhar who won 24
him to his side by promising to help him to get the:
throne of Delhi, which the Lodi usurped in 1451 on the death of the
last Sayyid ruler. Bahlol was also afraid of the power of Jasrath in his
heart of hearts. But as an outward favour bestowed on Jasrath the
Chaubhat Doab (the territory between the 25
Chenab and Jhelum) as jagir
as a token of gratitude for powerful rebel, and in this affair he-
received cooperation of his protege from Jammu.
AJEO OR AJEEB DEV (1423 to 1454 A.D.)
Hamir Dev was killed in 1423, leaving behind a minor son, Ajeo-
Dev. His death was a signal of anarchy in Jammu, and two Rakwal
chiefs, Mardana and Jaipal, maternal uncles of Ajeo, seated him on the
gaddi in consultation
26
with Jamwai courtiers and started wielding ruling;
power themselves . They usurped all power and appointed their Kins-
men to all important offices, persecuted and drove out Jamwals. They 27
appointed Mehta Bir Singh as Kardar of Ramgarh and Amb-gharota.
A certain Saidhu Jamwai also became a great favourite with them. But
soon the Jamwai chief left them, sought help of the Charaks, snd they
together ousted the Rakwals from power and killed most of them. They
then restored Ajeo Dev to power and thus peace and order once more
prevailed in the Dogra land.
With the death of Hamir Dev there seerr s to have been some im-
provement in Dogra-Khokhar relations. As Jasrath aspired for supre-
macy over Lahore, he could no longer afford to continue his hostilities
with a power in his rear. On the other hand Zain-ul-Abidin of Kashmir
had his own designs of re-possession of Punch, Rajauri. The Kashmiris
as well as Khokhar therefore, coveted the friendship of the Dogra
chief. Jasrath strengthened nis hold on Chaubhat territories, and in order
to have closer ties with Jammu, married a slave-girl, 'Mina Kanizak' of
Jammu and thus received 50 villages from the Raja of Jammu, which,
came to be called tappa Mina-wari, later contracted to M inawar or
28
Manaor . This close association of Jammu wiih the Khokhars probably
offended Buhlol Lodhi (1451-1487 A.D.), and in order to secure himself
23. JASB, 1871, vol I, p. 82; Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh of Badouni (Eng. t r . by-
Ranking). Vol. I 390 n,
24. Tarikh-i-Miibarak Shahi, HIED, IV. pp, 85-86 ; Rajadarshani, SPM, fol.
147 b,
25. Rajadarsheni, SPM., fol, 148 a.
26. Anon., Tarikh-Jammu (MS). RDL, No. 770, pp. 35-36.
27. Rajdarshani, SPM. fol. 156 a.
28. Ibid. fol. 156 b.
 f

1% A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

; against threatened invasion from Delhi, Ajeo extended his hand

friendship of Kashmir also. He sent his
Birem Dev, to the Kashmiri court, in about 1440 where he was welc-
omed and given a jagir in the valley on which his nephew, Parasram Dev
settled down and the latter's desendants remained in its possession for
some generaiions. Ajeo Dev ruled for 31 years and died in
1454. On account of his friendship with the ruler of Kashmir his
kingdom remained safe from the depredations of the Khokhars and the
Lodi governors of Lahore.
BIRAM DEV (1454 to 1489 A.D.)
On Ajeo Dev's death, Jasrath instigated some people to raise
standard of revolt in Jammu, "but Biram Dev quenched it with the help
.of troops from Kashmir. However, he changed his political affiliations
when in November, 1460, he received a precious Khilat as a token of
29
recognition as Raja of Jammu, from Sultan Buhlol Lodi to whom he
now transferred his allegiance. This he did in view of his worsening
relations with the Khokhars who were now being backed up by Zainul
Abidin in order to subvert the power of Jammu and bring it under his
yoke. The new aligment of Jammu and Dolhi was primarily directed
30
against the Khokhar chief "who was dearest to Zainul Abidin" Buhlol
Lodi Leems to have commissioned Biram Dev to extriminate the
Khokhar chief and sent a force to Jammu to assist the Raja. Biram
Dev, however, achieved his object by a strategem, and got Jasrath
murdered with the help of Mina, the courtesan, and Bhan, a personal
31
attendant of Jasrath who stabbed him to death in his sleeping chamber.
This must have happened in about 1464 A.D. It was by these devices
that the ferocious Khokhar leader was destroyed and thus the cause of
.continuous anarchy in the country was removed. The Khokhar country
was given over to the officers of Buhlol Lodi who built in that region in
1464 A.D. a town and named it Buhlolpur. Minawar continued to be
bestowed on the courtesan Mina who came to reside at Jammu and the
dues of his Jagir were collected by the agent of the Raja of Jammu.

(C)
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
To restore order in the disturbed zone of Khokhars, the Raja of
Jammu was given the thanadari and nizamat of Sialkot and Bahlolpur
which he administered efficiently for 29 years, upto the accession of
Sikandar Lodi, a fanatic ruler, who dispossessed Raja Biram Dev of the
pargana of Sialkot, drove away his officers by force and made it over to
32
his own men in 1492 A.D. (898 Hijri) .
29. Rajdarshani, SPM., foUo 157 a,
30. Rajatarangini of Jonaraja, ed. Sri Kanth Kaul, Stanza 761.
31. Rajdarshani, SPM.. folio 157 b.
32. Ibid, folio 158 a.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS
*
79

In about 1471, the Khokhars, assisted by the Moguls, who had

started raiding Indian borders during those years, raised disturbances.
Biram Dev successfully curbed these disturbances with the help of Zain-
ul-abidin's eldest son Adam Khan, who had been forced to leave the
valley by his younger brother, Haider Shah, after Zain-ul-'abidin's death
in 1470. Adam Khan had nrobably gone to Delhi to seek help from
Bahlol and returned towaids Kashmir with a view to seizing the throne,
but on reaching Jammu he was compelled to give up the idea on the
news of the death of Hasan Kuchay and other nobles on whose support
he had reckoned. He remained at Jammu where he was killed while
33
assisting the Raja of Jammu against the Turks, i.e. Moguls.
A more serious danger threatened Jammu Raj from the depredations
of the rebellious Lodi grandees, Tatar Khan, uncle of Bahlol Lodi, and
34
Saif, who rebelled during 1479-80, and seized the Lahore province.
Tatar Khan had given shelter to Fath Khan, son of Adam Khan of
Kashmir, with whose help he probably thought of occupying Kashmir
and the other hill states and establish his own empire at Lahore. As a
first step towards the achievement of his object he invaded Sialkot. This
35
biought him into conflict with Raja Biram Dev , who formed a confede-
racy with the other hill states, including Rajauri and Punch, which were
threatened by this new danger to their existence. Biram Dev also
approached Sultan Hasan Shah of Kashmir for his help in averting this
common danger and in his endeavour to eject the Lodi rebel from Sialkot.
The Kashmir ruler immediately despatched an army under Malik Tazi
36
(Or Yari) Bhat . The combined troops of Jammu, Kashmir and
Rajauri and Punch, ravaged the districts of northern Punjab, and
defeated Tatar Khan in a battle, drove him out of Sialkot. This event
37
probably took place in 1480 A.D. , after which Biram Dev re-establish-
ed his possession on the Sialkot pargana.

Biram Dev's reign was known for liberal religious policy and it was
during his days that a number of Hindu and Musulman savants made
Jammu their abode. In the year 867 Hijri, a certain Sfayyid, Qutub'
Alam came here from the country of Sabazwar. He made a large number
^ ^

33. Tabaqat-i-Akbari, ol Nizamuddin, Lucknow ed., 1920, Vol III, p. 447 ;

Ferishta, II p. 347. Srivara writes, 'the Raja of Madra ; Tabaqat names
him Manakdev. But there is no such name in the Jammu Vansavali.
Adam Khan's body was later removed to Srinagar and buried beside the
tomb of his mother. The notice placed by the Arch. Deptt. states "The
traditionally supposed tomb of shahzada Adam Khan son of Sultan Zain-
ul-Abidin, killed in the battle with the Moguls at Jammu... " see also
Camb Hisi. of India, Vol. I l l , p. 284 ; Parmu, pp. 176-77.
34. Tarikh-i-Daudi, HIED, p. 440 yWaKiat-i-Mushtaki (WIS), p. 16.
35. Dr. R K. Parmu, p. 180, names 'Ajabdev' which is wrong. Ajab or Ajeo
Dev, direct successor of Bairn Dev according to all sources, ruled from
1423 to 1444 A.D.
36. Tabakat-i-Akbari, III, p. 607 ; Firishta, II, p. 348 ; Camb. Hist, bid., I l l ,
p. 285.
.37. Parmu, R.K., A Hist, of Muslim Ride in Kashmir, 1320-1819, Delbf, 1969,
p. 181.
80 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

of Hindus and Muslims his followers. The soft spoken, sweet-tongued

faqir was fond of milk and sugar, and his devotees brought offerings of
38
Sugar-cane. Hence people began to call him Pir Mitha .
His Masoleum is still standing at Jammu and an annual fair is held
on the fu'l moon day in the month of Katik. Another famous medicant,
Jogi Gharib Dass, came to reside at Jammu in the same period. He-
resided at Pir Khoh, a cave bearing a 'Siva-linga, which was also known
as Khoh—Jam want Jam want's cave. Both these saints were great
friends and had a common mixed following of Hindus and Muslims.
Biram Dev ruled upto 1495 A.D. For the last few vears of his life»
he occuoied himself the hill territory from
Jhelum, including Jasrota, Samba, Akhnur, Jammu, Kulaith
Manawar and Manglan. By his good administration he pleased his
clansmen and became so that a number of
legends have been woven around his personality and several popular
ballads of his struggles with Muslim rulers and Khokhars were sung by
bards of the Dogra land. From these we know that Biram Dev had two
younger brothers, Hasal Dev and Channan Dev. Hasal Dev had two
sons Abdal and Data, and Channan Dev had one, named Shera.
According to one tradition Hasal Dev and Channan Dev lived at Delhi
court as hostages where one Pathan got Hasal Dev murdered and
Dev was thrown into prison. On hearing of this affair Biram \

Dev marched towards Delhi at the head of a force, accompanied by his

three nephews. But as soon as he reached Delhi, news of the rebellion,
of a certain Khokar Ghikar was received and the Sultan took Biram Dev
ised Channan Dev, gave the Raja an army and deputed
him )pression of the rebellion on promise of large jagirs in
case of successful completion of the mission. Biram Dev stamped out
rebellion and restored peace in the disturbed territory. In recognition?
of his service Behlol Lodi conferred on him the parganas of Sialkotr
Manawar and Mangla. Shera was honoured with the title of Sher
Khan. Biram Dev appointed Abdal to Garh and Data to Mangla.
The descendants of Hasal Dev are called Hasalathia or Salathi Rajputs
and those of Shera, Sarkhania.
According to another tradition Biram Dev was called to the Delht
Court. He was a handsome youth. The daughter of the Sultan fell in
love with him. The Sultan offered to give his daughter in marriage to
him provided he became a Musalman. His wazir, Hasal Dev, who had
accompanied him to Delhi, contrived to send Biram Dev secretly to
Jammu. The Sultan was enraged, and in wrata got Hasal Dev skinned
in his presence. The dauntless Rajput laid down his life for the honour
of his master.

A third version of the legend narrates that the fugitive Raja was
pursued and overtaken by the imperial army at a short distance fronu
38. Rajdarshani, SPM, folio 158.
 *

JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 81

Delhi, and was killed in a foray. His dead body was brought to Delhi.
The princess got a grave dug out for him and got herself inhumated alive
besides the corpse of her lover. After a long time people found a baby
boy on the grave which was taken to Guru Gorakhnath who happened to
be camping in the suburbs, He brought the boy up and made him his
disciple. When the boy grew up he got the permission of his guru and
came to the Dogra land. He came to be called Siddh Goriya. Finally
he settled at the village Swankh in the house of a Brahman. There he
died after living a life full of miracles. After his death people raised a
smadhi on his ashes, which still exists at the village which became
famous as Siddh Swankh because of his association. A big fair is held
there on several occasions in a year. The shrine is popular among
people as a place of resort in cases of black magic, visitations and
occult influences. Some divine power is attributed to the place.
•

(D) JAMMU AND MUGHAL SUPREMACY

GHOGHAR DEV, C. 1500-1530 A.D.
Biram Dev's son Ghoghar Dev succeeded to the gaddi. In the early
years of his rule, in about 1506 A.D., there occurred a severe earth-
quake at Jammu resulting in great loss of life and property. The Raja
did his best to provide succour to the needy and earned their gratitude.
The Mughals had started their invasions on the Funjab during the first
quarter of sixteenth century and Lodi rulers were engaged in the struggle
to put a stop on their advance. Ghoghar Dev seems to have held aloof
in this struggle.
By 1524 A.D. Babur had ousted Lodi governors from Bahlolpur
and Sialkot and was planning to occupy Delhi with the help of disgrunt-
led Lodi chiefs like Alam Khan and Daulat Khan against Ibrahim.
Finding the Lodi power dwindling, Ghoghar Dev waited upon Babur at
Bhalolpur, He also sent gifts and provisions for the invading army and
earned the favour of the invader who accepted his allegiance. After his
success in the battle of Panipat in April, 1526 Babur occupied Delhi and
Agra and laid the foundation of Mughal rule in India. Ghoghar Dev
had already tendered his allegiance to Babur. Now he undertook to
protect the caravans of fruit and other dallies from Kashmir, from the 39
predatory hordes of Jallal and Chib tribes of Rajcuri and Bimber .
Afterwards the Raja went to Delhi to tender his personal loyalties. The
emperor was pleased to recognise his services by aknowledging him the
Raja of the hills. "Henceforward the Rajah and his 40
successors were
treated as the allies of the mighty rulers of Hindustan ".
Ghoghar Dev ruled for about 30 years. He had three sons, Kapur
Dev, Alam Dev and Charan Dev. 'Alam Dev used to live in the Lodi
court at Delhi as a hostage. He won a few wars for Sikandar Lodi,
who gave him the title of 'Isa Khan' and his descendants
41
in Jammu
region are known to this day, as Isa-Khania Rajputs .
39. Smyth. G.C., A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 237.
40. Abid p. 239.
41. Anon, Tarikh-i-Jammu (Urdu), p. 39.
82 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

KAPUR DEY-C. 1530 to 1571 A.D.

Ghoghar Dev's elder son Kapur Dev, succeeded to the gaddi in 1530
42
A.D., a few months before the death of Babur. . He was destined to
witness many political upheavals in the imperial fortunes at Delhi and in
the Punjab. He was possessed of some political insight and so he
abstained from embroiling himself in the disturbing events in the Punjab.
He carefully watched the shifting scene in Hindustan where the infant
Mughal state founded by Babur was lost by his son to the Afghans under
Sher Shah Suri. He tried to move with gingerly steps to avoid conflict
either with the Mughals or the Afghans, still the existence of Jammu
was threatened when the Afghan ruler, Islam Shah (1545-54 A.D.) led his
armies into the Khokhar hills in pursuit of the rebel, Azam Humayun.
After his successful campaign, he halted at the village Ban near Sialkot
on his way back. He planned to reduce its citadel and imprison its Raja,
but in the meanwhile Mirza Kamran fled from Humayun's court in
Kabul and sought refuge with Islam Shah. In view of Humayun's
expected advance into India, Islam Shah did not find it prudent to an-
43
tagonise Raja Kapur Dev. The idea of reducing Jammu was given up
and the Sur King started for Delhi with the fugitive Mirza. The Mirza
suspected foul play and escaped to the hills and finally reached Jammu.
Raja Kapur Dev received him with due respect and honour and assured
him that even if the combined might of Indian and Irani kings would be
diverted against him he would never surrender him. Kamran felt assured
44
and consented to stay on. .
Kapur Dev arranged Mirza's hide out at Mankot with his vassel
Raja Bartap Dev Roy. The Mirza whiled away his time in hunting with
Raja Partap Dev Roy. One day while hunting with the Raja, he stood
near a very high snober tree and shot his arrow which struck the highest
branch of the tree. The Mirza said, whoever will bring the arrow back
to him will be paid ten rupees as prize. Raja left his horse ascended
the tree and restored the arrow to the Mirza. The Mirza besides giving
him the prize, bestowed Khilat also upon the Raja, but reflected that a
person who can put his life in danger for such a petty prize, what
guarantee tnere was that for a bigger prize he would not surrender him
45
to his enemies. He immediately left his Kohistan hide out and took
refuge with Adam Khokhar who made him over to Humayun, who took
48
him to Kabul, blinded him and sent him to Mecca .
The conversion to Islam by force and by temptation in this region
has been recorded in several instances. In one case during this reign a
Manhas chief, Maluk, of Bara Manga, was induced to become Musalman
in return for remission of the crime of murder by one Sher Khan, the
42. Ibid, p. 497.
43. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol 166 a.
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Tazkiratu I-Waki at of Jauhar, HIED, Vol., V, pp. 147—49 Rajdarshani,
SPM ; foJ. 166 a.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 83
47
Sur governor of Kalanaur-Batala. . From him, descended the Manhas
converts. Kapur Dev did not like this Muslim chief in his neighbour-
hood. Once he learnt that Sher Khan is preparing to make incursion
into foothill country. He therefore, sent a strong force under one of
his sons, named Omul born of his Jatti concubine, who completely
vanquished Sher Khan in a battle and the latter fled away for life. As a
reward for this bravery Omul was raised in status equal to the royal
48
sons. It was probably during these days that Islam Shah thought of
reducing the fort of Jammu on his return from the Khokhar country.
Soon after, Kapur Dev presented himself before the Sultan at Kalanaur
along with his 22 sons and offered his submission and rendered him
assistance in suppressing rebellions in the Khokhar and Kashmir
hills.
His two eldest sons, Jagdev and Samahal Dev, were born on the
same day to two different Ranis. Consequently, there was no love lost
between the two brothers. In order to prevent any possible future trouble
Kapur Dev divided his Kingdom into two principalities with headquarters
at Jammu and Bahu, and installed Jagdev at Bahu and Samahal Dev at
Jammu as rulers, in the 15th year of Akbar's reign (A.D., 1570), before
his death m A.D. 1571. This division of Jammu Kingdom lasted for a
few generations.
JAGDEV, 1571 A.D. to 1590.
Raja Jag Dev held his court at Bahu, But he was not destined to
rule in peace. Mian Lai Dev, Who was the most handsome and brave
of all the 22 sons of Kapur Dev, and cherished a secret enmity towards
had him. At
last, when in the 34th year, of Akbar's reign (1589-90 A.D,) Sadiq
Khan, the Mughal Hakim of Sialkot, came to Jammu in order to collect
nazrana, Lai Dev met him in camera during the night, through his
peshkar, Sundar Dass, and offered to pay a lakh of rupees for the throne
of Bahu. provided the Hakim sent for Raia Jagdev and imprisoned him.
Next day when Jagdev went to the Na oldly
received and rebuked for alleged negligence and ordered to be imprisoned
The Raja drew out his sword, and in the scuffle that followed, he was
killed. When the agent of the Hakim came to Jammu to inform Lai Dev
of the incident, the whole affair became public and the blame of the
death of Jagdev became imputed to Lai Dev. In order to remove the
slur, he went back npon his words and publicly declared that he would
personally avenge the murder of his brother. He atonce gathered a
contingent of brave Rajputs and stormed the NazirrCs camp. The force
of Sadiq Khan fled pell mell and a large booty fell to the hands of Lai
Dev, who now seated on the throne of Bahu, Paras Ram, son of Jag
Dev and thus made proper expiation for his complicity in the latter's
49
murder.
47. Anon. Tarikh'UJammu, p. 41.
4 8. Ibid.
49. Rajbarshani, SPM, folios, 182-83
84 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

After this successful revolt against the Mughal Nazim, Lai Dev
dominated the politics of Bahu and Jammu for some time and seems to
have been the most influential prince in these hills. Samahl Dev, (A.D.,
1571-1594), the Raja of Jammu was a simple-minded person, His
brother, Dange Man or Mian Mana of local tradition, whose name in
the Akbarnama occurrs as 'Man Zamindar of Jammu, performed the
Nizamat, or administrative functions. Thus both the principalities were
practically ruled by their most influential courtiers. Lai Dev entirely
dispossessed the chief of Ramgarh, usurped the place and founded a
fort and palace opposite Ambaran, on the bank of the river Chena"
50
He named it Surgarh, made it his abode and led a princely life.
Mian Mana, on the other side usurped all authority at Jammu, became
minister and administrator of Raja Samahal Dev. These two Dogra
chiefs were reluctant to accept the Mughal yoke which they flouted
for many years and engineered revolts in Jammu region now and then
causing flare up in the hills from the Chenab to the Satlui.

One such revolt took place in 1589-90 A.D., in 35th year of Akbar's
reign. The suceess of the Dogra chiefs against Sadiq Khan, the Mughal
Nazim of Sialkot, served as a signal for a general out break in which a
number of states lying between the Satluj and the Chenab were involved,
including Raja Bidhi Chand of Kangra, Parasram of Bahu, Partap of
Mankot, Rai Krishna Balauria of Basohli, Rai Bhan of Jasrota,
Balbhadra of Lakhanpur, Raja Basu of Mau (Nurpur), and a number of
51
Rajas of Kangra hill states. The united force of these Rajas numbered
about 10,000 horse and one lakh foot. Akbar deputed his foster brother
52
Zain Khan Koka for the suppression of the rebellion. The Mughal
c _ from Pathankot eastwards as far as Sutluj and
subdued all the chiefs and carried them to the presence of Akbar who
pardoned them and allowed them to return to their principalities as his
vassals. The force sent against Jammu, however, did not succeed and
Mughal authority by Lai Dev and Dange Man
fact that "Armaments had several times been
Amirs of distinction to effect the subjugation of Jammu, Ramgarh and
other places, but
53
this difficult enterprise had never been satisfactorily
accomousnea."

However, power of Jammu received a set back by the death of

Samahl Dev in 1594 A.D., who left behind only a minor son, Samgram
Dev, to succeed. Man, the Minister of Jammu, retained all administra-
tive powers in his hand. He was already in the bad books of the
Mughal authorities, so that, on his way back from Kashmir the same

50. Ibid, falio 183 a.

51. Rajdarshaai, SPM, fol. 183 b.
52. Maasirul-Umara, vol. ii, p. 367
53. Ibid, 367 ff.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 85

year, Akbar decided to reduce Jammu to submission, perhaps on induce-

ment from Raja Parasram of Bhau who presented himself in the imperial
court at Lahore. So he sent a considerable force in September, 15 ^4 to
reduce Jammu, Ramgarh and other places. Hussain Beg and some
other officers were sent against Jammu, "One o£ the strongest forts in
54
that couutry. " On the approach of the Mughal force, Dange Man
secretly sent away his family to Bahu and advanced with an army to
55
Padial where Lai Dev also joined him. A fierce battle was fought in
which the Dogra chiefs were defeated and fled away and Husain Beg
56
occupied Jammu, Leaving a garrison there the Mughal officers
marched against the fort of Ramgarh, which was taken by assault, and
placed in the custody of the men of Nawab Zain Khan Koka. Husain
Beg now returned and joined the main force. Akbar acknowledged
Parasram Raja of Bahu and Jammu, and took along with him to Delhi
57
Raja Sangram Dev of Jammu and Balbhadar, as hostages. Apprehen-
sive of the retribution of his misdeeds, Lai Dev escaped with his family
58
in a boat by the river Chenab, and was never heard of again. Man
once again gathered some men and took to the devastation of the Mughal
territory. Consequently, Hussain Beg was again sent to chastise the
Jamwal rebel. Man took to guerrila war-fare, killed and wounded a
number of Mughals. The Rajas of Jasrota, Lakhanpur, Mankot and
Dhameri (Nurpur) also came to his assistance, with the result that much
destruction was wrought to the Mughal forces, and desultory warfare
continued for some time before Man was worsted and unable to resist
59
any longer, he escaped to the rugged mountains. The districts of
Jammu and Ramgarh wera completely brought under Mughal cantrol"
with the cooperation of Raja Parasram (of Bahu), who had sided with
60
the armies of Emperor Akbar ! Some minor chiefs and Zamindars all
around were also subdued. Now the Mughals marched towards Jasrota
and Lakhanpur, and several Rajas and zamindars, who had long been
independent, submitted and paid their tribute. When the army reached
Samba, Bhabu the Raja of Jasrota and Balidar (Balbhadar) of Lakhan-
pur, came in. The Raja of Jasrota had been the leader of the rebels.
His submission marked the end of disturbances in Jammu hills, which
remained peaceful for a long time afterwards. Next day Suraj Mai, Son
of Raja Basu of Mau (Nurpur-Pathankot Raj), also came in and tendered
his allegiance. In order to maintain a strong hold on Samba, a fort
was built about 4 miles distant from it, and a garrison left there. Bhabu
"had been the chief and most active of the rebels, and he had done an
immense deal of harm." Now that he was in the hands of the army, it
was determined to send him to the Emperor in charge of Ali

54. Akbarnama ,?HIED, Vol. VI, p. 125.

55. Tarikh'i-Jammu,-p. 40.
56. Akbarnama, op. cit., p. 125.
57. Tarikh-i-Jammu, pp. 46-47.
58. Ibid. p . 47.
59. Ibid.
60. Rajdarshani. SPM., folio 184 a.
 86 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
61
Muhammad. Now whole of the force was directed against the reduc-
tion of Jasrota, the native place of Bhabu.
When the army reached Jasrota, on the bank of the river Ujh, sons
and friends of Bhabu gathered, and took UD a strone nosition at a small
castle on a hill, vered with jungle from top to bottom
with onlv one n which one or two horse-men mien
pass. On each side of the road there was a wall, with loopholes through
which muskets might be fired, and arrows shot, upon strangers and foes,
to prevent their approach. At the bottom of the hill, at the level
ground, there was a cultivated tract in which there was a fort, with
moats."
The Mughal commanders, Shaikh Farid and Husain Beg at once
attacked the lower fort. By great exertion the moat was filled,
the gates burst open, and the fort was taken. But several of the
assailants were killed by wounds from gun-shots and arrows. The troops
entered the jungle to attack the upper fort. The defenders showered
bullets and arrows from all sides but they were out numbered and the
invaders stormed the fort. The Jasrotias were badly driven out. All
62
their buildings and crops were burnt.
Thus fell the stronghold of the Jasrotias. after a valiant resistance
for the whole day against over-whelming numbers. The defenders,
however, were not routed. They took positions at various vantage
points in the jungle and hill tops and did not allow the invaders to
retreat through the narrow and difficult path. All night long they
harassed them from all parts of the jungle with arrows. The Mughal
soldiers sat motion less behind the breast work with their shields over
their heads, "never moving or making a noise." They passed the night
thu> amid a constant rain of airows. However in the morning the
Mughals made an effective occupation of the place, and Mughal garrison
was left under Hussain Beg, Then the army proceeded towards Lakhan-
pur. The Raja came out to tender his submission. The pargana was
given over to Muhammad Khan Turkoman and a sufficient garrison was
63
placed in the fort. The army then crossed the Ravi by ford and left
the Jammu territory, and reached the pargana of Pathankot to conduct
operations in the Kangra and Jaswan hills.
SANGRAM DEV—C. 1594 to 1626 A D .
After the suppression of the revolt things seem to have remained
Jammu and we read of no more out-
breaks. The parganas of Jammu, Ramgarh, Jasrota, Mankot and
Akhnur were placed under Mughal officers in consultation with Raja
64
Parasram of Bahu . Raja Man Singh, the Jazirdar of Sialkot. was made
61. Akbomama, op, cit.
62. Akbomama, HIED. Vol. VI, P. 127.
63. Ibid. p. 128.
64. Tuzak-i-J'ahangiri, (Persian text), Lu SPM
fol. 184 b.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 87

the first Mughal faujdar of Jammu who continued throughout the reign
of Akbar and the first decade of Jahangir^
65
rule. Parasram was made
the Raja, both, of Jammu and Bahu . Sangram Dev of Jammu, however,
had now grown of age. He accompanied Jahangir on his campaigns i
in
the Deccan, and won his favour. The emperor made him a66 hazarV
mansabdar, and recognised him as ruler of Jammu in 1619. During
these years Sangram Dev seems to have developed some differences with
Raja Man, who was ptobably well disposed towards the Bahu Rajas and
did not like Sangram's rising in favour with Jahangir. When Raja
Man was appointed to succeed Shaik Farid Murtaza Khan in the govern-
ment of the Punjab, he heard that "Sangram, one of the Zamindars
of the bill country of the Punjab" had taken possession of part of his
province, he proceeded to drive him out. As Sangram was unable to
make a stand he retreated into the hills, and Raja Man pursued him
with a small force and seems to have67 fallen into an ambush. A fight
took place and Raja Mnn was killed . Inspite of this incident Sangram
Dev continued to be rising in favour 68 with Jahangir who once again
confirmed him to the pargana of Jammu .

A little after, in 1620 A.D., Raja Sangram Dev rendered

distinguished services to Jahangir by assisting his officers in Kashmir in
their expedition against Kishtwar. Partap Singh alias Bhup Singh,
Raja of Kishtwar, was son-in-law of Sangram Dev. He had given shelter-
to two fugitive chiefs of Kashmir who constantly harassed the Mughals
in Kashmir by their sallies from Kishtwar mountains; He also beat back
a Muglal force sent against him. In 1920 Dilawar Khan was sent at
the head of 10,000 men in order to reduce Kishtwar to subjection.
Sangram Dev also received orders from Jahangir, then probably in
Kashmir, to send a contingent to co operate in suppressing ahis popular
outbreak Bhup Singh fought valiently. but was 69finally defeated and
killed, and Kishtwar became subject to Iahangir, In recognition of
these services Jahangir raised the
70
mansvb (rank) of Sangram Dev to
1,500 foot and 1,000 horsemen.
The following year, in 1621, he helped Mughal officer, Qasim Khan,
in reducing Kangra and in recognition of these services his rank was
raised to three thousand (Seh-hazari). The fort however, could not be
taken due to the death of the Mughal commander. Now Sundar Dass
was entrusted with this task, and finally with the assistance of Sangram
Dev and Raja Jagat Singh of Dhameri (Nurpur). Kangra fort was taken
by the Mughfls in Muharam, 1041 H After sometime Sangram was
ordered to accompany Prince Khurrum to the Deccan where he breathed
65. Tnzak-i- Jahangiri, P- 273.
66. Ibid. p. 308.
67 Ibid.
68. Ibid.
69. Tuzak-i Jahangiri (Persian text), Lucknaw ed.. pp. 298-300, 317 : Sheoji
Dar. Tarikh-i Kishtwar (Persian), pp, 31-32 ;
70. Tuzak-i-Jahangiri* p. 319 ; Rajdarshani, fol. 185 a.
\
88 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

his last in the 21st year of Jahangir's rule, i.e. in 1626 A.D., after reign-
71
ing for over 32 years.
Sangram Dev seems to have been a brave soldier and an experienced
general and administrator. But [for his rivals of Bahu, he would have
preferred to fend for his autonomous Raj. It was through loyal services
that he won the good will of the Mughal Emperor and got back his
Jammu Raj, and earned the title of 'Raja' and the three thousand
mansab in the Mughal hegemony olidated
Jammu Raj, left it better organised and more powerful than the rival
principality of Bahu. In fac Jammu
matter
The history of Bahuwals after Parasram Dev is not known in detail.
As narrated earlier, Parasram Dev was a great favourite of Emperor
Akbar. One Ochhab Charak was his wazir. He was a great soldier
and had conquered Sialkot and annexed it to the Bahu principality.
His three younger brothers, Shafi Dev, Sahib Dev and Kandev also
helped him to extend his Kingdom. But during the reign of Jahangir,
the Raja of Bahu had fallen in favour. At that time, a Mughal chief.
Tatar Khan invaded and conquered Sialkot and Parasram Dev fled to
Kashmir in the court of Jahangir there who took him under his
72
patronage . •
*

After Parasram Dev's death, his son Kishan Dev alias Ajit Dev,
became Raja of Bahu in about 1610 A.D. He had two sons, Narpati
or Azmat Dev and Kripal Dev. Azmat Dev became Raja but died
after 3 or 4 years' rule and was succeeded by his brother Kripal Dev in
about 1660 A.D.
Kirpal Dev was a brave and influential ruler. He is said to have
got the old stony path to Vaishno Devi Shrine prepared. He extended
the boundaries of his kingdom. His name is mentioned in the Chamba
73
annals, probably between A.D. 1670-1680, in connection with a con-
federacy including Kripal Dev of Jammu (i.e., Bahu), Chatar Singh of
Chamba, Dhiraj Pal of Basohli, and Raj Singh of Guler against the
Mughal Viceroy of the Punjab, Khwaja Rezia Beg. Limmu sent Pathan
mercenaries. This combined force attacked Rezia Beg, defeated and
74
expelled him from the Hills. This seems to have been the last known
struggle of the Hill chiefs against Mughal dominace after which Mughal
hold on Jammu Hills seems to have slackened and was finally swept away
by Dhruv Dev, although Kangra remained a Mughal faujdari as late as
1783 A.D.
According to the Vansavali, Kripal Dev was succeeded by Anand or
71. Rajdarshani, SPM., folios 185 b-186 a.
72. Nargis. Narsing Das, Tarikh-LDogra Desh, p. 205
73. Chamba Gazetteer, 1909. p. 94.
74. HPHS, vol. II. p. 539.
J AMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 89
75
Anant Dev and the latter by Kabir Dev. It is said that one cause of
the disintegration of the power of the Bahu principality was the civil
war between Bahu and their kinsmen of Jasrota. This Chvelerous war
was caqsed by Mian Nath, the minister of Raja Kripal Dev of Bahu.
The minister was offended with the Raja on the possession of a fine
rifle with Mian Nath. The Mian left his master and took shelter with
the people of Jasrota, which led to the battle between the Bahuwal and
Jasrotia warriors and war
material. Several veteran generals were killed and the
76
both in men and material was whollv drained awav.
After Kripal Dev, Raja Ugar Dev tried to revive the power of
Bahu, but when after twelve years* imprison
ment, he ejected Ugar Dev from Jammu and Bahu, in 1745, the
fled to Lahore and probably died in the same year. With his death, the
Bahuwals sub-merged into the subject people of Jammu.
Sangram Dev of Jammu had two sons, Bhupat and Dalpat. The
latter became the ancestor of Rajputs of Dalpatia clan. BJtupat
ascended the throne of Jammu in the first year of the reign of Shahjahan
i.e., in 1627 and ruled upto 1656 A.D. Nothing is known of his reign
except that his signature occurs on a Persian sanad (now in Bhuri Singh
Museum, Chamba), given by a Mughal officer under the orders of the
Viceroy of the Punjab, and dealing with a boundary dispute between
77
Raja Prithvi Singh of Chamba and Sangram Pal of Basholi. It is dated
19th Safar, 1058 H. corresponding to 15th March, 1648 A.D. ? and
Bhupat Dev is there called "Rai Bhupat Jamwal." According to
Shahjahan-nama, Bhupat was got treacherously murdered by Shah Quli
78
Khan, the Mughal Faujdar of Kangra, in about 1656 A.D.
HARI DEV—C. 1656 A.D. to 1692 A.D., and GAJE Singh, 1692 to
1707 A.D.
Raja Bhupat or Bhupati Dev had two sons, Hari Dev and Sarang
Dhar Dev. Hari Dev became Raja of Jammu in the first year of
Aurangzeb H. (A.D. 1656). He seems to have
specially befriended the Mughal officers posted over Jammu, and with
their concurrence he ejected Bahu-wals from Bahu, probably during
last decade of his rule, and after the death of Kripal Dev of Bahu.
Afterwards, Gaje Singh, his son and successor, i Bahu
well Both these Rajas were Mughal Mansabadar
fought Aurangzeb good-will to their cause, and
with Mughal cooperation strengthened the Jammu Raj. As stated above
the division of Jammu Raj by Kapur Dev in about 1570, had weakened
the state, and the ensuing Jammu-Bahu struggle further sapped its
energy and invited frequent intervention by Mughal officers. Jamuiu
75. Rajdarshani, SPM. fo. 183a.
76. Nargis, Narsing Das, Op. Cit. pp. 206:207.
77. HPHS, Vol. II, p . 539.
78. Nargis, Narsing Dass, Torikh-i-Dogra Des (Urdu], p. 77.
90 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJI

Raj therefore, had become subject to Mughal authority and it was

finally subverted by Akbar in 1594-95. The Mughal rulers appointed
their own Faujdars in Jammu, Who probably acted as military governors
and agents of the Mughal Emperors, invested with powers to enforce
allegiance and wrest tribute whereas the local Raja& of Jammu and
Bahu were also retained in office as vassals and Mansabdars of the
Mughal s. This arrangement assured the willing submission and co-
operation of the people and the ruling clan.
•

The same arrangement seems to have continued during the rule of

Bhupat Dev, Hari Dev and Gajai Singh, from about 1626 to some year
after 1700 A.D. We have several stray references In the Md'asiru-I-
Umara to the appointment of Faujdars at Jammu during these years.
Thus in the second year (A.D. 1628) of the reign
79
of Shahjahan, Mukhlis
Ullah Khan was made faujdar of Jammu. In the sixth year of
Aurangzeb's reign (A.D. 1662-63),
80
a certain official Fidaiis mentioned
in connection with Jammu . Somewhere in the middle of Aurangzeb's
reign Amir
81
Khan Mir-i-Miran was made Faujdar of the hill-couhtry of
Jammu.
The Rajdarshani mentions the appointment of Kahalil Ullah Khan
to the Faujdari of Jammu by Aurangzeb 'Alamgir a few years before
Amir Khan. Khalil Ullah Khan established his camp at Jammu below
the Mandi Mai Dev, The military camp or cantonment of the Mughals
was called "Urdu" consequently, the place came to be called "Urdu",
and when a year later Amir Khan also setup his camp there for a
number name 'mohalla Urdu' and
82
'Urdu Bazar ; Which it retained, till after independence, when it was
re-named 'Rajinder Bazar ! In the closing years of Aurangzeb's reign,
probably in about 1702 A D . , Mun'im Khan Khan-i-Khanan was
appointed governor of the Punjab, and "the83 faujdari of Jammu was
made an additional charge for the Khan." Probably between the
tenures of faujdari of Amir Khan and Mun'im Khan, another officer,
Shahbaz Khan Afghan, remained faujdar at Jammu.
Faujdar Amir Khan treated the Jammu people nicely and won the
confidence of the rulers and the people, and induced Raja Hari Dev to
go to the imperial court of Delhi, where he was held up for several
years and had to accompany Aurangzeb and his generals on many
Deccan campaigns.
84
It was in one of these campaigns that Had Dev
died in Deccau in 1692 A.D. Jn his absence at Delhi, his brother
Sarang Dhar Dev ruled in Jammu. In order to curry favour with tha
Mughal Faujdar and through him, with Aurangzeb, Sarang Dhar built
79. Ma" asiru-I-Umara of Shahaawaz Khaa, Eng. trans., vol. i, p. 157.
80. Ibid, vol. I. p. 313.
81. Ibid., p. 246.
82. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 190 a.
83. Ma' asiru-I-Umara, Eng. trans, Vol. II, p. 293.
84. Rajdarshani, fol. 190 b.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 91'

mosques at Jammu and at Bahu, and allowed the call of the prayer,
and appointed Qazi and Khatib.
However, on the death of Hari Dev, Sarang Dhar was set aside and
the former's son, Gaje Singh, was acknowledged as Raja of Jammu by
Aurangzeb. Gaje singh's reign was uneventful, except that Guru
Govind Singh came on a pilgrimage to Purmandal. The Guru came to
Jammu also on invitation of the Raja, who accompanied by his brother,
Jaswant Singh, went out to receive the Guru. The Guru also went on
pilgrimage to the Vaisnu Shrine. On his way back he stayed with the
Raja and blessed him, and gave one steel lance to Jaswant Singh, which
was known to be with85 his descendant, Mian Rattan Dev, during the
reign of Ranjit Dev.
In the earlier part of Gaje Singh's reign, Jaswant Singh tried to
establish his separate court at the Purani Mandi, while Gaje Singh had
shifted his court to a new spot on the bank of the Tawi, the present
Mandi Mubarak. But soon afterwards he became reconciled to his
elder brother and accepted his supermacy after marking the 'Raj-tilak?
on. the fore-head of Gaje Singh with his own finger. This tradition of
marking 'Raj-tilak' by the descendants of Jaswant Singh on the fore-
head of every new Raja, was continued till the accession of Maharaja
Hari Singh.
DHRUV DEV—C. AD. 1707-1733
Dhruv Dev succeeded his father Gaje Singh, in the year 1707
A.D., when Emperor Aurangzeb died and Bahadur Shah, on his way
back from Kabul, announced his accession to the throne at Lahore.
Shahbaz Khan, the last Fanjdar of Jammu, left for Lahore to tender his
loyalty to the new Emperor, and acoompanied him to Delhi. Dhruv
Dev drove out of his territory the remnants of Mughal administrators.
Taking advantage of the chaos that prevailed for some time in the
Mughal court because of the weak successors of Aurangzeb, Dhruv Dev
strove for independence. The Mughal governors of Lahore were engaged
in fighting the Sikhs in the Punjab. This gave Dhruv Dev opportunity
to re-organise his Raj and strengthen his hold on his territory. He estab-
lished his sway over the surrounding Hill states, several of which were
off. shoots of the Jammu ruling family, and extended it even upto the
river Jehlum in the west, When Banda Bahadur was defeated in the
Punjab in about 1712, and sought refuge in the region of86Jammu, Dhruv
Dev provided him shelter and sent him to Bhimbar hills. Banda resided
there for some time, waiting for his opportunity. The place 87
where he
lived in Bhimbar hills, came to be called Dehra Guru Banda.

Dhruv Dev also seems to have helped Banda in fighting against the
Mughal armies in the Basohli-Jarota hills, and got his co-operation it*
_ ,_ , - -,-, -— , _ —*

85. Rajdarshani, SPM., fol. 190 b.

86. Rajdarshani, fol. 191 b .
^M^mihui, 192 a f l ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H I
 92 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

driving the Mughal officers out of his principality. There is a reference

to such an event during the closing years of the reign of Bahadur Shah
(1707-1712 A.D.) when a Mughal officer, named Qutab-ud-Din
Khan, carried military operations in 'the Faujdari of Jammu' and was
88
killed by "the oppressed Guiu", i.e., Banda Bahadur. This incident
occurred in the Basohli-Lakhanpur hills, which were also included in the
'Faujdari of Jammu. Dhruv Dev's sway, therefore, extended up to the
Ravi in the east. Jammu had already an undisputed possession over
the principalities lying in the hills to the north and over the eastern
89
states of Samba, Jasrota, Lakhanpur, Bhaddu and Balawar (Basohli).
This fact is borne out by two incidents recorded in the Chamba
annals.
The first incident happened probably in the early part of Dhruv
Dev's reign, when Udai Singh was Raja of Chamba (1690-1720 A.D.),
and guardian of the minor ruler of Guler. Jamuu invaded Guler with
the assistance of Bhadu and Basohli. In her extremity the queen-mother
appealed to Udai Singh for help. With the help of Siba, Mandi and
Kahlur (Bilaspur), Udai Singh drove out the invaders and established
90
Dalip Singh on the gaddi.
This incident gives some glimpses of the rising power of Jammu.
On the one hand it reveals the association of the three states of Jammu,
Basohli and Bhadu ; On the other it testifies to the expansionist policy
of Dhruv Dev, who laid the foundation of the Dogra State of Jammu
and extended his supremacy over the neighbouring hill states. The
invasion on Guler to the east of the Ravi was an attempt in the same
direction which did not meet with success.
On another occasion Raja Udai Singh of Chamba who had been
suspended from power drove out his antagonist Ugar Singh, and re-
gained the gaddi. Ugar Singh fled to Jammu where he found an asylum,
.and was hospitably treated by Raja Dhruv Dev, till recalled to Chamba
91
on Udai Singh's death. -

Although Bahu principality had been annexed to Jammu by Raja

Hari Dev. yet Anand Dev tried to revive his ancestral seat of power with
the help of Mughal officers in the Punjab. Dhruv Dev, however, out-
witted his rivals by contracting friendship with Nawab Qamar-ud-Din,
the Wazir of Emperor Muhammad Shah, and re-occupied Bahu, ousted
the Bahuwals and compelled them to live in Jammu city as his subjects.
Thus was finally resolved the Jammu-Bahu struggle which razed in the
Dogra land for over a century, and had become the chief cause of the
degeneration of Jammu Raj during the seventeenth century.
Raja Gaje Singh (1692-1707) had selected a new site for his resi-
dence on the bank of the Tawi, and seems to have constructed some
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ " ^ ^

88. Ma* asir-ul-Umarat Eng. trans., Vol. II, p. 147.

89. Charak, S.D.S., Rise and Fall of Jammu Kingdom, p. 27.
90. Chamba Gazetteer, pd. 95-96.
91. Rajdarshani, SPM.,iol. 193 b.
JAMMU RAJ IN IMPERIAL AND HILL POLITICS 93'

courts there. The chief residence of the Rajas upto the beginning of
Dhruv Dev's reign, had been at the Mandi Maldev, now called the
Purani Mandi. To the north side of it was situated the Mohalla
Rajan' and to its south and east, on the slopes was perched the colony
oftheMians. Dhruv Dev however, chose to build his palace on the
site selected by his father. So, in the year 1126 H (A.D. 1714), during
the reign of Emperor Farrukh Siyar, he first of all invoked the blessings
of the domestic deity 'Rani Parmeshwari by repairing and restoring
the old temple of the family deity, which was first built by Raja Chakar
92
Dhar Dev. Afterwards he built a grand palace on the Dhaunthali Spur
along the right bank of the Tawi, to the south of which he constructed
a spacious Court or Mandi for official and public business, and shifted
the royal house hold and darbar to that place. The new mansion came
to be called Darbargarh, and the old residence became known as Purani
93
Mandi or Maldev-ki-Mandi. Most of the grand mansions which stand
to this day on the new site, belong to Dhruv Dev's period. To these, a
few portions were added by Maharaja Gulab Singh and Ranbir Singh.

During the three centuries of the later middle age, Jammu played
an important role in the politics of the Hills and of the Northern
Punjab. The struggle of the Rajas of Jammu against the Khokhars
was as effective as that of the Sultans of Delhi and their governors at
Lahore and Dipalpur. At the same time, Jammu seems to have main-
tained its independence longer than any other Hill State. The effective
subjugation of Jammu and its dependencies could not be possible before
1594 A.D. during Akbar's reign. Even after that, the people of Jammu
behaved more as allies of the great Mughals than their tributaries.
They were loyal vassals only so long as they were treated with honour.

From the reign of Jahangir, the Rajas of Jammu and Bahu served
the Mughal cause as their mansabdars, and also held their territories
as subordinate Rajas. By the time of Aurangzeb, the principalities of
Jammu and Bahu had been weakened on account of division and had
been reduced to abject subordination. The superior Mughal officers,
called faujdars were placed on Jammu from the last decade of Akbar's
1
reign. But excepting a few cases, the rulers of Jammu never tolerated
superiors and always resisted imposition of direct Mughal rule in their
territories. During the later part of Aurangzeb's reign, the rulers of
Jammu had started flouting the faujdars, and as soon as that emperor
died, the people of Jammu drove away Mughal officers from their
territory and became independent.
As the annals narrated in this chapter show, the existence of Jammu
as a political entity was fraught with constant warfare which chiselled
the Dogras into a fine martial race, and prepared them for a more sub-
lime role in the politics of north-western India under the able leadership-
of Ranjit Dev whose rule followed that of Dhruv Dev.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

92. Ibid. *

93. Ibid.
 CHAPTER SIX

Maharaja Ranjit Dev, 1733-1782

EXPANSION AID CONSOLIDATION OF JAMMU RAJ
1
Ranjit Dev who succeeded Dhrub Dev in 1733 , continued the
imperialist policy of his father. Under this enlightened ruler the princi-
pality of Jammu acquired a fairly stable government. He played a
prominent role in the politics of the Punjab and the social and economic
life of Jammu till his death in A.D.
2
1782. He was perhaps the most
notable ruler ever to rule Jammu before Maharaja Gulab Singh. He
came to the gaddl during the most crucial period of the history of the
Punjab and the Dogra-Pahari Hill States. The structure of the political
power in these territories had been shattered. On the one hand Mughal
Fmperors of Delhi frantically tried to maintain a precarious hold on the
Panjab plains and the Siwalik Hills through their self-seeking governors.
On the other side the Sikh misls were trying to wrest as much territory
of Mughal Punjab as possible. | In this hot contest entered the third
* element—the Abdalis or Durran of Kabul under Ahmad Shah. Ranjit
Dev pursued his impenalistic ambition amidst this confusion created by
these three claimants to sovereignty over the Punjab and the Hill
States.
Dhruv Dev Ranjit Dev, Ghansar Dev, Surat Singh,
3
and Balwant Singh. Ranjit Dev, being the eldest son, followed his
father on the throne of Jammu at a time when it was all chaos in the
Punjab. The invasions of Nadir Shah and the Marahattas, and the
Sikhs in the Panjab had hastened the downfall of
Mughal 1 the crisis in 1752 A.D, with the cession
4
of Province of the Punjab to Ahmad Shah Durani. With this cession
the Hill States also came under the supremacy of the Durranis.
Kashmir was directly under the Afghan rule from 1752 to 1819
when it was conquered and occupied by Ranjit Singh, and 5the associated
States were tributary till the Sikh invasions began in 1818.
Encouraged by the anarchy which prevailed in the plains all the
1. Diwan Kirpa Ram makes him succeed to the throne ia about 17"*5 • Cf
Gulab., p. 26-
2. HP.M.S. p. 29.
3. Gulab ; p. 71.
4. Ibid. p. 534.
5. Ibid. pp. 77-78.
94
MAHARAJA RANJIT DEV 95

Chiefs of Jammu-Kangra States resumed their independence and recover-

6
ed the tracts of which they had been deprived by the Mughals. In A.D.
1758 Raja Ghammand Chand Katoch of Kangra was appointed by
Ahmad Shah Durani to the office of governor of the Jalandhar Doab,
and of the hills between the Sutlej and the Ravi. The Rajas of Jammu
and Chamba seem also to have enjoyed the favour of the Durrani king,
as is shown by Sanadas and letters still in possession of the families.
Meanwhile the Kangra fort was still held by the last of the Mughal
Officers, named Saif AH Khan, who continued to correspond directly
7
with Delhi. Toward* she south, in the Panjab plains, the Sikh maraud-
ing bands were organising themselves into something like political bands
called the Misls. Such was the political background against which
Ranjit Dev's picture as a political personality has to be drawn.
Accession and Early Career :
Ranjit Dev's accession to the 'gaddV of Jammu and his early life
has been differently described by historians. His date of accession is
equally uncertain. Diwan Kirpa Ram gives no date of the death of
Dhruv Dev, nor of the accession of Ranjit Dev. He simply states that
8
Dhruv Dev came to the throne of Jammu in Bikrami 1780, correspond-
9
ing to about 1703 A.D., and ruled for twenty-two years and was
succeeded by Ranjit Dev, the eldest of hi; four sons. Thus according to
his information Dhruv Dev died in 1725 A.D. when Ranjit Dev
succeeded him on the 'gaddi* But other authorities have given different
dates of Ranjit Dev's accession.
Shahamat Ali writing in 1839, says : "He succeeded in 1730, and
10
niled for fifty-four years. The authors of the History of Punjab Hill
States are of the opinion that Ranjit Dev came to the throne in A.D.
n 12
1735. G.C. Smyth pushes the date even further and records that
"Ranjeet Dehu was born about the year 1724, and was but a lad of
eighteen, when his father, Raja Drape Dehu, died in 1742."
Rajdarshani the Persian chronicle of the old rulers of Jammu,
records accurate, but not necessarily correct, dates. According to this
work Dhruv Dev ruled from the beginning of the accession of Bahadur
Shah to the 9th year of Muhammad Shah's reign, a total span of 22
13
years, and died on the 4 Katik, 1781 Bikrami or 1140 Hijri. This
1
/

6. Latif, S.M., History of the Paujab. p. 301.

7. Hutchison and Vogal, H.P..H,S p. 79; Dr. Gupta, H.R., History of the Sikhs,
Vol. I l l , p. 26.
8. Diwan Kirpa Ram : Gidab., p. 70.
9. Ibid.
10. Shahamat AH : The Sikhs & Afghans, p. 80.
11. Hutchison & Vogel : H.P.H.S. p. 540. VV.G. Archer supports this date when
he brackets Ranjit Dev's reign, 1735 to 1781. See Indian Paintings in the
Punjab Hills, 1952, p. 45.
12. G.C. Smyth : A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 240.
13. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, SPM., folio.
 H^^H^^^^H^HH^^HH A SHORT OF
obviously accurate calculation adds yet more to the confusion. The
Samvat year given corresponds to 16th October 1724, whereas the Hijri
year corresponds to 1727 A.D. There is yet another anamoly in the
date of accession of Ranjit Dev immediately given after the above
date.
All the three manuscripts of Rajdarshani give Rabi-ul-Awwal, H.E.
14
1140 and 17 Baisakh, S. 1781 corresponding to 29 April, 1724 A.D.„
which makes the event take place some six months before Dhruv Dev's
death, which is quite wrong. The ninth year of Mohammad Shah's
reign (ace 1719 A.D.) falls in 1727. Bahadur Shah I ascended the throne
of Delhi in 1707, and adding 22 to this year we get 1729 as the year of
Dhruv Dev's deaih. Obviously the dates given here in the Rajdarshani,
make the matter more confounded.
These confusing and self contradictory statements lead us no where.
There is, however, one documentary record in the State Archives
15
Repository, Jammu, which is in the form of a 'Patta' by Muhammad
Shah, Emperor of Delhi, in favour of Raja 'Drup Dev Singh' confirm-
ing him as Raja of Jammu on special conditions and payment of
Nazrana by him and Rajas Ranjit Dev and Gujral Dev (probably
Ghansar Dev, second son of Dhruv Dev) as Rajas of the Dogra Ilaqa.
(
The Patta\ dated 13th Zilqadah, 1144 Hijri, correspoading to about
A.D. 1732, is a clear evidence that Dhruv Dev was living at least in
1732 A.D., and that time his sons Ranjit Dev and Gujral (or Ghansar)
Dev were grown enough to be recognised as associate rulers of the
Dogra llaqa. We cannot possibly question the fact of Dhruv Dev's
ruling at least till 1732. Now we can. arrive at a fairly accurate and
dependable date of Ranjit Dev's accession by reconciling the fact of his
release from internment for twelve years, The release was affected
in 1745 A.D., probably in the month of April that year.
Ranjit Dev's Internment :
Stray references to events of Dhruv Dev's reign reveal that Basohli
and Jasrota had already been made tributary to Jammu and the ruler of
Jammu tried to arbitrate in the affairs of Bhadarwah, Chamba and
Nurpur. Thus Dhruv Dev had extended his sway upto the Ravi in the
east. To this kingdom Ranjit Dev succeeded. Immediately after his
accession, he started on the path of westward expansion and conquered
the country as far as the present Ranjitgarh, where he built a temporary
mad fort to mark his boundary to the south-west. Sometimes he even
surprised and plundered the town of Sialkot, and over-ran the country
on the west of the Chenab as far as Gujrat. He even attacked the forts
of Koolowal, Kotli, Minawar, Bajwath, and almost put a stop to the
14. The three versions of Rajdarshani, one in British Museum and the other in;
India Office Library in London, and the third at SPS Museum, Srinagar.
15. File No. 1, Persian Records,- SAR (J). Mughal Emperor Mohammad
Shah ruled at Delhi from 1719 to 1748
^ ^ ^ H l 6 . l See a n t e . i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ l ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ ^ I
MAHARAJA RANJIT DEV 97
37
communications between Kashmir and Lahore. Such activities of
Ranjit Dev and "his three brothers" might have offended the young
Mughal Governor of Lahore, Zakariya Khan, who feined reconciliation
towards the rising Hill Chief18and sent promises and invitations to him
to visit the Lahore Court. The ambitious Chief, however, was
reluctant to respond to these invitations. Consequently, on the report
of "his disloyal attitude reaching the Emperor's ears" an order for his
arrest was probably
19
issued and the Governor proceeded personally to
carry it out.
The dispossessed Bahuwal Chiefs too seem to have been instrumen-
tal in this affair. Taking advantage of Mughal suspicions about Ranjit
Dev's political motives, Ugar Dev, the chief of the Bahuwal clan
poisoned the ears of the Mughal Governor20
of Lahore, and this might
have precipitated matters. G.C. Smyth21
relates that closely pressed by
the need of his family feud properly adjusted with the help of the
Mughal governor, he went to Lahore, but no sooner had he presented
himself at the Court than he was put in irons and kept a prisoner
22
in one
of the dungeons within the fort of Lahore for twelve years. .
•

The date and period of23this internment are not easy to ascertain.
According to one authority the 24
period was from 1748 to 1760 A.D.
However it is usually believed that Ranjit Dev was released on the pay-
ment of a ransom money, half of which was realised by Zakariya Khan's
agent who reached back Lahore when Zakariya had died. As Zakariya
died on 1 July 1745, this was probably the year in which Ranjit Dev was
set at liberty. During Ranjit Dev's absence Ghansar 25
Dev, the next elder
brother, acted as the regent or Rajah of Jammu. He was, however,
slightly respected even by his own clan of Jamwals, while his enemies,
the Bahuwals, daily gained strength and made several successful attacks
on Jammu so that its very existence was at stake. The Jamwal chief ran
administration and fought out26
enemies with the help of Mian Chandan
Dev and Mian Surat Singh. The army of Lahore once again tried to
occupy Jammu with the help of Ugar Dev of Behu, but Mian Ghansar
Dev and his associates intercepted the imperial army at Miran Sahib, •

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

17. Smyth, G . C p. 242.

18. Ibid.
19. H.P,HS., Vol. II, p. 540. Also see Rajdarshani, S.P.S. MS. fol. 195 b,
where it is stated that Ranjit Dev was imprisoned for defaulr of arrears
of tribute due from his ia.thQt-zar"i-Baqia-i'Pidr.
20. Smyth, G . C , p. 243.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Shahamat Ali, op. cit., p. 82.
25. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, India Office MS. fol. 87 b ; Smyth, G.C.A,
History of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 243 , gives the name as Kousar
Dehu.
Ji 26. Gulabnama, op. cit., p. 71. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ L : B H & i ^ ^ B ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ i s ^
98 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

about ten miles to the south of Jammu and routed it after inflicting on
27
it heavy losses. They occupied most of the Bahu territories as well.
The impending Jammu-Bahu struggle therefore became a grim affair
and it was thought prudent to seek Ranjit Dev's release from Lahore
confinement. Mian Chan dan Dev, the commander-in-chief of Jammu
armies, approached the Mughal governor of Lahore through Adina Beg,
28
the Fajudar, and sought Ranjit Dev's release. This release was facilia-
ted by the shift in political alignment of the Bahuwals. It appears that
the Bahu chiefs Komal Dev, Bhoj Dev and Gul Dev had entered into a
close allianee with the Sikh chief, Charat Singh, the grand-father of
Ranjeet Singh, and by this intrigue they incurred the displeasure of Adina
29
Beg. Ghansar Dev and Chandan Dev seem to have made capital out
of this situation and won the sympathy of Adina Beg, the governor of
Doab, for their cause by aligning themselves to his interents, and through
his released from the Lahore confinement
payment of a ransom of two lakhs of rupees, and he was sent
back to Jammu, accompanied by Hakim Khudabaksh Khan
e Hakim after 30realising one half of the
„ Dev went to Lahore. By the time he reached
Lahore, the governor, Zakariya Khan, was dead, and the money was
31
made over to Adina Beg Khan, who kept it. As Zakariya Khan died
on 1st July, 1745, this was probably the year in which Ranjit Dev was
32
set at liberty.

Second Confinement: The tradition current in Jammu hills, suppor-

ted by statements of Shahamat Ali and G.C. Smyth show that Ranjit Dev
was probably interned in Lahore for the second time during 1748-49.
Shahamat Ali records that soon after the release of Ranjit Dev, Ahmad
Shah Durrani invaded India, when the former, who had resisted the
invader, fell into the hands of the Afghans and was again sent so Lahore,
33
and confined there. It is probably this second confinement which G.C.
34
Smyth confuses with the first. "In 1747," writes Smyth, "he plundered
a Kafila or Caravan, with about 100,000 rupees worth of Pushmeena,
going from Cashmere to Lahore for Meer Munnoo (1748-1754 A.D.)"
It was for this and other like acts that he was called to the governor's
35
court at Lahore and was imprisoned and thrown in a dungeon.
Hearing of this confinement, and perhaps of the defeat of the
27. Nargis, Narsing Dass, Tarikh-i-Dogra Desh, pp. 84-86.
28. Shahamat Ali, The Sikhs and Afghans, p. 80, Smyth, p 241.
29. Smyth, G.C, op cit., p. 241.
30. Shahamat Ali. op cit., p. 81.
31. H.P.H.S., p. 540.
32. Gupta, H.R., Studies in the Later Mughal History of the Puiij
33. Shahamat Ali, op. cit., p. 81.
34. G.C. Smyth, A Hist of Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 243
35. Ibid.
MAHARAJA RANJIT DEV 99
Mughals at the hands of the Abdalis, Rattan Deo, Ranjit Dev's comman-
der-in-chief, who had gone for service of the Mughals to the Dekhan,
took flight, and reached Jammu and formed a government in collabora-
36
tion with Ghansar Deo, in the absence of Ranjeet Dev. Stubborn
heroic and ambitious as he was, Ranjit Dev might have been confined bv
Mir Mannu as an ally of the seems to have
been very short. The Abdali Wazir, Shahwali Khan, and the Dogr
Raja seemed to have reached an understanding, and the latter was not
only set at liberty, but was also honoured with a Khilat and was restored
to authority with the aid of a large army despatched to assist him in
37
that object. Afterwards we always find Ranjit Dev on the side of
who considered him their powerful ally in the Panjab
and

THE DURRANI-MUGHAL STRUGGLE AND THE DOGRA ROLE.

His reign was coterminous with the weak successors of Aurangzeb
under whom the Mughal Empire had started declining. By 1752 the
Punjab had passed into the hands of the Afghans, and the Hill States
also came under their suzerainty. But Durrani control over the eastern
Hill States was never more than nominal. Encouraged by the anarchy
which prevailed in the plains, all the Chiefs resumed their independence
and recovered
33
the tracts of which they had been deprived by the
Mughals.

After his release from confinement in Lahore, he strengthened his

hold on his territories and tried to benefit from the political situtation in
the Panjab. The time was also ripe for his ambition. With the decline
•of the Mughal power and the attendant chaos, the Panjab and the
adjoining areas had become victims of marauding hordes and there was
no security of life and property. "Lawless men, plunderers and adven-
turers now peeped out of their holes ..the peace and prosperity given by
the just rule of Zakariya Khan were destroyed. The disorder was raging
throughout this province even one year, one month and twenty-three
39
•days after Zakariya Khan's death in July, 1745. A struggle for gover-
norship of the Panjab between Yahiya Khan and Shahnawas Khan made
the matters worse. The latter, on advice of Adina Beg Khan invited
Ahmad Shah Durrani to support his cause on condition of "crown to
0
Ahmad Shah and wazirship to Shahnawaz."* Hence disturbances cropped
up everywhere. The Raja of Jammu, therefore, revolted and stopped
41
paying tribute. He led his troops against the neighbouring chiefs and
36. Shahamat A l i ; The Sikhs and Afghans, p. 82.
37. Ibid.
38. Latif, S.M„ op. cit., p. 301.
39. Anand Ram, Tazkira-i-Anand Ram Mukhlis, HIED, Vol. VII, pp. 76-78.
40. Tahmas Khan, Tahmas Noma, KCA, SHR—1283, p. 40; Siyar-ul-Mutakher-
in, op. cit., p. 16.
41. Anandram, op. cit., p. 269. of. Sarkar, J. N. Fall of
Calcutta, 1938, Vol. VIII, p. 193.
 100 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
extended his sway up to the Chenab ie west, and in the nlains unto
the present borders of the Jummu State towards Sialkot. From now
onwards Ranjit Dev had to play a very important as well as an interest-
ing role in the Panjab affairs.
When the Durrani had arrived in Lahore, Wazir Qamarud-Din left
Delhi, on Januaiy 13, 1748 for Lahore, "Urgent letters were despatched
to the Zamindars of Jammu, 42
Lakhi Jungle, etc. to hurry up their troops
to join the Imperial army. But how Ranjit Dev responded to this call
is not known. However, we43note that the Durrani invader had occupied
Lahore on 12 January, 1748 , and stayed there for five weeks. "During
this period the Rajas of Jammu, Bahu 44
and other northern hills sent their
Vakils with petitions of submission." This politic approach of Ranjit
Dev and his vassal Raja of Bahu was in anticipation of Durrani success
which however, could not be achieved by Ahmad Shah in 1/48.
Durrani was more fortunate in5 his second invasion when he succeed-
ed in getting the "Chahar Mahal —Sialkot, Aurangabad, Gujrat and
Pasrur, which, as J.N. Sarkar puts it, formed "in time 45
of need a strong
flank against the hill chiefs of Jammu and Kashmir. Faced with this
wedge between his possessions and the Mughal territories the Dogra
ruler was not clear with whom he should aligu, the Afghan or the
Mughal. The political uncertainty depened during the following few
years and the people and merchants of Punjab and Delhi took shelter in
Ranjit Dev's territories. During the Durrani invasion of 1752 Ranjit
Dev joined on the side of the governor of the Punjab, Mir Munnu, who
was, however, defeated and Ahmad Shah Durrani occupied Lahore in
March, 1752.
The Mughal emperor ceded Lahore province to the Durrani invader
thus withdrawing Mughal occupation of the Punjab. Ahmad Shah
Durrani decided on the occupation of Kashmir. Consequently he des-
patched a strong detachment under Abdullah Khan who easily made his
way through with the help of Ranjit Dev, to the capital of Kashmir,
ousted the nominee of the Mughal Emperor there and established his own
authority. Ahmad Shah appointed Diwan Sukhjiwan Mai the governor
46
of Kashmir, By now Ranjit Dev seems to have realised the inevitable
42. AnandI Ram, op. cit., pp. 254-55 ; Ali-ud-Din, Ibtat Nama, MS. KCA
fol. 106 b. *?
43. Sohan Lai ; Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. I, Arya Press Lahore 1885 p 123 •
Ansndram Mukhlis : Tarikh-i-An andr am, MS in KCA, p. 261. '
44. GandaSicgh, Dr. Ahmad Shah Durrani, Asia Publishing House, Bombay
\lvjy), p. jl.

45. Gupta, Dr. H . R . : A Hist, of the Sikhs, Vol.1, 1739-68, Calcutta 1939
p . 74. » • . . . » . »
46. Tahm s.Khan, op. cit pp. 76-79; Ghulam Azad Bitgrami. Khazana-i.
^m/m (1762), NawalKishore Press, Cawnpore, 1900, p. 114; Tarikh-i-
Ahmad Shah, Vp 83-85, 91-95; Sohan Lai, op. cit,, Vol I, P P 132-35;
Khushwaqt
PP K
Rai. Tankhi-Sikhau,
paRam li z
or Kitab-i-Tawarikh-i-Panjab, MS. KCA
- ll'nJ 'l" ;G ' «r-i-Kaslimir, Kohinoor Press, Lahore, 1870,'
pp. 230-32 ; NarayanKaul, Tarikh-i-Kashmir MS. Research Dept, Sri-
nagar, fol. 183a-l84 b ; H. R. Gupta, A Hist, of the Sikhs, Fol. I, op. cit,,
MAHARAJA RANJIT DEV 101
downfall of Mughal rule in the Panjab. He, therefore, in consideration
of his people's interest sided with the person in possession of Lahore.
When Ahmad Shah retired to his country, Adina Beg helped by Ranjit
Dev and other Hill chiefs, gathered force and pressed hard Khwaja
Abdullah Khan and the Mughlani Begum, the representatives of the
Durrani, in October, 1756.
These political activities brought Ahmad Shah Durrani to Lahore in
December 1756. It was reported particularly to Ahmad Shah at Lahore
that Raja Ranjit Dev had prepared himself for war against the Afghans
and had retired from Lahore only when they found themselves incapable
of resisting them. The Durrani, therefore, ordered an army of 10,000
47
to proceed against him. Ranjit Dev offered no resistance. He quietly
sub,i itted and made friends with the Durrani who welcomed this step,
since the more pressing problem for him was the Sikh menace. In order
to drive out the Sikhs from their hill fastness where they had taken
refuge, and to secure regular help from Ranjit Dev for his governor,
the Durrani confirmed his alliance with the Raja of Jammu by a gift of
the three Shahi parganas of Zafarwal, Sankhatra and Aurangabad which
48
later he bestowed on him permanently. When Adina Beg was supreme
in the Punjab, he also solicited Ranjit Dev's help, and when after Adina
Beg's death in November, 1758, Ahmad Shah invaded the Punjab once
again, he marched through the hills in order to secure the aid of his ally
49
Raja Ranjit Dev.
KASHMIR AFFAIRS.
By June 1762 Ahmad Shah was free from the troubles in the Punjab,
and now he decided to reconquer Kashmir where his governor Sukhji-
wan Mai had revolted and declared independence. He deputed Shah
Wali Khan, his viceroy of Lahore, to take proper action in the affair.
The latter sought the help of the Dogra Chief, invited him to Lahore
through the sons of the Durrani minister and bewtowed on him a rich
dress of honour. Ranjit Dev agreed to co-operate. He despatched his
eldest son Brajraj Dev along with Mian Rattan Dev, the chief Comman-
der, via Ban ihal. The Afghan force under Nurud-Din Bamezei pro-
50
ceeded via Rajauri and Punch to chastise Sukhjiwan.
It seems probable that the Afghans had to lead two expeditions
against Sukhjiwan. The first one was sent under the personal guidance
of Raja Ranjit Dev, with 3 or 4 thousand Durrani troops. Ranjit Dev's
47. Sarkar, J.N., Fall ofthe Mughal Empire, op, cit., Vol. II, pp. 62, 82
Tarikh-i-Alamgir Sani, Elliot, Vol. VIII, pp. 140-143.
48. Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami; Khazaua-U Amir a, Nawal Kishore Press,
Cawnpur (1762), p. 100 ; Sialkot Dist. Gazet., p 16 ; Dr. H.R. Gapta : A
Hist, of the Sikhs op. cii Vol. I p. 105 ;
Ganda Singh : Ahmad Shah Durrani, p. 189; Tahmas Khan, op. cit.,
66a-70a ; Kea?ana-i-Amira, op. c t., p. 101.
49. Q vol. II, pp. 120-21 ; Tarikh-i-Muzafft
p. 598.
50. Ali-ud-Din, Ibrat-Namah, 268-9; Siyar-ul-Mutakharin, 920; Gulabnama,
78.
102 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

contingent started in June, but found all the passes closed by Sukhjiwan
and in consequence came back baffled. Another expedition on a larger
51
scale was fitted later on, probably in September after the rainy season.
Nurud Dm was in charge of this undertaking, and was actively supported
by Ranjit Dev's son and his troops. Sukhjiwan, on the other hand, was
prepared to meet the advancing force. He had fortified the mountain
passes. But mspite of this the combined army of 3 or 4 thousand
Afghans and about the same number of Dogras marched into Kashmir
through the Tosamaidan pass. A battle was fought at Chera Udar
Karewa. Sukhjiwan Mai came to oppose the invaders at the head of
a large army but due to the treachery of his commander-in-chief,
Bakht Mai, he was easily defeated and captured, blinded by Nurud
Din and sent to Lahore where he was trampled down by horses to
52
death, Nurud Din was confirmed in the government of the valley.

In return for this service a Jagir of sixty thousand 'Kharwars'

(donkey—loads) of rice in lieu of one lakh and twenty five thousand
rupees in cash, was bestowed on Ranjit Dev in succession by Ahmad
53
Shah in Kashmir.

The villages assigned to Ranjit Dev were in Kutaher Pargans, and

one of the villages was Brah, The Kardar ofBrah was one Siva Ram
Jalali who used to weigh all the grain for Ranjit Dev. Brijraj Dev, son
of Ranjit Dev, used to come over every autumn to take charge of the
54
produce of his father's estate.

In the closing years of his reign, Ranjit Dev had acquired sufficient
power to consider seriously the conquest of the Kashmir Valley for him-
self. The tyrannical rule of the autonomous Afghan governor, Haji

51. Gupta. H. R., A History of Ihe Sikhs, I I I , p. 178.

52. Ghulain Ali Azad Bilgrami, Khazaua-i-Amira, op. cit., pp. 115-16 ; Ali-ud-
Din, op. cit., pp. 269-70 ; Kirpa Ram, Gi&lar-i-Kashmir, pp. 232-53 ;
Siyar-u/-Mutakherin, op, cit., 920 ; Naryan Kaul, Tar ikh-i-Kashmir, MS
r an ar
(1846) Research Department, s i g > folios 186 a-187 b.
53. Kiipa Ram, p. 79 ; Ali-ud-Din, op. cL., pp. 269-70 ; Khaza-i-AmUa, op.
cit., pp. 115-16; Kirpa Ram, Gu/zar-i-Kashmir, op. cit., pp. 232-33.
54. Kak, R.C., Memoir uf the Archaeological Survey of the Kashmir Darbar,
Reprint, Sa,ar Publication, New Delhi, 1971, p. 7. Mr. Kak records the
tradition that on one of these occasions, when Siva Ram had weighed all
the grain that he had t o give a peasant came forward and shook the dust
of his clothes. This trivial incident was the turning point of his life.
He realised the emptiness of the world's reward and the varity of human
endeavour. He broke his qalamdan there and then and he took himself
t o the cave ofBrari-Maji (Lady Mother) nearby. In a short time he
became enlightened, ana his former master, Brijraj Deu, on his next
annual vtsit, waited upoa him and assignee him an annual pension of
500 Kharwars of paddy. This grant was later on confirmed by Jabbar
Khan, and, though originally intended as a personal gift to Siva R a m ,
seems to have afterwards been converted into an endownmeni for the
sacred spring near which he lived. Ibid pp. 7-8.
MAHARAJA DEV H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H ^ H H
Karim Dad Khan, goaded the peace-loving people to seek aid from
whichever quarter it could be procured to over-throw him. The disgrun-
tled members of the Kanth family as well as chiefs of the Khakha and
Bomba tribes sent secret emissaries to Ranjit Dev promising him active
aid in case he attempted an invasion of the Valley. In 1779, while
Haji Karim Dad was busy in subjugating Skardu the Jammu Raja
launched an attack via Banihal pass with a force of 20,000 soldiers.
But Karim Dad's Afghan forces got timely intelligence and ambushing
themselves behind the rocks in the side of the Valleys, fell upon the
enemy suddenly and with such fury that Ranjit Dev's army had to retreat
55
in grave disorder. The Raja now old and worn out by struggle and
family dissensions, could not achieve success across the Pir Panjal Range,
as he had done beyond the Ravi and towards the plains.
RANJIT DEV S TRANS-RAVI EXPEDITIONS AND HIS
SUPREMACY IN THE HILLS.
During the following decade the Raja of Jammu attained greatei
heights of fame and power. His aid was sought on all quarters. His
strong hold of Jammu reached the appex of prosperity where men of
property and political connection found refuge. He achieved more
56
important conquests on all sides. He had acquired great influence
over the Chamba State through the Jamwal princess married to the
ruler, and coveted to possess the Chamba territory. In that effort the
ruler of Jammu came in conflict with the powerful State of Kangra. The
great Katoch chief, Raja Ghammand Chand ascended the throne of
Kangra in 1751. He was equally an ambitious ruler. He extended his
principality by conquests of neighbouring territories and strengthened
his influence in the Kangra hills and assumed so much importance that
in 1759, he was appointed Nazim, or Governor of the Jullundhar Doab
by Ahmad Shah Durrani and thus acquired supremacy over all the hill
37
States of the Jullundhar circle between the Satluj and the Ravi. In the
flush of grand designs of a rising chief he annexed Chauki and seized
the taluqa of Palam from Chamba, taking advantage of the minority of
Raj Singh of Chamba, who was only 9 years old at the time of his
accession in 1764. He also seized and strengthened the fort of Pathiyar
which stood on a lofty ridge not far from Palampur, and drove the
Chamba troops out of Bir-Bangahal. This brought the matters to a
head. Raja Raj Singh sought the help of Ranjit Dev for the recovery
of the lost territory and the conflict of the two rival chiefs became un-
avoidable.
The court poet of Jammu, Dev Dut, has given an eye witnesr
account of this Dogra expedition against Kangra, in his poem 'Brijraj
Panchasika.' He himself accompanied prince Brijraj Dev, who was sent
55. Prithvi Nath Kaul Bamzai: A History of Kashmir (1962), pp, 402-3 Prem
Nath Bazaz. Hist, of Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir, (1954), 114 Gwasha
Lai Kaul : Kashmir Through the Ages (1954), p 90.
56. Jour, of Indian History, Vol. XLVIII, Pt. I l l , December 1970.
57. Kangra Settlement Report, p. 9.
I
104 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

by Ranjit Dev at the head of a strong Dogra force to aid Raj Singh.
The battle seems to have taken place during the year 1766 or 1767.
Raj Singh's envoy is reported to have come to the Jammu court to
complain against the Katoch aggression and seek Jamwal aid. Raja
Azmat Dev Mankotia, Shamsher Chand Hamtal, Amrit Pal of Basohli
and Shahpur, who was Ranjit Dev's son-in-law, Raja Rattan Dev
Jasrotia, Raja Jai Singh Bandrahl, and Mian Rattan Dev Mandiwala
son of Mian Jaswant Singh, accompanied Brajraj Dev. Raja Prithvi Singh
of Nurpur also joined their strength at Machhi Bhawan. When Brijraj
Dev advanced upto Talab Raja, Raja Govardhan Chand of Guler also
came to tender his submission. At Jawala Mukhi, R?ja Govind Chand
of Datarpur j'oined Jammu force. Soon Raja Rai Singh of Chamba
68
also joined them with his troops.
On the other side Raja Ghamand Chand came forward to give fight
with the help of Raja Abraj Singh Jaswal and collected his men at
Kalesar. But as soon as Brajraj Dev had crossed the Bias river at
Gopipur Dera ferry, Ghammand Chand fled without any show of
59
arms. Brijraj Dev set fire to the parganas of Chan or and Gohasan
and plundered Kalesar, and burnt Nadaon to ashes. The Rajas of
Kahlur and Mandi came to pay homage. Braj Raj Dev divided the
conquered dominions of the Katoch among those Rajas who had helped
him and submitted before the Jammu authority. Palam and Pathiar
60
were restored to the Raja of Chamba. Brij Raj Dev established his
own thanaa in Nadaon.
Raja Ghammand Chand had taken shelter in the territory of his
ally Raja Abraj Singh Jaswal. Braj Raj Dev sent that Raja an ultima-
tum with the result that the Jaswal chief waited upon the conqueror and
begged to be forgiven. Thereupon Brijraj Dev bestowed upon him the
Parganas of Gopipur and Kot-Lahriyan. Raja Ghammand Chand has
been thoroughly isolated. He was left with no other alternative than to
submit before Brijraj Dev who treated him courteously and restored
61
him to his possessions. Brijraj Dev also helped Raja Ramsharan of
Hindur in getting back his principality from his enemies.
For some time after this victory Ranjit Dev seems to have main-
tained his paramouut position in the Hill states to the both sides of the
Ravi and his Darbar was aborned by the presence of many Rajas of
62
territories of Dugar and Jallandhar realms. Rajas of Chamba and
Nupur were related to the royal house of Jammu. Kaja Prithvi Singh
63
who ruled over Nurpur from 1735 to 1789 was Ranjit Dev's son-in-
64
law-. But this relationship did not hinder in any way the political
58. Gulabnama, p. 74 ; Bri]raj Panchasika.
59. Hutehison, and Vc Hist, of P. 176
60. Gulabnama, p . 75.
61. Ibid.
62. Gulabnama, p. 76.
63. HP.HS.,p.25l.
64. Gulabnama, p. 76.
MAHARAJA RANJIT DEV 105

ambition of both sides. Raja Prithvi Singh" started resisting the acti-
vities of Braj Raj Dev. and speaking unbecoming words about the
Jamwal royal house. This offered Ranjit Dev a pretext for another
expedition against the Trigarta states, this time against Nurpur. He
deputed Braj Raj Dev to chastise Raja Prithvi Singh. The Jammu army,
commanded by Braj Raj Dev and Main Rattan Dev, forded the Ravi at
Jalala ferry and encamped at Taragarh.
Raja Prithvi Singh of Nurpur also mustered a numerous force
composed of many Rajas and Rais of Jalandhar and of the Kanhaiya
Sardars particularly Jai Singh Kanhaiya whose help had been sought by
special messengers. A bloody and prolonged battle was fought in the
territory of Nurpur and Sindhwan. After a tough resistance Raja
Prithvi Singh was forced to shut himself up in the fort of Nurpur. Braj
Raj Dev stormed the fort aud compelled Prithvi Singh to yield. He
was brought to Jammu where "the Maharaja soothed him by dignified
65
favours, and the principality of Nurpur was restored to him. This in-
cident however, finds no mention in the family annals of Nurpur State.
Ranjit Dev had thus humbled his rivals in the Hills and equalled
the chiefs in plains. After 1770 his power seems to be at the zenith of
his glory." He made successful expeditions into the plains and de-
feated several petty chieftains round Sialkot, so that in 1778, he held
actual sway over the entire country from Jasrota to Kuluwai on the
66
Chenab and from Roras to Mandikhel in Gurdaspur. Among those
who submitted to Ranjit Dev's authority were Mians Sujan Sin h and
Mihar Singh, Rajah of Chaneni ; Bahadur Singh Raja of Humtal and
Qiramchi, Daya Pal, Raja of Basohli; Raj Singh, Raja of Bandralta ;
Raja Rattan Dev of Jasrota ; Dalel Singh and Acchhar Singh Raja of
Mankot, Rana of Marmahti and Khassals; and Rayan or chiefs of Dang-
Fatal; Prithvi Sinih. Raja of Nurpur; Raja Karam-Ullah, wali of
Rajouri, chiefs of Punch and Narwah; Asalat Khan and Nain Khan,
Rajas of Bhimbar; Diwan Ghulam Ali and Haidar Ali, the Rajas of
Mirpur and Chumak; Hassan Khan Malkana, and Rajas of Khari and
67
Khariali.
CIVIL WAR, 1774-75
Ranjit Dev's growing power and prostige was somewhat eclipsed
in the last decade of his reign because of the rebellion of his elder son,
Brijraj Dev, which offered his enemies and rivals an opportunity to
belittle his political stature. The later years of his life from 1760 on-
ward, were, therefore, clouded by dissensions in his family because of
"misunderstanding" between himself and the heir-apparent, allegedly
69
arising out of the dissipated character of the latter, Ranjit Dev had
65. Ibtd. p. 78.
66. Cunningham, W.B., Dogras, p. 15.
67. Galabnama, p. 80.
68. Archer, W.G., Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, Delhi, 197¥ p. 180.
69. Pi insep, Sir Henry Thoby, History of the Punjab; 2 v oh. London; Allen
& Co., 1846, i, pp. 237-40. Cf. Lati/, History oj the Panjab, opcit., pp. 298
and 339.
106 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

desired to deprive him of the right of succession in favour of the youn-

ger son, Mian Dalel Dev, 70
in order to save the kingdom from falling
into his unworthy hands. 'The heir-apparent was of dissolute71
character
and the father a man of great ability and sound judgement' and so he
would not patronise evil. The fact that Dalel Dev was a half-brother
of Brijraj, roused the latter to natural enmity and he decided to safe-
guard his rights. The quarrel became inevitable and civil war loomed
large.
In order to assure his hereditary rights, Brijraj Dev decided to
assert himself. He had commanded his father's forces on several
expeditions, he therefore succeeded in winning over a part of it to his
cause and fomented disturbance. The whole hill region was thus exciteed
by his "unnatural rebellion" against his father. "The naw youth not
72
realising the consequences," applied to Charat Singh, offering a large
73
yearly tribute in return of his aid in deposing his father. He
also sought aid of Jai Singh Kanhaya. Both of these readily assented.
Charat Singh, the Suker Chakiya chief who particularly "entertained an
74
old feeling of enmity against Ranjit Dev," welcomed the opportunity
for plunder and revenge and joined Brijraj in his designs of deposing his
father, The united forces of the Sukarchakiya and Kanhia chiefs,
strengthened by the addition of men of Brijraj Dev, marched into the
Jammu territory and encamped on the Basantar river, east of Jammu,
opposite Samba.
Ranjit Dev had timely warning and collected a force to oppose the
invasion. This was formed of his own troops and auxliaries from Chamba,
Murpur, Bushahr and KangrB, in addition to the force of the Bhangi
75
chief Jhanda Singh. The two armies lay encamped on the opposite
sides of the Basantar river near the village, Daso Hara. An act on was
fought near the village Oodhu Chak on the same river opposite Zafar-
wal, some thirty miles to the south-east of Jammu. The fighting was
76
carried on for several days without any decisive result , till one day in
one of the skirmishes, Charat Singh was killed by accidental burst of
77
his matchlok. Consequently it seemed that the Bhangis would win.
70. Latif, Sj>ad Muhammad, Histotv of the Punjab, op. cit., p. 339 ; Prifhvi
Nath Kan! Balmzai A History of Kashmir, political, social, cultural, Delhi,
1962, p. 589.
71. Gupta, Hari Ram, Hist af the Siklis, op. cii., iii. 35-36.
72. Gupta Hari Rf.m, History oftlui sikhs' op. cit.. iii, pp, 35-36.
73. Prinsep, Sir Henry Thoby, Origin of the Sikh power in the Panjab, Cal-
cutta, 1834 (Reprint, Patiala, 1970), p. 30
74. Hutch/son, J. and Jean Phjllippe Vogel, History of the Panjab Hill States,
op. cit., ii. p. 544.
75. Ibid.
76. Latif, Syad Mohammad, History of the Pujnab, op. cit., pp. 298-390.
77. Gupta, Hari Ram, The History of the Sikhs, op. cit. iii, 35; Hutchison and
Vogel, op., cit., it. 545, see also Hugel, Travels, 273, W. L. Gregor,
History of tlie Sikhs, i, 150; Prinsep, Origin of the Sikh Power, op. cit.,
3ln; H. M. Lawrence, Some Passages etc; p. 66.
»

MAHARAJA RANJIT DEV 107

Thereupon78 Jai Singh Kanhiya got the Bhangi chief treacherously
murdered . Another authority, Khushwaqt Rai, states that Charat
Singh was killed at Udhu Chak on the Basantar river, after the two
armies 79had been six months encamped on opposite sides of the
stream.
The new Bhangi Chief, Ganda Singh, retired from the battle-field
and the Sukarchakias and Kanhiyas also abandoned the enterprise. Thus
Ranjit Dev and his son were left to settle their quarrel between them-
selves. But before leaving Jammu, Maha Singh resorted to a diplo-
matic trick. He anticipated accession of Brajraj Dev to Jammu Raj
in due course. He therefore, changed turbans with Brijraj Dev which
made them
80
brothers for life. But Mahan Singh was not honest to the
pledge and took the first opportunity to plunder Jammu on Ranjit
Dev's death.
The rebellian of Brijraj Dev and the war of succession took place
during 1774. Although Ranjit Dev was handicapped by these dissen-
sions in his own family and was hard pressed by Sikh incursions, he
could maintain his supremacy over the twenty two hill states lying bet-
ween the Ravi and the Jehlum. He successfully pushed back the tide
of Sikh invasions. He seems to have learnt to play one Sikh chief
against the other and thus keep them busy away from his borders.

78. Gupta Hari Ram, op. cit., iii. p. 35,

79. )/S
80. Jassa Singh Binod, p. 200, Gian Singh Giani, Tawarikh-I-Gutu Khalsa
(Urdu), Amriisar, iii, p: 954; S.M. Latif, History of the Panjab, op. cit.,
pp. 339-340 ; Griffin, Panjab Chiefs, pp. 316-17.

'
 APPENDIX
Jamwal-Bahuwal Struggle
The rivalry of the Jammu and Bahu clans of the ruling houses was
once again revived during the early part of Ranjit Dev's reign. The
Bahuwals seem to have been encouraged to revive their claim to a
separate principality during the internment of Ranjit Dev when uncer-
tainty and lawlessness prevailved in the Dogra State and Jammu seemed
to have fallen prey to mutual dissensions and discord resulting in
weakening of the central authority.
As narrated earlier, the fort of Bahu had been for some time the
seat of a separate principality ruled by a line of a princes belonging to
the same family to which Ranjit Dev belonged. The division of Jammu
Raj had occured in about 1560 who Raja Kapur Dev (c. 1540—c. 1560)
had given to his one son, Jag Dev, the fort of Buhu, and Samail
Dev, the other son, the citadel of Jammu. During the rule of
Jag Dev's successor, Parasram Dev, there was an intermittent
warfare with Jammu. Parasram Dev was followed in Bahu by Krishan
Dev(c. 1610—c. 1635), Azamat Dev (e. 1635-1660) aud Kirpal Dev
(1660—1690). This "Kirpal Dev of Jammu" combined with rulers of
Chamba, Basohli and Guler against the Mughal Viceroy of the Punjab.
On Jammu sendirg Pathan mercenaries the Viceroy was defeated and
1
expelled from the Hills. It is significant to note that Akbarnama and
McC asirul-Umar a write Kirpal Dev of Jammu and not of Bahu, a fact
which supports the local tradition that the Bahu principality was sub-
verted by Hari Dev of Jammu, contemporary of Kirpal Dev of Bahu.
According to tradition Raja Hari Dev reunited the two parts. He was a
favourite of Aurangzeb Alamgir whom he had accompained on an
2
expedition to Deccan and died there. Probably it was on account of
the Mughal Emperor's good will that Bahu principality was subordina-
ted to Jammu and the ruling house was invited to live at Jammu. The
descendants of the Bahuwal branch were, however allowed to retain the
title and prerogatives of Raja which they did even upto the reign of
Dhruv Dev (1707—33). Kirpal Dev has been in several portraits
3
written as 'Maharaja' and 'Shri Raja' Karan Kirpal De Jamwal.
Even Dhruv Dev's contemporary Anand or Nand Dev has been
4
styled as "Raja of Jammu." The fact that the Bahu branch continued
1. H.P.H.S., Vol. II, p. 538
2. Charak, S.D.S., Gulabnama, Eng, trans , p. 25.
3. Seattle Art Museum' Seattle, Wash/ngton.
4. Archer, W.G., Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills., I p, 177.

108
MAHARAJA RAN JIT DEV 109

to live in Jammu State and was allowed to retain the title of Raja even
after its re-unification, suggests that the rise to power
5
of the Jammu line
was effected by diplomacy rather than by force and the two rival
branches6 seem to have been reconciled to their subordinate position at
Jammu. But it seems probable that the Jammu Bahu struggle had
once again been revived by Anant Dev Bahuwal's descendant Ugar Dev,
who took advantage of the renewal of hostilities between the 7
Jammu
State and the Muslim rulers on the accession of Ranjit Dev in 1733.
In the struggle Ugar Dev sided with the Muslim rulers against 8
Ranjit
Dev and thereby revived his claims on Bahu for some time. Taking
advantage of the Mughal suspicions about Ranjit Dev's political activities,.
Ugar Dev poisoned the ears of the Mughal Viceroy of Lahore against
Ranjit Dev, and the Viceroy, out of the vindictiveness ordered him to
proceed to the Deccan with Mughal armies. Ranjit Dev suspecting
treachery, refused to comply with the orders. This 9became one of the
reasons of Ranjit Dev's internmsnt for twelve years.

During the captivity of Ranjit Dev, the government of Jammu was

run by Ghansar Dev in collaboration with Mians Surat Singh and
Rattan Dev. The V/ceroy of Lahore had sent an army to occupy Jammu
with the help of Ugar Dev. But the three Jamwal chiefs defeated the
imperial forces at Miran Sahib, some ten miles to the South of Jammu
and repulsed them after inflicting heavy losses, and Jamwals occupied
10
most of the Bahute rritories as well, However, the rivalry continued
and the internecine struggle became a grim affair so that the Jamwal
clan had to purchase the release of Ranjit Dev through the efforts of
Mian Chandan Dev.

But the struggle did not cease with the release of Ranjit Dev. It
took more time to resolve the enmity and Ranjit Dev seems to have
suffered mucn because of this rivalry before he could finally strengthen
his hold on the ancestral throne of Jammu. Pressed by his Bahuwal
rivals he is said to have retired to the Bhimag region situated in the
Trikuta region. At last with the aid of troops raised in these mountains
and from Jammu, he defeated Ugar Dev of Bahu, who fled towards
Lahore. His territory was occupied and given over to Mian Ghansar
Dev as Jagir. But on the intervention of the Mughal governor of
Lahore, Ugar Dev was restored to his principality of Bahu as a vassal
of Ranjit Dev.
11
Mian Ghansar Dev was then transferred to the jagir of
Bhalwalta (Udhampur).

5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. HP.H,S., II, pp. 537—40,
8. Nargis, Narsing Dass, Torikh-i-Dogra Des, pp. 82-84.
9. Gulabnama, p. 711.
10. Nargis, Narsing Dass, op. cit; pp. 84— 86.
11. Ibid. pp. 85-86.
110 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

But the Bahuwal chiefs Komal Dev, Bhoj Dev and Gul Dev aliena-
ted the symaphy of Mughal governor, Adina Beg Khan, by taking the
12
side of the Sikh chief Charat Singh. Ranjit Dev took advantage of
this situation and fully smashed and uprooted the Bahuwals and annexed
their territories and jagirs to his possessions. He, however, accepted
them as his subordinate subjects and allotted them residences in his
capital where they lived in complete accord with the rulers of Jammu
afterwards. The Jammu-Bahu conflict thus came to a close but not
without adversely affecting the position and power of Jammu. At least,
it considerably delayed the process of unification and consolidation of
Jammu Raj under Ranjit Dev by inviting Sikh interference in the
support of Bahuwal Chiefs. This disunity also served interests of
Mughal rulers who played the one faction against the other and
succeeded in this way in keeping under heels the Dogra rulers who had
usually defied the Mughal authority since the days of Akbar. However,
Ranjit Dev's diplomatic and strategic manoeuvering of the affairs ulti-
mately weeded out discord from the soil of Jammu and enabled it to
become the premiere State in the Jammu-Kangra Hills.

12. Smyth, G.C., op. cit., p. 241

 CHAPTER SEVEN

The Grandeur Of The Dogra Raj

(A) FOREIGN RELATIONS
(i) Jasorta : Jammu under Ranjit Dev had become the largest
State in all northern Hills. It claimed supremacy over a large number
of principalities situated not only between the Ravi and the Chenab
but also over regions lying to the other side of these rivers. When
the Mughal Empire was being attacked from the north by the Afghans
and Sikhs, and from the south by the Marathas and Jats a great part
of the Siwalik hills came nominally under the control of the Durrani
Kings of Kabui. During this period of confusion, the smaller
principalities in the Dugar country 1 had become subject either to Ranjit
Dev or Raja Kripal Dev of Jasrota . Ranjit Dev made a bid to obtain
supreme power in whole of the Dugar country. When manoeuvre
was being made from Delhi with a view to extorting tribute from the
hill Rajas, he urged Raja Kripal Dev to come to Jammu, so that they
might consult together for furthering their mutual interests. Having
secured his rival's person he kept him prisoner and obtained permission
to appropriate
2
his dominions by acknowledging his own vassalage to
Delhi . It seems that Raja Kirpal Dev might have asserted his equality
with Jammu on this occasion for which he seems to nave been
chastised.

Jasrota's subjection to Jammu is quite evident from the constant

subordinate part its rulers played to Jammu, at least from the reign of
Dhruv. The assignments of jagirs to Ranjit Dev's younger brothers and
their occasional residence at Jasrota strongly support the fact that this
state had remained for a longer part of its history an apendage of Jammu.
When Ranjit Dev returned from exile in 1745, his younger brother
Ghansar Dev, who had acted as regent in his absence 8
"temporarily
withdrew to Jasrota without meeting Ranjit Dev ". The second
brother of Ranjit Dev, Balwant
4
Singh, had also been provided with a
"small establishment", i.e., some small estate at Jasrota. Raja
Rattan Dev (1766—1780) of Jasrota had accompanied Brijraj Dev as
1. Charak, Sukbdev Singh, 'Raja-i-Rajgan' Ra>a Ranjit Dev of Jammu,"
Jour.oflnd. Hist., Vol. XLV1II, Pt. 3 December 1970, Sr. No. 144,
p. 524.
2. Cunningham, Col. W.B. ? 'Dogras' 1935, p. 178.
3* Archer, W.G., Indian painting from the Punjab Hills, Vol. I p. 178.
4. Ibid.

Ill
 112 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

his commander, when the latter attacked

6
Ghammand Chand of Kangra
in support of Raj SiDgh of Chamba .
In fact, Jammu had a special relationship with Jasrota and this
was further strengthened during the eighteenth century, when Jammu
re-emerged as the paramount power in the Hills. Jammu princes,
Ghansar Dev and Balwant Singh appear to have built their residential
mansions there. Jasrota nobles, for their part, were attendants at
the Jammu Court and may also, at times, have held office in the
Jammu administration as Wazirs and Diwans*.
(ii) Chamba :
Ranjit Dev's direct control extended over Chamba, Nurpur,
Kangra and Guler; while distant States like Mandi, Bilaspur and
Bashahr were brought within his sphere of influence. The rulers of
Jammu had for some time past, claimed suzerainty over Chamba, and
as stated above, the fugitive claimants to the "gaddi" of that princi-
pality found ready shelter at Jammu. When Udai Singh (1690—1720) was
restored to power after a month's regency of his cousin Uggar Singh,
the latter had taken refuge at Jammu in disguise. Shortly afterwards
intelligence of the assassination of Udai Singh and his brother was
received, and Raja Dhruv Dev then furnished Uggar Singh with all
necessary assistance, and sent him back to Chamba where he was
7
installed as raja , in 1720 A.D. obviously under the suzerainty of
Jammu.
i

Another prince of Chamba, Dalel Singh, also found a congenial

residence in Jammu territory. Uggar Singh's suspicions had been
aroused against Dalel Singh, and he was called to Lahore and8 kept
in confinement by the Mughal governor at the former's request . It
was probably in retaliation of this imprudent act of Uggar Singh that
the ruler of Jammu encouraged his vassal Raja Medini Pal of Basohli
to invade Chamba, defeat Uggar Singh and re-annex the two parganas
ofjundh and Bhalai. This led to his downfall. The officials of
Chamba purchased the release of Dalel Singh and made him raja in
A.D. 1735. Uggar Singh then fled to Kangra. But later on Dalel
Singh was induced to make over the throne to Uggar Singh's son,
Ummed Singh, to whom a princess of Jasrota was married.
Their son, Raj Singh, succeeded his father to the gaddi of Chamba, in
A.D. 1764. *

. - ' ' • ,

Raj Singh was only nine years old at the time of his father's
death. Ranjit Dev therefore seems to have acted as his guardian and
ran the administration of Chamba through officers appointed by
5. Narsing Dass Nargis, Tarikh-i-Dogra Des (Nrdu), Jammu, 1967, p. 215,
6. Archer W.G., Op. Cit, Vol. I, p, 215.
7. Charak, S.D.S. : Rise and Fall of Jammu Kingdom, p. 28.
8. Ibid.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 113
him. For about ten years the sway of Jammu over Chambn seems
to have been unchallenged,9 and Ranjit Dev took keen interest in the
aflfairs of that principality .
Taking advantage of Raj Singh's minority, Raja Ghammand Chand
of Kangra seized the fort of Pathiyar, and drove the Chamba troops out
of Bir Bangahal, but the queen regent, who was a Jammu princess,
obtained help from
10
Ranjit Dev and recovered the lost territory. Accord-
ing to Gulabnma Ghammand Chand submitted to Ranjit Dev and sent
his son to Jammu to do homage.
Raj Singh seems to have taken advantage of the Jammu family
feud, which probably coincided with the attainment of majority by him11
and the death of the queen mother and had shown his resentment
against the dominace of Jammu by imprisoning Aklu, one of Ranjit
Dev's officials in Chamba, and throwing off allegiance in about 1774.
Ranjit Dev, indignant at this wanton insult, called upon his vassal,
Amrit Pal of Basohli, to teach the Raja of Chamba a lesson. The
Dogra army over-ran the northern parts of the State called Churah,
and is even believed to have seized and held the capital for three
months. On this occasion Amritpal issued12a copper-plate deed, bearing
a date corresponding to the 5th May, 1774 .
9. This fact is fully corroborated by a Persian 'Sanad* issued by Ahtnedshah
Durrani to Raja Ummed Singh of Chamba in A H . 1175 (A,D. 1762)
containing a conferment of the Jagir of Parhiyar on the recommendation
of "the faitnful, sincere, wealthy, Mighty and loyal, Raja~i-Raja-ha
1
Raja Ranjit Dev, the Raja of Jammu ' Cf. Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba
Persian documeut. No. HI.
This sanad is of great interest as it was issued by Ahmed Shaht
Durrani on the occasion of his sixth invasion of the Punjab and a few
montns after his victory over the Sikbs at Kot Rahira near Ludhiana in.
February 1762. From the manner in which Ranjit Dev is mentioned in the
oresent document it may be inferred that he stood in high favour with the
king of Kabul. It was on his representation and on account of his-
relationship with Ummed Singh of Chamba that the latter was confirmed
as Jagirdar of Pathiyar. (Vogel, J. Ph., Catalogue B S M., Calcutta,
1909, pp. 56-57). This event also reveals the exjent of influence and
authority Ranjit Dev exercised over Chamba and the Dogra-Kangra hills.
When Ahmed Shah Durrani was finally defeated by the Sikh misls in 1767
and his suzerainty was withdrawn from these hills. Ranjit Dev seems to have-
become their overlord.
10. Gulab, Eng. Tr., pp. 32 ff.
11. Ranjit Dev seems to have interfered a great deal in Chamba affairs
during the minority of Raj Singh. He had established a sort of
guardianship over Chamba, and taking advantage of the minority of
Raj Singh and his relationship with the queen -mother, he had appointed
Aklu, one of his officials, the chief Minister of the State (Dr. Hari Ram
Gupta, Hist of the Sikhs, Vol. I l l , Lahore, 1944, p. 22 ; H.P.H.S., vol.
I, p. 315). While the queen-mother lived things remained quiet, but
she died soon after Raj Singh came of age, and her influence being with-
drawn the young prince who disliked Aklu, and probably suspected
secret designs against the State, had him seized and thrown into
prison.
12. Gupta, Hari Ram, History of the Sikhs, Lahore. 1944, Vol III, p. 23.
114 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Raj Singh, however, managed to escape to Kalanaur in Gurdaspur

district, and sought assistance from Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, who
43
readily assented . The combined forces of the Sikhs and Chamba
expelled the Basohli chief. Raj Singh paid to the Sikhs one lakb of
rupees, became a tributary to Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and thus saved
1
his territory from usurpation by Ranjit Dev *. Raj Singh, apprehensive
of retaliation from Jammu, probably established his new alliance with
the Sikhs against Jammu.

However, Sikh ascendency over Chamba was short-lived. Jassa

Singh Ramgarhia was defeated in A.D. 1776 by Jai Singh Kanheya
and Chamba seems to have transferred its allegiance to the latter. But
the course of later events shows that Ranjit Dev had, after re-establish-
ing his prestige in the hills and plains after the civil war of 1774 A.D.,
revived his suzerainty on the states east of the Ravi. Amrit Pal had
re-asserted the claim of Basohli on the districts of Bhalai and Jundh with
the help of Ranjit Dev and seized the territory. On death of Ranjit Dev,
his son and successor, acting as lord paramount, restored these paragans
to Chamba, along with those of Bhandal,. Kihar and Diyar which had
evidently remained in the hands of Basohli since the invasions of
1774**. This restoration was granted on condition of service, and
could be effected only through an invasion on the state, and its
territory was seized by force. From all this it is evident that at that
16
period both Basohli and Chamba regarded Jammu as their suzerain .

13. Forster, George, A Journey from Bengal to England, London, 1798, 2 Vols.,
(rep. Patiala 1970). Vol. I, p.2 70.
14. In an undated letter, obviously written to the Sikhs after this event,
Raj Singh represents that "as he had placed himself under the protec-
tion of the Khalsa he is hopeful of greater favours." (B. S. M.,
Chamba, Document No. 20). He particularly emphasised. " I f Dugar
(i. e. Jammu) causes any trouble he will inflict due punishment and
defend his country in such a way that the world will be astonished/'
(Ibid.)
15. The Takari letter from Brijraj Dev conveying t h e territory to Chamba
is still extant, and is dated 15th, Bhadon Samvat '57, which may
correspond to 1782-1783. In another Takari document from the
same source, dated 18th, Bhadon Sastra '59 (1983—84)—H.P.H.S.,
Vol. II. p. 610—we find the same statement repeated. The meaning
of these documents evidently is, that on Ranjit Dev's dearh (who
had been on good terms with Raj Singh) Raj Singh of C&amba
applied to his successor, which was granted on condition of
service; cee B.S.M., by J. Ph. Vogel, Calcutta, 7909, p. 70, documents
No. c—25, c—30, c—31. The first letter in Takari is from Raja Brajraj
Dev of Jammu to Raja Raj Singh conveying to him the pargans of
Jundh, Bhalai, Bhandal, Kihar and Diur on certain conditions of
service ; dated the 15th of Bhadon, Sastra 57. No. c—31. is a sanad'm
Takari from Raja Brijraj Dev of Jammu fo Raja Raj Singh of Chamba
restoring the above-mentioned pargans as naving always heen of ri°ht
Chamba territory, deted 18th, Bhadon of the Sastr year <S9 (A.D. 1783).
This letter was evidently an immediate result of the conquest of
Basohli by Raj Singh who took place in A.D. 1783 cf. Forster, A
Journey, etc. Vil. I, p. 270.
16. H.PH.S., Vol II, p. 610.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 115
(iii) Kangra
The nature of Ranjit Dev's relations with Kangra cannot be con-
clusively ascertained in the light of the scanty information available on
the subject. It is however believed that the rulers of Kangra had also
acknowledged his superiority. Shahamat Ali has referred to Ranjit
Dev's conquest of Kangra. He states :
"Ranjit Dev sent a large force, headed by Rattan Deo, to attack the
terrirory of Raja Karm Chand (Ghamand Chand, 1751-1774), the grand-
father of Raja Sansar Chand Katoch. Many of the petty chiefs on the
road by which the army advanced acknowledged his authority without
offering any obstacles to the progress of the expedition. On its
approach to Nadaun Karm Chand and
a battle ensued between the two parties, in which the Katoch chief
defeated for peace. He &

his son, Mian Teij (Tegh) Singh, should remain a hostage with
would Day the latter an annual contribution of one
lakh
I

The expedition stated here refers to the one sent by Ranjit Dev
under the joint command of his heir-apparent Brijraj Dev and Mian
Rattan Dev of Jasrota, to help Raj Singh of Chamba recover the
pargana of Pathiar which Ghamand Chand had seized by force, as has
18
been stated earlier.
Kangra, however, was itself coming to prominance in the sixties
19
of the eighteenth century, during the reign of Ghamand Chand, who
probably ascended the gacldl in 1761. The Katoch Raja became so
powerful and influential that he was appointed "Afghan Governor of the
Jallandhar Hills" in 1768 during Ahmad Shah Durrani's last invasion
29
of India. The ascendancy of Jammu over Kangra appears to have
17. Shahamat Ali: The Sikfts and Ajghans. reprint, Patiala, 1970 pp.83-84.
Cf. Gu!ab.,pp. 30 ff.
18. The fact of establishment of some sort< of Ranjit
>
Dev's superiorit over
Kangra finds an implied admission in an imperiai patta referred to somewhere else
in connection with Dogra superemacy over Sialkot territory. This deed 11th Rajab
AB 1192 (A.D. 1777-78) conferred by Mughal Emperor of Delhi, Shah Alam (1759-
1806) acknowledges Ranjit Dev's supremacy over the Rajas of neighbouring terri-
tories and expressly states that high orders have been issued to all other Rajas that
they should obey vou — (w rajahai decgar ham furman-i-wala sharaf-i-nafaz Yafta Keh
taba-l-slmma" bashand—S,A.R.—J., Persian Documents, file No. 2 of year A.H. 1188).
He has particularly been advised to "adopt the principles of unity with all the
rajas particularly with Raja Anb (And ?) Chand Kotoch and others to keep them
in consonance with you". The name of the Katoch Raja cannot be clearly read.
The present document is a copy of the patta and the copyist seems to have multi-
lated the name beyond recognition. Raja Sansar Chand has succeeded to the
Katoch eaddi in Hijra 1191 according to the seal used by him on his Persian cor-
respondence addressed to the British Governor-General and other persons ; Cf.
Foreign political consultation, N.A.I IND. 6 December 1811 No. 62-A ; 2nd
August. 1815, No. 32-B ; 4th, May 1816, No. 90-A ; 4th May 1822, No. 128-B.
19 Sud L.M R , "The Rise of Sansar Chand", J.PUH.S., (1935), IV Pt. I,
No. 7, pp. 63-70 ; (1934), III, Pt, I No. 5 pp. 31-41, "Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra.'
'20. Cunningham, A., A.S.I. op. Cit., p. 152 ; Sud, L.M.R., op. Cit. 3 Latif,
History of the Punjab, 1891, p.
116 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

been established some time before that date, probably between 1764
and 1768. But soon Ghamand Chand rose to power to challenge
Jammu supremacy. After the death of Ghamand Chand in 1774 Ranjit
Dev was once again left supreme and with no rival in the Hills of Jammu
and Kangra, till his death in 1782. During this period Kangra might
have allowed itself to be led by Jammu. There is, however, no positive
proof of Jammu's direct supremacy over Kangra, except for several
instances of mutual rivalry of these two leading States in which contest
Kangra played the role of a weaker neighbour, and the arms of Jammu
supremacy extended now and then to grasp at some territories of
Kangra, strengthened as these were with the cooperation of Jasrota,
Basohli and Chamba which were subject to Ranjit Dev's authority.
(iv) Nurpur *

For some time Ranjit Dev seems to have maintained his paramount
position in the Hill States on the both sides of the Ravi, and his Darbar
was adorned by the presence of many princes of Dugar and Jalandhar
21
realms. The Rajas of Chamba and Nurpur were related to the royal
house of Jammu. Raja Prithvi Singh, who ruled over Nurpur from
1735 to 1789, was Ranjit Dev's son-in-law. This relationship, however,
did not hinder in any way the political ambitions of both. Prithvi Singh
started counter acting the political moves of Brajraj Dev, and this
offered Ranjit Dev a pretext for leading a second expedition to the east
of the Ravi, this time against Nurpur. He deputed Brajraj Dev to
chastise Prithvi Singh. The contest was a long one in which Nurpur
was helped by many Rais and Rajas of the Jalandhar tract and the Sikh
chief, Jai Singh Kanhiya. The Jammu force was, however, successful
and Raja Prithvi Singh was brought to Jammu as a prisoner, where "the
Mahaiaja soothed him by dignified favours, and the principality of
23
Nurpur continued to be bestowed upon him as before.

Ranjit Dev had thus humbled his rivals in the hills and equalled the
chiefs in the plains after 1770. His power seems to be at the zenith of
glory at this time.
(v) SikhMisls
The relation of the Sikhs with the Dogra's goes back to the days
of Guru Govind Singh and Banda Bhadaur. Both of these leaders were
compelled to take refuge in the hills of Jammu region when chased
by the Mughals. However, regular politcal relations between these two
people grew up towards the middle of the eighteenth ceutury under the
shadow of Mughal-Afghan struggle for the posession of Lahore.
During the second quarter of the eighteenth century Sikhs had organised
themselves into small bands called deras and misals, to offer struggle
'

21. Gulab., pp. 30-35.

22. H.P.HS., Vol. 1, p. 261.
23. This incident, however, finds no mention in the family annals of Nurpur
State. But Diwan Kirpa Ram learnt of it personally durine his visit to
Simla in 1846. Ci. Gulab., pp. 36-37.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 117
against the Muslim julers of the Punjab. When defeated the Sikh
chiefs and their followers used to find safe refuge in Ranjit Dev's terri-
tories. They had therefore become familiar with the Hill country.
Some of these deras had acknowledged the Dogra over lordship and
formed a nart of Ranjit Dev's dominion.
During the forties these bands became more powerful and better
organised politically and when the Punjab became disturbed in the late
forties on account of Durrani invasions, they became very active and
mobile. Meanwhile, the Dogra Kingdom of Jammu had been thrown
into confusion by Ranjit Dev's imprisonment, and even after his release
in 1745 he was not able to strengthen his hold on his territories for
several years. At the same time the Misls of Kanheyas, Sukarchckias
and Bhangis whose possessions were co-terminous with those of
Ranjit Dev, were gathering strength. The rise of the Kanhiyas in the
Gurdaspur district jeopardised his possessions in that tract. The
Kahiya Sardars of Dode talluqa were the first to rise against his domi-
nance and organise themselves into a political unit and declare their
independence. This happened in 1751. In the following ten years the
Kanhiya Sardars wrested Kot Naina, Dudu Chack and Shakargarh
talluqas. Soon after, the Kanhiyas conquered Behrian in 1764, Salvari
in 1768, Manga in 1769. Taking advantage of the Jammu family feud
of 1774, Sardar Gurbakhsh Singh occupied the Morli tallnqa consisting
24
of 22 villages.
The power of the Kanhiyas therefore proved a great challenge to
Ranjit Dev. Although the losses he suffered at their hands in the
beginning seem to be minor and some of the lost territories might have
been later reclaimed, they nevertheless circumscribed his political
ambition in that corner. #

Soon after the extirpation of the Durrani power from the Punjab
Ranjit Dev had to come to grips with more powerful Sikh misls which
had been then firmly established to the south and east of his kingdom.
The Kanheyas had grown into a considerable power. They not only
kept possession of Mukerian and Hajipur but also extended their sway
over the territory of the upper Ban Doab and towards the west of Ravi,
and had become Ranjit Dev's rivals in the east and Kangra Hills.
Besides the Kanheyas, the Sukarchakiyas were also the immediate
neighbours of the Dogra State of Jammu. They held possession of the
important strongholds of Gujranwala, Eminabad, Wazirabad, Ram-
nagar, Bhera, Kunjah, Salt Ranges and a number of other places in the
three western Doaba,25 and were therefore a considerable power even
as early as the fifties of the eighteenth century.
24. Gazelter of Gurdaspur District, 1883-84. vol. I, pp. 19-20.
25. Soban Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Arya Press, Lahore, 1885, Daftar II, p .
5 ; Gujranwala District Gazetter, p. 15 ; Gujrat District Gazetter p. 1 6 ;
Shahpur District Gazetter pp. 17-18 ; Griffin and Massy, Chiefs etc > II p.
320 ; Ganesh Dass, op. cit., pp. 208-9; Khushwaqt Eai op. cit.9 pp. 130-31.
118 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The Bhangis, the most powerful Sikh confederacy to the south and
west of Dogra kingdom, had even more extensive possession s,
spreading from Pathankot in the east to Rawalpindi in the west. They
held the important cities of Amritsar, Lahore and Sialkot. The Bhangis
of Gujrat alone owned 18 forts, and their possessions yielded an annual
revenue of 13 lakh rupees. They could muster a force of 8,000 cav
and 4,000 infantry; whereas 26
the Bhangis of Sialkot could raise 3 00G
cavalry and 1,000 infantry. MahanS7Singh Sukerchakia was reporte
oossess 1,500 horse and 5,000 foot .

Ranjit Dev had thus a pack of formidable foes in his neighbourhood,

who cast greedy eyes on his prosperous kingdom, first out of their
rapacious instinct of plunder, and later urged by the political ambition
of expansion. Attracted by the wealth and prosperity of Jammu they
commenced their plundering operations and disgorged Jammu territory
of some of its wealth on few occasions. In 1755 the Bhangi chiefs cap-
tured Lahore, and next year one of the Bhangi Sardars, Gujjar Singh,
overran28 Jammu territory and seized Islamgarh, Punch and Deva
Batala. In 1761-62 Jammu was again raided by Bhamma Singh and
Hari Singh, both of the Bhangi Misl, and on each occasion the town
was plundered. Hari Singh Bhangi swept over the Indus and the
Derajat country and "sacked Jammu at the head of 12,000 cavalry, made
Ranjit Dev, the Rajput Raja of Jammu, their tributary, and penetrated
into 29the Kashmir Valley, where, however, they were repulsed with
loss. For some time after, Ranjit Dev seems to have been more or
less subject to Jhanda Sin^h, 30the then leader of Bhangi Misl and paid
some kind of tribute to him.

With the breakdown of Muslim power in the Panjab in 1768, the

great Sikh Misls began to acquire political and territorial importance,
and Jammu along with the rest of the Northern Punjab became the
scene of rivalry between
31
the Sardars of the Bhangi, Kanhaya and
Sukerchakia misls. The Bhangis again attacked
32
Jammu in about 1770
and Ranjit Dev was forced to pay.tribute,
33
and by his wise policy he
warded off the danger for a time." "Sicques (Sikhs), indeed)," writes

26. Gupta, Hari Ram, History of the Sikhs, op. cit., pp 4-5 and 46 and 51.
27. India Tracts, II, xii and Hussain Shahi, pp 235 and 237 cUod by Dr. Hari
Ram Gup/a in the History of the Sik/is, Vol. I l l , pp. 46-51.
28. Latif, Sayad Muhammad, History of the Panjab from the remotest anjiquity
to the present time, Calcutta, 1891 (Reprint, New Delh', 1961), p. 303.
29. Ibid, p. 297.
30. Hutchison, J. and Jean Philfips Vogel, History of the Panjab Hill States*
2 vols. Lahore, 1933, i.p. 544.
31. Panikkar, K.M., The Founding of the Kashmir State, London, 1953. p. 10,
32. Ibid. pp. 10-11.
33. Gupta, Hari Ram, History of the Sikhs, from Nadir Shah's invasion to the
rise of Ranjit Singh, Lahore J944 voJ. I l l pp. 1231.
1HE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 119

George Forster "aware of the chief, were contented with the name of
34 35
tribute." The tribute was probably Rs. 30,000.
A struggle for territorial possessions and establishment of influence
hnd already started between the Dogra ruler and the Sikh Chiefs. In
addition to the occasional plundering incursions into Jammu territory
in which Sikhs were invariably repulsed, they twice interfered in Ranjit
Dev's relations with the Rajput chiefs of Kangra states. In a family
feud between the Dogra Raja and his son-in-law, Raja Prithi Singh of
Nurpur, Jai Singh and other Kanheya Sardars fought on the side of the
Pathanias with the result that the struggle became a prolonged
affair.

Made bold by their initial successes against the petty states of the
Ravi-Bias region, the Sikhs availed another opportunity to thwart Ranjit
Dev's endeavours to extend his influence towards the east of the Ravi.
As described else-where, Raj Singh of Chamba rebelled and threw off
the Yoke of Jammu supremacy in 1774. Ranjit Dev sent forces under
Raja Amrit Pal of Basohli to subdue Chamba. Raj Singh sought
assistance of Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, and the combined Sikh and Cham-
ba forces expelled Ranjit Dev-s vassal. Raj Singh paid to the Sikhs one
lakh of rupees and became tributary to Jassa Singh Ramgarhia who thus
36
thwarted Ranjit Dev in his advance towards the east.
The Sikh chiefs got their last opportunity of interfering in the
affairs of Jammu state in A.D. 1774, when the heir-apparent, Brijraj
Dev, rebelled against his father and invited the Sukerchakias and the
Kanahiyas for his aid. Ranjit Dev, however, rose to the occasion and
foiled their attempt to interfere in his family affairs or to plunder
Jammu. The rebel prince and his confederates were defeated and dis-
persed without gaining anything. Ranjit Dev's determined efforts to save
the Dogaa kingdom from Sikh dominance succeeded even during the year
1774-75 which was the worst year for him and his principality. After-
wards he became so powerful that the neighbouring misls no longer
dared to encroach into his territories, yet as Griffin observes; "It was
a mis-fortune that he was not strong enough to resist the wild Sikh
levies flushed with the new wine of religious enthusiasm, and as keen
37
for the plunder of the orthodox Hindu as for the hated Musalman."
The reason was that though he had extended his dominions greatly,
yet at his death, their annual total revenue did not exceed a few
lakhs of rupees, which G.C. Smyth placed at only eithty thousand

34. Forster, G., A Journey from Bengal to England, Reprint Patiala, 1970„
pp. 286-S7.
35. Sialkot District Gazutter puts the sum of tribute al 1 1/4 lakh. Kushwakt
Rai (p. 155) at 2 1/2 lakhs, aud Roj Khalsa (Vol. III. p. 4) at one Lakh.
36. Forster, G., A Journey from Bengal to England, op. cit,, i. 270; H. R.
Gupta, History of the Sikhs, op. Cit., Hi, 23.
37. Griffin, Sir Lepel H., Ranjit Singh and th* Sikh barrier between our grow-
ing empire and central Asia, Oxford, 1892. Reprint. Raojit Singh, Delhi,
^^^^^^^^•i^^^^^H
120 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
38
rupees, the country being very poor and thinly populated. With such
meagre resources in men and money, coupled with his averston for
plunder and confiscation of other's property, he could not be expected
to raise a strong army. Nevertheless, he kept up the power and prestige
of the Dogra land, and, like Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra after him.
he too aspired to extend his dominion into the Panjab and to possess
its capital, Lahore. But the rise of Sikh Misls on the ruins of the
Mughal and Durrani powers in the Panjab after 1760 frustrated his
dream »d him to the grim reality and
with the Sikh Misls for the
Dog predatory inroads. In this
he and maintained his premiere
hill kingdom, spreading from Chamba to Rajouri and
Bhimbar

(vi) Supremacy over other Hill States.

By A.D. 1775, Ranjit Dev could breathe freely. The Bhangi
chiefs Ganda Singh and Jhauda Singh, and Charat Singh Sukerchakia,
the most powerful rivals of Ranjit Dev in the plains, had died. Jai Singh
Kanheya and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia were far off. Only they could be
his rivals in territories to the they
his possessions nor challenge his supremacy the
Ravi after 1775. He was therefore left supreme in the hills from
Rajori and Mirpur in the west to Chamba and Kangra in the east.
Akhnur was another State to the west of the Chenab which was for
long a part of Jammu principality since A.D. 1640, when it was con-
quered by Raja Jag Dev from the Khattah tribe. But the Jagirdar seems
to have become independent, and it is believed that it was again occupied
by Raja Ranjit Dev and appointed Govind Rai 39
as Kardar and another
Ambaraiyan officer, probably as his Diwan." Ranjit Dev was an ally
of Ahmad Shah, and when in 1752 the Mughal Emperor of Delhi ceded
Subah of Lahore to Durrani, Ranjit Dev might have taken advantage
of his alliance to assert his supremacy over Akhnur, Rajouri and other
Chibhal States to the west of the Chenab. Although no conclusive
evidence is available concerning Ranjit Dev's superemacy over other
Chibhal States there is every likelihood of most of these states being
subject 40to him. Tarikh-i Panjab States that Rajouri was tributary to
Jammu. Manawar was also41
a Jagir of the heir-apparent, Brijraj Dev,
according to Genesh Dass. Gulabnama, However, has included almost
38. -> »yth, G. C , A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore, Reprint,
Fatiala, 1970, p. 247.
39. SAR (J), Persian Records File No. 281 of Sambat 1921, A.D. 1864. It
contains a scrap of paper, possibly a note from some nistory of Akhnur,
containing this Information.
40. Tarikh i-Panjab of Ghulan? Muhi-ud-Din, cited by J. Hutchison and J,
Ph Vogel H.P.H S , Vol. I I p. 545.
41. 'ranesh Dass Badehra, Rajdarshani, Persian MS., British (Museum,
London p.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 121
all the Chibhal States upto the Jehlum in Ranjir Dev's kingdom. But no
further evidence on the subject is available.
Ranjit Dev made the most out of his alliance with Ahmad Shah
Durani and as soon as Panjab was ceded to Durrani he extended his
42
sway over the north-eastern hill states including Bhadarwa , in 1752.
43
Kishtwar, too seems to have been subdued in the same year. When
Mihar Singh became the Raja of Kishtwar in 1771, his younger brother,
Sujan Singh, left the state and went to Jammu, signifyifig Ranjit Dev's
44
complete sway over Kishtwar.
Reverses in Kashmir : i

Ranjit Dev's influence had already been introduced in the Kashmir

Valley by the grant, in A.D. 1762, of a jagir worthy sixty-thousand
Kharwar of shali (rice) by Ahmad Shah Durrani, and Pandit Bir Bal
45
Kachru testifies to the transaction. Towards the close of his career
Ranjit Dev had acquired sufficient power to consider seriously the
conquest of the Kashmir valley for himself. The tyrannical rule of the
autonomous Afghan governor, Haji Karim Dad Khan, goaded the
people of the valley to seek aid from whichever quarter it could be
procured to overthrow the *yrant.. The disgruntled members of the
Kanth family as well as chiefs of the Khakha and Bomba tribe secretly
invited Ranjit Dev to attempt an invasion of the Valley, promising his
active aid. In 1779, while the Haji was busy in subjugating Skardu.
Ranjit Dev launched an attack via Banihal Pass with a large force.
But Karim Dad's Aghan forces got timely intelligence and ambus-
hing themselves behind the rocks in the side of the valleys, fell upon
the invaders suddenly and with such fury that Ranjit Dev*s army had to
46
retreat in grave disorder. His expedition across the Pir Panjal came
to grief because he had grown too old to lead military expedition across
the high Mirbal Pass and the young heir-apparent Brijraj Dev was also
not on good terms with his father.
Extent of Ranjit Dev's kingdom and sway
The year 1775 and after saw Ranjit Dev at the pinnacle of power.
With the death of Raja Ghammand Chand Katoch of Kangra in that
year he had been left supreme in the hills from the Jehlum to Bias and
the adjoining plain. The death of Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1773 had
already left him an independent chief, sovereign over all these
regions, and he deservedly acquired for the principality of jammu the
42. H.P.H,S., Vol, II, p. 624.
»
43. Ibid, p . 656;
44. Ibid' Also, Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, op, cit.t p. 10,
45. Bir Bal Kachru, Pandit Tawarikh-i-Kashmit, Persian MS in G.R.D. (S),
fol. 1 69.
46. Prithvi Nath Kaul Bamzai, A History of Kashmir, op. cit. Delhi, 1962.
pp. 402-3.
122 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

proud privilege of the popular saying "baiyan wich Jammu Sardar hai. • » >

47
(Among the twenty two, Jammu is the head.
The grandeur of his power had echoes in the portals of the imperial
court of Delhi, and the Moghal Emperor, Shah Alam II (1759-1806)
was pleased to issue a royal rescript (farman) on 5th Muhorram, A.H.
1188, (A.D. 1775) recognising "Raja-i-Rajaha—Rdqa. Ranjit Dev" as
49
Raja of Jammu and demanding his allegiance to the throne of Delhi ,,
which was no more than nominal and conventional.
Thus Ranjit Dev had reached the acme of fame by the middle of
the seventies of the eighteenth century, He had created an extensive
kingdom spreading over hills and plains. The boundary of his domin-
ion on the north side included Kashtwar and Bhadarwah states, and
extended upto the Banihal pass through which he sent his armies into
the Kashmir Valley, twice in support of the Durrani's and for the
third time in order to conquer the Valley for himself To the west,
across the Chenab river, Punch was probably beyond the limit
sway. But Rajauri, Manawar, Mirpur-Chumak and other territories
49
were subject to him. To the east of the Ravi, Nurpur and Chamba
states were subject to Ranjit Dev and carried out his dictates and those
of his immediate successor, Brajraj Dev, as is revealed from the Takari
correspondence between the two states for the year 1782 and 1783.
Ranjit Dev was, therefore, the first modern Dogra ruler who almost
rounded up the limits of the Dogra territories of Jammu state.
In addition to the Hill country. Many adjoining tracts of the
Panjab plains also formed part of his Kingdom. These ineluded
Daoltanagar, Karianwala, Alamgarh, Paroshah, Mari-Khokhran and
Tanda Muta villages of Gajrat pargana, and Munawar and Behlolpur.
The Thub villages in Sialkot, tracts of Ban, Arniya and pargana of
Pasrur, Hamigarh and Zafarwal, Mandi Khel and Chanari upto the
51
waters of of the Ravi, were in his sphere of occupation. .
On the decline of the Mughal empire Ranjit Dev "extended his
sway over the low hands owing a nominal allegiance to Delhi'' and by
transferring his allegiance to Ahmadshah Durrani had acquired from
him Zafarwal and other parganahs (part of Sialkot district) to his net,
and thus he had "secured possession of the whole district, except
Sialkot town and its dependencies which were held by a Pathan
52
family ? "He made successful expeditions into the plains and defeated
47. Archer W.G., Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, op. cit., p. 179.
48. Persian document No. 2 of the year A.H. 1188,—State Archival Resposi-
tory, Jammu.
49. Charak, S.D.S., Maharaja Ranjit Dev and the Rise and Fall yfjt
Kingdom, Pathankot, 1971, pp. 45-47.
50. VogeJ, j . Ph., Catalogue of the Bhuri Singh Museum at Chaml
Ncs. e-25, c-30, c-32.
51. Charak, S.D.S , Gidabnama, Eng. trans, New Delhi, 1977, p. 4J.
52. Gazetteer of Gurdaspur District, 1883-84 pp. 19-20.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 123
53
several petty chiefs around Sialkot." As stated earlier the Durranis
had constantly recognised his sway on this district by formally conferr-
ing on him the parganas of Zafarwal, Sankhatra and Aurangabad. The
copy of a Patta, dated 11th Rajab, 1192 A.H. (A.D, 1779), confirms
the fact of his possession of Sialkot territory. In this document he has
been asked to chastise one Hari Singh of Sabzalkot in the environs of
hills as "Whatever territory is around Sialkot is in possession of the-
Maharaja (Ranjit Dev)."
Ranjit Dev had also inherited from his ancestors large tracts in
Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. Traditionally he held 24 talluqas of
Shakargarh and Gurdaspur tehsils. Thus in the south the frontier of
his kingdom verged on the northern territories of the Districts of
Gujarat, Sialkot and formed a line drawn from Dinga in the Chaj Doab
to the river Chenab at Kalowal, and from Roras to Sankhatra in the
Sialkot District, as far as Mandi Khel in Gurdaspur pargana.™
(C) ADMINISTRATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE IDEAL
Very scanty information on Ranjit Dev's system of civil adminis-
tration and justice is available from the existing sources although
several contemporary and contemporaneous writers have showered
praises on him for his lofty ideals, impartiality, religious toleration, wise
administration and paternal character, "inspired by high ethical values,
for which he deservedly acquired the character of a just and wise ruler."
Administration at the Centre :
The administration of the Jammu State was ruu by Ranjit Dev
himself who was the feudal lord and claimed allegiance of all subjects
and chiefs of principalities uuder him. He weilded all the civil and
military powers within the limits of his kingdom. He administered
justice, led armies, directed military operations and expeditions, and
ordered mobilisation to his vassals who were allowed to raise their own
armies as in the case of Basohli. He sent his son Brijraj Dev against
Raja Ghammand Chand of Kangra and the Raja of Nurpur, He
commanded Raja Amritpal to lead his feudal contingent against Baja
Raj Singh of Chamba, and also sent him to conquer Bhadu and
Kishtwar for him, which the latter obeyed. Ranjit Dev led Jammu
forces personally against the enemies of the state or in assistance
of his Durrani ally.
Ranjit Dev directly ruled over his home principality of Jammu,
which at that time incorporated Samba, Riasi, Dalpatpur and Akhnur.
He himself appointed to look over these tracts military cum civil
officials called Hhanadars' who maintained law and order and helped
revenue officials. The jagirs of Aurangabad, Zafarwal, Sankhatra,
Gujrat, etc. granted to the ruler of Jammu by Mughal and Afghan
53. Cunningham, Lieutenant-colonel W.B,, Dogras, 1st. ed. 1918.
54. Rabert Dunlop Smith, James, Sialkot District Gazetteer, 1894-95, Lahore,
1895, p. 17.
124 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

times, were similarly administered. That these

officers carried on proper administration under the guidance of the
liberal and just king of Jammu is borne out by the fact that thousands
of Mughal, Afghan and Sikh nobles and plebians took refuge in this
territory during the period of chaos and anarchy which afflicted the
land between Peshawar and Delhi. That Jammu territories had become
fam a safe territory—speaks volumes about the
administration of the
In the administration of Jammu territory, Ranjit Dsv was assisted
by a number of high officials some of whom have been mentioned in
the records. The foremost among them was the Wazir (Minister). One
'Udho' was Wazir of Ranjit Dev through whom the Maharaj's orders
were carried out. There was also a Superintendent of the Raja's
Household, who managed the affairs of the court and palace. Mian
Musa had held this office for some time.
There was always a Kul-purohit who also weilded great influence
over the king. The king perhaps consulted him on ecclesiastical affairs.
It was only to the priest that the king paid a personal visit. The well
known scholar and Dogri poet, Dev Dutt was probably the family
priest as he had held the office of 'Purohif to the Pandir Raja of
Bhadu, from where he was brought to Jammu.
The Yuvaraj or the heir-apparent also helped the ruler in State
affairs. He was usually present beside the king in the Durbar ; and
distributed justice himself in the absence of the king. The heir-apparent
led armies also.
*

Probably there was a 'Diwan' for dealing with revenue affairs. But
none is mentioned in any record. The main source of income was land
revenue which, according to the Gulabnama, was one-fourth of the
gross produce. Octroi tax on merchandise and trade was another main
source, in addition to usual tribute from the subordinate principalities.
Jn 1783, the total revenue according to Forster, was about five lakhs
of rupees annually. It would have been much more in the days of
Ranjit Dev who firmly held the fertile shahi parganas of the Punjab in
'Gujrat, Sialkot and Gurdaspur districts, and a jagir worth one lakh and
twenty thousand in Kashmir valley.
Ranjit Dev's army seems to have been organised on feudal and
clan basis. The king probably had standing units of his own Jamwal
kinsfolk which were officiated by great commanders like Ghansar Dev
.and Rattan Dev who held independent command of their forces. But
most of the force was comprised of feudal levies mobilised in the time
of need.
Administration of the Mufassil :
*

Apart from the home district of Jammu, rest of the kingdom was
parcelled out into various hereditary principalities and grants or jagirs.
In its palmiest days the state comprised the following principalities.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 125
Bhau, Dalpatpur, Samba, Jasrota, Lakhanpur, Trikot, Mankot,
Bandralta, Cheneni, Bhoti, Bhadu, Balaur, Rajouri, Bhimber and
Khari-Khariali.
Chamba and Nurpur were also subject to Ranjit Dev for some time.
All these feudatory chiefs governed their own subjects, but held
feudatory ties with the ruler of Jammu, paid him tribute and rendered
him military service and sent levies when called for. Within their own
principality they had absolute jurisdiction in all affairs. They admini-
stered all civil and financial affairs of their principalities as also gave
judgements. Their subjects were mostly attached to them and had not
55
much to do with the Maharaja except perhaps in affairs of justice.
During a portion of the year feudatory chiefs would be present at
Jammu itself, attending the court of the ruler, and holding separate
Durbars themselves. Till recently various spots in Jammu were
remembered where each of the tributaries held his court on a minor
scale.
Although these chiefs were under one central government, yet they
had their own soldiers, mostly belonging to the class of the feudatory
chief. Consequently there was some petty warfare resulting some times
in an extension and sometimes in a contraction of the central ruler ;
but chiefs were more in sport than in serious fighting, and the various
ruling families continued nearly the same relative position for great
length of time.
The Capital :
The administration of Jammu, the capital city, was entrusted to
an official called 'KotwaV who policed the locality. He was high
police official assisted by subordinates and constables. In about 1759
and after, a certain person, named Mukarma, was thi city Kotwal who
built a new dwelling for Mughlani Begam on orders of the Minister
56
Udho . The Begam had to bestow on him a robe of honour. This
police chief "was a michievous person." When a rue was caused by a
few attendants of the Begam on the arrears of their salaries, the
police chief arrived and caught hold of the miscreants. He sent for
them at his house where a band of persons seized them and deposited
them into a dark well. The chief demanded a pearl necklace from Miskin.
the slave of the Begam which was, of course, not forthcoming. Later
on, the Begam rescued her men and she rebuked the Kotwal for ill-
treating them.
The official corruption was universally rampant, and Jammu
officials their opression was kept in check by
55. Charak, S.D.S.. Mnharaja Ranjit Dev and the Fall of the Jammu Kingdom,
Pathankot, 1971, p. 84.
56. Setu Madhava Rao. P., Tahmas Noma, the autobiography of a slave-
(abridged), Eng. tr., Bombay, 1967, p. 74.
126 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

the liberal and just ruler who extracted praise from alias ' 'a man of
57
great ability force of character and administrative talent . It was
usual for Ranjit Dev to ride a horse through the streets and listen
personally to the complaints of the citizens. This practice might have
restrained the Jammu officials from perpetrating opression on the
people. Administration, therefore* had been mild and considerate,
-imbibed with secular and liberal ideals, far in advance of the age, so
that a British intelligencer had to inform his government: "The
writer knows of no other people from Attock to Delhi who live more
58
free from care and free from fear than those of Jammu ."
Justice and Secular Ideals :
One of the causes of the security of life and property at Jammu
was Ranjit Dev's love for justice and respect for the rights of the
•people including merchants, travellers and emigrants. He was a
59
ruler noted for justice and impartiality . He took keen interest in
disposing justice personally. His court was homely and his demeanour
simple so that everyone even the lowliest, had easy access to the king.
His love for justice became theme for many a legend. His anxiety
for arriving at the truth of each case, and his detached attitude for the
property of others have become subject for several popular anecdotes.
He made justice so prompt asd easily available that the age-old practice
of 'para parna™'' performed in the Dugar by the aggrieved to extract
61
justice, became useless and died out.
He showed some interest in social reform also and is said to have
imposed ban on the evil practice of 'Sati\ At least he pursuaded his
Ranis not to become 'sati* on his death, and two of them refrained
from the act. His eversion to female infanticide is evident from the
fact that the two daughters born to him were properly brought up and
62
married to the Rajas of Basholi and Nurpur . He probably believed in
the maxim of preaching by example in the field of social reform rather
than by legislation.
His impartial and just nature as ruler culminated in his secular
outlook on the affairs of state and the activities of society. In that
age of political instability and religious persecution Ranjit Dev extend-
ed his protection to all irrespective of caste and creed. He gave
shelter to Muhammadans also. He accorded them full religious freedom
and civil rights of property and of worship.
57. H.P,HS., Vol. II, p. 542.
58. Imperial Records Dept., Calender of Persian Correspondence, 11 vols.
Calcutta, 1911-14, vol. v, J836.
59. Gupta, Hari Ram. Studies in the Later Mughal History of the Punjab, 124.
60. There was a custom in the Dogra land that when a sufferer failed to
get his grievances rendressed, he would hung himself upside down on a
tree to attract the attention of the king to his case. When even this
failed, he would commit suicide by thrusting open his belly by a daggar.
61. Narsing Dass Nargis, Tarikh-i-Dogra Des, Jammu, January, 1967, p. 39.
62. Narsing Dass Nargis, Tarikh-i-Dogra Des, op. cit, p. 92.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 127

He set apart a separate quarter for them. He held out to them

many encouragements, and observed towards them an honourable
63
conduct. "But the chief of Jumbo", writes George Forster. 'went
farther than the forebearance of injuries ; he avowedly protected and
indulged his people, particularly the Mahomedans, to whom he
alloted a certain quarter of town, which was thence denominated
Moghulpur, and that no reserve might appear in his treatement of
them, a mosque was erected in the new colony ; a liberality of
disposition, the more conspiciuous, and conferring the greater honour
on his memory, as it is the only instance of the like toleration in this
part of India."
That Ranjit Dev held enlightened views which were far in advance of
his times is testified to by the same observer. Everywhere else religious
bigotary and superstition prevailed; but Ranjit Dev was not at all swayed
by hackneyed and orthodox ideas. His attitude towards the orthodox
Hindus seems to be quite revolutionary. The Hindus once complained
to hira that the public wells of the town were defiled by the leather
vessels being used by Muhammadans for drawing water. They wanted
that Muhammadans should be ordered to get water from the river.
But he abruptly dismissed the complaint, saying that the water was
a pure element designed for the general use of mankind, and could
not be polluted by the touch of any class of people. "An adminis-
trator so munificent and judicious," concluded Forster, "and at the
same time that it enforced the respect of his own subjects, made
Jumbo a place of extensive commercial resort, where all descriptions
64
of men experienced, in their person and property, a full security."
(D) Jammu, 'Darul Aman'—'The Abode of Refuge'
One of the redeeming features of this period of constant upheaval
and chaos was the peace that prevailed in Jammu, the Capital of Ranjit
Dev. This led to the influx of a large population into his territories.
Several politicial refugees also found a ready asylum in Jammu and
were treated by Ranjit Dev with much distinction. Khushwaqt Rai
names several families which had found refuge at Jammu during the
troubles in the Panjab. Among others, Malika Zamani, queen of
66
Emperor Muhammad Shah, and one of the widows of Mir Mannu ;
Hari Singh, the son of Raja Kaura Mai, the Diwan of Muin-ul-Mulk,
and their family—all received a congenial refuge in Jammu. Likewise,
Dalpat Rai, son of Lakhpat Rai, had also settled there along with the
remains of several other families of the nobles of the Delhi and Vicergai
66
courts. Ranjit Dev treated them all with the distinction. He saved the
63. Forster , George, A Journey from Bengal to Englaud, London 2798, 2
vols. I, p. 383.
65. She was the famous Mughlani Begum, daughter ofAbdus Samad Khan,
the former governor of the Panjab, and the wife of Mum u-Mulk alias
Mir Mannu, the Governor of the Panjab from 1848 till his death on 15th,
September, 1853, Cf. Charak, p. 143.
66. Prinsep, H T , . History of the Punjab, 2 vols,, London, 1846, Vol-I, p. 173,
Gupta Hari Ram, A History of the Sikhs, vol. I, op. cit., p. 74.
 /

128 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

life of Kabuli Mai, Ahmad Shah's Hindu Governor of Lahore when

ousted from Lahore and threatened by the Bhangi Sardars in October,
1764. The Sikhs as well as the Afghan rulers of the Panjab,
were equally given protection by Ranjit Dev. The Sukarchakia Sardar
Charat Singh and Muin-ul-Mulk, the Mughal governor of Lahore sent
families and treasures to the care of Ranjit Dev
67
when Ahmed Shah
Durrani advanced on Lahore in 1761 and 1763. .
Not only were the nobles and important political personages given
shelrer by Ranjit Dev, He extended his protection and patronage to
merchants, traders, artisans and displaced people of all castes and
creeds without distinction with the resalt that Jammu became popular
all over Northern India as a safe place of refugee "Darul Aman
Jammu". This reputation extended far and wide and nnmerous
families from different quarters, including some persons of high rank
68
and large fortune, fled to his territory , and settled in Jammu so that
*'a large bazaar and well-equipped market grew up over an area «of a
mile and three-quarters with a fresh population and an inexplicable
69
splendour ,
It was probably the bazar from the Maheshi or Gumat gate upto
Mandi palaces.
Most of the refugees and traders who sought shelter at Jammu,.
brought with them the great bulk of their fortunes, and here "all their
1
rights and persons were invariably respected.' "In the year 1775",
writers G.C. Smyth, "the town of Jammu had increased to about three
miles and half in circumference, being about twice as large as at the
present day (1846). Its inhabitants then numbered about 150,000 souls
70
more than four times as many as now inhabit the town." It was con-
sidered an oppulent, wealthy, flourishing and promising place having for
its residents numerous wealthy men from the Panjab. One of these
71
alone is said to have brought with him upwards of a crore of rupee.
He encouraged even Muslim population to settle in Jammu, and
allotted them a separate quarter, as noted above. The Muslims of the
Panjab were adept artisans and craftsmen and Ranjit Dev seems to
have recognised their utility for a flourishing town. But his own
secular policy was probably a more powerful motive behind his extra-
ordinary indulgence in that community. He even built a
mosque for them in the city around which the colony of Mastgarh has
grown up. He also built a house for Mughlani Begam. The dwelling
came to be known as Haveli-Begam which gave its name to yet another
mohalla.
67. Gupta Hari Ram, A Hisiory of the Sikhs, op. cit., Vol I p. 74 ; Latif, S.M.^
Hist, of the Panjab, Calcutta, 1891, p. 33y.
68. Symth, G.C. p . 241.
69. Gulab, Eng, tr. p, 29.
70. Smyth, G.C, p. 241.
71. Ibtd., p. 241.

*
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ 129
Ranjit Dev was able to commence the building of the present
palace at Jammu, where in the times of his father some miserable huts
72
stood.
In addition to this, he also finished the construction of the Bahu
fort which was
78
commenced by Gulab Dev in the beginning of Dhruv
Dev's reign.
Although Jammu had been attacked and sacked by Sikhs badly on
Ranjit Dev's death and a battle was raging when Forster visited
Jammu in April, 1783, it was nevertheless, having a flourishing trade
and even in its decayed state
74
Jammu was still "a mart of first rate in
this quarter of the country. ."
I

The cause of the affluence of Jammu and its rich trade was the
confusion and disorder on the plains which had diverted trade to the
hills, and compelled many wealthy merchants to shift their trade and
establish branch firms in Jammu for safety and security. The Raja
extended welcome to all of them. Consequently, his capital flourished
and grew. Above all, the character of Ranjit Dev "was such as gave
confidence 75
to traders, and induced them to flock to his capital for
protection.

COINS
During the early part of the reign 76
Ranjit Dev struck coins in the
name of the Mughal Emperor of Delhi , but later these were struck
in his own name. On these later coins he used the Bikrami
77
year. A
few of his coins have been noticed by numismatists . One of these
bears the following inscription on the obverse :
72. Smyth, G.C. p. 341.
73. Symth, G.C, p. 342.
74. Forster, George, op. cit, Vol, I. p. 283.
75. Cuuningham s Hist, of the Sikhs, ed. H.L.O. Garrett, Oxford, 1918,
p. 103.
76. Dr. Hari Ram Gupta, Hist, of the Sikhs, iii, page 29, note 2. is of the
opinion that the "Julus" year on flanjit Dev's coins refer to the year
of accession of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. But in case
of coins, like the present one, it is not improbable that he used the
year of his own accession, on assumption of independence after 1752 A,D.
The significance of dates, however, is not quite clear,
77. J.C. Rodgers notices four rupees of this ruler with a short history of
his dynasty These coius are of the following two types :
1. Obverse : Sikka Shah Alam badisnah ghazi. Reverse ; Zorab
Darul Aman Jammu sun julus maimnat manus 24.
2. Khana-i-Ranjit Dev obad Karad, Lachmi Narain dil Shad Kard.
Reverse : same as No. 1,
See jour of As. Soc. of Bengal. LIV, Pt. I, pp. 60-65.
"Some coins of Ranjit Dev, King of Jammu A hundred years
Ago." by C.J. Redgers.
130 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Khana- i-Ranjit Dev abad kard

Lachemi Narian dil shad kard
The legend conveys the meaning that the house of Ranjit Dev be-
came happy and the Laxmi Narain (which may be their god i pleased
their hearts. It is presumed that this type was probably issued
78
when his
differences with his eldest son, Brijraj were composed. However,
Ganesh Dass' reading is slightly different. He reads 'Kun' in both the
lines instead of 'kard' 79
which would render the legend into prayer for
fortune and well being.
(9) Last Days and Estimate :
The last days of Ranjit Dev were, however, not very pleasant indeed.
The reconciliation between the father and son which can be inferred
from the type of coins referred to above, probably evaporated soon and
their relations seem to have become strained once again because of Ranjit
Dev's preference for his younger son, Dalel Singh, which in turn exa-
cerated Brijraj's enmity with his father and ultimately led to Dalel
80
Singh's murder by Brijraj in A.D. 1782-
i

However, he ruled in comparative peace and prosperity after 1774

till his death, during which period he revived the former grandeur and
prosperity of the Dogra land. But he had now become old and broken in
health and his end was drawing near when the Raja of Jasrota, tributary
and ally of Jammu threw off his allegiance and challenged his authority.
Prince Dalel Singh, who assisted his father after the civil war of 1774-
75, was sent in order to bring back Jasrota to submission. In this work
the prince was assisted by a contingent of the Akhnurias, He was
successful in this venture, but he fell out with the feudal contigents of
the Akhnurias, who became his enemies and plotted to take his life, In
such an atmosphere of plots and counter-plots of his sons, the great
Dogra ruler died on the 22nd Chait, 1838 Bikrami (4th April, 1782
A.D.), leaving the throne to be disputed by the rival claimants.
§

The principality of Jammu was ruled for about half a century by

Ranjit Dev, He was a man of great admniistrative ability, a brave
warrior and conqueror. Within a few years after his father's death he
proved himself to bean able and active ruler and he did more for his
country and tribe than did all the long line of Rajas before him. He
remodelled the state, and all this much for the better. He showed keen-
ness for social reform and considered dispensing of justice his primary
responsibility. He held liberal and secular views far in advance of the
times in which he ruled. Mr. F. Drew writes that Ranjit Dev was a man
whose qualities as ruler were there spoken of with the highest respect.
He was a tolerant man, he encouraged Muslims as well as men of his
faith; under him many were attracted to Jammu and the town spread and
78. Singhal, C.R., Bibliography of India Coins, Pt. II (Muhammadan and Later
Series), the Numismatic society of India, Bombay , 1952, p. 163,
79. Rajdarshani SPM., folio 229 b.
80. Archer, W.G,: Indian Paintings /torn the Panjab Hilis, op. cit., p. 179.
THE GRANDEUR OF THE DOGRA RAJ
131
flourished. His epoch was both the culmination and the besinnine8 of the
end of old state of t h i n g s . - Tne Dogra land which was fofmeriy a con!
genes of about two dozen principalities, assumed the form of a well
but k'ngdom. The society once again imbibed the secular spirit of the
days of Akbar aud Za,n-ul-Ab,d.n. The social ills of Sati' and infan-
1 in t h e bflls a n d t h e m o v e for soeial
efomwaj'afoo'r " *
5 mmu about a year after Raniit Dev
testimony to the lofty ideals lm
tion wise administration and paternal character of the ruler, inspired bv
higher ethical values. Because of such liberal3 qualities he "deservedly
acquired the character of a just and wise ruler '** A despatch recived
by the Bnthish Governor General at Culcutta on the 19th April 1780
states : "The said Raja (Ranjit Dev) is distinguished for his courage
and valour and is so just and kind to his ryots that the inhabitants of the
Panjab and the Doab (Gangetic) have since the time of Nadir Shah
invasion, always found a safe
83
refuge in his country from the~tyrannv"of
unscrupulous adventurers". Hugel also praised Ranjit Dev for such
qualities half a century after his death. "The prosperity of Jammu"
he writes "was at its height under Ranjit Dev, Whose mild government
extended equal protection to Hindus and Muhammadans84
while the
Panjab was overrun by the horrors of war ? The time in which he
lived was one of the utter lawlessness, yet his little state was an abode
Darul Aman, where he patronised art and
men and offered protection to all and
creed. He thus set Jammu on the path of modernism. For these
achievements he was remembered for long after. "A century ago "
observes Drew, "the old regime was flourishing
" * *' under - Ranjit
- - Dev ; he
of with dminist
85
man.

81. Drew, Frederic, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, op. cit, p 10.
82. ro-ster, George, A Journey ft
I. p. 283.
83 f persim
84.
- 5ra£s^an?£ s * °
H 11PP.I T*Q r o r »
C~T.»
Huge), Baron von carl Freiherrn von, Travels in Cashmere and the Panjab,
Eng. tr. Major T.B. Jervis, locdon. 1845. p. 70.
85. Drew, F. The Northern Barrier of India, rep. New Delhi, 1971, p. 40.
(
 CHAPTER EIGHT

Successors Of Ranjif Dev And

Disintegration Of Jammu Raj
The history of Jammu kingdom after Ranjit Dev is a tale of intri-
gues, inroads and imbecility of rulers which brought about rapid disin-
tegration of the Dogra principality of Jammu. In this process the royal
house of Jammu itself and their supporters and favourites played the
major role, besides the marauding operations of the misl hordes hungry
for gold and silver. The seed for chaos and factionalism at the Jammu
court had been sown in the very life time cf the great Dogra ruler and
when Brijraj Dev ascended the throne it sent its roots and branches
throughout the length and breadth of the hill principality,
Maharaja Ranjit Dev had married four wives, two from Kaioch
family, and one each from the Salaria and the Rakwal families. From
the two Katoch wives he had two sons, Brijraj Dev from the eldest and
Dalel Dev from the second. He had two daughters, one of whom he
married to Amrit Pal, the Raja of Basohli, and the other to Raja Prithvi
Singh of Nurpur.
1. BRAJRAJ DEV (AD. 1782 TO 1787 A D )
Brijraj Dev was, as narrated above of dissolute character, and there-
fore Ranjit Dev had intended to disinheriting him of the throne in favour
of his second son, Dalel Singh. This created resentment in Brjjraj Dev
and led to an open hostility between the father aad the son resulting in
interference of the Sikhs in Jammu affairs. Afier the death of Ranjit Dev
1
"Raos and Rajas gathered together" and seated Brijraj Dev on the i
throne on the '9th Baisakh of S. 1839,' corresponding to 21 April, 1782. I
The accession was unchallenged and hence should have been followed
by a peaceful tenure. But he raised Mian Alam Singh Akhnuria, a sworn
enemy of Dalel Singh, and Mian Attar Singh Dalpatiah, to the office of
his counsellors and left all state affairs in their hands and drowned him-
3
self in "sensuousness and wrath." Alam Singh decided to make use of
his power to avenge the murder of his father, Tegh Singh on Dalel
1. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 213 b. I
2. Ibid. Also see Gulabuama, p. 82. Maharaja Ranjit Dev was living at leasf
till the end of Mey, 1781, is borne out by his letter he wrote to the GovJ
ernor-General, which is dated 29 May, 1781— Calendar of Persian Corresi
pondence, Vol. VI. 175. I
3. Rajdarshani. SPM, fol. 13 b. I
132 I
SUCCESSORS OF RANJIT DEV AND DISINTEGRATION OF JAMMU RAJ 133

Singh. On the other hand the new ruler also cherished strong hatred
against his step brother and conspired with Mian Alam Singh, his bro-
4
ther Arjan Singh and other Mians of Akhnur. He first insinuated
Mian Zorawar Singh to kill Dalel in return for the Jagir of Dansal but
he refused to be enticed into the crime. But Mian Mota, another cousin,
son of Surat Singh, undertook to perpetrate the deed with the help of the
Akhnuria Mians. They were on the look out for an opportunity which
soon presented itself when Dalel Singh set out on pilgrimage to the
shrine of goddess Bhagwati on the Trikuta Hill, accompanied by his
elder son Bhagwant Singh, a lad of sixteen years. Mian Mota, along
with Alam Singh Sohalwala, followed them with a force. In the nullah
of Charanpadika near Katra there was an encounter in which both Dalel
Singh and his son were killed.

Jit Singh, second son of Dalel Singh, was not with ihem, and so he
escaped to safety. But he too seems to have been imprisoned by Brajiaj
Dev later on, as related by Mr. Forster, who visited Jammu in April,
1783. This tragedy must have occured previous to his visit as he states
that Brajraj Dev had slain one brother and imprisoned another. Probably
it was Jit Singh, the son of Dalel Singh who was imprisoned, and "who
having made his escape sought the protection of the Sicques (Sikhs).
Pleased in having so favourable a pretext for entering Jumbo, which
they attempted in vain in the administration of Runzeid Deve, the
5
Sicques promised to espouse the fugitive's cause with a vigour."
Before approaching Sikh misldars for support the mother of Jit
6
Singh took him to the protection of the Raia of Jasrota .

Brijraj Dev not only antagonised most of his people by this

impolitic revenge which escalated factionalism, but he further estranged
them by his youthful indulgences at the neglect of state affairs. He
7
was unable to hold the reins of government efficiently .
His courtiers and subjects in general were discontented ; and this
encouraged the aspiring Sukarchakia chief, Mahan Singh, to pick a
quarrel with him. Brijraj Dev failed to realise Sikh treachery, and in
his simple faith he depended on the friendship of the Suckarchakia
chief who had exchanged turbans with him. Assured in himself of
Mahan Singh's friendship, Brajraj Dev now picked up a quarrel with
the Bhangi Chief who had taken possession of some of the territory
belonging to Jammu Raj. Brajraj Dev wished to win back this lost
territory, and he therefore applied to Jai Singh and Hakikat Singh,
Kanhiya Chiefs, for aid. Karianwala, the disputed territory, was
recovered by Brajraj Dey after pitched battle. But the Kanhiya Chiefs
4. Ibid fol. 214 a; Anon, Tarikh-i-Jammu (MS), fol. 65; Kahan Singh
Balauria, Torikh-i-Rajgan-Jammu wa Kashmir, p. 73.
5. Forster, G,, A Journey, London, 1808, p. 286.
6. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 214 a.
7. Latif, S.M. History of the Panjab, p. 342.
134 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

then deserted their ally and went over to the Bhangis. Karianwala
territory again passed to the Bhangis. The Sikhs did not stop with
this succsss. They now invaded Jammu under Hakikat Singh, Gujar
Singh, and Bhag Singh Ahluwalia. The Raja of Jammu called his
friend, Mahan Singh Sukarchakia, to his aid but was signally defeat-
ed and agreed
8
to pay an annual tribute of Rs, 30,000 to Hakikat Singh
Kanhiya.
Because of the lawlessness, plundering inroads of the misldars
and draught, a severe famine broke out in territories in the middle of
1783 and ravaged the whole country for about a year. Compelled by
the failure of revenue collection Brijraj Dev resorted to extortionist
measures At the suggestion of his evil advisers he wielded the hand
of opression by extracting heavy fines. The city dweltings and
9
bazaars became plagued by his daily extortions. Thus plagued by
famine and oppression, people died in large numbers and started
deserting towns and villages. Chaos and disorder appeared every-
where.
Taking advantage of this calamitous state of affairs at Jammu
and on the pretext that tribute had fallen into arrears, tha Kanhiya
chieftains decided to attack Jammu. Hakikat Singh gained over
Mahan Singh to his cause, and they determined to make an attack
upon Jammu which was then one of the most flourishing and prosperous
towns of the Punjab. It may be recalled that Maha Singh had
previously made solemn vows of eternal friendship with Brijraj Dev
by the ceremony of exchanging turbans, but the obligations he had
then come under did not trouble the Sikh chieftain in view of the
prospect of a sumptuous loot of the Dogra capital and country. The
Kanhiya and Sukarchakia chiefs decided to join their forces near
Jammu and to make a united attack and surprise the people at a
junciure when they were badly hit by natural calamities. Ganesh
Das attributes most of the misery of the people to a strange planet
with a10 smoky tail which appeared in this part of the sky during this
year.
Brajraj Dev, lacking resources for resistance, fled to the Trikota
mountains to the north of Jammu and returned only after the
invader had retreated with a rich prize. On Mahan Singh's approach
the principal citizens of Jammu went forward to meet him and offered
large presents, but this did not satisfy the avaricious Chief who could
not be loyal to a temporary alliance with the Kanhiya chief for whom he
had not waited to arrive. He decided to take action single-handed. He
ordered his troops to plunder the place, an order which they carried
out with the greatest alacrity. The city and palace of Jammu were
plundered and sacked. The whole country around was also laid waste:
so that in a short time a most grievous famine broke out which
*

8. Jour ofPb. Hist. Soc, vol. viii, 1920, p. 127.

9. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 214 b,
10. Rajdarshni, SPM, fol. 215 a.
SUCCESSORS OF RANJIT DEV AND DISINTEGRATION OF JAMMU RAJ 135

extended throughout the length and breadth of the land. Mahan Singh
ransacked the State treasury and palaces with as much severity as he
11
flleeced the bankers and merchants of the city. An enormous amount
of booty of all kinds were carried away, amounting, according to
Prinsep, to two crores of rupses. "The fortunes of the Sukarchakia
12
Misl were thus built on the ruins of this flourishing city."
Bhai Gian Singh gives the date of ihis invasion by the Sikhs as
13
23rd Magh, S. 1843 , corresponding to 5 February, 1787 which, no
doubt, is incorrect. He confuses the last battle of Brijraj Dev with
this event, which, according to Sbhan Lai and Khushwaqt Rai took
place in the early years of his reign (and he ruled only for five years).
14
Ganesh Dass records the date 27th Katik S. 1841 (9 November, 1784)
which sounds more plausible.
One cause of the discomfiture of the people of Jammu was the
treachery of the dispossessed Bahu chief, Kundan Dev and Shahzada
Dev, who helped the invaders and rendered them every possible service.
In return for this invaders entrusted them the Bahu fort and princi-
15
pality. The Sikhs were in possession of Jammu and its dependencies
for about two months, during which period Sardar Gujar Singh of
Gujrat remained in occupation ofRamgarh, Gajansu, Bajwat and
Manawar. Araniya, Salehr Sayedpur and adjoining territories were
grabbed by Sardar Bhag Singh Halluwalia. Thumb and Bahadurpur
Zenda were usurped by Gurbakhsh Singh and Jodh Singh of Wazirabad.
The Ranjitgarh fort and Chaprar ilaqa was entrusted to Bhog Singh
Bari and Guiab Singh, whereas the itaqa of Bhadwal fell to the hands
16
of Sardar Dal Singh Gill . Jammu seems to have been occupied by
17
Sardar Mahan Singh.
The Bahuwals had joined the interests of the invaders.
Mian Alam Singh of Akhnur also retired to his estate, withdrawing
form the struggle However, Mian Mota Singh and Zorawar Singh
remained loyal to their ruler even in his fallen fortunes and wandered
about in the Dansal hills in attendance on RajaBrijraj Dev. Both of them
continued brave struggle against the invaders and encouraged people to
harass Sikh armies of occupation who did find their new acquisitions
congenial. Finally, Mian Mota Singh offered submission on behalf
of Raja Brijraj Dev and agreed to pay tribute to Sardar Mahan Singh
at Amritsar, obtained evacuation of Jammu territories and got it
11. Latif, S.M. : Hist of the Pb. pp. 342.3 : Hutchison and Vohel ; Hist, of
Pb. Hill. States, p. 547. ; Dr. Gupta H. R Hist, of the Sikhs vol. iii
p. 32.
12. Prinsep-His. of the Pb. vol i. p. 245 ff.
13. Bhai Gyan Singh. Twarikh-i-Guru Khalsah. Pt. I l l , p. 51.
14. Rajdarshni, SPM. fol. 218 a.
15. Rajdarshani, SPM, fol. 219 a.
16. Ibid, SPM. fol. 19 a, 19 b.
17. Kahan Singh Balauria, op, cit., p. 73.
 136 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
18
confirmed on Brijraj Dev . After dispossesing the Jammu territories
of its wealth and due to famine conditions the Sikh chiefs did not relish
the possession any longer, and retired to the plains to indulge in
mutual warfare unhindered, leaving behind the impoverished and
bleeding population to the care of the imbecile Dogra chief who
readily came out of his hide-out in the wake of the withdrawal of Sikh
forces.
2. Political Condition of Jammu State.
The Jammu State was thus weakened by dissensions in the ruling
family. After the sack of Jammu the prestige and fame of the
house of Ranjit Dev disappeared ; Brijraj Dev was left helpless and
without resources. With the protecting power of the Chief of Jammu
broken, the constituent units of the Dogra State were left defenceless,
and that helpless state they looked towards the neighbouring Sikh
Chiefs for help. Soon the Sikh power which had grasped all the
Panjab plains by this time, devoured these petty Hill States one by
one, so that the central authority of the Dogra State disappeared till
that time when it was re-established by the skill of Maharaja Gulab
Singh.
According to Forster the State at that time included the whole
mountain area northward to the river Chinab where it borded with
Kashtwar and Bhadarwah then under Chamba. Chaneni and Bhoti
were tributory to Jammu. To the east the State of Mankot, Bhadu
and Basohli were dependencies of Jammu, Jasrota had a similar status,
but Samba had long ago become a part of Jammu. The total revenue
19
of the State was then about five lakhs of rupees. But after this
invasion ''the soverignty of the House of Dhruv Dev over the surround-
ing country disappeared," but Brijraj Dev was still in possession of the
Jammu town and fort and continued to maintain the form and court of
petty royalty. The billy districjs of the interior remained in the possession
20
of the other members of the family who held them as Jagirs. Brijraj
also kept semblance of sovereignty over several hill states, including
Basohli, Chamba and Nurpur. In several disputes among these states
he dispensed their cases in the capacity of their overlord. A number of
letters in Takari bear this out. In one instance, Raja Raj Singh of
Chamba revived his claim on Bhalai, Jhunda, Bhandal, Kehar and
Dieur parganas, then in possession of Basohli, and applied to Brijraj
Dev for help. Brijraj Dev, recognising his claim, wrote to Raja Bijya
Pal of Basohli to restore to Chamba these disputed villages. When the
latter did not comply with his orders, Brijraj Dev wrote to him another
letter on 18 Bhadon, 1841 (1st. September, 1784) and got his orders,
21
carried out by force of arms.
i i - ^ _ - - - ,,

18. Rajdarshani, SPM. fol. 219 b.

19. Hutchison and Vogel : The Hist. ofPb. Hill S ates, pp. 548.9.
20. Panikkar, K.M. : The Founding of the Kashmir State p. 14.
21. Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, documents Nos. C—30, C—31, C—32 ; Kaban
Singh Billauria, op., cit p. 73.
SUCCESSORS OF RANJIT DEV AND DISINTEGRATION OF JAMMU RAJ 137

But thsse dissensions, among the tributaries of Jammu Raj

led to the further political implications and Brijraj Dev failed to
handle the situation prudently. When on his support Raja Raj Singh
of Chamba invaded Basohli,tseized its capital, sacked the country and
realised a fine of one lakh rupees, the Raja of Basohli invited a body
of the Sikhs to expel the Chamba forces from his State The Sikhs
22
came, turned out the invaders, but refused to withdraw . On the 10th.
April, 1783, George Forster, in the disguise of a Muslim merchant,
crossed the Ravi to Basohli. He found the Sikhs master of the country.
He writes : "The Sicques were called in to repel the enemy and defend
the fort of Bissouly, but after performing the required service, they
became pleased with their new situation, and refused to relinquish it.

Basohli and so also were the several

parganahs situated in the Panjab plains. Among the Bhangi and
Sukarchakia Chiefs there was a scramble for the disintegrating Dogra
kingdom cemented into a strong political entity by the effort of Dhruv
f
Dev and Ranjit Dev. The Sikhs soon penetrated into o her portions of
the outer Hill regions. After occupying Basohli in 1873 they laid their
hands on Ramnagar also. Sardar Karam Singh Dulo, Gulab Singh
and other Bhangi Sardars collected their men on the South-western
24
borders Ranjit Garh fort and set seige to it.
Sardar Dal Singh, an officer of Sardar Mahan Singh, came forward
to check them. Brijraj Dev also came out to fight against these
25
Bhangi chiefs oftheSialkot district on the issue of Ranjitgarh Fort.
The forces of both sides met at Rumal, but without any gain for the
Raja of Jammu who fell dead in the battlefield. Mian Man Singh,
Ram Singh, Amolak Singh, Kishan Singh and a number of other Rajput
warriars fought for his honour and died in the Battlefield. The Sikh
chiefs sent his dead body to Jammu where all his queens and concubires
burnt themselves alive on his bier, with the exceptions of the
Hiuntal Rani who had a one-year old male child, the successor of
Brijraj Dev.
Ganesh Dass places this event on the 13th April, 1787, the Baisakhi
26
day . He also informs us that ''opposite the village Pindi, in the
space lying between the villages Rumal and Kanpur, there is a raised
tharha (cenotaph) which marks the spot where he laid down his
27
life." The event was one of the considerable importance as it marks
the date when it may be said the power of the Sikhs was fully
established in this submontane region only twenty-five miles from
22. Gupta, Dr. Hari Ram, History of the Sikhs, vol. Ill, p. 25.
23. Forster, G., A Journey, Vol. I. pp. 270—71, JPHS, iv. 1916, p. 93.
24. Rajdarshani, SPM. fol. 220 a.
25. Gulabnama, p. 83.
26. Cf. Rajdarshani, SPM. fol. 222 a, which states that it "took place on the
firscofthe month of Vaisakh on the Vaisakln day of Samvat 1844
Bikrami, corresponding to the shastri year 1963."
27. Ibid. fol. 222 a.
138 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Jammu, now the capital of Kashmir territory. The whole country,

added to the hill chiefship during the successful reign of Ranjit Dev
28
was thus at once appropriated by the Sikhs," Brjraj Dev thus made
supreme sacrifice to retrieve his former dominions, but he could not
succeed though he made amends by his blood for the folly of inviting
the Sikhs to interefere in the Dogra States, not realising what the
shrewed observer Forster saw through on a similar situation at
Basohli (just described above) "Though this be the invariable result
of every connection made with the Sicques, the infatuated mountaineers
29
never fail to seek their aid when engaged in war.*'
II. SAMPURAN DEV (AD. 1787 to 1797 AD.)
Brijraj Dev's son Sampuran Dev, who was hardly a year old, was
appointed Raja on the advice of the chiefs of the state and the reins
of administration remained vested in the hands of Mian Mota, the eldest
son of Surat Singh brother of Maharaja Ranjit Dev. Mian Mota as
'Madarul Mahani' of the state set himself to the reorganisation of the
affairs which had fallen into chaos. He ingratiated troops to himself
by paying them off their arrears. He probably won over the favour of
the Sukerchakia Chief Mahan Singh, who possessed a large military
force estimated by Browne in 1786 at 15,000 horse and 5,000 foot in
Rachna Doab, and about 5,000 horse and foot in the Chaj and Sind-
30
sagar Doabs. The Bhangis and Kanhiya were equally considerable
military confedaracies. With such powerful neighbours, the shrinking
Jammu Raj rent with internal dissensions, presented an inviting situation
for interference by these chiefs who were ever desirous of grabbing its
territories, and helped the muttually hostile factions at Jammu court.
The first challenge to the authority of Mian Mota Singh was posed
by Mian Badan Singh ard his companions. They were in league with
31
Sardar Dhanna Singh Khalsali and Diwan Dhanpat Rai Puri, man-
agers of the Kanhiya Sikh Chief, Sardar Jaimal Singh, the most power-
ful rival of Mahan Singh Sukarchakia. The Kanhayas considered it a
golden opportunity to establish their influence on Jammu and en-
couraged the rival faction to revolt. Badan Singh and his companions*
therefore, picked up a quarrel with Mian Mota Sjngh. Consequently,
a clash of arms and exchange of fire took place near Haveli Begam at
the Nathwalia tank. Jn this battle Bhupa, the elder brother of Mian
Mota Singh, and Shamsher Singh, younger brother of Badan Singh,
32
were killed along wiih a number of soldiers on either side However,
hostilities did not cease and it became a daily affair. The factions would
now and then carry away the infant king and declare their own rule. In
28. Sialkot District Gazeteer, p. 18, JPHS, iv, 1916, p. 93.
29. Forster, George, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 270—271.
30. Imaraud Din has put it at 22,030 horse and foot. cf. India Tracts, ii,
(xii); Husain Shahi, pp. 235, 237.
31. Rajdarshani, SPM. fo), 223 b.
32. Ibid.
SUCCESSORS OF RAN JIT DEV AND DISINTEGRATION OF JAMMU RAJ 139

great distress Mian Mota Singh had to tender submission of the Jammu
Raj to the Sukarchakia Chief Mahan Singh, and with his help he quelled
lawlessness and eradicated revolt. He brought all the treasures and
revenues under his control. He successfully appeased the leaders of
his community by bestowing jagirs on them. He also called Jit Singh,
son of Dalel Singh, from Jasrota and conferred on him a substantial
33
jagir at Jangahnu. By these measures he abated factionalism and
restored law and order in the state, but the state had to owe allegiance
and annual tribute to the Sukarchakias. When in 1795 Timur Shah,
son of Ahmad Shah Durrani, invaded the Panjab, people of that country
took shelter in Jammu territory. Mian Mota Singh helped them in
every way and treated them with respect and care. He thus earned
their gratitude and became known for his resolution, enterprising spirit
34
and kind disposition.
The Duranis also claimed a shadowy supremacy over the Hi!l
States. Sampuran Dev's name occurs in a sanad of Raja Jit Singh of
Chamba from Shah Zaman of Kabul, dated in January 1797, in which
the Raja of Chamba has been enjoined "to perform the services of the
35
Diwani in conjunction with Sampuran Dev of Jammu." This rescript
he issued when he invaded the Panjab. This, however, had no effect,
36
as on his withdrawal to Afghanistan the Sikhs again became supreme
It seems that the greatest supporters of the Durrani were the last two
Jammu rulers who tried to salvage their declining principality by pro-
fessing allegiance to Kabul. When Shah Zaman entered Lahore on 1st.
January, 1797, he ordered his wazir a letter to be addressed to the Raja
37
of Jammu. Probably it is this letter of investiture which has been
33
referred to by Ganesh Dass "an imperial letter and a dignified 'khilaf
of Jammu Raj was received in the name of Raja Sampuran Singh". The
minor Raja was too glad to receive imperial acknowledgement of his
right to the throne of Jammu. He ran to the Gumat Gate to receive
the khilat, pulled it over his body and tugged the imperial letter in his
turban as something most sacred and strutted through the bazars, follo-
wed by a couple of Afghan officers and footmen. Not only Jammu
was confirmed on him but territories of Manawar, Bajwat, Thub, Chap-
39
rar, Ramgarh and Zafarwal were also confirmed on him as before.
But the whole affair proved very short-lived. In the battle fought
eleven days later, on the 12th January, the Durranis were defeated and
Shah Jaman evacuated Lahore that day and hurried across the Kavi on
the 30th January. Thus the Panjab politics slipped back into the old
grooves, and the Raja of Jammu had to content himself with tendering
^

33. Ibid. fol,224a.

34. Ibid. fol. 224 a.
35. Cata. Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, p. 76, No. C-46.
36. JPHS, Vol. viii, 1920, P. 129.
37. Imperial Records, Persian Latters Received, Nos. 71, 86.
38. Rajdarshani, SPM. fol. 224 a.
39. Ibid. 224 a, 224 b.
 140 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
40
his fealty to Ranjit Singh Sukarchakia, who now led his Misl after
his father Mahan Singh's death in 1794. The Afghan-Sikh struggle was
going on, but there was not much hope for the Afghan ruler whose own
throne of Kabul was not secure. The Raja of Jammu, however, like
so many other chiefs of the Panjab plains and Hill country looked to-
wards Kabul for their deliverance from Sikh dominance. A news-
letter written from Kabul to the East India Company on the 29th May,
1797, records the presence of the Vakils of the Rajas of Jammu and
Kangra, and of Bhambu Khan Rohilla, who waited on Shah Zaman
with presents and informed him of the political situation in northern
41
India. The Vakils to Kabul bv Jammu and
Kangra is not known, but it could be easily an invitation to Shah
Zaman against the activities of the Sikh chiefs, which was perhaps
d but could not be acted upon till the close of
the Panjab had gro Shah
•esence in this land
i

Soon after this, the boy Prince Sampuran Dev died at an age of
eleven, after being on the gaddi for ten years. With him Brijraj Dev's
line was cut, and in June, 1797 Jit Singh, son of Dalel Singh and grand-
son of Maharaja Ranjit Dev, was enthroned at Jammu by the courtiers
42
and the neighbouring Rajas.
III. JIT SINGH (Ace. June, 1797).
The riegn of Jit Singh opened with bright prospects. He continued
to correspond with Shah Zaman of Kabul who was the mainstay of the
policy of last Jammu rulers. The Shah moved his arms towards the
Panjab in November, 1798 and arrived at Gujrat on the 18th, Novem-
ber. From here he directed a detachment towards Dinanagar. The
vanguard was led by the son of Shahanchi Bashi. The Shah wrote to
Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra and the Raja of Jammu desiring them
43
not to allow the Sikh families to take refuge in the Hills.
But the Raja of Jammu did not comply with the wishes of Shah
Zaman, and had even sided with the Sikhs against the Shahanchi Bashi.
On the 23nd Nobember, 1798, therefore, Shah Zaman sent a detachment
with a letter to the Raja of Jammu, demanding an explanation for his
having joined the Sikhs against his eommander, to pay the usual tribute,
and to attend upon in person. Jit Singh received troops with profession
of loyalty and obedience. He wrote back that he and his ancestors
had always been the slaves of the royal household, and that he never
had the audacity to assist the Sikhs in plundering His Majesty's troops.
^ - - • /

40. Husain Shahi. p. 234, States that the Raja of Jammu was under Ranjit
Singh's suzerainty in 1795. The work informs us that in that year
Ranjit Singh's dominions yielded him an annual revenue of thirty lakhs
of rupees.
41. Imperial Records, Political proceedings, 21st August 1797, N o . 10.
42. July
43. Imperial Records, Foreign Department, No. 17, 24th Dec , 1798.
SUCCESSORS OF RANJIT DEV AND DISINTEGRATION OF JAMMU RAJ 141

He also expressed his readiness to pay the tribute. He despatched

44
Miarr
Musa. the suprintendent of his household, to Shah Zaman.
:
But in spite of his professions of loyalty and service, Jit Singh did
not help him against his countrymen. With the advance of Shah Zaman
towards Lahore, Sikh chiefs and population were ejected and they took
refuge in the Jammu Hills. Tara Singh and Sahib Singh Bedi were near
the Hills where were stationed, "000 horse with 21 pieces of cannon.
Nearly two lakhs of fugitives had also gone in that direction. The Raja
of Jammu pretended to be obedient to the Durani, but he was not pre-
45
pared to betray or oppress the fugitives in his country. This was in
continuation of the policy towards refugees so well laid down by
Maharaja Ranjit Dev, However, when Shah Zaman had occupied
Lahore fort on the 30th, November, 1798, the Vakil of the Jammu with
a letter and a nazar of 101 rupees from his master waited upon Shah
46
Zaman. The Vakil of Jammu ruler was probably Nathu Singh, whose
47
name is mentioned in Imperial Records among the several Zamindars
of note who were detained at Lahore by Shah Zaman with a view to
dealing with the Sikhs. Shah Zaman
beat a hasty retn the throne had
been undermined
manoeuvenngs of political moves
ter-moves, Jit Singh proved an incompetent man. His Brandrali
Rani was an ambitious, intriguing woman. She took the management
of state affairs in her own hands. Differences, therefore, arose between
her and Mian Mota "on the issue of the conduct of wazarat." the latter
transferring his habitat from Jammu to Purmandal. Mian Zorawar
Singh, grand-father of Maharaja Gulab Singh, also went to live at his
Jagir of Diyavan. In 1800 A.D. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had taken
possession of Lahore. The same year, taking advantage of the confu-
sion at Jammu, he advanced on Jammu, but retired on the Raja's
43
tendering his submission and presenting the customary tribute. From
this time the State became entirely subject to Lahore.
Jammu, however, continued to exist as a separate, subordinate
principality, with a Raja of its own, and an autonomous court at
Jammu. The people of the region, innured in martial tradition, con-
stantly fought against the intruders from the Panjab plains. But the
factionalism at Jammu court and the rivalry of the sagacious Mian Mota
Singh and the headstrong Rani Bandrahli weakened the State and invited
interference of Ranjit Singh's officers the details of which will be narra-
in the following chapter. Here it suffices to know that Jammu was con-
quered by Sardar Hukma Singh Chimni in 1808 A.D., and was eiven
44. Ibid. No. 28. 24th D e c , 1799.
45. Imperial Records-, Foreign Deptt., No. 28, the 24th, December, 1799.
46. Imperial Records; Political Proceeding, No. 11., the 14th, December, 1798.
47. Imperial Records; Political Proceedings 11th, January, 1799 Nos
28, 33, 34.
48. Hutchison and voghel, History of the Panjab Hill States, p. 549.
142 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

over as jagir to Prince Kharak Singh in 1812 when Jit Singh was pro-
bably deposed from the position as ruler, and Jammu was annexed to
Ranjit Singh's kingdom. But Sir Lepel Griffin gives 1816 as the date
of the final subversion of the State and its annexation to the Sikh king-
dom. His two sons, Raghbir Singh and Devi Singh, were conveyed to
British territory. After the annexation of the Panjab they were assigned
a Jagir at Akhrota near Dinanagar
49
in the Gurdaspur District, where
their descendants still reside.
Thus ended the sovereignty of the House of Dhrov Dev but
before extinguishing it had enkindled the spark of freedom in the
young Gulab Singh and Mian Dido, who took up the cudgel and strove
for the independence of Jammu in their own way, in which they were
at last successful.

49. Hutchison and Vogbel, History of the Panjab Hill States, p. 550; Sir L.
Griffin, Panjab chiefs.
 CHAPTER NINE

The Re-emergence of Dogra Raj

1. THE SIKH OCCUPATION OF JAMMU.
Ranjit Singh had extended his sway to the very border of (he
Dogra principality. Probably during the year 1808 he had succeeded
in taking Pathankot. He went to Jasorotafixeda tribute of 8,000 rupees
per annum on the Raja of Basohli and a similar amount on the Chamba.
The town and fort of Sialkot was also acquired from Jiwan Singh. The
ring of subjection was thus narrowing around Jammu and it could not
escape the tightening coil for long. Tbe annexation of Jammu by
Ranjit Singh could be anticipated by the internal dissensions at the
Dogra court.
1
Raja Jit Singh , 'a simple-minded raw youth' could not run admin-
2
istration of the country properly . On account of his sloth and uniniti-
ativeness all the chiefs becan e headstrong. This internal lawlessness
invited Ranjit Singh for further encroachment on Dogra territory.
After dispossessing Jiwan Singh from Sialkot, Ranjit Singh had
appointed Sardar Hukam Singh Chimni incharge of territory bordering
on Jammu principality. Sohan Lai, states that in A.H. 1224/A.D.
1808, Raja of Jammu, in a desire to attain the honour of attending on
the great King reconciled himself with Hukam Singh and surrendered
the fort of Saidgarh to his troop. This act of the Raja was probably
not approved of by Mian Mota. Ganesh Dass states that "Mian Mota
held his tongue on the action of the Raja and said nothing to him,*'*
whereas Sohan Lai clearly states that the Raja supplicated that Mian
Mota and others on his side do not agree with him in 'word and
meaning', therefore, they should be dispossessed and ejected and de
5
facto possession be established on Jammu .
The situation reveals the differences prevailing in the Dogra Court,
which encouraged the Sikh commander to lead an expedition towards
1. Ganesh Dass writes ; "Raja Jit Singh keh ura Jaid Singh hum nawisand"
Raja Jit Singh who is also spelt as Jaid Singh, Cf. Rajdarshani, British
Museum Manuscript, folio 260 a.
2. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, British Museum, MS., folio 260 a.
, 3. Soha« Lai, Utndatul-Tawarikh, Daftar II, p. 9 ; Cf. Ganesh Dass, Rajdar-
shani, MS. B.M. fol. 260 b.
4. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, op. cit. fol. 260 b.
5. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, op. cit., Daftar II, p. 9.
143
144 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
6
Jammu and commence plundering and ravaging the territory. The
invaders were able to cross the Tawi and almost reached the Gumat
gate.
On the other side, Mian Mota reacted to the situation promptly.
He held consultation with the Rani Bandrahli, and organised stiff
7
resistance in which many lost their lives and many were wounded .
Mian Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh together with their father Kishore
Singh, were also among the number. These men wist a trusty band of
their own followers were appointed to protect one of the gateways of
the city named Goendwala. Hukam Singh encountered a warm
reception. Both parties fought desperately. At last the invaders
were defeated and obliged to flight. In the course of this action Gulab
9
d bravery . The defence was
some extent successful, and Gulab Singh's role mean
one, Hukam Singh had to withdraw his forces to Saidgarh. But the
invaders were in superior numbers and at last they overcame the
Dogra resistance, and soon Jammu passed under the control of Ranjit
Singh's10 officers. Mian Mota was made '"Madar-ul-Maham" of
Jammu by the Sikhs as they realised 11how difficult it was for them to
keep the Jamwals under their direct rule .
Mian Mota cooperated with the Sikhs in the conquest of the
them to cross the Chenab and invade Akhnmv
Deva Batala and the Chib and
Soon after, in the month of Magh (January, 1809), Ranjit went to
Jasrota, and levied contributiions. He next proceeded to Basohli and
exacted 8,000 rupees from the rajah as an annual 18
tribute, besides a
nazurana. The latter amounted to 25,000 rupees.
Ranjit Singh's political influence thus extended to the southern
belt of the Dogra principalities, from Jasrota and Basohli in the east to
Akhnur and Deva Batala in the west. His discomfiture in the ds-Sutlef
territories resulting in the circumscription of his ambition by the Treaty
of Amritsar of 1809, diverted all his energies towards the north Hill
States. His simultaneous success against the Gurkhas in Kangra and
the surrender to him of the famous Kangra fort by Sansar Chand Katock
same year changed his outlook regarding Dogra and Katoch
principalities. Instead of plundering and devastating them, he started
grabbing them and strengthen his hold on them. Very soon these
states accepted his political supremacy and Raja Jit Singh seems to have
accepted Ranjit Singh's overlordship by A.D. 1810.'
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Shah Afghhans,
9. Ibid.
10. Sohan La!, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh. Daftar II, p. 68.
11. Mota
that the Rajputs will lay down their lives for the sake of honour and
prestige '—Ibid., p. 92.
12. M. Gregor, W.L., History of
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 145
In 1811-12 Ranjit Singh placed Prince Kharak Singh at tj> head of
a large force and sent him against Jammu, Akhnur and Bhimber for
13
effective occupation of these territories , in which task he was success-
ful. Kharak Singh's success seems to have resulted from dissensions
in the Dogra royal house. Rani Bhandrahli, seeing the Raja helpless
and without initiative usurped the government of Jammu and issued
her own orders. She made Mian Hoshiara, Mohar Singh Jandraia
and Diwan Singh Khalkimandiwala her advisers and peshkars. Mian
Mota, however, was not prepared to submit to the 'purdah regime !
He joined interests with Raja Jit Singh. Consequently, the court
became divided in two factions—Mian Mota and Raja Jit Singh on
one side and the Rani and her advisers on the other—which led to dual
government. "The people of the town became distressed at the hands
of the two masters and the administration of the country los: all
cohesion". The Mian, however, outwitted his rivals by winning
Sardar Dul Singh's support for the faction of the Raja. The Mian then
went to Maharaja Ranjit Singh and undertook to pay Rs. 50,000 in the
form of nazarana, in case he was vested with full powers. He thus
brought with him a Sikh force and with their assistance he brought all
the talluqas, including Bhoti, Samartah, Chanehni and Bandralta, back
to subjection. In five or six months he succeeded in restoring law and
order in all the territories and was able to remit Rs. 50,000 as promis-
15
ed, in addition to a piece of brass, to the Maharaja . The Mian
removed the cause of disturbances by placating and appeasing the
Jamwal chiefs and by fixing separate allowances for the Raja and the
Rani for their subsistence. He even conferred Janganu talluqa as jagir
on the Rani and induced her to live in the palace at Jammu and brought
16
about reconciliation between the two. By this diplomacy the Mian
sought to remove the cause of disunion in Jammu court.
The Rani Bandrahli, however, was nor reconciled to Mian Mota's
superior position and could not forgive him for the murder of
her father-in-law, Mian Dalel Singh. So the cause of ill-will was
not removed and the servants of the Rani did not refrain from
instigation. Meanwhile, the news of the arrival of Prince Kharak
Singh and Bhayia Ram Singh at Purmandal reached the instrig-
uing Rani. She entered into secret league with the Prince and invited
him to occupy Jammu, her only object being to dispossess Mian Mjta
of his position. The Prince found a favourable opportunity in the mutual
dissenions of the Jammu royal family for an easy possession of the
Dogra capital. So he led his troops on Jammu via Chah-e-Tutan and
17
alighted at Nagrota , some 6 miles to the north of Jammu in the Tawi
valley. The Mian, however, proved more than a match for his rivals
13. Bhai Gian Singh Giaai, Tawarikh-i-Guru Khalsa, Vol. Ill, p. 105 ; Baron
Charles Hugel, Travels in Kashmir and Panjab.
14. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, B.M. M.S., fols. 262 b—263 a.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid. fol. 264 a.
17. Gitlab., 59.
146 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

He at once offered submission on behalf of Raja Jit Singh to avoid

bloody but useless resistance and welcomed the Prince to Jammu. Con-
sequenlyPrince Kharak Singh entered the royal palaces of Jammu on 1st
18
July, 1811 and effected a peaceful occupation of the place. Raja Jit
Singh willingly offered his submission and also seems to have agreed to
withdraw his hand from administration. Ranjit Singh instructed the
Prince that Mian Mota Singh should manage administrative and finan-
cial affairs and a few villages worth a revenue of twelve thousand rupees,
19
sufficient for subsistence, be granted in jagir to the Raja". The jagir of
Janganu was, therefore, conferred on the Raja, and the administration
was conducted in accordance to the counsels of Mian Mota, who was
retained as Minister and a rusum of two annas a rupee was granted to
20
him on all state revenues collected.
After settling his affairs at Jammu Prince Kharak Singh left for
Lahore attended by Bhayia Ram Singh, They left behind their own
officers, commandant Nain Singh as ihanadar with two platoons of
soldiers and Diwan Jit Singh Kalal as nazim. In the beginning the
two officers managed everything satisfactorily in consultation with
Mian Mota. All the rebels and self willed Mians submitted and
cooperated. Mian Mota was a popular chief. He had been the
Madar-ul-maham or administrator since the accession of Raju
Sampuran Dev in 1787. "He was a man of maturity, wisdom and
21
understanding ." Because of his ability the Mian soon bocame a
great favourite with Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This rising popularity
of the Mian with the ruler of Lahore excited the jealousy of Rani
Bandrahli and Prince Kharak Singh's officers at Jammu. The Rani
made the imprudent Diwan believe that so long as Mian Mota had his
22
finger in the matter, management would not take proper shape .
Mian Diwan Singh Riasiwala and others who were enemies of Mian
Mota, also curried favour with the Diwan, and it was decided to
remove Mian Mota. Bahyia Ram Singh also gave his consent for
23
doing away with the Mian.

A conspiracy was, therefore, set afoot to assassinate Mian Mota

in which the Rani, Mian Diwan Singh, and Diwan Jit Singh Kalal
became accomplices. On the 9th of Har, V.S. 1868 (llth May, 1813)
Charnu and Sheru Naraynia took ambush on a balcony of the Deodhi
of the palace, as directed by Mian Diwan Singh, and the Mian
(Diwan Singh) concealed himself nearby along with two others,
24
Trehru and Jagatu . Diwan Jit Singh Kalal and commundant Nain

18. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, op. cit., fol, 265 b-266 a.

19. Gulab , Eng. tr 1977, p. 60 ; Rajdarshani, op. cit., fol. 266 a
20. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshni, op. cit., fol. 266 b.
21. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ul-Tawarikh, Daftar 11, p. 68.
22. Gulab, Eng. trans., 1977 p . 61.
23. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, op, cit. fol. 267 b.
24. Ibid,
 THE HE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 147

Singh took their seat in the government office and sent for Mian Mota
ostensibly for holding consultations. As soon as the Mian entered
the office they told him that the meeting had been postponed for the
next day, so the Main returned. No sooner had he turned his back
than two muskets were discharged on him from the hole. One bullet
struck the Mian in the neck and he fell down. At once Mian Diwan
Singh and Trehru
25
leaped out of their hiding place and hacked him with
their swords.
Thns was Mian Mota murdered in cold blood, after being supreme
administrator of the Dogra state for about 21 years. Sohan Lai
seems to hold a high opinion of him and calls26 him a man of maturity,
comprehension, cunning and resourcefulness. Ganesh Dass writes
that after him peace left the town and mismanagement engulfed the
country. This misdeed recoiled on its doers. The Rani Bandrahli
found ground slipping from under her feet and felt the storm of
adversity gathering around her. She therefore, surrepticiously crossed
the Sutlej and went over to the British side along with her three sons.
Lawlessness
27
was let loose in Jammu and administration went out of
gear . Consequently, Raja Jit Singh, Mian Diwan Singh and others
were called to Lahore and Trehru and Jagatu (or Sathru) also accom-
panied them where
2S
Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh avenged themselves
by killing them. *

The Sikh administrators were the worst sufferers. Mian Mota's

association with the administration had assuaged the bitterness of an
alien rule. But with his murder that camouflage was removed and
direct Sikh rule came to be resented by the mountaineers who rose
against Sikh dominance everywhere as the later events show.
Although Jammu had been made a tributary in 1808 yet Sikh
force of occupation could not be stationed there. It was in May 1812
that Prince Kharak Singh succeeded in occupying it. The same year
the Kanwar was honoured with a grant of Jammu, Akhnur and Bimber
as Jagir. Kharak Singh, however, did not fulfil his father's expecta-
tions. He could not maintain his hold on these territories. Sultan
Khan of Bhimber rebelled, and Bhai Ram Singh was sent against him
The Sikhs were routed in a bloody encounter and lost hundreds in
killed and wounded. Diwan Mohkam Chand was thereupon 29
sent to take
over command and he succeeded in establishing peace. The chief
was treacherously imprisoned, and Bhai Ram Singh was sent to

25. Ibid., folios 268 a-268 b.

26. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ul-Tawarikh, Daftar II, 68, and 92.
27. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, Br. Museum MS., folio 269 a, b.
28. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani. op. cit , folio 270 a-270 b ; Kirpa Ram,
Gitlabnama, pp. 112-113 ; Shahamat Ali, The Sikhs and Afghans, op. cit.,
pp. 92-93 ; H.M Lawrence, Adventures of &n officer in the Punjab, re-
print, Patiala, 1970, pp. 33-34.
29. M'Gregor, V/JL., History of the Sikhs, p. 168.

I
148 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

introduce Ranjit Singh's authority in his territory. No sooner had he

accomplished this object than he began to make irruptions into the
Rajouri territory. Aghar Khan, the Raja of Rajouri, was assisted by the
rulers of Punch and Kashmir, and after a fierce but indecisive battle
30
Ranjit Singh's troops rerurned to Lahore without success.
During the same, year A.D. 1812, Ranjit Singh's artillery officer,
Ghausa Darogha, over-ran and conquered the territories of Kathua and
its vicinity, and subjugated Taragarh and Nurpur. Meanwhile Ranjit
Singh himself once again visited the hill territory of Jasrota, Basohli,
31
Bhaddu and Samba by conquest . On the death of Raja Ajab Singh
of Jasrota, his son Lai Dev was recognised as a subordinate vassal
32
on payment of one Lakh rupees to Ranjit Singh. .
Jit Singh, seems to have retained his title and prerogative of a
Raja for a few years more. He was addressed as "Raja of Jammu"
33
even in official correspondence in the years A.D. 18'3cnd 1815 . He
held a subordinate position and he was summoned by Ranjit Singh
to his presence when he required his vassals to send their levies on his
advance towards Peshawar in Augst 1813. On the 22th October, 1813,
the Vakil of Raja Jit Singh of Jammu presented himself before Ranjit
Singh and informed "that his master had collected all his troops, and
would present himself before Ranjit Singh whenever he would be
required to do so. Ranjit Singh asked him to send for him." We hear
of the Raja of Jammu for the last time in a letter of the 30th,
October, 1815 A.D. When "Ranjit Singh sent one horse out of
34
kindness to the camp of the Raja of Jammu for his use." The Raja
was perhaps present in Ranjit Singh's camp at Sialkot on that day.
Raja Jit Singh was deposed in the following year, i.e., A.D. 1816
35
possibly on his own request and Jammu state was annexed to the
Lahore Kingdom of which it became a district under the control of
Prince Kharak Singh and his Agent Bhai Ram Singh. We hear nothing
about Raja Jit Singh of Jamma after his deposition. But he was
living definitely upto the 13th of Har of the Bikrami year 1879
(June-July, 1822) when he signed a declaration renouncing all his
rights and those of his successors to his ancestral state of Jammu
in favour of Rajas Gulab Singh, Dhian Singh and Suchet Singh.
-

The Dogra Resentment :

The administration of Jammu territories by the Sikh ofiicers was
30. Shahamat Ali, The Sikh and Afghans, reprint, Patiala, 1971, pp. 97-98.
31. Sohan Lai Suri, Umdat-ul-Tawarikh, Vol. I l l , p . 129 130.
32. Gian Singh, Tawarikh-i-Guru Khalsa, Vol. I l l , p. 113.
33. Punjab Government Record Office Publications, Monograph No 17 (193 5>
p. 86, letter dated 2-8-1813, p. 101, letter dated 26-9-1813 Pn' 106 letter
dated 22-10-1813, p. 221, letter dated 30-10-1815. *
34. Ibid , p. 221, letter dated 30-10-1815.
35. Document D/25, No. 14/490, State Archieyes, Patiala.
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 149
very much resented by the local population, particularly the Jamwals
who hid been rulers of the land for long. The freedom-loving people
of Samba and the rugged parts of Jammu had risen in revolt against
the Sikhs, as early as 1810 A D. The leader of the rebels was Mian
Dido, a Jamwal Rajput whose depredations made it impossible for
the Sikh officers to keep an effective control even on the Jammu town
and its suburbs.. Ranjit Singh, therefore sent a considerable force
nnd^r Diwan Bhawni Dass to conquer Jammu and to supress the
Dogra rebel who was virtually ruling over Jammu at that time. That
able general carried on military operations for about a month and
expelled Mian Dido from Jammu and brought the town under
86
Ranjit's control. He also established a thana at Saidgarh. This
event took place in July-August, 1810 A D . But the unrest seems
to have continued and Prince Kharak Singh had to be put at the
head of a large force and an experdition was sent against Jammu
37
again in the year 1812 A.D. Bhayia Ram Singh and Bhawani Dass led
the forces. The expendition met with some success, and the districts
of Jammu, Akhnur and Bhimber were brought under control and were
38
offered as Jagir to Prince Kharak Singh. But the affairs of Jammu
could not be properly settled and discontent against Sikh occupation
continued gathering momentum, so that a newsletter dated 15th
December, 1814 (2rd Zihaj, 1229 A.H ) contains the information
that Bhayia Ram Singh and Kanwar Kharak Singh presented them-
selves before Ranjit Singh and were questioned about the district of
Jammu. Ram Singh replied that *'disturbance and unrest prevailed
there" Reinforcements might have been despatched but things could
not be improved. On 26th Aguust, 1815 Bhayia Ram Singh had to
state that "the condition of the district of Jammu was the same as

Ranjit Singh's concern for Jammu was so great that he sent

a note to Kanwar Kharak Singh ordering him to "write regularly about
40
Diwan Singh Dudu."
On demand from Bhayia Ram Singh five hundred rupees in cash
were sent to Jammu through Dawende Khan of Kamona to meet the
expenses of the former's troops and for the settlement of that district.
Prince Kharak Singh sent his troops to Jammu under Bhayia Ram
Singh and later went there himself. He took steps to suppress the
rising of the Jamwals. He immediately engaged himself in construct-
ing a formidable fort and informed Ranjit Singh that he would
36. Gian Singh Giani, Taworikn-i-Guru Khalsa, Pt. Ill, p. 96.
37. Hugel, Travels in Cashmere end the Punjab, op. cit., p. 385.
.38. Ibid., also M'Gregor, W.L.,op. cit., p. 169, Gian Singh, Tawarikh-i
Guru Khdilsa, Pt. Ill, p. 105.
;39. Punjab Government Record Office Publications, Monograph. No. 17, letter
No. 18, dated 26.8-1815., p. 213.
40. Ibid., letter No. 21 of 18-9-1815, p. 219.
150 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

present himself to the "Noble Sarkar after completing his arrange-

ments 41
for the proper control and settlement of the country and the
fort.
But the arrangements of Lahore court to suppress the rebellion
of the Jammu people and the leadership of Mian Dido completely
failed beeause the Sikh contingents had probably become demoralised
and were ill-equipped.
The rising had become so general and spread to the hills beyond
Jammu and the plains west of the Chenab river, that it was reported
43
in April 1817 that Dundu Dewan Singh had annexed the country on
the other side of Jammu tc his own possessions thereby enlisting the
support of Zamindars of that district and creating a serious distur-
44
bance . The people of Deva Batala also became recalcitrants, and
Chibs and Bhows raised insurrection. Desa Singh Majithia and Amar
Singh were deputed in that direction. They intimidated the
Zamindars of that region to agree to pay Rs. 10,000 as revenue tax
and to establish Ranjit's thana in various places belonging to them.
Mangal Singh Kalawala had been deputed towards Jammu. Ranjit
Singh had suggested him to allure Diwan Singh with the offer of a
Jagir in Jammu, "and that if he (Diwan Singh) should thus be induced
45
to come he should deal with him expeditiously." The rebel leader
Dido was at last captured by a stratagem and interned at Jammu,
but he effected his escape. Thus the defiance of Sikh rule in Jammu
territories continued, and as a retaliation Ranjit Singh moved armies
across the Chenab and punished the Chib and Bhow, and burnt Deva
46
Batala, their chief city.

The rebels found a congenial home in Jammu hills which was

till then a Jagir of Prince Kharak dapredations
and his resistance against Sikh authority had become fabulous. He
seems to have become a national hero for the freedom-loving Dogras.
Mian Bhup Dev, Mian Jawahar Singh Agawaria and several others had
joined his camp. Soon Dido became a scourage for the Sikh rulers
and his exploits grew more daring as time passed till in the words of
Ganesh Dass 'Law and order of the country could not be regulated;
on the other hand it dissipated day after day, so that refractories
47
became emboldened on all sides and rebels spread lawlessness." Dido
"took to hills, an outlawed robber, carrying murder and rapine through
41. Ibid., letter No. 3 of 4-2-1816, p. 228.
43. Newsletter, dated 19th April, ISil ~Pb. Govt. Records OJfi,
Monograph No. 17 p. 264.
44 Newsletter, dated 18th May 1817 Pb. Govt. Records Offic
Monograph No. 17, p. 268.
45. Newsletter, dated 19th May 1817 Pb. Govt. Record Offii
Monograph No. 17 (1935;, p. 269.
46. M'Gregor, W.L., op, cit., p. 188.
47. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, BM MS., fol. 272 b,
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 151
the country, but reserving his4Sspecial attentions for the district subject
to the authority of Jammu "
Sometimes in these exploits Dido was at the head of two thousand
armed outlaws like himself, and sometimes accompanied by a few
followers. There was a garrison of about two thousand men in
Jammu, but "Deedoo hesitated not to attack the place on several
occasions by night or by day, though his force sometimes numbered
only fifty or sixty men. In one of these assaults he burnt down nearly
the whole place and carried off a great part of the moveable property
of the Sikh inhabitauts. After these exploits he would disappear as
suddenly as he had come, Sikhs never ventured to pursue him. It is
said that seldom fiftteen days passed without an achievement of this
kind, and according to tradition Deedoo, fromtime to time, slew with
49
his own hands above three hundred of his enemies, the Sikh.

In about 1818, tired probably of his hectic life, and allured by

promises of pardon from the Sikh authorities at Lahore and Jammu
Dido surrendered himself into the hands of his enemies, but no sooner
had he done so than suspecting treachery he set upon his guard, and
made his escape killing five men of his escort. "He again returned
to his wild predatory mode of life, and for about a year more, kept
the country in so unquiet and disordered a state, that the Sikhs found
5
it impossible to govern it or to realise their revenues from it." *
From time to time several celebrated Sardars and Commanders of
the Sikh army, such as Nain Singh Kumedon, Fateh Singh Man,
Diwan Shankar Dass Dugal, Bhai Ram Singh, Newab Dewande Khan,
Diwan Kirpa Ram Chopra, Sardar Atar Singh, Mohan Singh Sud,
Narain Dass Pashaoria, Diwan Bhawani Dass Kuba (hunch back),
Kanheya Mai Arora, Devi Sahai and Lala Dana Mai, were sent
51
to Jammu with large force , but found themselves helpless in
that affair. They imprisoned the chief men of the locality by a variety of
stratagems and sent them to Lahore where they were kept prisoners
for long. A few others were torn open their bowels. "Yet the Mian
Dido affair aggravated day after day. His valorous deeds sent a panic
in the Khalsa army : and the more blood they shed the more up flared
howed
of the Khalsa government."
Ganeshi Lai had also recorded the tradition that Mian Dido, "a
petty Jagirdar of Jugtee had not, however, allowed a peaceful
possession of his new conquests," and was always plundering the
country with a large gang of followers, killing the Sikh officials and
48. Smyth, G . C , A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, London, 1847,
p. 253,
49. Ibid., pp. 253-54.
50. Ibid.
51. Ganesh Dass, Rajardarshani, op. cit., fol. 273 a ; Kripa Ram Gulabnama.
op. cit , p . 151-
152 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

functionaries, "and in short, had given Ranjit a great annoyance and

52
trouble."
The Maharaja was at last advised by his friends to select Gulab
53
Singh and his brothers to punish their relation, Dido. So the Dogra
farniiy .was chosen to rule in Jammu territories. G. C. Smyth obser
ves ; "The wily brothers found little difficulty in persuading the too
partial Maharaja that in their hands only could the Government of their
native district be satisfactorily carried on and so Mian Kiskore Singh, the
father of the family was raised by the Sikh Chief to the Raj of
54
Jammu." Impressed by the military prowess and sagacity of Gulab
Singh. Ranjit at last bestowed a khilat on him and put him at the head
of Military expedition against Dido, assisted by Sardar Atar Singh Kalal,
55
Jagat Singh Atariwala and other chiefs Thus it was the political
exigency that led Ranjit Singh to hand over the administration of the
Dogra territory to this bold and loyal Dogra family which had by then
distinguished themselves in several military expenditions and diplomatic
transactions
The peace-loving hill people had not liked the rough and
autocratic administration of Ranjit's officers and prince Kharak Singh's
representatives Their exactions and arbitrary regulation directed only
towards squeezing out money on any pretext possible, and above all
their total disregard of the political conventions of the Dogras, made
Sikh rule very unpopular not only in Jammu, but in all the hilly region.
The Dogras had seen, since the days of Raja Shastri and Raja Mai Dev,
a settled from of mild government responsive and sensitive to the will
of the people, which had under the benign rule of Dhruv Dev and Ranjit
Dev, develooed into a paternal system founded on the tenets of the
shastras and tradition. Consequently, Jammu territories had become
well-known in northern India for peace and security. This condition
was maintained even during the rule of the weak successors of Ranjit
Dev, till it was suberted by the inroads of Sikh misls and the resultant
Sikh dominance. The polity which Ranjit Singh had inherited, had
evolved out of the predatory habits of the roving gangs. As p >inted out
by H. Brereton, in early days the Sardars or Misldar chiefs "were
mere robbers, engaged in constant contests with their rival Misls, and
surrounded by gangs of ruffians ready far any act of violence at the
command of their master, or on their own behalf, and Ranjit had adap-
ted the principle of "giving employment to the most daring and notori-
53
ous robbers," in his soldiery. The plundering misl hordes had
52. Ganfshi Lai, Siyahat-i-Kashmir, Eng. tr. by V.S. Suri, Chandigarh, 1977,
p 19. Cf Sohan Lai, Umda tal-Twarikh, Daftar II, 201 He also tes ifies
to the depredations of Mian Dido Dogra.
53. Ganeshi Lai, Siyahat i-Kashmir, op. cit., p. 19.
54. Smyth, G.C., A 66 Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, op. cit.,
p. 254. 55 Gulab,, pp 106—07.
55. Gulab,, pp. 106-07.
56. Brereton. H., Selections from Public Correspondence of the Administration
for the Affair of the Panjab, Vol, I. p. 232.
•

THF RF-FMERGEMCE OF DOGRA RAJ 153

entered the hills now and then like hungry wolves. This naturally bred
c
hatred towards the mi ls in the hills and when Ra jit Singh did not
fare better, his rule could not be liked bv fhe high landers He failed
to canmre the fancy of the hill people used to the milder rule of kings
defending from ancient lines and honouring the customs and usages
established of yone As compared to these Ranjit had nothing to com-
mend than chivalry and brute force which had not yet been sraoothered
by diplomacy and administrative principles, as was done later in his
reign, Ranjit's rule, therefore, could not be popular in hills and the
Panaris everywhere sought deliverence fr<«m it. The Oogras being more
virile and more numerous were m >re vocal in this sphere and were,
therefore, first to ri<e against oppression. This seem to be the ratio-
nale of devolving the self-governing power on the D >gras. There seems
to be other considerations as welt which will find explanation in appro-
priate chapters
2. RISE OF THE "DOGRA RAJ"
The Dogra family to whom the administration of Jammu was en-
trusted later came to be known as Dogra Rajas a^d Dogra Brothers
at the Lahore court. They belonged to a juni >r br >uch of the ruling
family of Jammu, and were the direct descendants of Raja Dhrov Dev,
who ruled in Jammu from about A.D 1703 to 1733 Dhruv Dev's
immediate successor, the famous Ranjit Dev who died in 1782, had
three brothers, viz., Ghansar Dev, Surat Singh and Balwant Singh.
57
Surat Singh had two sons, Zorawar Singh, and Mian Mota. From
Zorawar Singh descended Kishore Singh, and from him Gulab Singh,
Dhian Singh and Suchet Singh.
58
Gulab Singh was born on 5 th Katak, 1849 Bikrami (October 21,
1792 A. D.). Dhian Singh on 11th Bhadon, 1853 Bikrami (July 26,
1796 A D . , and Suchet Singh or 8th Magh, 1858 Bikrami (January 25,
1801 A D . ) .
Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh lived at Jammu with their uncle
Mian Mota, who was madur-uhmaham or minister of that principality
ruled over by Raja Jit Singh. At that court which had a long established
tradition of royalty, they learnt all the manners and ways of courtiers
which later won them the favour and confidence of the Sikh Chief of
Lahore. Their father, Kishore Singh, and the youngest brother Suchet
Singh, resided at Tsmailpur Deolly, a village seven or eight kos from
Jammu on the road to Lahore, deriving their subsistence from the pro-
59
duce of a few acres of land. Their grandfather, Zorawar Singh, was
57. Kirpa Ram, pp. 86 & 100. Bat G.C. Smyfh gives the number of brothers
as three and names them as Zorawar Singh, Meean Mota and Meean
Jallah. (See Hist of the Reigning Family of Lahore, etc., p. 240). Shaha-
mat AH gives the names of four sons of Surat Singh, viz. Zorawar Singh,
Mian Ditta, Mian Mita, and Mian Bbopa (The Sikhs and Afghans, p. 90).
58. Kirpa Ram, p. 88. G.C.Smyth gives 1788 as the year of Gulab Singh's
birth, which is incorrect.
59. Smyth, G . C , A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 248.
154 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAf

also alive. The family had inherited a few small jagirs at Ismailpur,
Dayavan and Purmandal. But the yield of these jagirs was quite a
humble one, and the family had become impoverished, and had merged
into the common peasantry, keeping, however, some semblance of
royalty through their relation to Mian Mota, the mintster of the
last Dogra ruler of Jammu, Raja Jit Singh. Both Zorawar Singh and
his son Kishore Singh served their kinsman, Raja Jit Singh, in the
capacity of petty military officers. Thus the family to which the 'Dogra
Brother's belonged' was well-known in their land, and was in no way"
60
of obscure origin." They were of "good family" but were at one time
so poor as to have served in the Maharaja's irregular cavalry as commons
01
dragoons upon a rupee a day."
It was young Gulab Singh who was the first in that family to enter
Ranjit Singh's service,
He started his career, according to several contemporary writers,,
as a horseman in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's irregular cavalry in which
were usually entrolled near relatives, sons and dependants of the dis-
possessed misldars and chiefs, on no fixed grades of pay but on a com-
paratively high remuneration to every trooper according to his status,
62
experience and efficiency.
w

The fact of entering as a trooper in Ranjit's service might have been

disclosed to various authorities by Gulab Singh himself. At that early
date, when he could not dream of ever becoming an independent sove-
reign of the state, and could have even boasted afterwards of rising to
that eminent status from the position of an ordinary horseman, he could
have no scruples about the affair. From a 'king's trooper to kingship*
itself was a long way traversed by him on the road to greatness, which
very few greatmen in history were fortunate enongh to traverse.
In the Khalsa Durbar Records Mian Gulab Singh Jamwal is shown
commanding a small number of 'Sowarian JamwaV—the Jamwal
cvalary. lu the rolls of the previous years upto A.D. 1814, he is
shown as one of the troopers in the Jamwal cavalry where the name of
63
his brother Dhian Singh is also on the list at Rs. 3/- per day . The-
consensus of opinion of contemporary writers supports the fact that
Gulab Singh entered Ranjit's service as a trooper.
Most probably Gulab Singh was summoned to the Lahore Court in
A.D. 1810. The Gulabnaina states that the fame of Gulab Singh's
60. Mohan Lai, Travels in the Panjab, Afganistan and Turkistan; London.
1846, p 14 " A Dogra of humble origin" writes S.S. Thorburn in The
Pan jab in Peace and War, p. 29.
61. Steinbach, Lt. Col , The Punjab, Lor.don, 1846, reprint, Patiala 1970, pp.
20 and 57.
62. Shahamat Ali, The Sikhs and Afghans, reprint, Patiala, p . 284.
63. Sita Ram Kohli, Fateh Nama Guru Kha/saji ka (Hindi), Hoshiarpur, p..
231 ; Sinha, N,K. Ranjit Singh,, 1951, p. 179.
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 155
*

heroism had reached Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who asked Mian Mota to
64
send for him . Hence accompanying Mian Mota he joined Urdu-e'
MtCalla in the year A D . 1810 at Daska. Two years later, in A. D.
1812, he brought his brother, Dhian Singh, to Lahore and Ranjit Singh
employed him in the Ghorcharas on sixty rupees monthly. The same day
their father was also employed on "a salary equal to one fourth'' of
65
what Gulab Singh was drawing at that time . In 1812, they were
made Ghorchora Commanders in the Mian Singh's Missee, Dhian Singh,
according to G C. Smyth, becoming the greater favourite with the
Maharaja, receiving five rupees a day, while Gulab Singh, the elder
brother had only four. Their pay was, however, ere long-doubled
and tripled.
Soon the two brothers were the most favoured of all Ranjit
Singh's favourites. In 1813, at Ranjit Singh's suggestion, they sent
for their younger brother, Suchet Singh, now a lad of about twelve
years whose handsome personality immediately won for him the affec-
tion of Maharaja. The Rajpoot brothers were now all in all at the
66
court". All the three became Rajas, acquired Jagirs and contracts
67
that have enriched them beyond count. It was little known at that
time that these footmen were destined at no distant date, to become
the lords of the hills and that their power would be supreme in the
63
vast kingdom established by the warlike talent of Ranjit Singh.
After entering Ranjit's service the Dogra brothers soon attracted
his notice because of their valour, alacrity and assiduity and graceful
bearing. They gave proof of these qualities in the battle of Chach
Hazara and Hazru, in which the Aghans, after some initial successes,
69
suffered crushing defeat . This battle was 1 ought on 13th July, 1813
70
near Attock . Gulab Singh and his father, Kishore Singh, were also
among the Sikh fighters led by Diwan Hokam Chf nd. Gulab Singh
gave a good account of himself in the action. Mian Kishore Singh was
severely wounded in the battle. The account given in the Gidabnama of
this campaign shows that Gulab Singh participated in it at the head of
71
a section of the army, and not as a trooper or follower .
64. Gulab., Eng. tr. op. cit.f p. 15^ ; Gaaesh Dass, Raidarshani, BM MSS.f
foJio 262 a states—"some time after this, when Mian Mota attended on
the king at Lahore, the king enquired 'whose son is the youth who
fought bravely with the young Bhai Hukma Singh* ? The Miaa replied,
it is my nephew'. The king sent for him and appointed him in the
Chorchara Khas".
65. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text), Srinagar, 1876, p. 105; Ganesh Dass
Rajdarshani, 1847, BM.MS. folio 262 b ; Pir Gulam Hussan, Tarikh-i-
Hassan, Research Departmen, J & K Government, Srinagar, p 830.
66. Smyth, C.C. pp. 250-51.
67. Steinbach, Lt. Col., The Punjab, op., cit.% p. 20,
68. Latif, S.M., History of the Punjab, Delhi, 1964, p. 439.
69. Murray, Ranji Singh, pp. 95. 100 ; Sir D. Ochteriony to Govt.. 1st July,.
1813 ; J.D. Cunningham's History of the Sikhs, p . 138.
70. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 95-100 ; Hist, of the Sikhs, op. cit , p. 138.
71. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text), op. cii.t pp. 58, 108.
156 A SBORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The vendetta which had taken its latest toll in the murder of Mian
Mota seems to have become a means of ihe rapid rise of the Dogra
brothers. As stated earlier, Trehru and Sathru (or Jagatu) murdered
Mian Mota. Ganesh Dass gives the exact date of the incident as 29th
72
Har., i.e. 14th July, 1813, the Ikadashi day . Gulab Singh and Dhian
Singh learnt of this probably in the beginning of August after returning
73
from the battle of Haidru or Hazru .
this deed both Trehru and Sathru came
d Kharak Singh through
the recommendation of Baba Mian Singh and Mulk Raj Bedi. Gulab
Singh avenged the murder of his patron by shooling Sathru to death.
Being hard pressed by the friends of their victim, the brothers seem to
have taken shelter with their general, Misr Diwan Chand, under whose
74
banner the Dogras rallied at that time .
After some time, when the followers of Prince Kharak Singh, to
whose retinue Trehru and Sathru had attached themselves, had been
reconciled to the murder, both the brothers were called to the presence
by the Maharaja, who exalted them and ordered them to remain in
attendance and were given Sayalpur (Smailpur) for sustenance of the
75
family
This bloody deed, committed in broad day light in the midst of
crowded Anarkali bazar, must have created a sensation throughout the
city and enhanced the prestige of its perpetrators as well as revealed the
humours the Dogra youngmen were fermented with. When the young
bravados came in the presence of Raniit Singh, he admonished them
and told Gulab Singh that "such a disposition in his nature was con-
trary to advantage" and it should be reformed. At this Gulab Singh
curtly submitted that counting of profit and loss was the business of
merchants and traders, how soldiers like him who dealt in life and
76
death mothlike could behave like them" .
As in the early days of his career Ranjit Singh was always looking
for brave and dauntless persons like him, this murder affair seems to
have annealed to his m hi
before in his favour. Gulab Singh was now exalted to the status of an
officer commanding of the Jamwal cavalry. Writes Shahamat Ali,
72. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani. BM. MS., folio 267 b.
73. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text), oy. cit., p. 108, records that while Diwaa
Mohkarn. Chand was returning towards Lahore, the report of the
murder was received. According to Prinsep the battle of Haidru (Hazru)
was foaght on 11-12 July, and that the Diwan relieved the fort and
returned t o Lahore in August. Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab,
p. 17.
74. Smyth, G.C., op. cit., p. 252 ; Lawrence, H.M., Adventures, op. cit,,
p. 92.
Afgh
75. Ganesh Dass, Rajdarshani, op. cit., p. 271 a.
76. Kirpa Earn, Gulabnama, p. 112.
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 157

"About the same time, his Highness placed Gulab Singh in charge of
a party of sixty sowars, and gave him the district of Nihai in jagir
yielding a revenue of 12,000 rupees in lieu of which he was bound to
furnish fifty additional sowars. His influence was thus rising, and he
77
met with rapid promotion" . The Klialsa Durbar Records inform that
he had oecome commander of the 'Sawarian JamwaV (the Jamwal
Cavalry) in about 1814 A.D. In Gulabnama also there is mention of
the assignment to Gulab Singh of the jagir of Swan Singh in recogni-
tion of his great exertions undergone during Ranjit's first expedition to
78
Kashmir, which was undertaken from June to August, 1814.
During the disastrous retreat of Ranjit Singh's armies through
Punch and Rajouri, Bhimbir and Kotli, after his discomfiture in his
attempt to conquer Kashmir in the middle of 1814, Gulab Singh
rendered valuable services to his master. He exhibited exceptional
mastery of the situation and his gallantry turned likely rout to a grace-
ful retreat. Gulab Singh's brave sallies defeated and scattered the
marauding Khasalis. In recogoition of these services Ranjit
Singh bestowed on him Sawan Mall's jagir. When Ranjit was safely
back in his summer capital Dinanagar, he showered still greater favours
on the Dogra family and leased out to them three villages of Kharoti,
Bhandian and Beol in the Pothohar territory west of the Chenab.
Ganesh Dass includes "Soahra and Ramgarh upto Pindi, known as
talluqa Ghari" also among the jagirs. The Dogras appointed Amir
Chand as the Diwan who stormed the Beol fortress and occupied the
79
territory.

The Dogra brothers accompanied the Maharaja and participated in

almost all the expeditions undertaken after A.D. 1813. The next
opportunity to outshine their companions came when Ranjit Singh was
personally investing the fort of Garb-Damala in the Jalandhar Doab,
considered to be impregnable. This probably took place during the
year A.D. 1815, when the marriage of Mian Dhian Singh was celebra-
ted. The Dogras were rewarded for their gallant conduct at Garh-
Damala with the jagirs of Lala-Chobara and Ramgarh to the south of
Jammu, in return for a body of 200 horsemen. Mian Kishore Singh
and Suchet Singh took possession of these territories with the help of
the Sikh General Misr Diwan Chand. Mian Zorawar Singh, grand-
father of the Dogra brothers, shifted his habitat from Smailpur to
Ramgarh which now became the stronghold of the family. It was
80
here that Dhian Singh's son, Hira Singh was born in 1816 .

77. Shabamat AH, The Sikhs and Afghans, op. cit., p. 93.
78. Prinsep, Henry T., Origin of the Sikh Power in the Panjab, 1833 pp.
83-85.
Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, text, p. 115.
79. Ganesh Dass. Rajdarshani, BM MS., fol. 271 b. The Patbohar region lay
between the Chenab and the Jhelum and included Mirpur and Gujrat
Districts ; Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, text, pp. 116-117.
80. Ibid., pp. 116,120.
 158 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Similar feats of valour and dauntlessness were exhibited by Gulab

Siagh and his brothers at Multan in April 1815. Gulab Singh succeed-
ed in bringing the dead body of a Sikh chief in the shower of bullets
from under the ramparts.
By this time Ranjit Singh had realised the soundness of confidence
he had reposed in the ability and loyalty of the Dogra brothers. At
the same time he had realised the futility of keeping Jammu under his
control and his generals had miserably failed to tame the rebellious
spirit of Mian Dido, Mian Diwan Singh and his outlaw companions,
Puro Darorha and others. Ranjit Singh, therefore, decided to gradually
withdraw all Sikh forces from the Dogra family in charge of Riasi
-jwhich had become a rallying centre for anti-Sikh elements.
Mian Diwan Singh of Riasi kept the banner of rebellion unfurled.
"In April 1817 he annexed the country on the north-west of Jammu and
incited the Khasalis to a general revolt.
t

Mangal Singh Kalalwala was deputed in that direction who made

the Mian give up the path of battle on promise of jagir. The Mian
was, however, brought to Lahoie where he was put in confinement as
he was suspected of having a hand in the murder of Mian Mota.
Riasi was then given as a jagir to the Jammu family, and an order was
. sent to Gulab Singh throngh Bhagwan Singh for the occupation of the
Khasali territory. Gulab Singh thereupon left Jammu and reached
Riasi where he was welcomed by the people. But Mian Bhup Singh,
son of the deposed Chief Mian Diwan Singh, instigated the Khasalis to
disregard Gulab Singh's authority. In a few days, however, the rebels
were driven from their entrenchments and they took to flight. After
reducing the pargana to submission Gulab Singh returned to Riasi and
81
raised a mud fort and named it Bhimgarh . He put his own commander
(thanadar) there and returned to Lahore. But soon, the inhabitants
of Kainthi and Kirghal raised rebellion. Gulab Singh personally visited
them with punishment.
A serious challenge to the authority of the Dogra family in
Khasali territory was posed by a widespread insurrection led by Mian
Bhup Singh, who had surrepitiously purchased the release of his
father Mian Diwan Singh and given out that Lahore Darbar had res-
tored Riasi jagir to them. The gullible p iharis on all sides rose in
revolt and set siege to the Riasi fort which was defended by Zorawar
Singh Kahluria. The besiegers were however, taken by surprise by
Gulab Singh's general, Amir Chand, and were 82
forced to abandon the
siege and Gulab Singh's men re-occupied Riasi .
Gulab Singh soon arrived there, killed Surata Bhagial, the insurgent
command and administration of
81. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text) pp. 122-123.
82. Ibid, pp. 122-27; Narsingh Dass Nargis, Tarikh-i- Dogra Des (Urdu),
Jammu 1967, pp. 431-33.
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 159

Khasal, and entrusted the administration of Riasi to Wazir Zorawar

Singh. The rebels, however, gave him no respite. Mian Dido, who
had flouted Sikh authority in Jammu hills since 1810, also joined the
cause of Khasali rebels, and made the matters worse. Therefore, the
stubborn resistance of the hill leaders to Dogra family, who were con-
sidered officials of Sikh government, continued for about a year and
Oulab Singh and his men had to encounter numerous difficulties before
the rebel resistance was broken, Mian Dido was defeated and
towards Tarkota hills and peace w Khasali
83
hills
Dhian Singh appointed 'Deodhiwala' (Chamberlain)
While Gulab Singh was earning the favour of Ranjit Singh by his
soldierly qualities, the younger brother, Dhian Singh, won approbation
of his master as a polished courtier and resourceful manager of house-
hold of the Maharaja. He has been rising into favour of his Highness,
and at the recommendation of Misr Diwan Chand he was vested with
8
the charge of the Deodhee *. For fifteen years Jamadar Khushal Singh
had held command of the doorway (deodhee), 'which is equivalent to
85
that of the guards, as well as the royal ear", but he did not prove
equal to the job. On account of the arbitary use he made of his
power, he disgusted both the people and the officers of the state,
86
neither did Ranjit Singh himself entertain a good opinion of him .
87
Major H.M. Lawrence even imputes treachery to him.
He was, therefore removed from the charge of the deodhee and
refused admittance to the court and was appointed towards Multan.
According to Gulabnama, in the Bikrami year 1875 (A.D. 1818),
Maharaja Ranjit Singh ordered Galab Singh to take charge of family
jagirs and send Dhian Singh to the court : so the latter met the king
in the royal camp at Wazirabad. The same year he was exalted to
88
the office of Deodhi . For sometime before this exaltation "Mian
Dhian Singh was entrusted with full powers in counsels and court
and everyday witnessed the increase of royal favours towards him.
In the month of Shawal (S. 1875) an additional jagir of 20,000 rupees
89
was bestowed on him. . A respectable Haveli was given to him for
residence. During these very days most of the courtiers were
consulted on the propriety of exalting him to the office of Deodhi.
83. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, (text), PP- 127-30; Narsingh Dass Nargis
Tarikh-i-Dogra Des (Urdu), 1967, pp. 431-33.
84. Afgh
85. Lawrence, Major H.M., Adventures of an officer in the Punjab, reprint
Patiala 1970, p. 36.
86. Afgh
87. Lawrente Major H.M. op. cit, p. 36.
88. Kirpa Ram. Gulabnama (text), Srinagar, 1876, p. 132-33,
89. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Daftar II, p. 226.
160 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The him. On the eighth of the month Zi-

alqa'da (S. 1875) Dhian Singh's family arrived in Lahore and was
90
housed in the grand Haveli .
At last, on Monday, the 27th, July, 1818, Jamadar Khushal Singh
was deposed from the office of Deodhi, and the same was given over
to Mian Dhian Singh. A few days after, on Dussehra day (1st
week of October 1818) formalities of exaltatian of Dhian Singh to the
office of Deodhi were performed, and the youngest brother, Suchet
Singh, was appointed to present the applications of the people. Mian
Kishore Singh seems to have been created Raja after the bestowal of
iam'rs on 29ih November.
In the month of May—June, 1819 Misr Diwan Chand and a few
91
other eminent chiefs were deputed in the direction of Kashmir, for
its final subjugation. Guiab Singh also accomparied at the head of
his own force. On the way Rajauri was occupied and Aghar Khan
fled to the hills. Finally Sjkh force entered the valley and Afghans
uader Jabar Khan were ousted. In the expedition Gulab Singh took a
prominent part and Ranjit's officers occupied Kashmir in July, 1819.
Gulab Singh represented to the Maharaja that formerly m
the days of Ahmed Shah Durrani a jagir of one lakh rupees in Kashmir
had been granted to his ancestors as a reward for their services in the
conquest of Kashmir. He asked for Kishtwar in exchange for that jagir
98
His representation was accepted by Ranjit Singh and Kishtwar was
included in the jagirs conferred on jhe family in November 1820.
In the frontier compaigns of Ranjit Singh, Gulab Singh played a
prominent and noteworthy part. The most important among them was
the compaign against the tribe of Yusufzai in 1819, which enabled
94
Ranjit Singh to acquire Peshawar . In the beginning of 1820, Gulab
Singh was employed in exterminating Aghar Khan ofRajouri. This
ruler had given Ranjit Singh cause for offence during his Kashmir
expeditions. He again broke out in rebellion in 1820 and fled
95
on the approach of Misr Diwan Chand to his territory. He had
taken shelter in Budhil and Khrasali hills. Gulab Singh was, therefore
ordered to stamp out sedition in Rajouri hills where the Maharaja
wanted Rahim Ullah Khan to rule in peace. Gulab Singh forced his
96
way into his hills at the head of only one hundred fifty companions.
After a few months of strenuous operations in the mountain fastnesses
he ultimately succeeded in capturing Aghar Ullah Khan in the spring
of 1820 who had refused to submit to Ranjit's authority for the
90. Ibid,v- 228,
91. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, op. cit., p. 137.
93. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text), op. cit.. p. 138.
94. Panikkar, K.M., Founding of the Kashmir State, op. cit.
S5. Latif, Syad Mohammad, History 0f the Panjab, Calcutta, 1891, p. 421
96. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text), op. cit., p. 157.
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 161
previous eight or nine years. He was sent to Lahore where he was
97
confined till his death in 1825. . For this service, the family obtained
in jagir, the principality of Jammu, with which they had long been
98
connected.
Jammu was farmed out to the entire family out of political
considerations and for their joint services, Gulab Singh's being parti-
cularly conspicuous in the field of military expeditions. Wiitingin
1835-1836 Baron Charles Hugel observes, "Raja Hira Snigh is at
present in high favour. He is the son of Raja Dhyan Singh, the
Deoriwallla, or first Chamberlain, who with his brothers, Gulab Singh
and Suchet Singh, received the investiture of Jammu in 1820... " "
Sohan Lai has the correct date of the contract w

sixteenth of the month of Maghar, H.E. 1226, i.e., Samvat

1877, corresponding to 30th November, 1820. This date is supported
by the deed of acceptance, Qabuliat, contracted by Mian Kishore Singh
100
and his three sons, on the fifteenth of the month of Maghar 1877,
One day earlier, as "such acceptance was taken before the grant was
101
made.
1
The Gulabnama does not contain the copy of the Sanaa for the
jagir of Jammu. But the Qabuliat (Agreement), signed by Kishore
Singh and his three sons acknowledge the bestowal of "talluqa Ghakla
Jammu (excluding south of-Kashmir), Patti Bhoti, Bandralta, Chanehni
102
and Kishtwar" on certain conditions which may be deduced as
under :
*

"To keep in readiness for .imperial service, as per high orders"

400 horsemen as described.
i

"To engage in service as per rule, in cooperation with the exalted

' t
Sardars..
•f*

f
•

'To make no deficiency in rendering good will, loyalty and sacri-

fices...andtp carry out readily royal commands whatever. "To guard
the Kashmir road for the Kafilas of Pashmina merchants...and to
t-

7
97. Ibid.0
r»

98, Pnnsep, Henry T., Origin of the Sikh Power in the Panjab, 1834, p. 99 ;
Cf. Hugel, Trarels iu Cashmere and the Panjab, etc. Eng. Tr by Major
T.B. Jerbis, London, 184:>, p. 83 ; Anon , History ofihe Panjab, Calcutta,
1891, p. 421.
99. Hugel, Baron Charles, Travels in Kashmir and Punjab, op. cit. p. 384;
Prinsep and Latif also make the'family' the recipient of the japir.
. feohan Lai remarks \ On the 18th of Maghar, H E. 1236, correaponding
t o Samvat 1877, Mian Kishore Singh, father of Miau Dhian Singh, was
entrusted the management of Jammu by his Highness."
100. MS. No. M/503, S A.P.
.101. Grewal, J.S. and Indu Banga, "Ranjit Singh the Suzerain" Procd
-
Punjab Hist, conf, 1970, p . 86, note 29.
102. Cf. Galabnama, App. 13, Eng. Tr., S.D.S. Charak, 1977:
 162 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

make good any loss sustained by them on this account. "To imprison
and carry to presence, the rebellious and wicked Dido, or to kill him,
105
or drive him across the river Satluj. .
The grantees also undertook every year to present a tribute of
certain articles, such as seven pairs of royal falcons, five pairs of
Chitra, fine horses, one Pukhta maund of Kistwar saffron and some
lovely maid-servants 'Kaneezgan Umda Khubru.'
In addition they agreed to the installation of imperial thana in the
forts of Sumergarh and Kotli. The 'Qabuliaf is signed on i 5th Maghar,
ponding to 29th November, 1820, and the sanad grant-
these iagirs was issued by the Maharaj the
16th Mag ar, according to Sohan Lai. It is also evident from the
'Qabuliat* deed that the iagirs were given not to Gulab Singh, but to
the whole family, and Mian Kishore Sihgh, the father of the family,
took over the "administration of these territories according to Sohan La]
who records and to Mian Kishore Singh the management of
104
Jammu was entrusted by His Highness."
Some added to the 'Qabaliat
"Whenever there is any increase in territory through the grace of
105
Satguru-ji. it will be reported to His Highness," which anticipates
the possibility of intended increase in the actually occupied territories
by the grantees. Kishtwar, for instance, mentioned in the 'Qabuliat'
was yet to be occupied by the Jammu family. The deed thus conferred
a special status on the Dogras. This not only gave them right to
maintain their army, but also empowered them to conduct further
conquests and add new territories to their jagir with information
to their overlord. This special status was caused partly by the
unsettled conditions of the territories of Jammu and the conquests of
1
Kashmir and made the Dogra brothers his vassals. **
Mian Dido is presented in local tradition as a brave and fearless
fighter and an irreconcilable opponent of Ranjit's authority in the
Jammu Hills. Ranjit Singh was, therefore, obliged to make a special
mention of his activities which must have created a special problem
for the Lahore Court, as has been shown above. The assignment of
Jammu to the Dogra family was thus intended to solve the problem
of the Dogra unrest and the conferment of special status"' oa
them, as revealed by the 'Qabuliaf, was probably meant to avert some
future dangers with which Ranjit's political system was fraught.
This special status of the Dogra family is to be ascertained by their
103. Ibid.
104. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ul-Tawarikh, Daftar II, p, 281.
105. MS No : M/503, S.A.P.
106 Grewal. J.S., and Indu Banga, "Ranjit Singh the Suzerain/' Procd
Puniad. Hist, conf., 5th Session, 1970, pp. 84, 88.
107- Bawa Satinder Singh also uses the term and opines that the Sikhs
generailv "abhorred the Jammu Chief's special status in their kingdom.'
see Jammu Fox, Illinois University Press. U.S.A., 1947, 121.
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 163
subsequent political and military behaviour within the fold of the
polity of Ranjit Singh and his successors, specially between the years
1834 and 1845.
The Dogras thus rose to eminence in Ranjit's dominion within ten
years of joining his service, and through their own position, and that
of Dhian Singh, the Dogra family started wielding great influence in
the court and the Hills which they perseveringly used to augument
their position and expand their power, so that in 1838 ShahamBt Ali
had to remark that "...no individual of any influence has been now
108
left in the hills who can dispute authority of the Dogra family."
JAMMU RAJ IN THE MAKING
(a) Captuie of Kishtwar :
Dogra Trio' and their father had acquired a vast territory in
form Khroti had been given to them
by Maharaja Ranjit Singh as early as 1913. Soon afterwards they
received the managament of Lala-Chobara and Ramgarh. Ismailpur,
Deoli and Dansal had already descended on the family from their
ancestors. Riasi was acquired in jagir in 1815. But the year 1820 haa
been the most auspicious one for the entire family when the talluqa
Jammu territory to the south of Kashmir
and along with Patti Bhoti, Bandralta, Chanehni and Kishtwar was
granted as jagir to the whole family.
This grant also gave the family power to conquer and add new
territories to their jagirs, and the Dogra family accepted the condition
1hat: "Whenever there is any increase in territory through the grace
109
of Satgurji, it will be reported to His Majesty."
Though Kishtwar had been conferred on the Dogra family a* a
Tiart to the jagir, this territory was yet not in possesston of Ranjit
"Singh. The Dogras were required to conquer it and make it a part
of the Jammu jagir. The valley of Kishtwar, known in antiquities as
Kashtwata, lying to the south-east of Kashmir on the Upper Chenab
is a charming plain in the midst of the mountains, not perfectly level,
but undulating, everywhere cultivated, dotted with villages.
It was probably ruled by Rajput Rajas from at least the middle
ages. When Maharaja Ranjit Dev became powerful at Jammu, Kishtwar
lost its independence.
Ranjit Dev (1732—1782) of Jammu established his sway over
Kishtwar and sent his representative to set the administration in order.
This was Lai Dev who ruled there for two years and annoyed the
people by his oppressions. This direct rule of Jammu over Kishtwar,
however, came to an end with the death of Ranjit Dev in 1782, when
108. Shahamat Ali, Th Afgh
109. MS. NO : MJ503
 164 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Inait Ulla Singh was secretly liberated from the Bahu fort, and he
drove away Lai Dev with the help of the leaders of Soraj and
110
Kainthi Ranjit Dev seems to have made Kishtwar his tributary
during his expeditions to Kashmir valley in about 1819 A.D.
Kishtwar had freed itself from the sway of Jammu on Ranjit Dev's
death but soon it became subject to Delhi. Raja Tegh Singh the last
independent ruler of Kishtwar. Down to his time the descendents of
the two Wazirs sent from Delhi were serving the family. But Raja
Tegh Singh made his chief adviser a Thakur, named Lakhpat, who
till then was a small landholder. He gave him the title of Wazir
;
and bestowed on h m the jagir of Bonjua. This Lakhpat became a
source of trouble for Raja Tegh Singh and ultimately led to his
downfall .^^H^^^H^^H^^^H^^^H^^H^^^H^^^H^^HH
This happened soon after Kishtwar was assigned as jagir to the
Dogras by Ranjit Singh who gave them in 1820 a mandate to conquer
it.
The potent cause for assignment of Kishtwar to the Dogras seems
to be tnat the Raja of that place had specially incurred the displeasure
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh by giving shelter to Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk,
the refugee king of Kabul. The king had been in the hands of
Ranjit at Lahore from where, in April, 1814 Shah Shuja himself made
his escape in disguise, and reached the Hills, where he was hospitably
received by the petty Raja of Kishtwar. Ranjit sent word to the
Jlaja to forward the refugee to him as a prisoner which he declined
111
to do. But it became necessary for Shuh Shuja to leave the
protector.
., This Shah Shuja affair antagonised Ranjit to Raja Mohammad
Tegh Singh of Kishtwar and the former was looking out for an oppor-
tunity of taking revenge on the latter. When Gulab Singh asked for
Kishtwar,,which was yet an independent principality, in no way a part
of Rajit's kingdom, the Sikh ruler was pleased to entrust its conquest to
/the Dogra chief and conferred it as a part of the Jammu jagir
112
on the Dogra family on 29th November, 1820.
v : Immediately after the conferment of the jagir Gulab Singh
made arrangements for the conquest of Kishtwar, but the expedition
113
had to be put off till next spring on the advice of Birbal Dhar Gulab
110- HashmatUllah Khan, pp. 176-77.
111. Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, p.p. 121-22, Anon. History of the
.. - Punjab,Vol II, pp. 21-22, .'
112. MS M/503, N.A. Patiala, the grant including talluqaa Chakla Jammu,
Patti Bhoti, Bandrahalta, Chenhhi and Kishtwar. " I t is interesting to
note that the new 'Jagirdar' had actually to conquer this tract (Kisht-
war) at the time of this grant"—J.S. Grewal and Indu Banga, "Ranjit
S/n^h, The Suzerain", Procdgs : Punjab History Con., 5th Session, 1970,
p 84 in. <3.
113. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, pp. 140-142.
 THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA. RAJ 165
. •

Singh seems to have used the intermediary period in a successful

attempt to sow seeds of dissesion midst the Raja and the wazir of
Kishtwar. The Gulabnama states that as an act of diplomacy some
parwanas were written in the name of wazir Lakhpat Rai, the adminis-
trator of the Raja of Kishtwar. The object of writing these fabricated
leiters was "only to breed suspicion in the heart of the Raja of
Kishtwar" against his able and loyal wazir.
The device had the desired effect. One day a parwana fell into the
hands of an informer who presented it before Raja Tegh Singh. This
bred misunderstanding, and the offended Raja secretly ordered for the
diwan's murder. The latter, however, escaped, after sustaining slight
injuries only to Jangalwar and thence probably to Jammu in the
presence of Gulab Singh, and put him upto annexing Kishtwar, showing
how easily it could be done.
In the beginning of S. 1878 or May 1821 A.D., Gulab Singh per-
sonally led his armies for the conquest of Kishtwar. On the way he
reduced Balwalta and compelled Raja Dial Chand of Chenahni to
accompany him on the conquest of Kishtwar. The Chenab was crossed
by a device and his armies reached Doda. The escape of the wazir
had left Tegh Singh resourceless and torn by internal dissensions. Doda
fell without a fight. Now Tegh Singh thought it prudent to wait upon
Gulab Singh who received him kindly and sent him to Lahore, where
114
the ex-ruler was treated unkindly . Consequently he died there under
mysterious circumstances. Gulab Singh left Mian Chain Singh as
*AmiV (Administrator) of Kishtwar.
Thus was that ancient state subverted and acquired without firing
a shot. This feat of diplomacy was probably done by Gulab Singh
during May or June, before the commencement of rains. *'In April
(1821) Ranjit moved to Adenanugur, and remained there till July,
occupied in collecting the hill tribute. The two petty territories of
115
Kishtwar and Mankot were in this interval, annexed to the Khalsa" .
Gulab Singh had thus proved himself an ardent disciple of the ancient
sam-dam-dand-bhed school of diplomacy which lies in the maximum
economy in the use of resources with the minimum loss of manpower,
yet leading to the attainment of astonishing success Thorburn has
justifiably assessed, "... his master (Ranjit Singh) had employed him
in an enterprise the successful execution of which required considerable
finesse—the peaceful acquisition of Kishtwar, a hill principality. The
mission was carried out with such tact—the state being seized by artiflce
and its ruler deported to Lahore and there quietly poisoned—that Gulab
116
Singh's grateful sovereign bestowed Jammu upon him in jagir."
» ^ •

114. Ganeshi Lai, Siyahat~i~Kashmir, p . 23 (Eng. trans, by V S . Suri) ;

Sheoji Dar, op. cit , D. 52 However. Ganeshi Lai states on the autho-
rity of the Zamindars of Kishtwar that a battle took place at Ussar
that sealed the fate of Tegh Singh (Siyahat-i-Kashmir, p. 23).
115. Anon., History of the Punjab, Vol. IT, p. 6 0 ; Henry T. Prinsep,
Origin of the Sikh Power in thePunjab, p. 102.
116. Thorburn, S.S. The Punjab in Peace and War, 1883, p. 29.
• •
166 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

When Gulab Singh became the Raja of Jammu in June 1822, he

appointed Zorawar Singh the Hakim 117
or governor of Kishtwar and!
exalted him with the title of wazir.
The acquisition of Kishtwar had a special significance for Gulab
Singh. Once this territory had formed Part of the Dogra Kingdom of
Maharaja Ranjit Dev ; hence its annexation to Jammu Principality
rounded off the old Dogra possessions on that side. At the same time
it opened the gateway to Gulab Singh's further conquests across the
inner Himalayas which were to follow soon after. Zorawar Singh and
his Dogra soldiers who controlled and administered Kishtwar became
habitual to the cold climate and the hardy life in lofty mountains
and narrow deep valleys and gorges and gradually prepared themselves
for further advance towards north and east in the snowy ranges, frozen
plateaus and the hostile Himalayan territories. In a way Kishtwar
served as a spring-board from which Zorawar Singh lept on his-
career of conquests and military exploits which marked him out as
one of the great generals and military strategists which India's martial
community has ever produced. It was through Kishtwar that he
advanced towards Ladakh, Baltistan and Tibet and made a history in
the annals of warfare. Later on, the acquisition of Kishtwar came out
to be the first step on the part of Gulab Singh towards the encirclement
of Kashmir Valley on the north, east and south and thereby bring it
in his own sphere of influence.
Soon after the spectacular capture of Kishtwar, Gulab Singh accom-
panied his overlord, Ranjit Singh, on expedition into the territories of
Mankera. Bukar and Laia, south of Multan, and by the beginning of
November 1821 they advanced on Dera Ismail Khan, which places were
reduced by 14th December, 1821.
(b) Suppression of Mian Dido
But perhaps the most spectacular deed of Gulab Singh during this-
year was the extermination of Mian Dido who had for over a decade
defied Sikh authority and withstood all efforts of Sikh officers to
suppress his revolt. Several local leaders like Mian Dharam Singh
118
Raipuria, had joined his fold and their depredations kept the Sikh
authorities at Jammu in a state of constant fright. The gravity of the
situation can be realised from the fact that several veteran Sikh generals
"arrived continuously with large troops" but "found themselves help-
119
less in that affair". They perpetrated many atrocities on those
who were suspected of being accomplices of Mian Dido, but Dido's
popularity remained unhurt and his spirits unbent. This state of affairs
in Jammu hills continued for over a decade and the importance Ranjit
Singh attached to this insurgency is clear from the conditions of the
deed of June 1820, conferring the Jammu Jagir on the Dogra family
li7. Smyth, G.C. A History of the Reigning family of Lahore, p. 199.
118. Gulabnama, p. 104.
119. Ibid., Ganesh Das, Rajdarshani. MS. BM.; fol. 172 b.
 THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ
k
167

who undertook to either capture 120the recalcitrant Dido or kill him or

drive him across the river Sutlej. Although Dido was a popular
leader who embodied the spirit of Dogra resistance to Sikh dominance
he could never rise above his predatory habits. He might have desired
to tease the Sikhs out of the Jammu hills but he seems to have failed to
realise the necessity of consolidating the gains of rebellion into an
organised state. As a result his struggle for over a decade brought no
relief ta the Dogra land. He had perhaps no notion of state, and
did not establish one even in those hills where he seems to have been
supreme for several years. Tradition conveys that Gulab Singh was
unanimous with Dido on the urgency of reestablishing the autonomous
Raj of Dogras. But at the same time he was convinced that Dido's
ways could bring about nothing except misery and calamity to the land.
Now, when the Jammu Raj had once again been entrusted to the
Dogras to the exclusion of all Sikh administrators such lawlessness had
lost its logic. Dido, however, did not come to terms with Gulab Singh.
The latter, therefore, brought into play his subtle diplomacy and isolated'
Dido and his few followers. Most of the people deserted his cause and
stopped giving shelter and co-operation. He was finally surrounded
on the Trikota hills, and receivod a musket shot while fighting, and
thus laid down his life like a true Dogra wedded to his personal notions
of liberty. He represented the ingenious anarchist spirit of the hills
where people are generally less used to the ruling authority.
The establishment of peace and tranquility in the Jammu hillsr
which had been eluding the Sikh rulers for long, and the pacification
of the people thereof was a creditable achievement of Gulab Singh.
He had stamped out sedition in Rajouri, Bhimber, Riasi, Akhnoor and
Jammu regions with a strong hand; had shown unyielding spirit to
undertake adventures and hazards, and had proved a rare ability for
civil administration in the vast jagirs which he held on behalf of the
whole family. He kept a vigilant 131 eye on his chieftains and a tight
grip on the revenues of his estates. His early experience in the art
of diplomacy, military conquests and civil organisation of conquered
territories equipped him adequately with the qualities which led to his
rise and success. He seems to have closely studied Ranjit's secrets of
success and imbibed those in addition to his personal virtues.
(c) Raj-tilak of Jammu Bandralta
Maharaja Ranjit Singh acccrded recognition to the special services
rendered him by Gulab Singh in the hills of Rajouri and Jammu and
in the Yusufzai-campaign by conferring the 'Raj-Tilak' or sovereignity
of Jammu and by creating him 'Raja' of that large principality, admit-
ting his hereditary right co it. The occasion arose on the death of Mian
Kishore Singh in 1822. Shahamat Ali states that Mian Kishore Singh
having died, Ranjit Singh proceeded towards Jammu to perform ths
120. Document No-M\S05, S.A.P.
121. Kaumudi, Kashmir, Cultural Heritage, Asia Publishing House, Bombay,
1952, p. 19.

'
168 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

rites of condolence and "while at Jammu, Ranjit Singh conferred the

rirleofRaja of Jammu on Gulab Sin^h, and that of the Bhadarwal
122
(Bandral) on his bro her Seocheit Singh. " It was at Akhnur that
the anointing ceremony was performed by Maharaja Ranjit Sin^h
himself by marking ' Hlak' on the forehead of Gulab Singh on the 4th
123
Har. 1879 . At the same place and time the Raj of Bandralta was
conferred on Gulab Singh's younues' brother, Suchet Singh. The
bestowal of'rajaship' <»n Dhian Singh was left to some other occasion
although a deed of acceptance (qabuliat) was got from the three
brothers collectively A day earlier, i.e , on the 3rd Har (16th June,
the qabuliat was signed by the three in which only the name of Jammn
is conta ned. "Out o' rare kindness the Raj Tilak of Jammu has been
124
bestowed on these slaves . it would seem that, as in the case of
confernment of Jagir of Jammu, the *Raj* of Jammu was also conferred
upon the whole family. But the principalities were separately named
in each case—Jammu to Gulab Singh, Bandralta to Suchet Singh, and
later on, Chibhal (Punch) to Dhian Singh. When in 1836 Ranjit Singh
made Hira Singh Dogra the Raja ofJasrota, his action confirmed his
notion of Dogra kingdom of Jammu which once spread from the Jhelum
to the Ravi Ranjit Singh had thus revived once again, in his life-
time, under the sceptre of the old Dogra family, the Kingdom which
had been first created by the efforts of Dhruv Dev and Ranjit Dev.

The three Dogra brothers were made vassals of the Kingdom of

Lahore on stipulations the * Qabuliat' which
included rendering obedience, good will and loyal service generation
after generation ; keeping ready for imperial service and mobilisa-
tion levies of horsemen of Kishtwar and Bandralta, in lieu of
territories of Jammu, to any place required rendering services far and
wide like Kashmir, and cooperating in every respect with whatever
Rajas and Hindu and Muslim orders
•'life property and territories a gift of his Highness," and "residing of
the family members of Mian Dhian Singh, with his son Hira Singh, at
12
Lahore always" *
The sanad signed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh farther provides "that
whosoever be—of the royal house of the bountiful Sarkar will conform
to this very parwanah of the glorious Majesty and will make no varia-
126
tion whatever- "
122. Shahamat Ali, The Sikhs and Afghan, 95. Bhai Gian Singh writes:
"While at this place (Wazirabad) the Maharaja learnt about the death
of Kishore Singh, the Governor (Hakim) of Jammu, as he had ad-
ministered the hills nicely and had proved himself a loyal subordinate
of the Maharaja, the latter therefore called Gulab Singh and conferred
on him the title of 'raja' and confirmed him in place of his
father as Governor of hills ; p. 134.
123. 17th June 1822, Gulabdama, p, 164.
124. Document No. M/504, S.A.P.
125. Document No. MJ504, S,A.P.
126. Anon.r History of the Punjab, op. cit, II, p. 205,
 •

THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ 169

The bestowal of the Jammu 'Raj' on Gulab Singh and his exalta-
tion to the title of 'Raja' was an event of great importance Jammu
had been, at least since the days of Raja Maldev, (1370-1407 A.D.)
the central nucleus of the political life of Dogras. The acquisition of
this capital as a principality assured Gulab Singn political pre-eminence
and control over the entire region. It also served as a nucleus for
further expansion and conquest. He immediately began extending his
conquests on all sides, between Kashmir and Attock, nominally for
127
the Sikh ruler but really on his own behalf . So that "no individual
of any influence" had been left in the hills who could dispute the
128
authority of the Jammu famiiy," and Gulab Singh came to be
considered, after Ranjit Singh himself, the greatest lord in the
Punjab." This awakened in Gulab Singh the dream of establishing
an independent Dogra principality in some remote future. For
Ranjit Singh also this development was of considerable significance.
Unflinching support and loyalty of these Dogra chiefs was assured
to Ranjit Singh in case of need. They extended his kingdom even beyond
the Himalayas and Imposed an effective administration on a tradi-
tionally defiant people.
The special position Ranjit Singh conceded to these brothers
or rather to Galab Singh, should be attributed more to the political
compulsion of the time and not to his imperial whim. Only some time
earlier Ranjit Singh himself was one of those several chiefs whom he
had dispossessed one by one of their territories by force and fraud and
none of them was reconciled to the loss of status Some like Jodh
Singh Ramgarhia, Rani Sada Kaur and Raja Sansar Chand of
Kangra. were considered in a position to throw challenge to his
authority. The Afghans and other Muslim chiefs whom he had driven
out of Multan, Derajat, Kashnrr and other western territories, were
preparing for a religious war against the Sikh chief.
Ranjit was ever in consternation of the combination of the defeated
sardars, who would have, like those of cis-Sutlej Sikh Chiefs,
preferred suzerainty of the British to that of one-eyed leader of their
own race. J.D. Cunn/ngham has asserted that Ranjit "had placed
himself in some degree in opposition to the whole Sikh people, there-
fore, he sought for strangers whose applause would be more ready if
130
less sincere."
That some of the powerful sardars were never reconciled to Ranjit
Singh's supremacy is fully evident from the behaviour of the Sindhan-
walias in the lifetime of Ranjit and after his death. In 1828 when
Ranjit Singh fell dangeriouly ill, sardar Budh Singh Sindhanwalia
sought in vain to occupy the Government treasury at Gobind Garh
127. Anon., Hist, af ike Pnnjab, op. cit. II, p. 205.
128. Shahamat Ali, The Sikhs and Afghans, op. cit. p. 102.
129. Anon, History of the Punjab, op. cit., II, p. 205.
130. Cunningham's Hist, of the Sikhs, 1918, op cit.,p, 178.
170 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

fort. Only five years after Ranjit's death the Sindhanwalia sardars.
Attar Singh, Ajit Singh and Lehna Singh staged an unsuccessful coup
by murdering the Maharaja and his Minister. Ranjit Singh suspected
such treacheries of the Sikh chiefs and the Khalsa soldiery as also a
combined Muhammadan opposition to his power. It was probably
to counteract this danger in addition to the exigency of keeping the
Dogras under control, that Ranjit Singh partonised this eminent fomily
whose loyalty, bravery and usefulness he had tried on several
occasions. "Ranjit Singh," adds Sir George, "forstered in the north
of the kingdom a Rajpoot power because it could have no affinity
with his turbulent Khalsa
181
on one side, or with malignant and vidictive
Islam on the other."

His step seems to have been a wise one aiming at the appeasement
of the warlike Dogras. By attaching the Dogra chiefs to his interests
he created such vassals as could be depended upon in the event of
any challenge to his authority from ambitious Sikh chiefs or a
Muhammadan combination. In his relations with the Dogras, Ranjit
Singh was more or less guided by Akbar's policy towards the
Rajputs.
As a measure of far-sightedness Gulab Singh seems to have got a
written agreement from Jit Sin h, the former deposed Raja of Jammu
ten days after the Raj Tifak, i.e., on 26th June, 1822 whereby the
latter renounced in his lifetime all the hereditary territories and
personal
132
property, in favour of Gulab Singh, Dhian Singh and Suchet
Singh, with the only stipulation that they would look after him like
sons till his death and would138
thereafter perform his last rites in the
tradition of his forefathers.
Raja Jit Singh perhaps died in 1832 when his personal jagir of
Janganu was resumed
1M
by Raja Gulab Singh under the authority of
this iqrarnama. There seems to be no immediate need of this
agreement as Jammu had been conquered and annexed by Ranjit
Singh, and Raja Jit Singh deposed as early as 1816. But Gulab Singhr
131. Edwardes, H . , and Herman Merivale, Life of Sir Henry Luwerence
Smith
132. Document No MJ505, S.A.P. The Persian Iqrarnama reads :
"I Raja Jit Singh, grandson of Raja Sahib Ranjit Devjeo, on this
occasion, and ont of internal inclination and dignified favours, in my
own lifetime, and as a token of intrinsic love and heartfelt affection,
hereby renounce proprietorship to all the protected territories of my
ancestors and my own inheritance, in favour of my prosperous
'barkhwdar Raja-i-Rajgan, Raja Gu ; ab Singh Jio, and Raja ^ahib
Dhian Singh Ji and Raja Suchet Singh Ji, by way of dharam and niyam
mutual agreement and oaths of predecessors and Thakars and Gurus
Cf, Galabnama (Eng. tr.), pp. 119-20
133. Document No. MJ505. S.A.P. The signatory further adds i
"We (Jit Singh and his sons) will have no claim whatever after this
life."
134. Shahamat Afi, The Sikhs and Afghans, op. cit., p. 105.
 THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ lTl

on account of his keen far-sight, was anxious td provide against any

possible complication arising in future. And such an eventuality
diductually arise in 1845 when the Sikhs invited Raghbar Dev and
Devi Singh, sons of Raja Jit Siugh, to Lahore, to be restored to the
gaddi of Jammu.
(d) Gulab Singh consolidates his position
After becoming the Raja of Jammu Gulab Singh began seeking;
satisfaction of the expansionist ambition than ever before. The semi-
independent status of the Jammu principality as his ancestral property
seems to have awakened in him bewitching dreams of the revival of
the Dogra Raj in the hills, whose dusky twilight he and the Dogras-
of Tiis generation had been in their adolescence. The Dido and Diwan
Singh affairs had already shown the ineffectiveness of the Sikh hold
on Dogra Hills. Gulab Singh might have planned to exploit this
weakness of the Lahore Darbar. He mighr have also realised the
strength and security of a consolidated and w ell-knit hill principality'
against the freaks and caprices of Lahore Court and its contumelious
soldiery. He was more interested in consolidating and strengthening,
his native land and being Dogra his anxiety for the welfare of the
Dugar seems to have been foermost in his mind. He, thereforer
"avoided Lahore, devoting his attention to the North-Eastern Provinces,
135
which he wished to turn into a separate kingdom for himself." He
spent most of his time at Jammu and its neighbourhood, first in
consolidating and, then, in extending his power, though when the
occasion so required,136
he would duty fully join the Sikh army in their
military operations.
*

In this way in the following two decades all the outer Hill regions
and a considerable portion of the Middle Mountains, with the exception
of Rajouri, were brought under the authority of either Gulab Singh 137
or his brothers and in those days their interests were the same.
Under a family pact Gulab Singh, the eldest, looked after and
administered all the estates of the family. He stamped out sedition
throughout his possessions with a strong hand, pushed the frontiers ot
principality across the Himalayas in the north and upto the shores of
the Jhelum in the west, served Ranjit Singh faithfully in the frontier
compaigns and thereby established his influence and awe over the
tribals upto the court of Kabul, and acquired important territortes in
the Punjab on farm and secured lucrative contracts of salt mines,,
ferriers and timber. Similarly, his brothers, Dhian Singh and Suchet
Singh, also got jagirs and territories and lease of octroi duties whichi
greatly added to the power and influene of the family. "Of late
years," observed the writer of Adventures of an Officer, "Such has
been the audacity, ability, and influence of the brotherhood, or rather
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ j i ^

^^^^^•^^^^^^^^••^•^•^^^^•^^•^^^^

135. Gough and Innes, The Sikhs and Sikh Wars, London, 1971, p. 56.
136. Drew r F., The Northern Frontier of India, rep. Delhi, 1973, p. 42, and.
Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, London, 1875, p. 13.
137. Drew, F., Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, London, 1875, p. 19.
172 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

of the two elders that no138year has passed without an extension of theii
territorial acquisitions."
Gulab Singh was at bis best in dealing with the brothers of Kabul.
He not only weakened the Afghan authority by sowing seeds of
dissension among Amir D st Mnhammad Khan and his most rnfluen-
eetial brothers, but also won over the latter to his party. Through them
Gulab controlled the tribes of Hazara and Yusufzai, used them to
enhance his own interests whenever circumstances reqaired.
(e) The Estates and Principalities of the Dogra Rajas
*

Gulab Singh's power and possessions have been extensive indeed.

Large slices of territory he had conquered whereas the remaining he
had acquired on lease from his grateful master, Ranjit Singh, who
always bestowed on him a befitting reward for his loyal and useful
services. In his early days at Lahore Darbar he had received service
139
jagirs of Beol, Kharoti and Bhandian.
Afterwards he received jagirs of Niha'i, Lala-Chobara, Charwah and
Ramgarh, and Rtasi. In 1820 the family g< t their own hill territories
of Jammu, Bhoti, Bandralta and Kishtwar. In 1822 and after, all the
three brothers were made Rajas and rulers in their own right. When
Gulab Singh was made Raja of Jammu in that year, he became the
most influential and powerful grandee of the Sikh court.
By the year 1836 his power and influence had grown immense, and
Baron Charles Hugal writing on January 13, 18 ^6 observes that Gulab
Singh "with his brothers, Dhian Singh and Sochet Singh, possesses a
large district, which extends over inacessible mountains from Atock to
Narpoor (Narpur) in the south-east and thence north to Ladak,
140
besides other large estates in Punjab." "These Brothers", Hugel
rightly anticipated "who are powerful in money, troops, cannon
and fortresses, would with great difficulty be brought into subjection
by the arms of the feeble successors of Ranjit " Of course, these
brothers knew very well how to dissimulate and the combination which
they formed-Dhian the civilian, Suchet the soldier, and Gulab Singh
combining a portion of the talents of both-was the most irresistible
141
faction in the later days of Ranjit Singh.
Meanwhile, other members of the family had also received extensive
jagirs. In 1922, the youngest brother, Suchet Singh also was made Raja
of Bandralta and Samba. In 1828, Dhian Singh was made Raja with
the additional title 'Raja-URajgan-Raja Kalan ; and was given 'Raj-o-
royasat mulk-i-Bhimber ChibhaV—the principalities of Bhimber and
138. Lawrence, H.M., Adventures of an Officer in the Punjab, in the service of
Ranjit Singh, London, 2 Vols,, 1846, p. 37.
139. Gulab, p. 116. These jagirs were conferred on the family in A.D. 1814.
140. Hugel, Baron Charles, Travel in Kushmir and Punjab etc. 1836, p, 288.
111. Sinha, N.K. Ranjit Singh, op. cit., p. 180.
THE RE-EMERGENGE OF DOGRA RAJ 173
Chibhal, i.e. Punch. When in 1836 Dhian Singh's son, Hira Singh,
was made Raja of Jasrota and surrounding territory, the sway of the
Dogra family spread over all the hill territories between the Ravi and
142
the Jhelum, with the exception of Rajouri.

Dhian Singh and Hira Singh resided at Lahore and Suchet Singh,
being an accomplished courtier was usually required to be present in
the capital or was sent away occasionally on detached duty with
troops with whom he was very popular. The responsibility of adminis-
tering the family jagirs, therefore, devolved on Gulab Singh, who
proved very adept in that art and succeeded in suppressing all rebellion
in the Chibhal hills, in Riasi and Akhnur, and in Trikuta hills, so that
in a short time all the hill tribes were tamed and reconciled. Though
Gulab Singh had little patience with the rebels and used his cut and
dried methods of a soldier, yet his system of supression was well
suited to his age and situation and he was astonishingly successful in
establishing peace in his hill territories. Gulab Singh got an oppor-
tunity to come in contact with those hill people whom he was destined
to rule as Maharaja afier 1846. He established his influence over the
territoriers spreading from the Ravi to the Indus and beyond, to the
tribalsofthe Yusufazai and the Kabul hills. "All the same/' writes
Jasquemont "Gulab Singh is moie the master of his own house than
is Ranjit in these distant possessions. There are two reasons for this,
143
Gulab Singh pays his soldiers and retainers more regulary "

Ranjit Singh further entrusted to Gulab Singh the administration

of large territories in the plains, and profitable farms and leases. In
1831 he leased out to him for 6 lakh rupees annual, the salt mines of
Pind Dadan Khan, Katas, Bhera-Miani and Dangi as the administra-
tion of these territories had deteriorated. In a short space of time he
set the house right by removing all lawlessness and irregularities and
in this effort he had to be harsh and strict. Through the control
of the supply of salt, its export beyond the Indus and its distribution
through the Punjab and Delhi, Gulab Singh extended his influence,
and as Lawrence emphasises, by holding the salt contracts he
interferes of everv man in the

Soon more extensive farms were leased out to him by the king of
Lahore. In 1890 B E (1833 A.D.) Jhelum and Rohtas were given to
145
him, and the year 1893 B E. (18 <6 A.D.) saw the transfer of the
146
lease territory of Gujrat to Gulab Singh . These farms yielded Gulab
Singh a large revenue.

142. Afghan
143. V. Jacquemont, 1831 -Puniab Govt Record Office, Monograph No. 18, p . 64
144. H.M. Lawrence, Adventures of an Officer, op. cit., p. 33.
145 Mirza Azim Beg, Tarikh-i-Gujrat, Lahore, 1370, p. 84 gives ths date 1894
(A.D. 1837).
146 Gulabnama, 136, Shahamat Ali, p . 62.
 3 74 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Gujrat was a great timber market which promised handsome

Teturns. "On the accession of Raja Gulab Singh to the Jagirs of Aeen
and of the neighbouring districts, he monopolised the147timber trade, and
the price of the article had in consequence, doubled. With
148
Wazira-
bad farmed to Raja Suchet Singh for 12 lakhs of rupees the whole
of the timber trade and boat making industry became a monopoly of
these Dogra brothers, in addition to the monopoly of the salt trade
already held by Gulab Singh since 1831. "The would-be merchant of
Asia" had, in fact, grown into an international merchant combining,
like the British East India Company, the trader, the administrator and
the soldier in himself.
By the close of Ranjit Singh's reign, Gulab Singh seems to have
extended his possession far into the northern Himalayas, upto the
borders of Tibet.
Shahmat Ali has given a complete list of jagirs and farms held by
-the Dogra family in 1830. Total revenue from these jagirs amounted
to Rs. 7,37,287 per annum. Gulab Singh was at the same time governor
of the country lying between the Chenab and the Jhelum, which brought
him a revenue of Rs. 25,45,000 per annum, in addition to 8 lakhs from
salt mines.
All told, Gulab Singh's contribution to the Lahore exchequer was
over 40 lakhs of rupees annually.
Other members of the Dogra family also raised large amounts of
revenue. Snchet Singh's contribution for Wazirabad District alone
amounted to Rs. 10,55,725 in addition to the lease of his jagirs for
Rs. 3,06,865. Raja Hira Singh, son of Dhian Singh paid Rs. 4,62,115
per annum for Jasrota and other jagirs. Raja Dhian Singh contributed
Rs. 2,91,112 annually for his jagirs of Chibhal and Bhimber, in
addition to some 7 Lakhs for excise duty of Amritsar and Lahore
cities. Thus, in various forms, the Dogra family alone contributed
about 70 lakhs of rupees annually to the Lahore exchequer, which
according to some authorities, formed one-third of the total revenue of
Lahore Kingdom from various jagirs and farms, permits and duties.
After Ranjit's death Gulab Singh succeeded in getting additional
farms and jagirs of Sialkot, Manawar and Khari-Khariali. He also
aspired to the governorship of Peshawar and Kashmir. He could not
get the former province due to the protests of British Government;
and to the latter he appointed his own minion, Sheikh Mohi-ud-Din
and became its virtual governor and ruler. During the year 1840-41 he
conquered Skardu and its dependencies and attached Tibet so that
his armies remained in occupation of a vast tract spreading over some
350 miles from the borders of Ladakh to the Western frontier of Nepal.

147. Ibid., p. 113.

148. Ibid., 57.
 175
— t

THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DOGRA RAJ

(f) Dhian Singh's Predominance at the Sikh Court

On the Dussehra day, in October, 1818, the office of Deodhi
(Chamberlain) was entrusted
149
to Dhian Singh Dogra—a man of great
charm and courtesy and the 150
younger brother Suchet Singh was
appointed conveyor of petitions. The year marked the beginning151
of ascendancy of the Dogra family in the affairs of the Lahore Darbar .
The Maharaja tolerated no discourtesy or enmity shown to his Cham-
berlain, and in 1824 A.D. Moti Ram and his son Kirpa Ram incurred
the displeasure of the Maharaja on that account, so that Moti Ram
removed from governorship of Kashmir, and
ed
Through Dhian Singh's assiduity and capacity for organisation the
court and palace of the Sikh ruler assumed order and dignity. "The
sublime confusion" which marked itin 1809, had in 1827, given place
to "the order and regularity of the whole assembly, the deference with
which the sardars treated the Maharaja and the courtesy they observed
towards each other." There was no rude familiarity and confusion,
every one152seemed to know his place and to be conscious of the station
lie fiilled .
Finally, in 1828, on the festival of the Baisakhi, Dhian Singh,
who had now became a great favourite with the Maharaja, received the
title of Raja of Bhimber which place had been seized from Sultan Khan.
The ceremony was performed with great state, and to mark the
estimation in which Ranjit Singh held him, he added to it the title of
Raja of Rajas, directed the officers of the court to present nazars to
him, and to regard the newly created Raja as his principal minister,
while a proclamation was issued, that if any one in future called him
Main he should be fined 1000 rupees,
153
and that if not a public servant,
ne should lose his nose and ears.
As the Prime Minister of the Sikh Kingdom Dhian Singh Dogra
exercised supreme influence and weilded immense power, and with
Ranjit's failing health during the thirties (1831-1839) Dhian became
the alter ego of Ranjit Singh. Even the settlement of the revenue, the
audit of accounts and their adjustment, both in the military and civil
departments which were done entirely by the Maharaja, were in the last
two or three years, owing154to his bad state of health, sometimes delega-
ted to Raja Dhian Singh . Thus these three brethern in time mono-
polized all the power and influence of the Lahore Court." Cunningham
149. Khushwant Singh, Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of Punjab, 1780-1839, London,
1962, p 123.
150. Ibid., Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh op. eit.. Daftar It, p. 232.
151. Khushwant Singh, Ranjit Singh, op. cit. p. 128.
152. Wade's Observation, quoted by N.K. Sinha, Ranjit Singh, op, cit..
p. 185.
153. Shahamat AH, The Sikhs and Afghans, op. cit., pp. 95-96.
154. Ibid., p . 17.
176 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

says that even "before his (Ranjit's) death the Rajas of Jammu had
156
usurped to themselves the whole of the functions of the government" .
By virtue of this immense power and extensive possessions Gulab Singh
167
and his brothers "ha 1 become nearly independent" in the later years
of Ranjit's reign. "After his death they became entirely independent,
158
and maintained a large force of their own race (Dogras)." Although
it is not possible to prove the allegations with facts of the period prior
to the Sikh invasion of Jammu in the beginning of 1845, yet the
British officers always expressed the possibility that "these two (Dhian
Singh and Gulab Singh) designed to share the rule of the whole Punjab
between them, the plan being that Gulab Singh was to acquire the
whole of Jammu, Kashmir and the North East generally, while Dhian
159
Singh should rule at Lahore . Such was the dread of their power and
unity of purpose. They played a deep game, writes J. H. Gordon, in
the intriguing policy of that time, bent on gaining power and on becom-
160
ing independent, a policy which ultimately succeeded.
In a letter to Gulab Singh written on 18th January, 1841 Maharaja
Sher Singh drew a pen-picture of the power and influence of the family
in the following words :
" Formerly, the most bright Emperor, now dwelling in
heaven, so patronised you ail the three brothers that all the subject
peopie or soldiery, etc., and state officers became envious and also
discouraged that the opportunity of serving the glorious Sarkar which
you got, would not fall to the lot of anybody else all these days ^
that you people held the status of rulers, attendents as well as Wazirs
and-such posiiion does not fall even to the lot of the sons and brothers
161
of the Sarkar" .
I
• •

j- •
' f
1'

* n

• . • - " .

v \

s . •
t

'v.''. '

* 4

e
*
-

155. Smyth, G Hist, of the Re )f Lahore

9
156. / Z>. Cunti n s Hist, of the
157. Hugh, Pe Memoirs of A
158. Ibid ,214.
159. Gough and Innes, The Sikhs and Sikh Wars, op. cit. f p. 50
160. Gordon, Sir John J.H. The Sikhs, 1883, p. 121.
161. Kirpa Earn, Gulabnama, op. cit.9 p. 222.

t
 CHAPTER TEN

Expansion Of Jammu Raj

(A) CONQUEST OF LADAKH
From the nature of its physical features Ladakh has been considered
since ancient days a separate political entity, subordinate at times to the
Tibetan empire. Its earliest histoTy therefore is that of Tibet in gene-
ral, as it originally formed one of the provinces of the kingdom, gover-
ned as to temporal matters by an independent prince,1 and in spiritual
affairs by the Guru Lama, or chief Pontiff of Lhasa. Ladakh there-
fore played a secondary role under the suzerainty of Lhasa during the
eighteenth century, and now and then had affairs with the neighbours,
especially Baltistan. Probably during the reign of Delek Namgyal, who
ruled from 1705 A.D. to 1724 A.D., the district of Spiti was reannexed
to Ladakhi kingdom, and it was perhaps towards the end of his reign,
or more probably of his successor's reign, 5
that Ladakh was invaded and
conquered by Murad, the Chief of Baiti " who reigned from about A D.
1720 to 1750. The Ladakhis 3
seem to have retaliated to these Balti
forays into their land. Vigne mentions an invasion of Balti by an army
of Ladakhis during the reign of Ali Sher, the fa:her of Ahmad Shah,
the last chief
4
of Balti. But the invaders 2
were defeated and obliged to
surrender. Again in 1821 a large Balti force entered 5the Ladakhi
territory, plundered the villages and returned with loot. The weak
rule of Tsepal, the Ladakhi ruler, and the internal intrigues going on
there had encouraged Ahmad Shah who made capital out of the Ladakhi
difficulties to carry on frequent inroads and loot in its territories.

TSEPAL Namgyal (1790-1834 and 1840-41) was the last king of

this Ladakhi dynasty which was subverted by the Dogras. He had in-
herited the throne from his brother. Since the days of Aurangzeb
down to the days of Muhammad Shah, Ladakh had 6paid through Kash-
mir, a small annual tribute to the court of Delhi , and the same had
been continued to be paid to the Durranis of Kabul after the secession
of the Punjab to them by the Mughal emperor in 1752.
1. Wilson : Moorcroft's Travels, 1837, p. 200.
2. Vigne's Kashmir, II, p. 253; A Cunningham: L.adak, pp. 330-331.
3. Wigne's Kashmir, p. 254.
4. A Cunningham : Ladak, p. 331.
5. Foreign Deptt. Pol. Proc,. 20 September, 1822, No. 63—NAI.
6. Wilson : MoorcrofVs Travels, Patiala. 19 ?0, p. 248.

177
178 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The Dogra expedition for the conquest of Ladakh started in 1834.

The Dogra Raja Gulab Singh had, before embarking on his Himalayan
conquests, ascertained British views and extracted in some form Maha-
raja Ranjit Singh's implied consent. In conquering Ladakh the Maharaja
had in fact "provided a base from which the dominions of Lahore
7
Darbar could be extended beyond the Himalayas."
v

The conquest of Ladakh was also a necessary corollary to the occu-

pation of Kashmir valley by Ranjit Singh. As Major Hearsay notes:
"In the event of an enemy wishing to conquer Kashmir that place could
always be invaded from the Ladakh side and the task of invasion would
become easier in the winter wilh the snow frozen and all the rivers and
8
water courses passable over the ice. The Sikh troops would not be
able to fight at an advantage there in the winter. As such it was nece-
ssary for Ranjit Singh after the conquest of Kashmir to subdue Ladakh
and to maintain it as a buffer. For perhaps similar reasons Gulab
Singh was personally interested in possessing Ladakh before the Sikh
governor of Kashmir could forestall him there. In Cunningham's opi-
nion theeefore, the invasion of tnese countries was "postponed till
Gulab Singh had consolidated his power in his newly acquired territo-
9
ry of Kashmir."

The tribute, however, was demanded from Ladakh as soon as

Kashmir valley was conquered and annexed to the Sikh State in 1819.
Ladakh had continued to pay annual tribute to the Durranis since A.D.
1752, which had been held in abeyance due to disturbances attendant on
continuous Sikh invasions of the valley. Ranjit Singh revived that claim
and "intimated some purpose of iustituting the claim on Ladakh, and
10
demanding the continuation of the tribute from his weaker neighbour."
Encouraged perhaps by the presence in Leh of the British political
traveller. Moorcroft, the Ladakhi king reacted boldly to the ultimatum
of the Sikh governor of Kashmir for the payment of tribute, and refused
to recognise the suzerainty of the Khalsa Maharaja and terminated all
11
tribute payments . The Sikh involvement in the hostilities against the
Afghans and the cis-Satluj hill states, enabled Ladakh to severe all
connections with Kashmir for more than a decade and enjoy an auto-
nomous status and the weak and distant state was little molested until
the Rajas of Jammu found themselves strong enough to subjugate it in
the name of the Sikh chief.

By the middle of the thirties Raja Gulab Singh Dogra too had
realised the value of holding Ladakh for himself and hence he took ade-
quate steps to conquer it. According to wade Gulab Singh did this
7. Kohli, S.R. : Sunset of Sikh Empire, P. 19.
8. 'Hearsay's Note'---Asiatic Journal, Vol. xviif, 1835,
9. Cunningham, A : Ladakh, p. 332.
10. Wilson: Moorcroft's Travels rep. Patiala, 1970, Vol. II, 248-49.
11 . Fisher, Rose, Huttenback, Himalayan Baitlegrond, p. 44,
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 179
"in order to strengthen his means of seizing Kashmir itself when the
12
expected opportunity may offer." Apart from the encirclement of
Gulab desired
cipality. His object of reaching out for Nepal cannot be ruled out. He
seems to have initiated the policy in 1834 which culminated surprisingly
jn his conquest of Western Tibet upto the borders of Nepal in 1841.
A pretext for invasion was soon found in internal dissensions among
the ruling family of Ladakh. Raja Giapo-Cho of Timbus wanted to
drive out the Raja of Saut from his territories and, therefore, he sent a
complaint in this connection to their overlord Tse-pal, the Gyalpo of
Ladakh. The Gyalpo, however, took no immediate action in the matter
Thereupon, the Raja of Timbus secretly sought the help of Wazir Zora-
18
war Singh, the Hakim of Kishtwar on behalf of Raja Gulab Singh.
Zorawar Singh was quick in grasping the opportunity of implementing
his master's designs of the conquest of Ladakh. Gulab Singh sent him
against Ladakh with 4 or 5 thousand Dogra army through Kishtwar from
whence the Ladakh provinces of Purig, the state of the 'Thi' Sultans,
was reached. This attempt at the direct conquest of the kingdom was
not without great risks, and of these the Dogra chief was probably
aware. The severe cold of the climate was certain to reduce the usefulness
of the Dogra warriors, at least during the winter months; the barrenness
of the country prohibited the mobilisation of a large army. Lack of the
15
knowledge of the roads made slow progress advisable But the Dogra
General seems to have anticipated these hardships and had made be-
fitting provision to over come them.
He had chosen experienced Dogra soldiers who were far superior
to the Ladakhis in armaments as well as military tacticts and discipline.
But one of the greatest advantage the Dogra obtained was surprising the
16
Ladakhi kingdom at the time of the deepest peace.
This first thrust into the Ladakhi border was made in 1834. The
Chief Dogra officers who led this compaign under the command of Wazir
17
Zorawar Singh Dogra were, according to Basti Ram's account, the
following:
1. Mian Rai Singh, 2. Mehta Basti Ram, 3. Mirza Rasul Beg,
4. Rana Zalim Singh, 5. Singhe Mankotia, 6. Mian Tuta,
7. Sirdar Uttam Singh, 8. Wazir Khojah Bhunjah.

12. Asiatic Journal, 3rd January, 1838, No. 26.

13. Hashmatullah Khan, Maulvi, Tarikh-i-Jainmu, p. 345
15. Frac if Western
16. Ibid.
11. Francke, A.H. Antiquities of Indian Tibet, p. 257. To this list Hashmat
Ullah adds tbree more names, viz., Imam-Malik, Sayyid Madeen Shah
and Sardar Sammad Khan (see Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 345.
180 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Advance on Sunku and Suru—August 1834.

Bkra-Sis-Dban-phyang of Sod was in command of rhe castle of
Dkar rtse (Kartse)
18
in the Suru Valley. He sent to Leh the report of
Dogra invasion. On this report the Ladakhi king issued a call19to arms
in Ron-Chu Gud, Ldum-ra, Sbalti-yul, Ladvags, and Purig. The
Ladakhi king appointed Dorje Namgyal, the minister of Tog, as the
commander of this force.
The Dogra troops20 entered the Ladakh territory by the pass at the head
of the Suru Valley, Bakra-Sis was the first Ladakhi noble to bear the
brunt of the Dogra attack. Like a selfless patriot he sent the intellegence
of Dogra invasion to Leh, collected some 200 men at Kartse in Suru Val-
ley, 34 fought the Dogras for two days and was killed along with his
son. 1 he Dogras were, however, opposed by the main Ladakhi army
consisting of 5,000 men under Dorje Nam-Gyal (or Mangal ofBasti 22
Ram's account), the young minister of Tog, on the 16th August, 1834,
at Sunku. The Ladakhis had taken positions on the top of a hill and
they defended it for a whole day but at last they were 23
dislodged by the
Dogras with only 6 or 7 killed and 5 or 6 wounded. The Ladakhis lost
about 30 men. The Dogras stayed there for the night, and on the next
morning25
advanced on Suru and occupied it. There they halted for eight
days. In order to assure supply of grain and grass in that barren
land; and perhaps to win the goodwill of the canquered people, wazir
Zorawar Singh prohibited his troops from cutting the corn, which was
then ripe, and "his politic conduct was rewarded by the immediate
submission of the Zamindars, who came 26 over to him in a body, and
placed themselves under his protection." The wazir them built a
small fort-kila
27
Suru kursi of Vigne's map which he occupied for a
month. Thus the most important fortress of the district Kartse fell to
the Dogra hands, which was once the seat of the powerful Thai or Thi
Sultans. The Dogras then took the uncccupied fort of Shakhar. The
wazir reinstated the Zamindars of Janguri and Shakhar in their
villages and made a summary settlement28of the district by imposing a
tax of four rupees upon each house. Small pickets were then
stationed at various places to keep the people in control.
18. La-Dwags-Kgyal-Rabs, Arch. Surv. Ind. Vol. L, p, 127.
19. Tse-Brhan's Account, Arch. Surv. Ind., Vol. L. p. 250.
20. Francke, A.H. The Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Arch. Surv. Ind., Vol.
L.p. 257.
21. Arch. Surv. Ind., 'La-Dvags-Rgyal-Rabs,' p. 127.
22. Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Vol. II, p. 257; A. Cunningham, Ladakh, p. 331.
23. Ibid.
24. Tse-Brtan's Account of the Dogra War, Arch. Surv. Ind. New Imperial
Ser. Voi. L. p. 250.
25. Cunningham, A Ladakh, p. 333.
26. Basti Ram's Account of the Dogra War, Ami. of Ind. Tibet, p. 258.
27. Ibid.
28. Tse-Brtan's Acconnt of Dogra War, Antiquities of Western Tibet, p. 251,
'EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 181
The wazir left 35 men in Suru fort and 10 men on the bridge over
the Suru river and advanced on Lang Kartse and Manji, and the
bridge of Pashkyum. Lang-Kartse was easily occupied and Dogras threw
up trenches there and remained in that position for over a month.
The young minister of Stog had arrived there. Soon minor
Skrimishes took place without any result. Meanwhile there was a
snowfall and the Ladakhis decided to take advantage of it and went
28
to war with the Dogras . But it was worse for them. The minister
of Stog was killed and some 50 or 60 Ladakhis fell in the battlefield.
The Ladakhis effected their retreat across the bridge and by a skilful
manoeurvre they pulled it down. The Dogras, however, crossed the
river next day on inflated skins without any opposition. The Chief
of Pashkum fled to the fort of Sod where with the aid of reinforcement
which had been mobilised and despatched by the king of Ladakh he
29
determined to hold out. . The old king of Ladakh had sent his
minister, Ngorub-Standztn and Bankhapa to mobilise all those
districts which had not yet sent any warriors and now a force
30
of about 4,000 men was expected to arrive at Sod fort, a
little north of Kargil. But the Dogras set siege to the fort before
the force reached Sod and raised a battery against it. The firing
continued for ten days but because of the stubborn resistance of the
kiladar Salam Khan there was yet no hope of any success for the Dog-
ras, although they had lost 40 men. The wazir, who was at Puskham,
ordered Basti Ram to make a vigorous assault with 500 men. Basti Ram
attacked the fort at the close of night, and under cover of baitery he
stormed open the fort by day break. The Chief (Gyalpo) of Puchkam
31
was made prisoner along with a large number of Ladakhis.
At the time when Zorawar Singh Dogra invaded Ladakh and had
taken possession of western provinces of Suru and Dras and had advanced
into the valley of Pashkyum, the eccentric British traveller Dr. Henderson
chanced to be present at Leh. The ruler of Ladakh tried to make use of
him to reassure his people and to outwit the Dogras. He refused to suffer
him to quit Ladakh. For three months poor Henderson was detained
there. During this interval; Zorawar Singh's military operations were
suspended and he apprised Gulab Singh of the supposed envoy's arrival,
requesting fresh instructions. On Gulab Singh's representation through
Maharaja Ranjit Singh the British resident assured the Maharaja that
the British Government had nothing to do with Dr. Henderson, and
that there was not the slightest idea of interfering with Ranjt's plans of
extending his conquests northwards. Zorawar Singh, was therefore,
32
desired to proceed with his operations. Incidentally, this Henderson
affair shows Ranjit Singh's keen interest in the conquest of Ladakh by
the Dogra Raja Gulab Singh, and also belies Wade's assertion that the
33
Maharaja did not like the conquest of Ladakh
29. Basti Ram's Account of the Dogra War, Antiquities of Western Tibet, p. 258.
30. Francke. A.H. A Hist, of Western Tibet, p. 141.
31. Ibid.
32. Baron Charles Hugel, Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab, 1845, pp.
101-102 ; A Cunningham, Ladakh. pp. 10-11.
33. Pol. Procd. January, 1933, No 26.
 182 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

A Spiritual Resistance by Ladakhis and the Dogra Occupation of

Leh.
These political negotiations were prolonged for three months and
the winter had set in. The cold began to be felt in the Dogra camp
as it was probably the mid November and Wazir Zorawar Singh and his
men wouid have very much liked to make peace and return to
Kisntwar lor the winter, tie levied taxes on the peasants of Pashkyum
dis+nct, and then sent an envoy to open negotiations with the Ladakhis.
A whole month was then wasted in negotiations and finally
the Tibetan cnmmanders agreed to negotiate a peace settlement on
terms of the payment of rupees 15,000 demanded by the wazir. They
lorwarded the letter to the king of Ladakh who had by this
tune arrived at ivtulbe with a large army, accompanied by Banka
Kahlon and four chiefs named Gapaju, Dorje Nam-Gyal, Chovang
Nabdan the Kahlon of Bazgo and Rahim Khan of Chachot. The
king and his ministers were inclined to accept the terms and even
ordered the demanded sum to be despatched out of the royal treasury.
But one of the queens "Zi-Zi" interfered and prohibited the payment
ot the t>um and said "Minister of Stog is of no use. Therefore Dhos-
gruD ostan-hdzm and the minister of Ldum-ra should go and bring
34
wazir's head or to lose their own."
This stiff attitude of the queen led to renewed and strenuous
military activity coupled with treachery. They opened negotiations,
sent envoys to the Dogra camp and showed preparedness to agree to
honourable terms. But they treacherously seized the Dogra envoys
and threw them down the bridge of Darkech. At the same time Banka
Kahlon attacked the Dogras in the rear and made many prisoners, who
35
were thrown bound into the river.
On this wazir, realised the danger of the situation, retreated to
Langkartse with some difficulty and took shelter in the fort of Thai
Sulians. There the Dogras remained unmolested for four months of
winter.
During this time the Ladakhis increased their army by further
3<i
mobilisation. In April i835, when winter was over the Ladakhis
37
about 22,0UU men under Banka Kahlon advanced to Langkartse.
They halted for a consuiation, which ended in the whole body sitting
down to prepare evening meal. The Dogras attacked them with their
swords and put the whole Ladakhi force to rout. Banka Kahlon and
the other Ladakhi leaders became alarmed and fled. Some 400 of them
perished by the fall of a snow-bed and about 1200 were taken
3
prisoners, along with Moru-Todzi the Kahlon and his son Hgyurmed. *
m - "
^^^^^^^^^^^^

34. La-dvags-Rgyal-Rabs, "Antiquities of Indian Tibet, p. 128.

35. "Bast! Ram's Account of the Dogra. War*. Arch. Surv. of Ind New
Imperial Ser„Voi. L, p. 249. -
36. Vigne, Kashmir, II. p. 253, says the Spring of 1835.
37. Ibid, The number 22,000 seems to be much exaggerated.
m

38. Ibid.
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 183

After this disastrous defeat at Lang Karchu the Ladakhi army

retreated as far as Mulbe, and the Dogras moved down to Pashkyum
for the second time. When the Ladakhis heard of this movement, they
39
retired still furthur towards Leh followed by the Dogars . Those
Purig Chiefs who had been kept as prisoners by Tse-pal some time
before, served as guides to the Dogras.

From Pashkyum the Dogras marched by Shergol to Mulbe

where they halted for fifteen days and then proceeded via Kharbu to
Lama Yuru when they were met by an envoy with a letter from
Sultan Akbat Mahmud (Tesepal) the king of Ladakh, suing for peace
and agreed to pay tribute. Zorawar Singh met him at Basgo. The
40
Gyalpo received the wazir kindly.
After a ten-day stay there the Ladakhi king and wazir Zorawar
Singh moved to Leh. The wazir was accompained only with 100
men. It appea.s that peace negotiations had been practically finished
41
at Bazgo, and that Zorawar Singh went to Leh only, as he said, "to
42
see the capital.'" At Leh an interesting incident occured. When the
wazir was preparing to offer his usual Sadka of Rs, 100 (a bag of
money waved around the head of the person to whom to present it),
to Gyalpo's son, named Changraftan, then, only 17 years of age, the
prince, mistaking the action either for an insult or for treachery
drew his sword. His followers did the same, and the Dogras also
drew the swords. On this the Gylapo fell upon his knees, and clasped
the wazir's hands, while the prince and his followers retired into
the fort of Leh. Some horsemen carried the intelligence to the Dogra
Camp at Bazgo, when 6,000 men started at once for Leh, which they
43
reached the next morning.
For four months the wazir remained at Leh when finally
the second part of the peace negotations took place in the Karzo
garden, where Zorawar had his tent. The wazir's first act was to
44
restore the whole Kingdom to Tsepal . The kingdom, however, was
hence forth coasidered the vassal state of the Dogra kingdom of
Jammu, and the king promised to pay an indemnity of 50,000 rupees
and an annual tribute of 20,000 rupees. Of the first sum of Rs. 37,000
was paid atonce, partly in cash and partly in Jewells. The balance the
Gyalpo promised to pay in two instalments, the first of Rs. 6,000 at

39. Francke, A H J Hist, of Western Tibet, p. 145.

40. Francke. A.H. "Basti Hani's Account of the Dogra War"—Antiquities of
Indian Tibet, Pt. II, p. 260.
41. Francke, A.H. A Hist, of the Western Ti t, p. 146
42. Francke, A.H. Tse-brtan's Account, "Antiquties of Indian Tibet, Pt. II,
p. 252.
43. Cunningham, A. Ladakh. p. 338-39, Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Vol. I I
p. 250.
44. Arch. Surv. of India, New Imperial Series. V. L. La-dyags-rgyal-rabs,
p. 129.
184 A SHORT PISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

the end of one month, and the second of Rs. 7,000 at the end of four
45
months. The wazir then retreated to Lama Yuru.
Revolts in Ladakh and its Annexation.
This treaty did not end Dogra difficulties with Ladakh. Zorawar
Singh had to spend much of the next five years supressing revolts in
dakh. and period effort
to find a satisfactory puppet king A furthur complication arose from
the fact that a number of Sikh officials were jealously exposed
towards the Dogras as regards their policy of expansion in the
neighbourhood of Kashmir.
The first such revolt was headed by the chief of Sod who fell
upon the Dogra fort at Suru, captured it and put to death whole of
46
the fifty-five man Dogra garrison there. On the receipt of the report
of this event he hurriedly marched from Lama Yuru to which place
he had withdrawn from Leh. The enemy had dispersed so he stayed
at Sod for a fortnight and then suddenly fell upon the Botis by a night
artack, killing 13 of them and be-heading other 200 who were taken
prisoner. Here it was discovered that this rebellion had been provoked
by Mihan Singh, the Sikh governor of Kasnmir, out of jealousy as well
as due to the decay of Shawl-wool trade in Kashmir for it was now
47
directed from Ladakh to Jammu and the Punjab via Kishtwar.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was evidently contented to receive a
tribute of Rs. 30,000 presented to him by Raja Dhian Singh for the
Dogra occupation of Ladakh This tribute was sent by Gulab Singh
directly to Ranjit Singh "presumably because he did not want to
provide the Srinagar authorities any basis for a claim to Ladakh after
"48
the expected dismemberment of the Sikh empire
Afei subduing the chief cf Sod and the reduction of Suru in
September 1835, the wazir marched to Zanskar the chief of which
place together with all the Zamindars waited upon him and agreed
to pay a tax of three rupees and half for every house. When all
this had been accomplished the wazir went to Jammu to report his
success to his master, Gulab Singh. But soon after his departure
another revolt was engineered by the Sikh governor of Kashmir. The
Gyalpo (king) of Ladakh listened to his advise and revolted in Leh
closed the road to merchants and imprisoned and tortured Munshi
Day a Ram, whom the wazir had stationed at Leh as his represen-
tative. This news distressed the Wazir and in his anxiety to surprise
the rebels at the earliest, he chose a direct route and under the direc-
tion of a Bhoti guide reached the village of Tsmur or Chumri on the
45.
Francke, A.H. Basti Ram's Account of the Dogra War, Antiquities of
Indian Tibet, Vol. II. p. 260.
46. of Indian Tibet, Vol. II.
Himalayan Battleground^
48. Ibid., p. 47.
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 185

right bank of the Indus on road leading to Rudok, in ten days' forced
marches, a distance of about 300 miles. The march must had taken
place in the end of November, 1835, at the season of the year when
the winter's snow had already set in throughout Ladakh, when all
the higher passes are finally closod.
The Gyalpo was taken by surprise and he found wisdom in hurry-
ing to welcome the wazir and to express his sorrow. The heir-apparent
of Ladakh fled to Lahul where he died soon after. The wazir
demanded the balance of Rs. 1.^,000, besides the additional expenses
of the army. In absence of any cash the wazir was obliged to take
tne property of the royal ladies and the ministers of the Gyalpo, as
49
nothing better could be got out of the country. The wazir then
deposed the old king and installed in his place Moru-pa Tadzi,
the minister of Leh, while the Gyalpo was allowed the village of Stog
50
in jagir, together with the taxes of about sixty peasants.
Zorawar coud not, however, confiide in the fidelity of an oppor-
tunist. He therefore built a fort at Leh, and placed 300 soldiers in
it under Dalel Singh, who was appointed Hhanadir* of the place. The
wazir then went back to Jammu, taking along Ngorub Standzin's
son and some other respectable men as hostages. This arrangement
was probably made in the spring of 1836. Gulab Singh and his son
Udhamsingh, did not. however, approve of this arrangement as Moru
did not belong to the royal family of Ladakh. The wazir had not
to wait for long to set the things right. Moru also listened to the
Sikh governor of Kashmir and rebelled and won over to his side
influential men of Purig and Kargil. Kahlon Rahim Khan of Kargil
killed the thanadar of Padar and his 20 men. The people of Purig
also rose in revolt under their leader Su-Ka-nir and murdered Nidhan
Singh kardar of Kargil and Dras and slanghtered whole of tne Dogra
51
garrison. Dogra troops all over the country were beleagured in their
52
different :orts.
On hearing of these occurences the wazir started at once with a
body of 3C00 infantry, probably in the beginning of the spring of
53
1839. Due to the swollen state of rivers, it took him about two
months to reach Balde (Padar) where he stormed the fort of
Chaturagarh, raized it to the ground and built a new Dogra fort
named Gulabgarh, properly garrisoned it and marched for Zanskar
crossing the high pass, nearly 19,000 feet above sea. The people of
Zanskar fled on the approach of the wazir, who made summary
arrangements of the district in haste and proceeded towards Leh.
49. Fraacke, A.H., Antiquities of Indian Tibet, II, p 262 o; and A History of
Western Tibet, p. 150.
50. Ibid. A Hist. ofW. Tibet, p. 149.
51. Hashmrtullah, Tarikh-i-Jammu, pp. 360-61; Francke, Antiquilies, og, ct, II
p. 252.
52. Cunningham, A., Ladak, 343.
53. Francke, A Hisi. ofW. Tibet, p. 151.
186 A SHORT HIS TORY OF J A MMU RAJ

Moru Tadzi, the new Gyalpo, took fright at the wazir's stormy
approach and fled towards Spiti, but was captured at the village of
5
Tabo in Spiti, taken back to Leh, and imprisoned there. * Suka-mir
was singled out as the arch-instigator of rebellion in Purig and Ladakh
and his right hand was cut off. His tongue also suffered the same
fate. *

The old Gyalpo Akabut Mahmud, and the new one, Moru Tadzi,
were both brought before the wazir, who deposed the latter, and
reinstated the former upon the old terms of Rs. 23,000 annual tribute
but with a stipulation that the expenses of the troops which occupied
the country should also be defrayed by him.

After inspiring awe in the people of Ladakh and Zanskar, and Purig,
the wazir returned to Jammu. But during the spring of 1840 he was
again called to Ladakh with 5,000 men. to nip the revolt in bud which
was being engineered by Moru Tadzi, the Kahlon of BaDka, and the
Kahlon of Bazgo, both of whom had been plotting against the Gyalpo,
in association with Ahmed Khan of Balti. He seized both the Kahlons
and several others and transported them all to Jammu. He now
annexed Ladakh to Jammu Raj, appointed Magna the thanadar of the
district, entrusted the administration of Ladakh to him and pensioned
off the Gyalpo who was suffered to retain the nominal title and his
royal palace.
The Ladakhi resistance thus broke down before the superior
arnaments and generalship of the Dogras who were also adept in the
latest techniques of warfare implanted in Ranjit Singh's armies by his
European officers. Ladakhi rulers had no standing armies, nor the
adequate weaponary. It was perhaps the nature of land and the severe
climate which fought the Dogras better than the Ladakhi rabble of
soldiers had done. Zorawar's awe-inspiring personality weeded out
the undergrowth of rebellion from Ladakhi soil. He also reconciled
them to their new subordinate status by making them co-partners in
the further Dogra conquests of Baltistan and Tibet, and soon Ladakhi
people came to consider their land an integral part of Gulab Singh's
dominion.
(B) Conquest of Baltistan
Baltistan is composed of enormous mountain-chains, or
masses of mountains. While 18,000 and 20,000 feet is common
height, there are in the north-easterly parts, peaks of 25,000 and
26,000, and one above 28,000 feet. These give rise to the largest
known glaciers, out of the Arctic regions. Of the valleys, the
most important are the Indus valley and the valley of the Shayok,
ihat joins it. and that of Shigar, which combines with united valley
55
of Skardu .
54. Cnnninghem, A., Ladak, p. 344.
55. Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories., p . 360.
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 187

This mountainous country,

56
in the Indus valley, west of Ladakh,
was an ancient Kingdom , comprised of the following tiny princi-
palities under hereditary chieftains owing fealty to the ruler of
Skardu to whom they were usually related :
Shardu, Rondu and Shigar to the north of i t ; Khapulu,
Parkuta, Tolti, Khartakshe to the east and north-east ; and
Astor to the west of it.
While Dogras were consolidating their power in Kishtwar and Ladakhi
during the twenties and thirties of nineteenth century, these tiDy prin-
cipalities were quarrelling among themselves and now and then fighting
with their neighbour, Ladakh. Consequently dissensions and unrest
prevailed among the Baltis and the Balti dynasty itself was rent with,
family feud between the ruler Ahmad Shah and his eldest son,
Mohammad Shah.
The Balti chief had professed allegiance to the Mughal and
Durrani governor of Kashmir. But after the occupation of that
province by the Sikhs in 1819, Ahmad Shah feigned independence. Out:
of fear of a Sikh invasion he had tried an alliance with the Company's
Government through English visitors like Moorcroft, Vigne and Dr.
Falconer but without any result. But he continued making efforts. He
wrote to them in 1825 and then in 1829 and since then he kept a
clandestine correspondence with the British and persisted in his efforts-
to get British protection in some form. The British Government,,
however, was wedded to its policy of non-interference in such affairs
because on the one hand they reciprocated Ranjit's policy of non-con-
frontation where their interests were not directly involved, and on the
other they did not yet give much weight to the Dogra policy of
expansion towards the impassable Himalayans as they did later on in
1841 and 1842. Gulab Singh, however, thought it prudant to post-
57
pone his attack on Baltistan for some time and feel his way ,
probably in view of the visits of the above mentioned European
travellers.
The postponement of this enterprise was due to certain other
obvious reasons also, the one being the jealousy of the Sikh govern-
ors of Kashmir till the appointment of Mian Singh who Wds alarmed
into concession by the powerful and ambitious Rajas of Jaaunu and
he left Iskardu and the whole valley of the upper Indus a free field for
58
the aggressions of their lieutenants .
Another potent cause was the conclusion of the Tripartite treaty of
1839 which, Gulao Singh felt, could be invoked against his intended
conquests on the Indus. The British agent, C M . Wade, however,
assured the Jammu family that the limitation put upon Sikh conquests
to the west and south by the Tripartite Treaty would not apply to the
north or Tibetan side, in which direction, it was said, they were free
56. Drew, Northern Frontier of India, p. 200.
57. Sinha, N.K., Ranjit Singh, 1951, p. 127.
58. Cunningham, J :D., Hist.". of the Sikhs, 1916, p. 127.
188 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
59
to act as they might please as "there can be no reason for interfer-
60
ence on the part of this Government!' . Thus the British and Sikh
authorities had acquiesced in Gulab Singh's ambitions in Baltistan, it
was not difficult for Zorawar Singh to find an excuse for invasion on
the Balti which in fact Ahmad Shah had himself provided some years
back, early in 1835. While he was halting at Suru on way to the first
expedition to Leh, Muhammad Shah, the eldest son of Raja Ahmad
Shah of Baltistan, had sought Zorawar's protection.
I

"Ahmad Shah, the reigning chief of Balti, had differences with

his family, and he proposed to pass over his eldest son in favour of a
61
younger one, Muhammad Ali, in fixing the succession." The aggriev-
ed prince fled to the camp of Zorawar Singh in Puru and claimed his
protection, which the wazir readily granted and made proper arrange-
ment of his stay at Puru and the Balti prince remained there for about
two years, when he was sent to Leh. It seems that some effort was
made to strike a reconciliation between the father and son and the
latter had returned to his father, but the reconcilation could not have
been very cordial, for early in 1840 the prince again fled to Leh and
sought refuge with the Gyalpo Dnorub Standzin, whom he believed to
be a puppet of the Dogras Ahmad Shah sent a small party of 50 men
which carried off the the Balti prince from Leh.
*

While at Zanskar the wazir heard of the prince's seizure by the

party of Balti troops and he determined at once upon the conquest and
annexation of that principality. A letter was, however, first addressed
to Ahmad Shah, informing that his men, who had sought the Maha-
raja's protection had been forcibly carried off by a party who had
invaded the Ladakh territory, and tmv, unless the prince was sent brck
again, the Dogra troops would enter Balti and force his release. To this
v 62
letter Ahmad hah gave no reply , so he resolved to give Ahmad Shah
63
a lesson concerning the most natural law of succession."

By now he had become master of the situation in Ladakh and

Zanskar as rebellions had been suppressed with a strong hand, and the
rebel leaders had been weeded out one by one. The inviting situation
in Baltistan suggested the wazir the idea of keeping the Ladakhis, old
enemies of Baltis, humoured by offering them an occasion to avenge
the wrong done to them by Baltis in the past. He, therefore, raised a
Ladakhi army of about 7 or 8 thousand, including camp-followers of
course, and placed them under the command of their old general
Kahlon Bankapa. The old Gyalpo was also made to accompany

59. Wade, CM. Narrative of Service, p. 33 n.

60. Political Consultations, For. Deptt., No. 129, Governor-General to Clerk
J-3-J84I.
61. Cunningham, J.D., Hisiory of the Sikhs, p. 218.
62. Cunningham, A. Ladakh p. 345.
63. Francke, A.H. Hist, of W. Tibet, p . 156.
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 189
64
them. They were ordered to enter Baltistan by Hanu and the Chorbat
Pass. When this army reached Hanu, it was placed under the supreme
command of Dogra Officer, Madin Shah (Mohiuddin). This portion
of the army never came in sight of the enemy, and reached Iskardu in
65
course of time without having fired a bullet.
The Dogra portion of the army was led by the wazir himself who
marched to Gar Gono by the road leading to Balti through Marol and
Kharmang. The wazir crossed over to the right bank of the Indus, near
Gar Gono and reached Pansikhar in Saut district where he punished
the rebels and annexed the whole Purig territory to the Dogra dominion
and appointed 'thandars' at Dras and Suru and stationed Dogra pickets
66
under them. Thus securing his rear the wazir advanced along the
right bank of the Indus in an effort to find a road to get round the
many percipices and empty gaps.

As soon as Ahmad Shah heard of the Dogra invasion he took

prompt steps to block both the roads of Chorbat and Marol. He raised
a contingent from Kurrus and Khapulu and despatched it under
Yostrang Karim behind Chor-bat, and directed all the contingents of
Rondu and Kharmang to march under Bodopa wazirs, Ghulam Hassan
and Gulam Hussain, to a place opposite Marol on the Balti boundary
in order to intercept Zorawar's advance. According to one estimate
this armed multitude of the Baltis, comprised of combatants and non-
67
combatants, numbered some twenty thousand. This army set up its
camp at a high plateau, three or four miles above Marol village, before
Zorawar's arrival at Cheche Thung, where the wazir had to leave the
right bank and cross over to the left because of the junction of the Suru
river with the Indus on the right. The Baltis had broken down the
bridge to delay the advance of the Dogras. Thus the Dogras had to
continue their march along the right bank which was strewn with
hazardous cliffs and abysses, steadily for 20 days receiving the sub-
mission of the chiefs and, but without finding any place where the army
68 69
could be crossed. It was probably the month of December 1839. '
Zorawar's men were faced in that desolation with cold, run down
provisions and overwhelming enemy growing in number and boldness-
everyday. In desperation Zorawar Singh had to detach Mian Nidhan
64. Hashmat Ullah, Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 364.
65. Francke, A.H. A Hist. ofW. Tibet\ p. 156.
66. Hashmat Ullah, Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 361.
67. Ibid., p. 364.
68. Francke, A.H. Antiquities oj Indian Tibet, Vol. II, p. 264,
69. C.L. Datta, Ladakh and the Western Himalayan Politics, p. 122. Hashmat
Ullah says it was in the winter of 1840. of, Tarikh i-Jammn, p. 363. A.
Cunningham, Ladakp. 346, and Francke, Antiquities,, p 263, have also
1840. But a newsletter, dated May 9,1840 conveys the news of " t h e
transfer of the Government of Iskardo to Muhammad Shah, the GyaIpo"s
exiled son. "Cf. Press Lists, Vol. VII, 149/13, of 9-5-1840 G.R. Clerk to
T H. Maddock. This supports the date of November/December for the
commencement of Zorawar's Balti expedition^
 190 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Singh with his body of 5,000 men by way of Shigar, to look for a road.
The Baltis allowed him to advance for about 15 miles when his party
was surrounded and attacked by thousands 70
and he himself was cut off
with nearly the whole of the detachment, only some 400 escaped to the
Dogra camp with the tale of their defeat. The situation of the Dogra
army on the right bank grew worse and worse, as hardly any provisions
could be transported there, and the cold of the winter made itself badly
felt in the narrow valleys and gorges.
•'At that time the winter set in with a heavy fall of snow. Pro-
visions became extremely scarce. Consequently, the Dogra troops
became so much dissipated that their discipline was seriously affected.
With an impassable river in the front, and certain starvation both from
pold and hunger, whether they retreated or remained in their present
position, the majority of troops paid no attention to orders, and of the
few who still obeyed, none did so with alacrity. The Dogra army had
halted m this position for 15 days, exposed to frost by night and to
hunger by day. Many had sought shelter from the snow among the
over-hanging rocks, and there they sat listless and vacant and utterly
indifferent whether they would71
be cut off by the sword of the enemy, or
be fronzen to death by cold.
Realising the desperate state of affairs the wazir himself set out in
.search of a passage, but had to come back unsuccessful. Meanwhile,
.colonel Basti Ram, with a team of forty men, assisted by several Dards
from the village Da, succeeded in constructing an ice-bridge on the
Indus in the darkness of the night and the river became fordable.
It is said that Raja AH Sher Khan of Kartaksha was in secret
correspondence with the wazir from the time the latter had reached
Cheche thung, where he tendered his submission to the Dogra and
secretly helped him. It was with the help of Ali Sher's men from the
Marol bank and of the Dards on the Cheche-thung, that the ice-bridge
was constructed secretly in a few hours just below the Wanko-la above
which wazir(Qljulam72 Hussian had entrenched his large army and barred
the Dogra advance.
As soon as tlje wazir received the intelligence of this success he
ordered this party of 40 men to cross the Indus, but they have been so
benumbed by their night's work and their previous exposure, that ten
of them sank down exhausted and afterwards lost their hands and feet,
and 18 others were unable to get through the snow. Basti Ram was
then left with only twelve men, which the Botis perceiving they moved
to attack him. But the wazir exhorted his men to his rescue. A
number of Dogras advanced gladly to the attack, the Indus was
rapidly crossed, and the small party of daring men, after a smart fight
70. Francke, A.H. Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Pt. II, P> 264
71. Cunningham, A. Ladak, p. 346.
72. Hashmat Ultah, Tarikh-i-Jammu, pp-365-66.
 I
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 191
73
were safe. The Botis retreated, leaving 200 men dead on the field,
and 100 men wounded. The Dogras lost only 25 killed, and 15 or 16
wounded in the action, hut they had about 500 men more or less
disabled by the loss of hands or feet during the exposure to the snow of
74
the last few days.
The retreating Botis were pursued, and slaughtered for nine miles
as far as Marwan, where the victorious Dogras pitched their camp.
The wazir halted there for a few days to organise his troops, and to
reward those who had distinguished themselves in the last action. To
mehta Basti Ram he gave Rs. 500 and a pair of gold bangles, and to
thirty two others of his party he gave similar presents of less value, to
some Rs. 100, to some Rs. 50, and to others Rs. 40 according to their
deserts. This decisive battle of Thamo Khon was fought about the
first of Phagun, 1896 corresponding to about 13th February, 1840.
In short, after his success in the battlefield of Thamokhon, Zorawar
Singh entered Marol in triumph. But he continued pursuing the
fugitives and reached Hamza-Gond where another action was fought.
But the Balti resistance was feeble and was easily broken with the help
of the people of Kharmang who had now transferred their loyalty to
• the Dogras.
Wazir Zorawar Singh halted at Kharmang where Raja Ali Sher of
Khar-taksu waited upon him. Through his mediation Ahmad Khan,
Raja of Tolti and the wazir of Parkuta tendered their submission.
After four days march from Kharmang the wazir reached at Gol where
the Ladakhi army which had advanced over Hanola through Chorbat
and Khapulu, also joined him. The united force now moved towards
the stronghold of Skardu. But Raja Ahmad Shah had blocked every
road, and his wazir Yostrang Karim had stationed his contigents at
every pass. Zorawar' success at Thamokhon and Kharmang, however,
had caused dissension among the Balti Rajas. Daulat Ali Khan of
Khapalu, and Raja Khurrum Khan of Kurrus won Zorawar's favour
by playing treachery to Raja Ahmad Khan of Iskardu and his wazir,
Yostrang Karim, divided the Balti force and went over to Zorawar,
which forced Yostrang Karim to withdraw without a battle.
Consequently, the Dogra force reached Skardu without facing any
more opposition. All the petty chiefs, as well as Doghoni-pa Bano,
the wazir of the Raja of Skardu, were in attendance upon wazir
Zorawar Singh who now invested the fort of Khar Poche, i.e., Skardu
75
in which Raja Ahmad Shah had shut himself up.
Skardu fort was known for its strength on account of its location
on a lofty, unapproachable rock. Skardu itself is out in the plain, 7440
feet above the sea, just at the foot of one of the two isolated rocks;
73. "The number of Baltis killed in this battle of Thamokhon was about
one thousand" according to Hashmat Ullah. Cf. Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 367.
74. Cunningham, A. Ladak, pp. 346-47.
75. Hashmat Ullah Khan, op. cit , p. 371.
 I
192 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

this, rising to 1000 feet above, overhangs it. Formerly the palace of
the Rajas of Skardu stood at the edge of the plateau, where the rock
rises from it. The rock itself was the stronghold, the fort was built at
76
the south east end of it, at a part very steep and difficult of access.
The fort had only two gates, one on the east side meant for daily traffic,
the other on the west from which a covered path descended to the
river and the spring for bringing water for the inmates. The usual road
on the east was a narrow, zigzag sharp ascent and its whole length was
77
in the range of the tower on the western Gate. On the higher part
of the rock was a smaller fort, in a position very difficult to reach
78
from below.

The Dogras set siege to this fort and blockaded all roads of access.
But even after some fifteen days of blockade the besieged showed no
weakness. The Dogras, therefore, decided to carry the fort by assault.
One dark night they stole round from their position in front of the
chief Fort to the south rock, and
guards there posted, climbed the hill, and after a little fighting took the
small fort near the summit. In the morning they began firing down,
at an immense advantage, on the larger fort, and after two or three
hours the Raja and his people took to flight and the place was con-
quered. All the garrison (except a few river)
were either killed or taken ; the Raia himself became

"This deed was boldly done of the Dogras", writers F. Drow,

"It resembled somewhat, on a small scale, the capture of Quebec by the
English. The strength of position was such that it should never have
80
been taken except by blockade and starvation.

By now the Rajas of Kartaksha, Tolti, Khapulu and Kurus had

tendered their submission before the wazir and with the victory at
Thamokhon and the occupation of Skardu the whole Baltistan had been
practically conquered by Zorawar Singh. The Baltis were demo-
ralised so that Haider Khan, Raja of Shigar, and the chiefs of Chorbat
willingly acknowledged Dogra overlordship. Only Raja Ali Khan of
Rondu and Jabbar Khan, Raja of Astor, failed to present themselves.
It took the wazir a little more to settle affairs at Skardu before he
could direct his attention towards the suppression of these chiefs. He
put in confinement wazir Hussain of Gol, deposed Raja Ahmad Shah
76. Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, pp. 361-62.
77. Hashmat Ullah, Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 372.
78 Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, p. 362.
19 i d m
' ^ - J ^ f y Ullah, however, wr.tes t h a t Wazir Zorawar Singh made
use of Raja AH Sher Khan and Sayyid Madain Shah in persuading Raja
Ahmad Shah to tender his submission t o the Wazir personality on
f S Cond ct B u t wh
J ^ w ° l " - e n Ahmad Shah came in the presence
lT S nCe im r soned a
a , l o r n rnlT f' ° P j, ' ° d the fort occupied without
a snot. Cf. Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 372.
80. Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, p. 362.
r
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 193

of Skardu and installed his son Muhammad Shah as the king of

81 82
Baltistan in the beginning of May, 1840.
The fort and palace of Ahmad Shah was completely razed to the
ground. According to their custom the Dogras built a new fort, "less
85
dependent for its security on advantages of position." Kahlon Rahim
Khan of Chigtan was tortured to death for exciting rebellion in Purig.
Hussain Khan, chief of Puskyum was also tortured by mutilation but
he survived the punishment.
Ahmad Shah was shortly afterwards deposed, and his eldest son
Muhammad Shah was installed in his room on the promised payment
of an annual tribute of Rs. 7000. A small garrison- of trustworthy
soldiers was placed in the new fort on the bank of the Indus, to confirm
the faithfulness of the new king, and Ahmad Shah and his favourite
84
sons were carried off as prisoners to Ladakh."
Meanwhile the Wazir had sent about 1000 Dogras in the command
of Mirza Rasul Beg and Muhammad Khan and another Balti army
under Dogra officers and chiefs of Kharmang, for ravaging the Rondu
territory. It was taken without opposition and the territory was re-
affirmed on Raja Ali Khan on payment of an indemnity worth Rs,
85
15,000. Zorawar Singh sent his commander Madin Shah against
Astor. Madin Shah occupied Astor, and led its ruler Jabbar to the
presence of the Wazir who kept him a close prisoner near him. But as
the Sikh Governor of Kashmir proffered a prior claim on Astor, Jabbar
Khan was released and allowed to possess Astor, and the Wazir had to
admit a political defeat.
Wazir Zorawar Singh had attained the occupation and submission
of all the valleys and heights of Baltistan by the summer of 1840. He
had secured Skardo, assured its occupation by raising a new fort and
garrisoning it with a Dogra unit. At Khardrung also he founded a
strong fort, a part of which he completed during his stay there. He
appointed Bhagwan Singh Hhandar'' of the place at the head of a Dogra
picket of 100 soldiers. Bhupat and Mukhtar Munshi were appointed
to assist him. After completing these arrangements Wazir left for
Ladakh.
The old Gyalpo, already broken in health and spirits on account of
adversity and hard journey, died of smallpox which had broken out in

81. Akhbar-i-Ludhiana, 2 May, 1840 ; Aina-i-Sikandary, Delhi, May 25, 1840

National Arch, of India, New Delhi.
82. "The transfer of the government of Iskardo to Muhamad Shah, the
Gyalno's exiled son" was reported by G.R, Clerk to T.H Maddock on
May 9, 1840. See Press Lists, 149/13.
83. Drew, Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, 363.
84. Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Vol. II, p. 265.
85. Hashmat Ullah, Tarikh-i-Jammu, p . 373.
 194 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

the camp. His dead body was carried to Leh and his last rites were
performed at his palace in Stog with all the royal honours.
The Wazir reached Leh, probably towards the end of June 1840
through Khapulu, Chorbat and Nubra. Immediattly on his arrival
there he sent for the surviving successor of the Gyalpo a boy of about
10 years named Jigsmad Namgyal, seated him on his grand-father's
throne and recognised him as the nominal ruler of Ladakh, as vassal of
the Dogra Raja Gulab Singh. Thus was completed the conquest and
reconquest over a period of about 6 years, during which territory larger
in extent than the Kashmir Valley was added to the Dogra dominion.
If the jealousy of the Sikh Governor of Kashmir had not stood in his
way, he could have pushed his conquest far into the Gilgit territory.
But barred in that direction his martial genius led him to undertake the
conquest of Lhasa territory which had fascinated him for some time
past.
C. The Conquest of Nari or Western Tibet.
With the conquest of Ladakh and Baltistan the Dogra principality
of Jammu became conterminous with the Central Asian and Chinese
empires. It uncovered new political horizons to the Sikh state of
Lahore which was probing around for further expansion through Gulab
Singh's efforts. As soon as affairs in these newly conquered regions
became finally settled and the Baltis and Ladakhis apparently seemed
reconciled to the Dogra rule, Zorawar Singh Dogra commenced inter-
fering in the affairs of the territories to the north and east of Ladakh.
He first threw his covetous eyes on Yarkand, the government of which
place had seized stock of "Punjab opium" worth lakhs of rupees,
Zorawar, therefore, called upon the Chinese government86of Yarkand to
acknowledge the supermacy of the Sikh government. But soon he
realised that that territory held out only meagre prospects of Central
Asian trade in return for hazarduous trans-Hamalayan and Central
Asian expeditions across some of the world's highest passes. He there-
fore gave up the idea of conquering the legendry regions of Yarkand
and Khutan, and concentrated all his efforts on the Tibetan territories
to the north-east of Ladakh.

Several causes have been assigned to this orientation in Gulab

Singh's policy of conquests. A.H. Francke was of the opinion that the
main reason for Zorawar's new plan of Tibetan conquest was to give
employment to his master's many new subjects in Ladakh and Baltistan2
87
and in this way to keep their thoughts from revolutionary ideas.
It is also alleged that the plunder of the monasteries, which were
known to possess vessels and instruments of gold and silver, and the
charm of Shawl wool, induced Zorawar to divert his arms to that
direction and that he was sure the plunder of the first would enrich
86. Sec. Consult., For. Deptt.^o. 91 of 25-1-1841.
87. Francke, A.H., A History of the Western Tibet, 161
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 195

himself and his men, and88

the acquisition of the latter would be highly
pleasing to his master.
But the driving force behind this hazarduous military activity seems
to be stronger and more serious one. The British advance to the cis-
Satluj territories upto the waters of that river in 1809, and the establish-
ment of their protectorate on the Amirs of Sind in the guise of commer-
cial treaties in 1831, had isolated Lahore Kingdom and cut it off from
the rest of India. The treaty of Sagauli of March 1816, had already
placed a British wedge between the Hindu power of Nepal and Lahore
Kingdom by the occupation of Kumaon—Garhwal and Simla Hill States
by the British Indian Government in anticipation of any future align-
ment between these two States. After the Sind affair Ranjit's bitter
realisation of isolation mounted, and his Dogra Chiefs would have
advocated a severence of friendly relations with the British and pursu-
ance of an independent policy in dealing with the neighbouring states
in total disregard of British interests, had Ranjit's failing health as well
as British intrigues with the courtiers of Lahore Darbar not prevented
any such move.

Breaking through this British encirclement of Lahore kingdom, had

become a grave concern for Ranjit Srngh. After his death, when the
noose of British encirclement of the Punjab became painfully tight, the
authorities of Lahore badly needed some relief in some direction for a
fresh draught of breath. A comparatively easy loop existed towards
the west, in the fronters of Kabul. But the British had already antici-
pated the Sikhs in that direction and forestalled them by moving their
armies in that direction on dint of the mandate they had received from
the Tripartite Treaty of 1838. Consequently, the only field left for
them for further expansion of Lahore frontier and for breaking through
isolation was towards the north and east of Ladakh. The only course
left for the rulers of Lahore for self defence from British expansionism,
was to extend the hand of friendship towards Nepal by conquering the
intervening territory of Western Tibet over which the Dogras could
assert claim as being part of once extensive Ladakhi kingdom. The
89
Sikhs no doubt tried to march with the Nepalese behind the Himalayas.

More important cause than this was perhaps the Dogra diplamacy
which has inevitably to be taken into account in any study of Lahore
politics. It was the studied policy of Raja Gulab Singh and Raja
Kalan, Raja Dhian Singh Dogra as vassals and Prime Minister of
Lahore State respectively, to advocate and see a strong Sikh Govern-
ment at Lahore pursuing its own foreign policy and free from external
interference. They were particularly antagonistic to the overbearing
British manner of dealing with the Sikh rulers, and did not see «ye to
eye with their overlord Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who followed a policy
of "yielding, yielding and yielding" before the British pressure. The
dread in which he (Ranjit Singh) stands of our power, "wrote Secretary
88. Cunningham, Sir A., Ladak. p. 391.
9. Bajpai, S.C., The Northern Frontier of India, Bombay, 1970, p. 43.
196 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

to the Government of India in 1836," may be accepted as a sure pledge

that he will never
90
surfer himself to oppose the views and wishes of the
Government. Under Ranjit's successors the power of the king
deteriorated and the external independence of Lahore Kingdom became
only a literary fancy. The intrigues of the court factions further
weakened the state and lowered its prestige contrary to the wishes of
the Dotra Rajas. Dhian Singh Dogra, however, kept up the prestige
of the Sikh throne till he lived, and counteracted all British plans on
the Punjab. Like all far sighted diplomats of the Panjab, Raja Gulab
Singh and his brother realised that the real danger to Punjab lay in the
south of it in the British intrigues which were incessant with Lahore
courtiers and the neighbouring powers. Since the closing years of
Ranjits Singh's reign, Lahore State had become a cook-pit of the
British and Dogra diplomacies. The Dogra Rajas had thus become
natural enemies of the British interests in the Sikh State whom the
latter used to treat as subordinate ally.
The hatred of the Dogras towards the British was well known.
The late Raja Dhian Singh "Ranjeets's Prime Minister and 91chief
conductor of all the negotiations with92
the British Government," had
no particular liking for the British.
-

Raja Gulab Singh was even greater hater of the British power in
India and was93
always so reasonably averse to a close connection with
the British. In this reference J.D. Cunningham makes the following
meaningful observation on Anglo-Dogra relations ;

*'Neither the Minister (Raja Dhian Singh) nor his brother had ever
been thought well pleased with English interference in the affairs of the
Punjab ; they were at the time in suspicious communication with Nepal;
and they were held to be bound to Sultan Muhammad Khan, whose
real or presumed intriguess with the enemies 94of Shah Shuja had occa-
sioned his removal to Lahore a year previously.
The British were also in constant dread of the growing power and
influence of Raja Gulab Singh Dogra. In great constrenation they
always tried to forestall him in his ambition, and opposed any aggran-
disement in his power and new additions to his charges. Maharaja
Sher Singh wanted to bestow the Afghan province on the restorer of
order in Kashmir. But this arrangement would have placed the hills
from the neighbourhood of Kangra to the Khaibar Pass in the hands of

90 Ganda Singh, Anglo-Sikh, wars, p. 35.

91. Stcinbach. Lt. Col., The Punjab, p. 57.
92. M. Gregar, W.L., The History of the Punjab, Vol. I, p. 286.
93. Cunningham's Hist, of the Siklis, p. 255.
94. Ibid., p. 221. For this presumed understanding between the Jammu Rajas
and the Barakzais of Peshwar, Mr. Clerk's letter of 8th October, 1840,
may be referred to among others.
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 197
95
men averse to the English and hostile to Shah Shuja. The British
Government lodged a strong protest in the affair with Lahore Dirbar"
to make it known to the Darbar that the British Government could not
view with indifference or satisfication, any attempt on the part of Jammu
family to add Peshawar to the many extensive provinces under their
96
control, and informed them that the British Government will not
countenance the appointment of the Raja to the Government of
97
Peshawar. In the autum of 1841, therefore, the veto of the English
93
Agent was put upon Rpja Gulab Singh's nomination to Peshawar.
This Dogra-British rivalry in the politics of the Punjab and the British
attempts to thwart Dogra ambitions for expansion of territory and
influence toward Kashmir Valley and Peshawar, compelled the Dogra
Rajas to carry on secret intrigues with Nepal and Kabul. Gulab Singh
also found it convenient to look towards Himalayan territories where
the British had neither sway nor any influence. He was driven towards
Ladakh and Baltisran on these considerations. He aspired for the
conquest of Western Tibet on similar grounds.
There was yet another cause which drove Gulab Singh recklessly
towards east of Ladakh in order to touch the Nepalese border as early
as possible. The party politics at Lahore was taking a dangerous turn.
Several courtiers were playing in the hauds of the British agents.
There was a concerted intrigue going on for weakening Dogra hold on
the administration of the Lahore Kingdom and to do away with their
influence An attempt was being made by Maharaja Sher Singh, at the
instigation of his adviser, Bhai Gurmakh Singh, to reduce the authority
in the conduct of affairs,''which has so long been beneficially exercised
99
by the Jammu Raja, Dhian Singh, a move in which several influential
courtiers like Lehna Singh Majithia, Jemadar Khushal Singh, Bhais
Govind Ram and Ram Singh, Diwan Sawan Mai, General Ventura and
others were arrayed against the Dogras. Thus "the minister who had
gained such credit for his wisdom and forethought during the lifetime of
100
the great Ranjeet, had been sacrified to party feelings. The Sikh
Army was also getting out of control and a communal hatred was
being generated in the ranks against the Dogra Rajas. To crown all,
the Khalsa Maharaja and some of his courtiers were intriguing with
the British authorities, the very anti-thesis of what Dogras stood for, a
total abnegation of British interference in the affairs of Lahore Kingdom
a necessary condition for the perpetuation and independence of Sikh
Raj. Raja Gulab Singh sagaciously realised that the days of the super-
macy and influence of the Dogra Chiefs were drawing to a close due to
narrow interests of Lahore. He found it necessary to counteract this by
95. Ibid., Also Govt, to Mr. Clerk. 2nd Aug. and Mr. Clerk to Govt., 20th
August, 1841, NAI.
96. E.P. PRO-30/12, II (i) Maddock to Clerk.
97. ORPS. 152/36/106-14, oi 20-8-1841, Clerk to Maddock.
98. Ibid.
99. ORPS. 158/102 of 5-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
100. M' Gregor, W.L. History of the Sikhs, I I , p. 36.
198 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

establishing a direct contact with Nepal by wading through Tibetan,

snows and high altitude battles.
The attempt to conquer Western Tibet was thus an act of the Dogra
Raja Gulab Singh in pursuance of his objective of creating a hill
kingdom for himself and counterbalancing British policy of encompass-
ing the Sikh power of Lahore. With his piercing analytical pen Sir
Henry Lawrence sums up Gulab Singh's objects in conquering the
Himalayan territories in the following words :
" Secretly looking forward like all the provincial Governors of the
Sikh territories, to the certain and not distant day when the Sikh
empire must fall to pieces, his constant endeavour was how, upon the
nucleus and foundations of the Jammoo Chiefship, to build up for him-
self a hill sovereignty both on the southern and northern slopes of the
Himalaya. In the prosecution of this policy, while appearing fully
occupied with Sikh affairs in the Punjab plains he had during 1840 and
1841 annexed Iskardo, made Gilgit tributary, opened squabbles with
Yarkand, seized Garoo, in Chinese Tibet (thus monpolising the trade
in shawl-wool), and made the frontier of Jammoo conterminous with
that of the101Goorkhas in Nepal, no great friends of the British Empire
in India."
Apart from diplomatic and commercial interests, the territories of
Western Tibet offered to the Dogras another plea for conquest, which
served as immediate cause for moving armed forces into the Tibetan
region. Upto the reign of Singge Namgyal in Ladakh the region of Western
Tibet formed a part of the Ladakhi Kingdom. As a result of Ladakhi
Tibetan war of 1684 A.D. Singge Namgyal had to cede these territories,
from the borders of present Ladakh upto the Mar Yum Pass, to Lhasa.
Wazir Zorawar Singh could, therefore, assert Ladakhi claims on these
Tibetan provinces which lie to the east and southeast of Ladakh, and
are known as Rudok, Chang-thang and Nari. In 1841 the time seemed
opportune for Gulab Singh to materialise his ambition of conquering
the provinces of Western Tibet. The Sikh kingdom of Lahore had been
shaken by internal dissensions after Ranjit Singh's death in June 1839.
The British were pre-occupied in saving their face in Afghanistan and
Burma where troubles were brewing up. The Chinese were absorbed
in their attempt to vomit out British opium which the traders of East
India Company sought to force down the Chinese gullet. Similarly
Nepal, once a power to reckon with was weakened by factional struggle.
"In Tibet itself, there was considerable turmoil arising from a power
struggle between
l02
the Regent of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan
ministers
Gulab Singh's Military commander in Ladakh, Wazir Zorawar
Singh soon found out a pretext for mobilisation on territories of
Western Tibet to the west of Mayum Pass, called Nari. He was told
^^_ __—^a^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^fc^^^^*^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

101. Edwards, Life of Sir Henry Lawrence, p. 225.

102. Fisher, Huttenback, etc. Himalayan Battlegrouud, p. 4.

i
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 199
that in the best times the West Tibetan empire of Ladakh comprised a
province in Western Tibet prior to 1684. In that year Ladakhi lost
these territories to Lhasa in a battle fought in the reign of Deleg
103
Namgyal (1675-1705 A.D.) Therefore, the Dogras as the present
masters of Western Tibet (Ladakh and Baltistan), revived the claims to
104
those outlying districts. Wazir Zorawar Singh wrote to the governor
phon) to supply Pashmeena Shawl-wool to
any other area except Ladakh, and also demanded tribute from him
106
But the Garphon sent only five horses and five mules. The Dogra
General was offended at this, and he ordered his forces to move into
Nari to occupy it for Raja Gulab Singh.
Soon the news of this move flashed around, although the contemp-
lated attack on Western Tibet had been attended with much secrecy as
was done earlier in the case of Ladakh. Mr. G.R. Clerk, the Governor
General's Agent to the North-Western frontier received the first vague
intelligence of a collision having occured between the troops of Zorawar
Singh and the militia of Bashahr at some place near the frontier of
Ladakh. Mr Clerk also remarked on the designs of Wazir Zorawar Singh
107
on Kan war and Ruthok (Rudok). A month after this, in the middle
of July, the Commissioner of the British District of Kumaon, received
a report from the Rawal of the Badrinath temple about the capture of
Gartok by a Sikh (Dogra) force and the defeat of the Tibetan authorities
108
who had endeavoured to oppose their further progress. The British
Resident at Kathmandu also confirmed a similar intelligence received
109
by the Raja of Nepal. The Commissioner of Kumaon was further
informed that the Sikhs (i.e. Dogras) were conducting operations against
110
Gartok in conjunction with the Ladakhis.

By the middle of June 1841 Zorawar was reported to have moved

his troops into the outposts of Western Tibet. His army of invasion has
been estimated by A.H. Francke at 6000-7000. Of Ladakhis the greater
part had to do transport work, and each peasant was carrying 240
111
pounds on horses, Yaks, donkeys or on his own back. But the
did Only 2000 of these were Dogras
from Jammu and Kishtwar and the remaining were from Ladakh and
103. Bajpai, S.C, The Northern Frontier of India, 1970, pp. 13-14 ; L. Petech,
"the Tibetan-Ladakhi Moghul War of India, 1681-83," in Ind. Hist.
Quart; xxiii, Sept. 1947, pp. 169-99.
104. Francke, A.H., A Htst. of the Western Tibet, p 161.
105. Sec. Prodge., Juue 21,1841, No. 15 (N.A.).
106. Ibid.
107. ORPS, VII, 151/67, No. of 15.6.1841, G.R Clerk to T.H. Maddock.
108. ORPS, VII, 54/17 of 15-7-1841.
109. ORPS, VII, 54/30 of 31-7-1841, B.H. Hodgson to G.R. Clerk.
110. ORPS, VII, 128/125, pp. 246-48.
111. Francke, A.H. A Hist, of Western Tibet, p. 162.
112. Cunningham, Sir A. Ladak, p . 351.
200 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
113 114
Baltistan. The number may even had been less. Most of the
Dogra soldiers carried matchlocks, shields and swords. They had about
115
a dozen small guns, probably jinglas, of which some eight or nine
were later on mounted on the ramparts of Chit'ang fort. These were
probably carried by men. As the advance into Western Tibetan plateau
was begun at the commencement of Indian summer the soldiers of
Zorawar wore light clothes to which they were used to in their Ladakhi
expeditions.
It seems that Zorawar had gathered full information about the
military strength of Tibetans at various outposts and also about the
situation and disposition of important military concentrations in Nari,
which he planned to conquer simultaneously and surprisingly.
He had probably anticipated all the hurdles to be encountered in a
conquering march over a cold plateau about 15,000 feet above sea level,
covering a distance of about 450 miles to the farthest point he wanted
to reach to the immediate west of the Mayum Pass. According to
survey of the Chinese officials the distance between the Mayum Pass and
Central Tibet (i.e. Lhasa is more than 3,000 li, and from Mayum Pass
316
to Ladakh is 1,700 li. The most frequented trade route between Leh
and Mayum Pass, which ran through the middle of Nari division claimed
by the Dogras, passed from Leh to Chibra and lay up the Valley of the
Indus and generally along the bank of the river upto Garo (Gartok).
117
The distance from Leh to Garo is not less than 350 miles, or about
35 days' journey. From Garo the road descended to the Manasarovra
lake, a distance of 110 miles, or ten days' journey over several lofty
spuis of the Kailas range and around the lake of Rawan Hrad.

In order to encompass the territory intended to be conquered and

occupied Zorawar Singh decided to march the main body of the Dogra
force on Nari from its north-western fringe into the lake district of
Rudok (Ruthog) along the south bank of the Pang Kong lake. With
a view to comb simultaneously the territories adjoining Ladakhi and
Indian frontiers, he planned to thrust two more spearhead columns
which traversing and occupying chief places, should effect a junction
with his main force at Gartok where they expected a strong resistance
from the Tibetans, and thence to march on Tirathpuri and the lake
113. Sec. Consult. Nos. 36-38 of 1-11-841. I

114. 4,000 according t o the authors of Himalayan Battleground, p. 50 ; "Over

3 000 Ladakhi barbarians and Shen-pa aborignes" according to the
Chinese General Pi-hsi (Meng-pao's Hsi-Tsang Tsou-Shu).
The force which Zorawar mustered for the iinal battle of To-yo
was estimated by the Chinese at about 3,000 men, with 600 in reserve
and additional 500 in the Chi-t-ang fort under Basti Kam. Some 500
more may have been posted at five or six military posts, in fifties or
hundreds t o safeguard the route of advance from Rudok to Taklakot.
115. Sec. Consult. N o . 23 of 22-11-1841, Cunningham to Clerk. 21 October,
1841.
116. MengPao's Hsi-Tsang Tsou-Shu/ in Himalayan Battleground, p. 158.
117. Cunningham, Sir. A. Ladak. pp. 158-59.
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 201

district of Purang where the main Tibetan force could be expected to

give them the decisive battle.

Before leaving on the conquest of Tibet Zorawar Singh secured his

rear and made it sure that Ladakh and Baltistan remained peaceful and
loyal Eor this purpose, and perhaps in order to test the fealty of his
new subjects and their chiefs, Zorawar not only sent their leaders at
the head of conq'ering columns, but also mobilised the armed Balti
and Ladakhi population to accompany Dogra armies as auxiliary
columns. Thus the Ladakhi Chief Nono-bsodnams (Nono-Sodnam)
the minister of Bazgo, Ghulam Khan, the deposed chief of Baltistan ;
Mgon-po, the Steward of the famous Hemis monastery ; and the
minister Sa-bi. "and all other great councillors and soldiers went to
118
make war against m-Nah-ris" tNari) as equal partners of the Dogras.
The Hemis monastery alone contributed 12,000 bushels of grain, 300
horse load and 70 horses. The Ladakhis and Baltis seem probably as
much excited as their Dogra co-partners on the expected conquest of
the territories which were formerly a part of their kingdom.

The expedition was planned during April, 1841 and the movement
of troops towards the borders of Nan" started by the month of Mav,
1841. Wazir Zorawar Singh had conceived his expedition on a bold
design and seemed to organise it in such a manner as to fulfil the task
well before the close of campaigning season. Accordingly, his thrust
into the Nari territories was three pronged. Tn addition to his own
main force, two smaller columns of about 300 to 500 men each,
marched from south-eastern corner of Ladakh through Rupsu, one
under Ghulam Khan, the former ruler of Skardu (Baltistan) and the
other under Nono-Sodnam, the brother of the former Ladakhi King
7
who was placed on the gaddi by Zorawar S i n g h i n l 8 6 . Both these
columns moved and entered Tibetan territory before Zorawar Singh
advanced with the main force. The Balti Chief, Ghulam Khan, was
the first to lead his 300 men along the borders of Kulu and Kumaon.
Swayed by religious zeal, he visited with destruction all the chief places
known for Buddhist Gonpas. The first victim of his plundering and
iconoclastic zeal was Hanle in Ladakh itself. Then he stormed the
Tibetan military posts of Churit, Chumurti, Tsaparang and Daba along
the borders of Kulu and Bashahr. He was quite successful in his
"congenial occupation of plundering the monasteries and temples, the
work he executed with iconoclastic.fury. The gold and the silver were
reserved for his master ; but the plastic images of clay, the books and
the pictures excited the religious bigotary of the Musalman, and were
119
indi criminately destroyed." He then turned east from Daba, over
ran the district headquarters of Tholing adjoined the main force under
Zorawar Singh at Garo (Gartok). He met some resistance at Tsaparang
and Tholing ; but the Tibetans were easily defeated and their leaders
were slaiu.
118. Francke, A.H. Antiquities of Indian Tibet, p. 133.
119. Cunningham, Sir A. Ladak, p. 352.
202 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The Ladakhi chief marched along the Indus river and conquered
and plundered the famous Tashigong monastery town and other
surrounding places.
Wazir Zorawar Singh himself led the main force of about 3,000
Dogra soldiers, and advanced along the road south of Pang Kong lake
in May. From Chushul he entered the Tibetan District of Rudok
(Ruthog) and conquered the place on June 5, 1841, and took the
Garphon prisoner.
He then moved south where he joined forces with the first two
divisions under Nono-Sodnam and Ghuiam Khan, and captured Gartok,
district headquarters for West Tibet on the old caravan route between
Leh and Lhasa. The place had already been evacuated by the Tibetans
120
and hence was easily conquered. The whole force now took a south-
easterly direction along the ancient caravan route between Ladakh and
Lhasa. At a place named Dagpacha, near Misra, a regular dak post
on the Gartok-Lhasa route, about one day's march from the famous
12X
lakes Manasarowar and Rakastel, the Governor of Gartok had
collected about 1200 men from the locality and a few hundred Jukpas
122
tribesmen, to resist the Dogra advance. But the Tibeatans could
not stem the tide of Dogra invasion by local resistance. In an action
fought on 7th August, some casualities were suffered by both sides, and
Tibetans fled towards Taklakot a place about fifteen miles from the
border of Nepal. Wazir Zorawar Singh advanced on his march of
conquest for Taklakot, thereby to occupy the entire region upto the
Mayum Pass.
The advance of Dogra and Ladakhi forces into Nari and occupation
by them of important military posts of Daba, Tsaparang, Gartok,
Kardung, Taklakot, was not an easy run-over but was acquired after
meeting and overcoming considerable resistance.
The Chinese account of the Dogra Tibetan war of 1841 reveals the
promptitude with which the Chinese and Tibetan authorities reacted to
Dogra conquest and the stubborn resistance offered by them.
Hsi-Tsang Tso-Shu (Tibetan Memorials and Reports'), an official
compilation by Meng-Pao, the Chinese Imperial Resident at Lhasa
(1839-1844 A . D ) , deals in detail with this affair. Meng-Pao reports
to the Emperor of China that as the Chief of Ladakh, in league with
the Shenpa (Singh people, i.e., Dogra) had occupied certain areas of
Tibet, Tibetan officers had to be sent with troops to deal with the
situation. In the 4th month of Chinese calendar (May 21 June 19)
the military post official at Gartok reported that he received a message
from Shen-pa leader that their combined force numbering over 400
120. Sec. Cons. For Dept., No. 46 of 27-9-1841, Lushington to Thomason.
121. Sec. Cons. For Dept., No 18 of 13-9-1841.
122. Jukpas or Chukpas was a tribe of robbers which infested Western
Tibet at that time.
 EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 203

men, was advancing towards the Tibetan border on a pilgrimage to the

Hsueh Shah (Mount Kailash). The official feared lest some incident
might occur, and he therefore requested that the Officer-in-charge of
Frontier be sent to look into the situation. Consequently, Jaipon
(General) Pi-hsi of Central Tibet was immediately ordered to hurry
there aod take steps to prevent the entry of "this aboriginal force.'*
The General departed, arranged affairs there and reported back, and
his report was received by the Imperial Resident at Lhasa on 15 August,
1841. The General learnt that "over 3,000 Ladakhi barbarians and
Shen-pa aborigines" had already assembled at Gattok before his arrival
there. In "ten days they had occupied the two Tibetan posts of Rudok
and Gartok. The general added that "The invaders intend to conquer
all the territory up to the Mayum Pass and force the people there to
dress in their fashion and lend them assistance. As things are they will
soon reach the Tibetan post at Puiren (Purang Taklakot). The situation
123
has become very serious."

The Tibetan mobilisation was prompt and adequate. General Pi-hsi

gathered together 500 local troops and encamped at Kardung, and
demanded immediate reinforcements. One thousand Tibetans "all
skilled soldiers with bows and arrows or fowling pieces" from Central
Tibet and one thousand additional local troops from Lhasa were sent.
These Troops left on 29 August, and hurried off to different strategic
points to prevent any further encroachment. They were ordered to
co-operate with General Pi-hsi.
But before the arrival of reinforcements, General Pi-hsi had worked
up local resources, and on his arrival at Takalakot, he could muster a
force of 1,000 local troops, which was divided and stationed as guards
at different posts, one at Taklakot, to stop the Dogras.
Gartok seems to have fallen to Zorawar in the first week of July,
after about a month of the occupation of Rudok. Here the Tibetans
offered some opposition. At Gartok the two columns under Ghulam>
Khan and Nono-Sodnum also joined Zorawar and now the combined
force marched along the old trade route towards Tirathpuri. At Dog
Pacha, near Tirathpuri another Tibetan force opposed the Dogra
advance, but was beaten and both the posts were occupied by Dogras
on 7th August.
General Pi-hsi was waiting for the arrival of the Dogras at Kardung:
where he organised a stiff resistance to the invaders in combination with
the Gonpo of Gartok who had fled to Taklakot after his defeat. The-
opposition, however, broke down. "The fight took place against great
odds," reported the Tibetan general, "and both sides sustained some
casualties. Because of the cowardice of the local troops, our forces
1Mi
had to withdraw to the foot of Tsa-Mountain near the Mayum Pass."
* _ _

123. Men-Pao's Hsi-Tsang Tsou-Shu, 'in Himalayan Battle gronnd, p. 157.

124. Meng-Pao's Hsi-Tsang-Tsou-Shu, p. 159,
204 ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ ^ • ^ H A JAMMU RAJ
After the withdrawal of the Tibetan General to the other side of
the Mayum Pass, a Dogra force under Basti Ram was sent to occupy
Dagla Kar or Taklakhar (Taklakot) in Purang, the fort of which place
the Dogras had newly built, was held by Dogra contingents and the
route of communications with Leh was made secure. Thus the occu-
pation of Tibet west of Mayum Pass was complete by the middle of
September. After making proper arrangements for guarding advance
posts towards Mayum Pass, Wazir Zorawar Singh returned to Tirathpuri
where he planned to winter. Thus had Dogras conquered 1700 li or
about 300 miles of Tibetan territory in about three months and a half.
The first thing Wazir Zorawar Singh did after the conquest of
Misra was to take a holy bath in the Lake Manasarovara and offer a
125
golden idol at the Kailash temple. On the eve of mobilising his
troops into Tibet, he had already announced his intention to perform a
pilgrimage of the holy place of Manasarovara and the Kailash of the
Hindu mythology, a resolve which he now proudly fulfilled.
Thus by fighting out his way to these holy places and earning the
merit of pilgrimage of the Mount Kailas to which the heroes of the
Mahabharata had earlier retired after attaining the glory and fame in
the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Wazir Zorawar Singh had earu^d both
sanctity and renown. He had achieved the pinnacle of glory. His
downfall was imminent. The Chinese dragon had been provoked, the
line of communications precariously extended, and the freezing, hostile
winter was about to lash out with all its armies of snow and avalanche.

Zorawar, however, had not come to the Lake districts only for a
pilgrimage. He had lasting designs on the region and desired to inte-
grate it permanently to the Dogra principality as he had done in the
case of Ladakh. He took every step to give a settled administration to
the conquered people and a security to his conquests. For this purpose
he stationed his own Dogra pickets at every important post, constructed
fortresses and garrisoned it by his own men. The strategic places like
Rudok, Gartok, Tirathpuri, Taklakot, Churit and Chumurti were
126
properly fortfied and garrisoned with Dogras. roads were repaired,
and arrangements set up to collect revenue according to the old practices.
Local Tibetan officials were associated in administration and were
127
required to pacify the populace. He also issued a hukamnama Xo
the people at large that they should pay him taxes which heretofore
128
they had been paying to the Tibetan authorities. Zorawar Singh
took special measures to regulate shawl-wool trade, and also commerce
in general. He ordered Tibetans to sell shawl-wool to the Ladakhis
125. Sec. Consult, For Depit., No. 13 of 13-9-1841, Battan to Lushing on.
126. Sec. Cons. For Dept., No. 40 of 20-12-1841, Cunningham to Clerk 8
November, 1841.
127. Sec. Cons. For Dept., No. 57 of 6-12-1841, Lushington to Secretary,
10 November, 1841.
128. Sec. Prodgs. For Dept., No. 50 of 11-10-1841.
•
EXPANSION OF JAMMU RAJ 205'

only according to the old practice, which had, as a result of disturbances

attendant on his conquest of Ladakh, been directed towards Bashahir
and the adjoining British Indian territory. Those who sought to by
pass his orders were severely dealth with. The Bhotia traders of the
British territories of Kumaon and Garhwal, who traded with west Tibet
129
or 'Undes', were also cessed as in the past. The Bhotias had been
alarmed at the Dogra conquest of Undes or Hnndes, the portion of
Tibet adjoining Almora and Garhwal Districts, but the Wazir tried his
best to allay their fears by providing necessary facilities for carrying on
trade. With the same objects in view Wazir Zorawar Singh sent Colonel
Basti Ram as his agent, to meet Mr. Lushington, the Commissioner of
Kumaon. A meeting between the Diplomats took place at Kala Pani
in Byans District of Kumaon, on 8th October, 1841. The Dogra digni-
tary told his British counterpart that Zorawar Singh was anxious to do
everything to secure and place the commercial traffic of the Bhotias on
130
its former footing.
In a short span of three or four months Wazir Zorawar Singh had
introduced in his newly conquered territory all the measures of admini-
stration and defence which he had tried successfully in Ladakh, directed
towards the pacification of the populace and the permanent occupation
of the Western Tibet. In spite of all the British apprehensions and
protests he seems to be determined on the annexation of the West
Tibetan provinces to Gulab Singh's dominion.

As soon as Wazir Zorawar Singh received information of the

arrival of Kahlon Surkhang and other Tibetan military officers on the
east side of Mayum Pass, he opened negotiations for peace, "promising
131
to withdraw on condition of a moi.ey payment (tribute) from Tibet."
He also desired the Tibetans to recognise him as the ruler of Western
132 133
Tibet, and to indemnify the cost of various actions fought by him.
He also demanded that the Tibetans should send all shawl-wool to
Ladakh as had been done in the past, otherwise he threatened to invade
134
Lhasa. His prompt offer of withdrawal in case his terms were
accepted was perhaps expressive of his anxiety on the approaching
winter. He had desired to withdraw to Ladakh for the winter in case
Tiberan authorities agreed to pay a tribute as token of submission and
allegiance to the Dogras. But the Tibetans seemed to be of the opinion
that the Dogras were talking from the position of strength. "The
129. Sec. Consult. For Dept. No. 46 of 11-10-1841, Lushington to Thomason,
20 September 1841,
130. Lushington to Edwards,9 Oct., 1841, See. Consult. For Dept., No. 36.
131. Meng-Pao, 'Hist-Tsan? Isou-Shu, 'Himalayan Battleground, Appnd.,
p. 161.
132. Sec. Cons. For Dept., No. 36 of 1-11-1841, Lushington to Ewards, 9
October, 1841.
133. Sec. Cons. For Dept. No. 42 of 6-7-1842, Cunningham to Clerk, 3 May,
1841.
134. Sec. Cons. For Dept. No. 36 of 1-11-1841.
 206 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

invaders had first occupied our 135military post at Taklakot and then
pretended to talk peace with us," and so their firm decision was that
"Under no circumstances will indemnity 136
be promised as that would
deviate from all our fundamental rules." This happened in the first
week of November when the vanguard of Tibetan winter had appeared
and a grim struggle between the Tibetan and Dogra forces on the
world's loftiest snow-covered pluteau seemed unavoidable.
The conquest of the Tibetan territory was the result of Gulab
Singh's search for a kingdom. His imperial proclivities could not find
expression in any other quarter, as on all other sides his estates were
surrounded by the possessions of his liege-lord, the ruler of Lahore.
The effort of his general to conquer Astor and Gilgit were thwarted by
the Sikh Governor of Kashmir by claiming that territory as tributary of
Lahore Darbar. Kashmir had become a Sikh province since 1819.
Even the expansion of Sikh kingdom itself had been made impossible
by its encirclement by the British power towards Cis-Sutlej, Sind and
Afghanistan sides, and no field had been left for Gulab Singh's youthful
ambition of new conquests. Only the Tibetan border was open for
pacification of his martial drive, Thus in less than six months he had
conquered the Western Tibet upto the Mayum Pass on way to Lhasa,
a tongue of territory 500 kilometres in length, and by the end of
October, 1841 his possessions spread from Wazirabad and Jhelum to
the northern border of Ladakh and from Skardu to the Mayum pass.
In the end of that year he probably possessed territory larger than
bis overlord of Tibetan
territory proved a short-lived affair as Gulab Singh found no opportu-
nity to organise and strengthen his hold on it. British interference in
the affair discouraged him to make any long-range plans regarding
conquest of Tibetan territories. In spite of the ultimate failure of his
Tibetan policy, the conquest remains a monument of his forward policy
in the trans-Himalayan Central Asian territories. There is no doubt
that left alone he would have grasped Tashkand-Yarkand and the
Kailash Manasarovar region.

135. Meng-Pao, 'Hsi-Tsang Tsou-Shu, 'in Himalayan Battleground, Appnd.,

p. 162.
136. Ibid.y p . 161.
 CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Dogra Debacle In Central Asia

And Its Aftermath
(A) THE DOGRA DEFEAT
The Tibetans had become panicky at the news of Dogra invasion.
The Lhasa authorities made frantic preparations to stop the Dogra
onrush and to hurl them back. In addition to the force mobilised
earlier by Pi-hsi and the Imperial Resident, they despatched another
force comprising two Jupoas (5th rank officers), four Chiapons (6th
rank officers), and twenty Tingapons (7th rank officers), together with
500 Tibetan soldiers from U and Tsang on the 31st of September. An
additional force of 2,000 men was raised from U and Tsang. Provision
1
was also made for nine months' supply for the troops .
*

As narrated earlier on 2 October Kahlon Surkhang had arrived

at the head of a multitudinous force at Chu-hsu (Dokthal), a district
in Tsang province east of Mayum Pass, surveyed the situation and sent
a detailed report of Dogra wars and concluded that after a battle with
2
General Pi-hsi *'the invaders then withdrew a short distanca." The
Kahlon estimated the Dogra army at more than 3,000 strong occupying
a military post at Taklakot. In each of the other four posts the Dogras
were reported to have stationed 500 men and to have strongly fortified
3
their position.

Although winter had set in and the heavy fall of snow had blocked
the passes, General Pi-hsi and Kahlon Surkhang were anxious to send
re-inforcement across the mountains as Lhasa authorities "apprehended
that a long delay might hamper an attack by allowing the Dogra
4
invaders grow stronger." They therefore sought to take action with-
out furthur loss of time. They stationed some detachments at different
strategic passes to hold the Dogras back, while other troops were sent
to Rudok via another route along the Ma-tsang. They decided to
take the Dogra position both from the front and the rear, causing
thereby lowering down of their morale. The indemnity which the Dogra
1. Meng-Paos 'Hsi-tsang Tsoushu,' in the Himalyau Battleground, p. 159.
2. Ibid., p . 161.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
207
 *

208 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

General had demanded from the Lhasa authorities was under no-
5
circumstances to be promised. The Tibetans had thus resolved on
6
driving the Dogras out of the Garo district.
7
About the 7th of November, Zorawar Singh first heard of the
Tibetan force. He sent a column of 300 Ladakhis, under their leader
Nono-Sodnam, to intercept the Tibetans, but the force was cut to
pieces, only Nono and a few others escaping alive. A larger force was
then deployed under him on 19 November which met the same fate,
Nono and other Commanders being made prisoners. The Tibetans
then occupied all the strategic points at Kardung and Taklakot. The
Tibetans also learnt that Dogras had constructed a strong fortification
at a place called Chi-t'-ang, about 70 miles from Taklakot. On its
walls were mounted two large and some 8 or 9 small cannons and it
was strongly guarded by a force of over 500 men. From here they
planned "not oaly to prevent Tibetan forces from advancing but they
9
also intended to make gradual encorochments upon Lhasa territory".
The Tibetans decided to take advantage of the winter months to launch
strong attacks against the Shea-pas (Dogra) at a time when their
10
escape routes through the mountains would oe closed by snow storms.
They, therefore, repeatedly attacked the fort from all sides.

On 25th November the Dogra Commander, marched from

11
Tirathpuri with over 3,000 men and encamped at Kardung . Probably
he had decided to risk everything on a campaign to recapiure Taklakot
12
and led his army from Tirathpuri camp. . He sent two columns, one
after the other, to cut Tibetan water supply, bnt his efforts failed. On
3 December he divided his force into five columns and advanced
against the Tibetan lines. But this plan also failed. Thirty Dogra
13
soldiers were killed without any success . Roused by repeated defeats
the Wazir decided to rescue the Chi-t-ang fort where he wanted to
join Colonel Basti Ram's force intending to occupy a place named To-
yo, probably to cut libetan supply lines, or to get out of Tibetan
encirclement. The Tibetans immediately sent their troops to occupy
14
To-yo by night before the arrival of ihe Dogras. The Lhasa Troops
had, as per communications received from the Patwari of Biyans,
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ t
^•^^^^^•^••^•^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

5. ORPS, 113/6, No. of 23-11-1841, Cunningham, on deputation to the

Frontier of Tibet to G.R. Clerk, Agent, Govr. Genl., N.W.P.
6. Cunningham, Sir Alexander, Ladak, op. cit, p. 352.
7. Ibid.
8. Meng-Pao'Hsi-tsang Tsou-shu. i n the Himalayan Battleground op. cit*
p. 164: France A.H., A Hist, of Western Tibet, p. 163 ; also Sec. Con.
F.D., No. 75 of 7-2-1842.
9. Fisher, Rose, Hutfenback, Himalyan Battleground, op. Cit., p. 164.
10. laid.
11. Ibid,
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., Mang-Pao's Hssi-tsang Tsou-shu, p. 164.
14. ORPS, 54/193 of 7-12 1841, Lushington to Secretary, Government.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 209

surrounded Zorawar Singh and his force at Misra. Ths Kahlon also
requested the Lhasa authorities
si
to send reinforcements. Consequently,
1250 Tibetan Cavalry famous for generations" arrived at the front on
December 11, 1841, along with15two big guns, in addition to some old
and obsolete guns already sent.
The Dogra General ROW realised his critical positton. The enemy
numbered over 10,000 or almost three times the strength of his own
16
troops. No help could be expected from any quarter as all the
roads had been blocked by snow, though he sent messengers to Leh
and other places for reinforcements. As such the General's only hope
lay either in effecting a junction with Basti Ram's troops at Taklakot,
17
or in taking shelter in nearby British territory . But all the roads of
18
his escape had also been blocked by the Tibetan. So on 10 December
Wazir Zorawar Singh moved to a place near To-yo, where both the
armies met in deadly conflict. The Dogra General led an attack which
was resisted by the Tibetan General Pi-shi who killed sixty-two Dogras
19
and captured one large cannon. During the night there was a
great snow-storm, and snow accumulated to the depth of several feet
and the Dogras suffered severely and many with insufficient clothing
died. Zorawar Singh dug in trenches and there was a three day
20
combat. The Tibetans probably failed to carry the assault and laid
an ambush. A road was left open through the middle of their lines
21
up which the Dogras could advance for To-yo. The Dogras marched
for To-yo from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on 12 December and fell into
the ambush. Their rear-guard was cut off. They were attacked by
Tibetans from all sides. The same day Zorawar received a bulletin
his right shoulder and fell down from his horse. The Tibetans made a
22
rush for him and he was killed.
15. Mang Pao's Hsi tsang Tsou--shu' Himalayau Battleground, op. cit., pp.
16-63.
16. Cunningham, Sir Alexander, Ladak, op. cit., p. 352
17. ORPSl 128/227, pp. 467-68, dated 10-12-1841, RNC, Hamilton, offg,
Secretary to Government of N.W.F. t o T.H. Maddock, Secretary of
India.
18. See C,L. Dutta, Ladakh and Western Himalayan Politics, 1973, p. 139,.
refers to an item in the Bengal Herald, Calcutta, 8 January, 1842.
19. Fisher, Rose, Huttenback, Himalayan Battleground, p. 165.
20. Francke, A.H., A Hist, of Western Tibet, op. cit, p. 163.
21. The authors of Himalyan Battleground (26n and Apps. p. 165) give
December 14, 1841 as the date of Zorawar's death which they have
calculated by Meng-Pao's reports. S C. Bajpai, The Northern Frontier
of India, p. 44 ; Sapru, Gulab Singh, p. 28, n3, also gives the same date
J.D. Cunningham in h/s intelltgence reports sent t o Clerk on 4 March,
concurs with this dale. But Sir A. Cunningham, Ladak, p. 352, and
A.H. Franke, A. Hist, of Western Tibet, p. 163, give December 12 as
the date of this event. A letter of C. T. Lushington, Commissioner
Kumaon, dated 13-12-1841 (BK BO 201, ORPS) Communicates the
intelligence of the defeat of Wazir Zorawar Singh by the Tibetan force.
This first report of the event supports the date of 12 December for the
event.
22. Fisher, Rose, Huttenback, Himalyan Bartleground, op. cit, p. 165.
210 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The Dogra troops were soon thrown into disorder and fled on all
sides. About, 40 officers of his army and 200 of his soldiers also lost
23
their lives. Their reserve of 600 men surrendered their arms. . Two
large cannons and six flags were captured by the Tibetans, along with
numerous muskets, daggers, can-shields, and the like. The Ladakhi
2
Chief of Zorawar s army, Nono-Sodnam and others who had
24
surrendered were all imprisoned in the fort of Taklakot. . Out of the
whole Dogra army, 6000 strong including camp followers, not more
25
than 1,000 escaped alive and of them 700 were prisoners of war.
The rest despersed in confusion in all directions, pursued by the
Tibetans. It was reported that a Total of 830 surrendered, Thirteen
Dogra Chiefs, including Rai Singh, were captured and were sent to
26
Lhasa under escort.

Encouraged by the destruction of Dogra troops the Tibetans care-

fully planned an attack on the remaining four military posts still in
the hands of Dogras. They promptly followed their success at To-yo
in order not to permit Dogras "a breathing spell in which they could
27
prepare another attack and at once surrounded the Dogra fort at
Chi-t'ang, They received fresh reinforcements and stormed the fort,
probably on 2 or 3 January, 1842. More than 300 Dogras were
killed and still more fell victim to frost and snow while escaping.
Colonel Basti Ram, the Commander of Chi-t'ang fort and about 240
of his companions succeeded in escaping into the British territory at
Askot on 9 January, probably through the Lepu-Lekhpass. They
were then conveyed to Almora where they were given all possible help.
Afterwards, Basti Ram and 127 of his companions were permitted to
leave for Ludhiana, on way to Jammu, in July 1842.

After recapturing Taklakot and Chi-t'ang the Tibetan troops

proceeded to Gartok which was occupied by Kahlon Surkhang. They
three posts of Daba, Tsaparang, and Rudok were placed under the
command of Pi-hsi. All the Tibetan troops were despatched to various
places to search out and attack the Dogras who had established posts
28
all along the route through which they had come. By the end of
march the Tibetans and recaptured all the forts and military posts
29
and the last of the invaders had been driven out of Tibet. Thus the
the Dogra invasion of Tibet proved futile. Zorawar's endeavours to
make Gulab Singh a Central Asian power ended in disaster. The Sikh
power of Lahore could not march with Nepal behind the Himalaya.

23. Cunningham ,Sir A., Ladhkh, op. cit., p. 352.

24. Fisher Rose, Huttemback, Himalyan Batllegroued, p . 165.
25. Cunningham, Sir A., Ladak, op. cit., p . 353.
26. Fisher Rose. Huttcnback, op. cit, p. 167.
27. Ibid. p. 166.
28. Meng-Pao's Hsi-tsang Tsou-snu 'Himalyan Battleground, op. cit., p. 168,
29. Fisher* Rose, Huttenback, Himalayan Battleground, op. cit. p. 53.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 211
The one great cause of the Dogra defeat was the extreme cold and
deep snow. "The Indian soldiers of Zorawar Singh," writes Sir,
A. Cunningham "fought under very great disadvantages. The battle-
field was upwards of 15,000 feet above the sea, and the time mid-
winter, when even the day temperature never rises above the freezing
30
point." The Dogra soldiers had inadequate clothing and had been
posed the bitterness of the climate. Many had
their lingers and toes, and all were more or less frost-
bitten. quently
31
"On the last day not one-half of the men could
handle their arms.
The breakdown of Zorawar's commissariat arrangements also
adversely effected his war potential. The barren and sparsely populated
f Western Tibet could Dogra
sepoys. When winter blocked all the passes, the invaders found it
difficult to procure adequate supplies from the country around, or
from Ladakh. "While facing starvation in the chilly climate of the
land of snows, it was hardly possible to fight with a large army which
pplied with provisions and was better " 3 2

Another cause seems to be that many of the Baltis and Ladakhis

and the local Hunias deserted the Dogras and joined the Tibetan
arms. This must have undermined Zora war's efficiency at the eleventh
hour. The diplomatic treachery can aiso not be ruled out as a potent
cause of the Dogra debacle. The British pressure for the evacuation
of Dogra conquests, and British talk of mediation seem to have put
Zorawar Singh off his guard. On the eve of Tibetan ndvance on
33
Taklakot he had aetually recalled his advance posts, stationed to
block all passes and by-passes through which Tibetan armies could
cross down to the Manasarovara Lake plains. In the absence of
advance posts Zorawar Singh received no timely information of the
massing of Tibetan troops on the west of Mayum Pass. When he
received the news it was too late. The Tibetans had already occupied
Kardum and the area between Tirathpuri and Taklakot thereby severing
all communications between Zorawar Singh and Colonal Basti Ram
and other Dogra officers stationed to ihe south and east of
Manasarovara Lake. The defeat of the Dogras under such circum-
stances was not something unexpected, though much shocking, as it
came about when British Politicals were contemplating Zora war's
withdrawal by the Maharaja of Lahore and the Dogra British rivalry
in the Punjab politics was about to take a serious turn.
30. Cunningham, Sir A., Ladak, op. cit., p. 354.
31. Ibid.
32. Dutta, C,L, Ladak and Western Himalayen Politics, 1873, p. 143.
33 that in ihe mean time, orders were received by the Vuzeer from
Raja Dhiau Singh desiring him to return to Ladak, that the Vuzeer
had in consequence recalled his officers and tioops in advance, who
joined him on the other side ot Lasso .. ..''Punjab Akhbars, No. 614,
dated 22nd November, 1841 (Maghar of Aghan 1898), N.A.I (New
Delhi).
212 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Dogra Conquests Lost

Gulab Singh's defeat and disaster in Tibet had grave reperoussions
in Ladakh and Baltistan. Zorawar's death had aroused in the Ladakhis
and Baltis a hope for freeing their countries from Dogra dominance.
The steward of Hemis Monastery who was a prisoner in Tibetan hands
became a tool of the Chinese to foment revolt in Ladakh. He sent
secret information to Ladakh that "the Wazir is dead, and the Tibetan
army is reported in pursuit. Therefore
34
Upper and Lower Ladakh
should be made ready for war." The Gonpo also wrote to the
British authorities for help which, however, was politely refused. But
he joined the Chinese and was proceeding to Ladakh. The ex-ruler
of Ladakh and his minister declared themselves for the Tibetans and
staged a revolt in the country and besieged the Dogra garrison there,
and made frantic appeals to the Lhasa authorities for help in expelling
the invaders out of Ladakh. The Tibetans deci Jed to invade Ladakh
and despatched 35400 Chinese towards Leh who halted at Nimamut,
some 8 marches east of the place on account of outbreak of smallpox
in Leh. Another detachment of Tibetans 36
from Garo was reported
to have been deployed to occupy Spiti.

During the month of May, Tibetan troops speeded up their move-

ments. In the third week 800 men from Lhasa arrived37
at Garo and
other troops were also expected to arrive there 3s and the Tibetan
preparations for carrying on war with the Dogras were reported on
all sides and revealed their zeal for final showdown with the Dogras.
Reports from Garo and Ladakh revealed that large reinforcements
wece expected to reach the former place 39
from Lhasa and that the
Dogras still held out against the Tibetans .
In Ladakh the revolt became widespread. Acho Gonbo cont-
rived with the chief of the Lhasa armies, Pi-hsi, to drive Dogra
armies out of Ladakh and revive the rule of the Gyalpo there. He
arrived in Ladakh followed by about 3,000 men 40 from the Garo
Province, probably in the begining of April 1842. Gonbo Tse-
wang Raftan was deputed to collect soldiers from Sham (lower Ladakh),
while the Gonpo himself raised an army from the Upper Ladakh and
arrived at Leh, and declared Jigsmat Namgyal as an independent
Gyalpo. Weapons were supplied to the soldiers. After these arrange-
ments had been made the rule of Jigemat Namgyal was formally insti-
34. Secret ConsulatioDs, ^ 1 7 6,1842,7^08. 40,44. Gonbo to Cunningham,
April 18. 1842, Cunningham t o Gonbo. May 3, 1842 .
35. A day's march in those high plateaus consisted of about 10 miles.
36. ORPS, 113/28 pp. 98-102. letter No. 37, dated 20-5-1842, Cunningham to
Clerk.
37. ORPS, 113/24, pp. 78-80, No. 23 of 2-5-1842, J.D. Cunningham to Clerk.
38. Ibid.
39. ORPS, 113/27, pp. 96-97, No. 26 of 19-5-1842, Cunningham to Clerk.
40. Hashmat Ullah Khan, Tarikh-i-JammuW Fatuhat Maharaja Gulab Singh
Bahadur (Urdu) 1937, pp. 394-95.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND 17 S AFTERMATH 213
41
tuted in Ladakh. Now from all parts of country, even from
Baltistan, matchlockmen arrived, and surrounded the forts in the neigh-
42
bourhood of Leh into which Dogra force had sought shelter.
Detachments of Central Tibetian army also arrived in Leh, to 43
assist
the Ladakhis, The principal officer of these Tibetans was Pi-hsi. The
strentgh
44
cf Dogra garrison at Leh, according to Francke was about 350
men. Their leaders, Kumedan and Magns Thandar held council and
concluded that "It looks a 45rebellion." They at once sent a petition to
Jammu for reinforcements.
The Dogra officers, Commandant Pehlwan Singh. Munshi Guran
Ditta and the Futteh Platoon46 under Subedar Tegh Singh, sought to
fortify the cantonment at Leh. This Dogra force was divided into two
Regiments. The one under Magna occupied the fort, while the remaining
under Pehlwan Singh was stationed at Karzu Bagh. The latter place
was not fortified, so he realising the gravity of the situation, moved his
unit to a place apposite the fort. He took shelter inside the large
stables47 of the Raja of Ladakh, and engaged himself in fortifying that
place.

The rebels started harassing them from all sides, and in cooperation
with the Lhasa army, they surrounded the cantonment, the stables and
the fort, and sought to separate the three places from one another.
But the besiegers failed to isolate them. A desultory warfare
ccntinued for several days. At last the rebels made a night attack to
annihilate the Dogra Garrison in the cantonment and the fort. The
Dogra force inside the fort and contonment offered tough resistance and
48
the battle continued till morning, when the Dogras carried on sallies,
and in hand to hand fight the Ladakhis were finally routed. The Dogras
pursued them upto the town of Leh and slaughtered the fugitives merci-
lessly so that the rebles lost courage and could not recover their strength
49
for some time, and even gave up the siege. The Dogra force in Leh
50
held out for 6 months by which time reinforcement arrived. In

41. Ibid.
42. ORPS, 113/19, p. 66, No. 18 of 4-3-1842.
43. Francke, A.H., A Hist, of the Western Tibet, p. 165.
44. Ibid
45 Francke, A.H., Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Pt. II Arch Surv. of India, Vol.
I, Calcutta, 1926, p. 135.
46. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, (Text), 1876, p. 394.
47. Hashmat Ullah Khan, op. cit., p. 394.
48. Hashmat Ullah Khan, op. cit., pp. 394-95.
49. Ibid.
50. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama (text) 1876, p. 252.
214 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Purig also the situation was not much different from that of Ladakh.
The Kahlon of Malbe and the Raja of Saut captured aud murdered the
Dogra garrison. The same was repeated at Suru-kartse. The Raja of
Pushkam also did the same but did not join the rebels. Only Dras
remained peaceful In Baltistan, however, a rebellion broke out in full
force. Rajas Ali Khan of Rondu, Dault Khan of Khapulu, Khurram
Khan of Kurrus and Haider Khan of Shigar raised standard of revolt
and imprisoned Bhagwan Singh of Iskardu. Haider Khan captured
Kharpoche fort and proclaimed his rule in Iskardu also. 51Consequently
no vestige of Dogra rule was suffered to exist in Baltistan .
Preparations for the Final Showdown.
The news of Dogra disaster in Tibet and Ladakhi revolts came to
Raja Gulab Singh as a bolt from the blue. He was overtaken by a
great calamity at the juncture when he was expected to assist
the English armies in their Kabul expedition. From Almora Basti Ram
had written an arzi describing what had occured to him and Zorawar
Singh, and the same was forwarded through Mr. 52Lushington the Britsih
Commissioner of Kumaon on 16th January, 1842 . This letter reached
Gulab Singh, probably, on 15th Febrnary. He was reported 53
to be
much disconcerted at the news of the fate of Zorewsr , as it might
perhaps cause him the loss of al! his possession north of the Himalaya
and his thoughts were now "bent towards Cashmere, there to collect54a
force with which as soon as the season admits, to march on Ladakh .
He was therefore anxious to get away from Peshawar 55
and repair to
Ladakh against which the Chinese were advancing.

But before embarking on the reconquest of Ladakh and its depen-

dencies Gulab Singh wanted56 to ascertain the feelings of the British
Government on this measure , and also to make proper arrangement
for safeguarding British interest on the west of the Indus. The British
authorities were willing to respect the Raja's sentiments because they
were equally in need of his help in their operations across the Khaibar
Pass. Earlier they had not responded favourably to the proposition
of the darbar for the cooperation of two governments against the

51. Hashmaf Ullah Khan, Tarikh-i-Jammu, p. 394.95.

52. ORPS, 55/17, p. 36, dated 16-1-1842, Lushington to Clerk.
53. ORPS, 41-B/45, D.O., dated 16-2-1842, Lawrence to Clerk. Kirpa Ram
say's that Gulab Singh received this news, probably Basti Ram's letter,
in the beginning of Phagan, 1898, corresponding to 14/15 February, 1842
Gulab.9 252.
54. Edwards and Merivale, Life of Sir H.M. Lawrence, pp. 225-26. Also
ORPS, 41-B/45 A of 17-2-1842, Lawrence t o Clerk.
55. ORPS, 41/42, p. 33, dated 17-2-1842, Lawrence t o Clerk.
56. ORPS, 41-B/45A, dated 17-2-1842, Lawrence to Clerk.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 215
57
Chirese on the Lhasa frontier , yet they made it very clear that
the British Government could not reasonably offer any obstacles to the
Rajas in the maintenance of their authority at Ladakh while it desired
their cordial cooperation at Peshawar. The defence of Ladakh by
the Jammu Rajas against the Chinese or Tibetan authorities, was, how-
ever, in the British Governer-General's opinion, a legitimate measure
58
and he would wish the Rajas every success.
After ascertaining that the British Government was favourably
disposed to his interests in Ladakh, he made satisfactory arrangements
for securing British interests beyond the Indus. Only then in the
beginning of May 1842 was he allowed by the Lahore Darbar to leave
Peshawar to superintend measure of defence against the advance of the
59
Chinese on Ladakh .
He had, however, already directed his commander, Dewan Hari
Chand, to defend Ladakh against Chinese advance. The latter left
for Jammn by forced marches, and was met by Raja Dhian Singh who
had also left Lahore for Jammu on the receipt of the tragic information
68
with a view to equip a fresh force for Ladakh . After much urgent
exertions Raja Dhian Singh marshalled a powerful army and despatched
61
it to Ladakh under Mian Ratnu. By the end of April 1842 the
movement of some Chinese troops from Lhasa towards Garo was
reported. The Ladakhi king, who had declared his independnce of the
62
Dogras, had sent presents to Lhasa as a token of allegiance to Tibet .
His treasurer wrote to the British for mediation in the dispute bet-
63
ween the Chinese and the Sikhs , which at first did not interest the
57. ORPS, 153/U, pp. 24-31, dated 15-1-1842, G.R. Clerk to T.A. Madddock.
There had been several moves on the part of the Darbar and the Dogra.
Rajas t o implicate the British Government in some form in their forward
policy in Tibet. Even as early as the middle of October 1841, R a i
Kishan Chand, the Darbar Agent in Mr. Clerk's of ice had suggested that
the British and Sikh Governments, should cooperate against the Chinese
but Mr. Clerk discouraged the proposition ORPS, VII, 152/55, dated
20-10-1841 G.R. Clerk to T.H. Maddock. A month latter Raja Dhian
Singh had also proposed that, were an invasion (of Tibet) t o be under-
taken in great force on this frontier of China in concert with the British
Government it would be very beneficial to both the allied Government:
Punjab Akhbars. 1839-40, dated 22-11-1841. A similar proposition was
received from fhe Darbar for the cooperation of the two Governments
against the Chinese OQ the Lhasa frontier, oa 15-1-1842 {ORPS, 133/11,
Clerk to Maddock). As late as June 1842 the Dogra Rajas had repeated
their wish for the cooperation of the British towards Tibet.
ORPS, 153/102, dated 11-6-1842, G.R. Clerk to T.H. Maddock.
58. ORPS 153/31, pp. 73-76, Letter No. 77, dated 15-12-1842, Clerk to
T.H. Maddock.
59. ORPS, 158/90, pp. 248-50, Letter No. 206 of 6-5-1842, Clerck to T . H .
Maddock.
60. Ibid.
61. ORPS, 153/17, pp. 40-45, Letter No. 39 of 20-1-1842.
62. ORPS: 113/23, p p . 75-77, dated 28-4-1842, Cunningham to Clerk.
63. Ibid.
216 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

British Governor-General. But when G.R. Clerk wrote to his Govern-

ment in May on the success which might be anticipated for the Jammu
Rajas against the Chinese now that Raja Oulab Singh was in command
64
of the f( rcc, ihe British Governor-General made up his mind to show
some interest in reestablishing peace between the Sikhs and the Chinese
and conveyed his 'no* bjection' to Lt. Cunningham acting as a mediator
to bring about a reconciliation beween the Rajas of Jammu and the
65
Chinese authorities on the Tibetan frontier . The request for mediation,
however, did not come from any side.

The petition from Ladakhi 'aboriginals' and the Balti Khan and his
people asking to be allowed to "pledge alliance to the Tibetan Shang.
66
Shang has received assent of the Chinese Emperor on May 31, 1842 .
67
So 5000 additional Tibetan troops left Lhasa for Ladakh in June .
By the end of June nearly all the Chinese troops east of the Manasaro-
var lake had been sent towards Leh. Some 3,000 to 3,500 troops were
reported to be with the young Raja of Ladakh. The Dogras appeared to
be waiting for reinforcement from Kashmir. By the first fortnight of
July, preparation on both the sides seemed to have been completed
and a large Dogra army had arrived at Leh and the Chinese force
69
had assembled some four marches east of that place. This condition
70
lasted for about a month, and no skirmish had taken place to the
end of July. During this period the Dogras bad built a fort at Leh and
71
reinforcements from Kulu and Spiti had arrived. The Chinese probably
tried to avoid an engagement with the Dogras till winter had set in.
But the Dogras were now ready *o strike. They had stamped out
rebellion in Zanskar and Purig with the help of Sucheta, the thanadar
of Karg*l, and retaken Malbe and Pushkum. Then they advanced in
two groups, each under Wazir Ratnu and Diwan Hari Chand, and met
at Thasgam about two miles away from Leh. At the very approach of
the Dogra force the Tibetans under Bakshi Chhak jot lifted the siege of
Leh cantonment and withdrew a few miles away. The following day
they joined the garrison of Pehlwan Singh Kamedan (Commandant
Tegh Singh 72Subedar and Bakshi Guran Ditta at Labrang near Ladakh
cantonment.
64. ORPS, 153/103, pp. 264-65, letter No. 224, of 11-5-1842. Clerk to
Cunningham.
65. ORPS, 130/118, p. 280, letter N o . 178 of 19-5-1842, Maddock to Clerk.
66. Fisher, Rose, Huttenback, Himalyan Battleground, op. cit., pp. 156 & 169.
67. Nepal Political Diaries, September 1, 1842, Enclosures, Vol. 89. 1849.
68. ORPS, 113/33, pp. 121-22, letter No. 32, dated 29-6-1842, Cunningham to
Clerk.
69. ORPS, 113/34, pp. 123-30, letter No. 33 of 9-7-1842, Cunningham to
Clerk.
70. ORPS, 113/35, pp. 131-35, letter No. 34 of 26-7-1842, Cunningham to
Clerk.
71. ORPS, 113/38. pp. 149-51, letter No. 37 of 5-8-1842, Cunningham to
Clerk.
72. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, p. 257.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTFRMATH 217

After six days of stay there the Dogra Commarder despatched about
] ,000 men under Mian Jawahir Singh towards Jaskar, and 500 men
under Mian Narainia to Lahrah. The poiters and coolies from Kashmir
were paid off and sent back. Bakski Chhak-j^t, the leader of the
Ladakhi rebels, who had taken shelter in the Rudok fort, considered
the time opportune for an attack on the Dogras in Ladakh. He deployed
a thousand men under the command of his brother, Achhan-jot, and
Karnsha against the Dogras at Ladakh. They advanced to a place near
Gonpa Chamre some fifteen miles from Ladakh A Dogra contingent
under the command of Sardul Singh commandant and Lala Ramji Mai
Munshi was despatched against the rebels, 'he Ladakhis were routed
and took shelter in Gonpa Chamre. At this the main force of the
Dogras under Diwan Hari Chand and Wazir Ratnu besigned that
place and set up a cannon on the top of a hill and started shelling
the fort. The Tibetan garrison lost heart and after four days surrender-
ed the place. SaTdul Singh Commandant and Ramji Mai Munshi were
left in change of that place and the Dogra force marched back to
73
Ladakh . Raja Gulab Singh had by then arrived at Kashmir so the
news of this victory was conveyed to him there.

The Final Showdown and The Peace Treaty-August, 1842.

After withdrawing from Leh and other strongholds, Tibetans and
their Ladakhi accomplices, under General Pi-hsi, arrived at Tantse near
the western end of the Fang-Kong Lake and there they were joined by a
74
Tibetan army of 3,000 men under the command of Raghsha and
75
Zarkang . They dug trenches and erected a fortified camp there within
76
six days.

According to Meng-Pao's account the Tibetan defence post was set

up at Jung-war an area between Rudok and Pang-Kong lake, a place
77
on the Tibetan frontier . This camp was situated in the lower part
of a narrow valley and the storming of it would have meant a consider-
able loss to the Dogras. The whole of the Dogra force marched
thither and established their first contact with the enemy, probably
during the last week of July 1842. After failing in a night attack the
Tibetians were compelled to take shelter in their strongly located
contontment. A desultory battle raged for 8 days without any gain to
either side. Probably on the first of August, the eighth day of con-
frontation, the Dogas made a desperate charge on the enemy positions,
i L-- r r r • •— - 1_—_i J -• _

73. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, p. 258.

74. 3,000 men according to Francke, Hist. ofW.T., p. 116, but 5000 according
t o Ladakhi Chronicles and Nepali correspondence. See Himalayan Battle-
grouwJ, by Fisher, Rose, Huttenback, p. 55.
75. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, p. 260
76. Meng-Pao, Hsi-Tsang Trou-Shu (Memorial from Meng-Pao to the
Emperor, October 25 1842). Dogra accounts raise their number to 6,000
men led by Bakshi Cbahk-jot Ragasha Kahlon and Raz-hak Garphon
aided by a cannon which they bad wrested from Wazir Zorawar Singh.
77. Fracke, A.H, A History of Western Tibet, op. cit., p. 160.
218 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RA)

ft cording to Meng-
Pao) and one officer, Commander Maju Singh, killed

After four days' lull in fighting the Dogras planned to eject the
Tibetans from their trenches by darning the valley and inundating their
positions. Within three days of the erection of dam the Tibetan tren-
ches were flooded and had to be deserted. Outside their fortifications
the Tibetans were not equal to the well armed Dogras. An soon as
they were on the move, the Dogra Commander Diwan Hari Chand
attacked them. "In these battles," reported Mang-Pao, the imperial
Resident at Lhasa, to the Chinese Emperor, "Jupon Tun-Chieh-ch' a
wang, and Chiapon Chi-pu pa, together with one more Chiapon and
two Tingapons, were lost. Most of the Tibetans fled and many were
made prisoners. The Dogra loss, according to Meng-Pao was 230 men
and two minor officers killed. However as a result of this battle the
79
Dogras were prevented from crossing the Tibetan boundary." The
Dogras seized two persons of rank, one of whom was the Tibetan
General Ragasha. who made an unsuccessful bid to escape and got
80
killed in the attempt. Probably he was decapitated to avenge the
81
death of Zorawar Singh on the Tibetans.

After the seizure of the Tibetan officers the Dogra army fell upon
the Tibetans and surrounded them on all sides. The beleagured army
surrendered. Their arms were confiscated and they were allowed to
escape. The arms and weapons which fell to enemy hands in the battle
Wazir Zorawar Singh leaders such as Mor
tan Chin, Achah Gonpa and Ahmad Shah, Raja of Tskardu, became
82
captives, After this contest of several days and their ultimate defeat,
82
the Chinese forces retreated towards Tashigong. This event might
have taken place around 10 August, 1842. The reports emanating from
various auartcrs after that date describe the event as a fait accompli.

On hearing of the grim struggle with the Tibetans Raja Gulab

Singh had sent a reinforcement of 4,000 men which stopped in the way
84
on the news of complete victory over the Tibetans. Raja Gulab
Siagh himself arrived at Leh in the middle of August, most probabiy
on 12 August. Heat once commenced the building of a fort at the
capital, in place of the weak redoubt. He also sent Vakils to the

78. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, p. 261. The Ladakhi Chronicles name the officer
' Kumidar Maca-Sin."
79. Meng-Pao, "Hsi-Tsaag Tsou-Shu", ia Append, to Himalayan Battle-
ground by Fisher, Rose, Huttenback, p. 172.
80. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, p. 262.
81. Western
82. Kirpa Ram Gulabnama, p. 262
83. ORPS, 113/43, pp. 168-92, letter No. 42, dt. Sept. 18, 1842 Cunningham
to Clerk.
84. Kirpa Ram, Gnlabnama, p. 263.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 219
85
Chinese leaders to nagotiate a treaty of peace and friendship. The
representatives sent were Re-tang (Wazir-Ratnu), a minor officer, and
Ahmi The Dogra Rajas were probably
ting nagotiations to prolong, so Raja Dhian Singh solicited the media-
87
tion of the British Government in the strife with the Chinese. To this
request the Governor General expressed his willingness to afford his
good offices for the adjustment of differences between the Maharaja of
88
Lahore and the Chinese upon any reasonable terms. A settlement
however, was arrived at without British mediation, though the latter
had the satisfaction that the influence of the British Government has
brought about this result. The treaty of peace and friendship was signed
on 14 September, 1842. The Lhasa leaders, the Wazir Zoorking and
released after documents

By this written instrument the Chinese agreed that: " .as regards
the boundary of the country of Ladakh including suburbs, fixed of
ancient days, we will at all have no concern and nothing to do. We will
export shawl-pushm and tea according to old tradition by way of Ladakh
yearly, and if any one of Sri Maharaja Sahib Bahadur's enemies comes
to our quarter and territories, we will not entertain the word of the
said enemies, and will give no shelter in our country to the aforesaid
men, and whatever traders of Ladakh will come to our territories shall
meet no hindrances, and whatever we stipulate in writing on the face
the and friendship, unity, and fixing of
frontier of Ladakh territory and the keeping open of the road for
the traffic in shawl-pushm and tea, will not in the least be infringed
90
by us.

Thus the annual trade between Lhasa and Leh was reinstanted, the
Dogras taking the place and obligations of the Ladakhi kings. JigsmacL
Namgyal had to be satisfied with the village of Stog and the taxes of its

85. ORPS, 113/39, pp. 152-53, letter No. 38, dated 18-8-1842, Cunningham to
Clerk.
86. Meng-Pao, 'Hsi-tsang Tsou-shu,* in Himalayan Battleground, by Fisher,
Rose, Huttenback, p. 173.
87. 154/45, pp. 108-11, Letter No. 370 dated 31-8-1842, Clerk to T.H.
Maddock.
88. ORPS, 131/86, p. 173, Letter No. 772, dated 5-9-1842, Maddock to Clerk.
89. ORPS, 154/65, pp. 151-52, Letter No. 424, dated 31-8-1842, Clerk to
Maddock, The date given in the Persian version of the treaty in the
Gulabnama is 14 Sept. whereas according t o the information received by
G.R. Clerk, the British Agent, the peace had been made with tne Lhasa
authorities on the 24 September, 1842. ORPS, 113/48 pp. 188-89, Letter
No 47, dated 28-10-1842, Cunningham to Clerk.
ORPS, 113/46, pp. 183-84, letter N o . 45, dated 19-10-1842 Cunningham
to Clerk I ORPSt 113/48, pp. 188-89, letter No. 47, dated 28-10-1842,
Cunningham to Clerk ; 113/49, pp. 190-92, letter No. 48, dated 1-12-1842,.
Cunningham to Clerk.
90. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnama, pp. 264-65.
/
220 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

few peasants, ard hardly a single one of the old Ladakhi, Official
91
remained in office.
According to the Persian version of the treaty the Tibetans referred
to the ancient bour daries of Ladakh and guaranted that they would in
future have no designs on Ladakh. that they would not aid or give
shelter to Gulab Singh's enemies, and that they would carry shawl-wool
_and rea trade via Leh in accordance with the old customs.
In both the Tibetan and Persian notes the existing situation was
recognised. On the part of the Tibe'ans, the Dogras were recognised
as ihe legitimate authority in Ladakh. Gulab Singh surrendared all
claims on western Tibet. The old established frontiers" were reafirmed
and both the contracting parties agreed to respect them. The Gyalpo
was permitted to reside in Ladakh so long as he refrained from in-
trigues against the Dogra rulers. He was granted permission to send
annual gifts to Dalai Lama and his ministers if he so desired.
The British Government raised no objection to the trade arrange-
ment made by the treaty that Nari Pushm will flow to Ladakh, and not
to Bushahr. British Government silently acquiesced in this settlement
which shows their real interests involved in the affair were political and
not commercial.
Suppression of Rebellions in Baltistan, Purig and Zanskar.
The inhabitants of Baltistan had also rebelled. The pro-Doera
rulers of Shigar and Iskardu had been imprisoned by Kachu Haidar
Khan who was ruling in both principalities. The Dogra officers and
soldiers deputed in these lands had beea isolated and surrounded, and
Dogra rule in Baltistan had come to an end. Gulab Singh had, there-
fore, deputed his agent Wazir Lakhpat Kashtwaria for the suppression
92
of revolts there.
At the head of 2,000 Dogras Wazir Lakhpat entered Baltistan
through the Chelong Suru stream. He met resistance all through his
advance but the Wazir pressed onwards and reached Kargil. Diwan
Hari Chand and Wazir Ratnu had already curbed the rebels in the Tek-
Tek-mu battle ard had left for Ladakh Wazir Lakhpat therefore set
the internal administration in order and made up preparations for an
advance on Baltistan in consultation with Raja AH Sher Khan, ruler of
93
Kar-Takhana.
The Wazir crossed the river Dras by the Karkat bridge, and demo-
lished at Shanghu Sigbar the haunt of rebels, and made them all priso-
ners. Sweeping over the Dev-Sai plain he went down the Kafchun
91. Francke, A.H. Hist, of Western Tibet, p. 167.
92. Hashmat Ullah Khan, op. cit., p. 409 ; Narsing Das Nargis, Tarikh-i-
Dogra Des, Jammu, 1947, p. 513.
93. Hashmat Ullah Khan, op. cit,. p. 410.

f
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 221

stream. His raid was so cautious and rapid that the rebels there were
taken by surprise.
When Kachu Haidar Khan got the intelligence of the arrival of the
army in Kaf-chun, he gave up the idea of battle and shut himself up in
94
Khar-puche fort. The Wazir reached Iskardu and set siege to the fort,
which continued for several days. But the Wazir's strategy did not
work. He then purchased the commander of the unit guarding the gate
who kept the gate open. The garrison was taken by surprise and was
completely annihilated The fort was captured by the Dogra army by
morning. Kachu Haidar Khan had to escape, but was captured along
with his 80 companions and sent to Jammu.
The Wazir Lakhpat set fire to Khar-puche and razed it to ground,
and completed the new fort on the top of a hill, foundation of which
had been laid by Wazir Zorawar Singh. He appointed Bhagwan Singh,
who had been released from his Niali confinement as the commander of
the new fort with a garrison of 300 men. For the maintenance of this
garrison he levied, in addition to the Raja's cesses, some new ones in
kind in the form of certain quantities of wheat, butter, salt and fodder
which were to be collected by the Raja of Iskardu and handed over to
the garrison. No nizarana or revenue was to be charged from the
95
people.
Muhammad Shah was confirmed in his'Rajaship of Iskardu and his
powers and prerogatives were not interfered with. The Rajas of Khapulu
and Kurrus were confirmed and their jagirs were continued as before.
Raja Ali Sher Khan was maintained inhisjagir of Kartakshsho. Simi-
larly Ahmad Khan Raja of Tolti was retained in his jagir.
After settling affairs at Iskardu and Shigar Wazir Lakhpat attacked
the Raja of Rondu who submi(ted and surrendered his son as hostage .
The rebel Raja of Astor was also humbled and reinstated in his office.
96
He captured all the rebel leaders and carried them along.
He set up garrisons in the forts of Kargil, Dras and Suru for the
defence of Purig. In short, Wazir Lakhpat's expedition met with a
singular success and the administration he set up in Baltistan and Purig
became the foundation for future government.
He then reduced Zanskar captured the Gyalpo Cheymur and bis
family, and appointed Mehta Basti Ram the thanadar of Zanskar and
also built a new fort there. The haunts of rebels were thus demolished
and the whole of Baltistan, Purig and Zanskar was reduced to complete
submission before Wazir Lakhpat left for Jammu with a crowd of
97
prisoners and hostages.
94. Ibid.
95. Ibid. p. 411.
96. Ibid.,p 413.
97. Ibid., p. 414.
 222 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Thus the territories lost as a result of Geneial Zorawar Singh's

defeat and death were successfully retrieved by Gulab Singh. He
wisely directed the expedition against the rebels and the Tibetan
invaders. In a short space of three months all the territories of
Baltistan, Ladakh and Zanskar were reclaimed and reconquered.
These territories became an integral part of Jammu Raj by an inter-
national treaty. Gulab Singh succeeded appreciably well in enhancing
his prestige as military commander and conqueror.
Anglo-Dogra Rivalry in Central Asia
When General, Wazir Zorawar Singh conquered Ladakh and
Baltistan during 1834 and 1840, the British found no excuse to
intervene, nor were these conquests considered by them in any way
98
injurious to British interests. Surprisingly, it was the Lahore
Darbar and not the British Government which became concerned over
affair at that time ticed that Gulab
commercial regulations interfered with the regular supply of shawl-
,,
wool and "the grasping ambition of the favouritcs caused Raniit
Singh some misgivings amidst all their protestations of devotion and
loyalty. The British had not felt as much concerned over the Dogra
conquests of the Ladakhi and Balti territories in spite of the fact
that the Gyalpos of these territories had offered to tender their
allegiance and sought British protection. But the representation of
the chiefs of these countries remained unheeded, and the British
government thought it better to stick to its previous policy of non-
interference and the British Governor General instructed G R. Clerk
•'that there can 99
be no reason for interference on the part of his
Government." However they had not at all relished these encroach-
ments of Dogras.

On the question of Yarkand they could not remain passive as

An >lo-Chinese negotiations over the first Opium War were taking an
amicable turn and so they did not want that Dogra invasion of
Yarkand should in any way cause them embrassment. So the
British Agent at Lahore Darbar recommended to the Sikh
Maharaja"'to require Raja Gulab Singh to desist from his designs on
100
Yarkand, because the British authorities were of the opinion that'
Gulab Singh had opened squabbles with Yarkand, seized Garoo in
Chinese Tibet vthus monopolising trade in shawl-wool), and made the
frontier of Jammoo conterminous with that of the Goorkhas in Nepal
101
no great friends of the English Empire in India. . The success of
Dogra arms m Tibet therefore alarmed the British. "By making a
thrust into Western Tibet", observed a British political agent, "Raja
98 G Verainent 27th
* me?U, 3 5°2 ' M . 1835; Vigue, Travels in Kashmir and
Qn t0 G R ClGrk
" ' ?3-m?£ m. - ' ^ ' " W l . P o l . Consul. For Deptt,
100.
101. Marivale, Life of H.
 r

THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 223

Gulab Singh was desirous of acquiring territory,

102
and he was also intent
on monopolising the trade in shawl-wool.
Ranjit Singh had also realised the value of some sort of
understanding with Nepal, but he had discouraged Zorawar Singh
from his trans-Himalawan expenditions for fear of the Chinese
103
military power. But after his death the need for close cooperation
with Nepal was felt keenly because the Lahore kingdom had been
thorougly isolated and gradually encircled on all sides. The British
diplomats therefore concluded that the real aim of the Dogra capture
of Taklakot was to establish direct relations with Nepal in the hope of
104
promoting a mutually advantageous alliance, and report of British
agents positively emphasised the fact that Zorawar Singh wanted to
build a chain of forts from Ladakh to the borders of Nepal and was
105
endeavouring to gain Nepal's cooperation in this matter, . Probably
Nepal hoped to convert this alliance into a means of recaptuing
Kumaon.
As stated earlier, Gulab Singh's chief object in the conquest of
Ladakh was two fold : to encircle the Kashmir Valley, and to gain
access to the lucrative wool trade. With Ladakh in his hands all he
had to do was to enforce Ladakh's ancient claim to West Tibet which
would give him the complete control which he desired.
The fear of the British Government, however was readily stimulated
at the realisation of the prospect of a Dogra-Sikh-Nepali axis as soon
as Wazir Zorawar Singh marked his entry in Tibetan territory by
storming and occupying the frontier military post of Rudok on June 5,
jg41 106 T n e British officials received the intelligence of Zorawar
Singh's military exploits in Tibet with deep concern. Mr. G.R. Clerk
conveyed on 15th June, 1841, the first report of a collision having
occurred between the troops of Zorawar Singh and the militia
v
of Bashahr at some place near the frontier of Ladakh. He also
remarked on the designes of Wazir Zorawar Singh on Kanwar and
107
Rudok and suggested interference.
In order to remain well posted on the proceedings of the Dogra
forces in Tibet the British authorities thought of deputing a British
officer to some advance point on the frontier for the purpose
108
of obtaining accurate and early intelligence. Consequently,
T r
~

102. Clerk to Governmant, 5th and 22nd June, 1841.

103. Suri, V.S. Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Eng. trans , p. 282.
104. Political Proceedings, June 12,1837, No. 41 ; Wade to Chief Secretary
Fort William-N.A.I., New Delhi.
105. Seeret Consultations, September 13, 1341, No. 20, Lusbington to
Secretary, Govt, of N.W.P,, August 25, 1841-N.A.I., New Delhi.
106. Secret Consultation, December 20, 1841. No. 40. National Archives of
India New Delhi.
107. OEPS, 151/67, No. 85 of 15-6-1841, G.R. Clerk to T.H. Maddock.
108. ORPS, 54/17, Lunshington to G.R. Clerk, 15-7-1841, and 128/125, of
16-8-1841.
224 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Lieutenant Joseph Davey Cunningham was appointed as Agent to

the British frontier. Maharaja Sher Singh was also apprised of J.D.
Cunningham's109
deputation to the borders of Ladakh to inquire into
the matter. J.D. Cunningham left Simla on October 11, 1841.
He was instructed to inquire the intentions of Wazir Zorawar Singh
or his subordinates advancing on Rudok, Gartok and Manasarawar
the number and description of troops with which he or his officers,
had captured the latter place, the cause and pretext of these encroch-
ments and nature and ramification of 110 trade between Yarkand and
Ladakh and between Bashahr and Ladakh.
On reaching the border of Kan war Cunningham observed from a
close quarter all the military movements of Dogras and conveyed the
intelligence to the British authorities who also received similar reports
from their representatives at Kathmandu, the Commissioner of
Kumaon and other sources. Posted with all the facts of the situation
they assessed Dogra conquest of the regions of Tibet a great danger
to their interests which were found to be in conflict with those of the
Dogras and the Sikhs.
British Pressure for Recall of Zorawar Singh *

From the begining of the Tibetan episode, the British officials

were apprehensive of Chinese offence and were of the opinion that 111
China will not vtew with indifference the seizure of Garo by the Sikhs.
They therefore let the Darbar understand that the Governor-General
may probably insist on the return of the Sikh or Jhmmu troops from the
scene of their aggression.
Quite a vague answer to this protest was received. The reply
regarding the conquest was that no certain intelligence had been
received, but that Zorawar Singh had 113 probably coerced the tribes
bordering on Ladakh for their carelessness.
The Secretary to the Government of India was alive to the danger
of allowing the Sikhs and Gulab Singh to establish their authority in
that quarter. He took a stern stand and authorised Mr. Clerk formally
to require
114
the Maharaja recall Zorawar Singh and his detachment
forthwith . Mr. Clerk launched a strong protest with the Darbar
109. ORPS, 155/131, G.R. Clerk to Maharaja Sher Singh, 28-9-1841.
110. Sec. Cons. For. Dept., 25 Oct., 1841, No. 28, Clerk to Cunningham.
111. ORPS, 54, S. No, 31, dated 3-8-1841, B.H. Hodgson, Resident Nepal,
to G.R. Clerk, Agent NWF.
112. ORPS. 128/137, pp. i'279-89, Letter No. 1084, dated 16-8-1841, T.H.
Maddock, Secretary to the Govt, of India to G.R. Clerk, Agent NWF.
113. ORPS, 152/43, pp. 131-33, Letter No. 140, dated 9-9-1841 ; 155/124,
p. 129, letter No. 1, dated 23-9-1841, Lahore Darbar to Rai Govind 7ut,
114. ORPS, 128/152, pp. 331-32. Letter No. 1307, dated 20-9-1841, T.H.
Maddock, Secretary to the Government of India to G.R, Clerk, Agent,
NWF.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 225

against Zorwar Singh's encroachmenis and renewal of Sikh claims on

Chinese Tartary (Tibet). He also suggested to his Government the
adoption of peremptory measures with the Darbar for the withdrawal
115
of Zorawar Singh on account of his aggressions.
The Maharaja Sher Singh took it easy and the minister, Dhian
Singh wanted to give ample time to his brother Gulab Singh, to take
116
as much territory as was possible. They, therefore, neither gave
satisfactory replies about Zorawar Singh's activities, nor committed
119
themselves to the British demand of withdrawal of Zorawar Singh.
The impatient British Government conld not wait for the results of
the representation to Lahore court. They fixed the 10th December, 1841
as the date by which the Governor-General Lord Auckland, expected
113
Zorawar Singh's Dogra troops would withdraw.
Maharaja Sher Singh justified the proceedings of Wazir Zorawar
Singh, but at the same time he also committed that orders have been
issued for his return to the usual position as required by the British
119
Government.
The Maharaja was even obliged to own that Zorawar had acted
as he had in ignorance of the treaties between the Lahore and the
120
British Governments. The Khalsa Government then wrote a letter
directing Zorawar to return to Ladakh and to send Kesra Singh to
Lahore. But Wazir Zorawar Singh had apparently not received upto
18th November, the orders of the Lahore Darbar directing him to
131
withdraw to Ladakh. Sheikh Gulam Mohi-ud-din reported
from Cashmere that Wazir Zorawar Singh "was still on the other side
of Ladakh owing to the fall of snow, but was prepared to return to
122
that place.
The Dogra Rejas and their General Zorawar Singh, had
resented all this interference by the British Government in their
affair. They did not relish the idea of relinquishing their Tibetan
conquests. But they could not side-track the desire of their overlord
Maharaja Sher Singh. Differences between the Maharaja and his
minister Raja Dhian Singh, over rhe Tibetan affair had appeared. The
115. ORPS, 152/48, pp. 138-46, Letter No. 146, dated 22-9-1841, G.R. Clerk,
Agent NWF.
116. tflndi
117. ORPS, 152/49, pp. 146-49, Letter No. 147, dated 28-9-1841 ; 152/54, pp.
155-57, Letter No. 154, dated 14-10-1841.
118. ORPS, 155/132, p. 140, dated 19-10-1841, G.R, Clerk to Maharaja
Sher Singh.
119. ORPS, 155/133, pp. 134a to 138a, dated 31-10-1841, Maharaja Sher Singh
to G.R. Clerk, Agent, NWF.
120. ORPS, 155/134, pp. 138a-140a ; 155/134, pp. 140a-41a, Maharaja Sher
Singh to Rai Kishan Chand.
121. ORPS, 113)5, dated 18-11-1841, Cunningham to G.R. Clerk.
122. Punjab Akhbars, No. 613, dated 22-11-1841.
226 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
*

Maharaja had desired Fakir Aziz-ud-din to write u letter on His

Highness' part to Mr. Clerk stating the urgency of the Maharaja's
orders to recall Wazir Zorawar Singh from the scene of new conquests
against the will of the Rajas to which' the Fakir replied that such a
letter would only exhibit a difference between His Highness and his
123
minister and produce no benefit.
In the face of British protests and the Maharaja's anxiety to back
np the British demand, Raja Dhian Singh was left with no othei
alternative than to seek British cooperation in the Dogra designs on
Tibet. He tried to entice British authorities in the plan of Tibetan
conquests by suggesting that the Sikh and British Gvernments should
124
cooperate against the Chinese Raja Dhian Singh even conveyed
his personal suggestion to the British authorities that "were an
invasion to be undertaken in great force on this frontier of China in
concert with the British Government, it would be very beneficial to
125
both the allied Governments."

These approaches, however, were discouraged by the British

officials and Raja Dhian Sigh had at last to order the Wazir to return
to Ladakh. The Wazir in consequence recalled all his officers and taoops
from advance posts. But he still retained the possession of all his
conquests. At the same time he greatly regretted the receipt of such
orders and reported to Raja Dhian Singh, denying any interference
with the Almora and Kumaon districts, and informed them that he
had withdrawn all his troops from near that country and, that no
movement could now be effected owing to the fail of snow, but he
will return himself to Ladakh without fail. The Parwanas from Lahore
Darbar directing Zorawar Singh to withdraw to Ladakh were forwarded
to him through Lieut. J.D. Cunningham. The Lahore Darbar had
ultimately acquiesced in the British demand of withdrawal of conquering
troops and the relinquishment of new conquests.
THE CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The real causes for the British intervention in the Dogra conquest
of Tibet are not far to seek. The British commercial interests in
Tibet and Bashahr have been presumed by many to be one of these.
The lucrative shawl-wool trade had normally flowed from the plains
of Chong Tsang, (North-Westem Tibet) through Ladakh to the looms
of Kashmir. The hostilities and the subsequent disorders attending
the Dogra conquest of Ladakh since 1834 had temporarily diverted the
shawl-wool trade to Bashahr. The initial effect of the occupation
of Western Tibet by the Dogras was a sharp drop in the flow of wool
to the factories of Bashahr. The officials of East India Company
probably resented this slump and the Commissioner of Kumaon went
^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^fc^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^

123. Punjab Akhbars, 1839-40, No. 617, dated 25-11-1841, p. 263.

124. ORPS, 152/55, pp. 158-59, letter No. 155, dated 20-10.1841, G.R. Clerk,
Agent, N.W.F. to T.H. Maddock, Secretary to the Govt, of India.
125. Punjab Akhbars, 1839-40, p. 261, dated 22-11-1841.
 THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 227

to the length of snggesting "the interference of the British in order to

126
Tevive the trade which is at present at a standstill," and Mr. Clerk
was required to launch an effective protest in the matter with the
Lahore Darbar.
Cunningham took great pains in collecting data on trade and
forwarding reports pertaining to Bashahr trade and the effect which
might have been produced on it by the late proceedings of Zorawar
127
•Singh in the adjoining territories. British officials and agents
continued to study and report on injurious effects on trade of the
Dogra occupation of Western Tibet till middle of 1842, and complained
of hardship and injustice which the Bashahr and Kanawari traders had
suffered at the hands of Sikhs since they possessed themselves of
123
Ladakh.
After the withdrawal of Dogra claims on Western Tibet the
.question of Indo-Tibetan trade had to be taken up with Lhasa
authorities. The Lhasa Wazir, Zoorkung assured Cunningham of giving
protection to traders as before, but announced that if the trade in
shawl-wool through Bashahr arose subsequent to the Sikh occupation
129
of Ladakh, it must be discontinued. Although Cunningham stressed
the point that the trade had been in existence for upwards of 20 years,
yet the British Government did not give it much serious thought. It
seems to have been aware of the fact that flow of trade in hills followed
the course dictated by convention and topographical factors rather than
trade pacts.
The British Government was finally informed of the possibility of
the Sikhs and Tibetans coming to an understanding to adjust their
existing differences on terms based upon a monopoly of the shawl-
wool trade in favour of Kashmir via Ladakh. With the cession of
hostiities between the Dogras and Tibetans, the old trade relations
between Leh and Lhasa, which the wars had for a time upset, were
130
restored by the treaty signed on 22nd Septembes, 1842 , which laid
down, "That in conformity with ancient usage tea, pusham and shawl-
wool shall be transmitted by the Ladakh road. That no person from
131
Ladakh to Tibet and vice-versa will be obstructed ." The British
• • " —

126. ORPS, 128/140, pp, 292-94, dated 17-8-1841, T. Thomason to G R. Clerk.

127. ORPS, 11V4, Letter No. 4, dated 13-1-1841 ; 152/80, p 213 Letter No.
207 dated 29-11-1841 ; 128/206, p 413, Letter No. 1703, dated 22-11-1841.
128. ORPS, 113/8, pp. 27-29, Letter No. 8, dated 14-12-1841, Cunningham to
G.R. Clerk.
129. ORPS, 113/36, pp. 136-44, Letter No., 35, dated 50-7-1842.
130. Diwan Kirpa Ram in Gulabnama, p. 264, gives 2 Asuj 1899 which.
corresponds to 22 September, 1842. Aitchison, Treaties, Engagement &
Sanaa's ; has 17 September, 1842, Panikkar, p. 85, gives 15 August, 1842.
The copy of treaty forwarded by Raja of Bashahr gives the date 17
October 1842. Asuj 25, 1899 (Erskine to Clerk, 1 April, 1843, Foreign
Secret, 26 May, 1843 Nos. 61 63.
•131. Erskine to Clerk, 1 April, 1843, For. Secret, 24 Mav, 1843, Nos. 61-63 ;
Sapru, Appendix I ; Cunningham, pp. 220-21 ; Panikkar, pp. 84-89.

*
228 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Govrrnment raised no objections to this trade settlement. This seemed

to have been just an excuse for the British Government to exhibit their
displeasure of the Dogra-Sikh forward policy in Tibet which had
threatened their political position. In fact, they had no trade
interests in Tibet, except those of local nature, and this local trade on
both sides of the border continued as usual even after the settlement.
The one interest of the British authorities in Bashahr, as revealed
by contemporary records, was the safeguarding of that State as part
of Kumaon which 132
they had acquired from Nepal by the treaty of
Sanguli of l81o. The westwards thrust of Dogra forces seemed to
threaten Bashahr frontier and their reported aggression on its
fringes caused some misunderstanding. As early as January 1841 the
British autnorities had suspected Sikh invasion of Bashahr, but
their doubts were set at rest by the intelligence received on 18-1-1841 133
that the invasion of Bashahr by the Sikh forces will be prevented.
Howevar the Lahore Government was given an emphatic warning
that the British Government will not countenance any aggression on its
part or that of134its ministers, Raja Dhian Singh and Gulab Singh, on
that frontier. In response the Darbar gave an assurance, and
directed its Vakil, Lala Chuni Lai, to see that no aggressions are 135
committed by the State of Lahore on the borders of Bashahr.
However, some minar complaints had arisen on account of infringe-
ment small
The British officials demanded the punishment by the Darbar of
the official commanding this
136
aggressive party for levying a sum of
money from the village . The Maharaja seems to have assured
British authorities to redress these complaints and that Kesra Singh,
137
who crossed the Sutlej into Almora District, would be punished.
The Roja of Bashahr also put up his claims on two villa, es in Spiti,
Pin and Gheo. which was now under Dogra occupation as part of
Ladakh. After looking into the matter Cunningham rejected his claim
on Gheo but upheld that on Pin.

It seems that the Dogra involvement in Bashahr was not at all

feared. This affair may have been pressed beyond proportions with a
view to heighten the gravity of the Dogra forward policy in Tibet
and justify the British demand for Zorawar Singh's withdrawal,
132. Col. J. Nicholis to CM. Ricketts, Principal Private Secretary, 16 May,
1815, No. 44, Historical Papers Relating to Kumaon 1809-1842.
(Allahabad, 1956) p. 30 by B.P. Saxena.
133. Press lists of old Records, etc , p. 105, S. No. 447.
134. ORPS, 128/109, p. 222, dated 11-7-1841, T.H. Maddock, Secretary to
Govt, of India, to G.R. Clerk, Agent, N.W.F.
135. ORPS, 155/102, pp. 113-15, Sent to the Indian Goveryment on 22-6-1841
136. ORPS, 125/172, pp. 349-50, Letter No. 1430, dated 8-10-1841, T.H.
Maddock Secreta/y to Govt, of India to Clerk.
137. ORPS, 155/136, p. 141, dated 31-10-1841, from Lala Harsaran Das,
British News-writer at Lahore to G.R. Clerk.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 229

The Real Apprehensions

The Dogra Sikh invasion of Tibet had threatened the political
interests of the East India Company, and its officials viewed with
genuine suspicion the rapid march of Dogra armies across the world's
loftiest plateau. The capture by Dogras of Taklakot, close to the
borders of Nepal caused real anxiety to the British Indian Government.
In an uneasy consternation, they reacted violently to the Dogra
movements. The increasing power and prestige of Dogra Rajas,
particularly of Raja Gulab Singh, was unsavoury to British rulers of
India.
Gulab Singh had not only established himself firmly in Jummu
province, but had entrenched his power in Ladakh and Baltistan. He
was trying to spread his influence throughout the hill states under
British protection, through matrimonial negotiations. He had negotiated
188
the marriage of the daughter of the Raja of Bashahr to his son-
Moreover, he was claiming the customary presents from Lahul, Kulu
and Spiti which these principalities used to make to the Ladakhi king in
139
the past, in order to increase his influence.
The British Government was painfully alive to the danger of the
increasing Dogra influence. Regarding the Dogra intentions in Tibet
they were of the opinion that Raja Gulab Singh "had no furthur
object in sending his troops to Chinese Tartary than to institute
enquiries into the nature of the country with the ultimate view of
Uo
establishing a hill soverignty " -

Thus the British authorities had come to the conclusion that

the Dogra forward movement eastward resulting in a connection
between the Sikhs and the Nepalese would be dangerous to British
141
interests.
A Dogra-Sikh-Nepali rapproachment was a great political compli-
cation which could have endangered the British Government in India.
From the Gorkha War of 1814-16, the cardinal point of the British
policy towards Nepal was the political isolation of Nepal from other
Indian states. The situation was made grave by the approach of
142
Dogra forces near the border of Nepal. When Raja Gulab Singh
conquered Ladakh, it was rumoured that his real aim was to extend
138. Bajpai, S.C. The Northern Frontier of India, Anlied Publishers Private
Lim'ted, Bombay 1970, p. 42.
139. Alastair Lamb, Britain and Chinese Central Asia, London 1960, p. 68,
J40. ORPS, Bundle N o . 41B, S. No. 45A, Letter dated 17-2-1842, Captain
H.M. Lawrence, Asstt. Agent, Governor General, Peshawar to G.R.
Clerk, Agent N.W.F.
141. ORPS, 152/41, pp 127-30, Letter No. 138,4-9-1841, G.R. Clerk. Agent
Governor General, N.W.F. to T.H. Maddock, Secretary to the Govt, of
India.
142. Minute by the L t . Governor T.C. Robertson, Meerut, 28 Sept. 1841 ;
Foreign Secret, 11 October. 1841, Nos. 46-51.
230 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RA1

borders of Lahore kingdom to verge on 143

Nepal in the hope of promot-
ing a mutually advantageous alliance, and having a direct contact
with the Hindu power. It was conjectured that Nepal hoped to obtain
from their alliance a means of recapturing Kumaon which he had
lost to the company after the Anglo-Nepali war of 1814-15. One
important aspect of British interests in Kumaon was the desire to put
a wedge of Company-controlled territory between these two powerful!
144
states.
The British fears concerning Nepal were increasing since 1837,
when a Nepali delegation had been well received in Lahore. The
establishment of a Dogra post at Taklakot made the situation grave
and the British Government decided not to allow the Lahore and-
Nepal dominions to march with one another behind the Himalayas.
It was thought that the pending negotations in the opium 145 war with
China migh be affected by the presence of Dogras in Tibet. Before
all these events could combine to jeopardise British interests, the
authorities decided to act. They demanded the withdrawal of the
Dogra General Zorawar Singh and his troops from Tibet, and
when they were informed that the Lhasa troops were already engaged
in repelling the encroachment of Zorawar Singh, Cunningham was
assured that "there will be no objection to restoring
146
Garo to tne Lhasa
authorities if they do nor*recover it themselves.
The Government of East India Company thus apprehended a
number of alignments against British interests in India. Any Lahore
Kathmandu rapproaehement would have been harmful to the British*
who were well aware of the extensive network of anti-British intrigue
that reached out from N epal to every important
147
ruler in India and to
such foreign conrts as Burma and Afghanistan. For many years, it was
a cardinal object of British policy to see ihat Nepal did not obtain
143
a common frontier with any other "powerful and aspiring hill state.
The Governor-General, therefore desired Mr. G.R. Clerk to inform,
Maharaja Sher Singh that in case Zorawar Singh was not restrained,
the long-standing Anglo-Sikh friendship will be irrevocably damaged.
The British Government heightened the gravity of the affair by bring-
ing forth various insinuations as narrated above to justify their
demand for recall of the Dogra General for which they exerted
heavy pressure on the court of Lahore. They even set 10th December,
143- Political Proceedings, No. 41, June 12, 1837, Wade t o Chief Secretary,,
Fort William. National Archives of India, New Delhi.
144. Margaret W. Fisher, Leo E. Rose & Robert A, Huttenback, Himalayan
Battleground, New York, 1963, p. 50.
145. Bajpai, S.C The Northern Frontier of India, 1970, p. 43.
146. ORPS, 85/264, p. 163, Letter No. 263, dated 13-12-1841. G.R. Clerk to
J.D. Cunningham, Asstt. Agent, on deputation to Bastiahr.
147. Leo E. Rose, "The Role of Nepal and Tibet in Sino-Indian Relations
quoted in The Himalayan Battleground etc., p. 51.
148. Secret Consultations, Enclosure, Vol. 79, 1841, Thomason to Lushingtoa
September 1, 1841.
THE DOGRA DEBACLE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS AFTERMATH 231
149
1841 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the Dogra forces. In case
compliance was not made by that date then the British Government
threatened to adopt its own measures for curbing the unwarantable
and hostile proceedings of those under whose directions Zorawar was
150
acting. The British agent deputed to the border of Ladakh was ins-
151
tructed to witness and report on its evacuation by the Dogras , and the
Maharaja was made to realise that it was his duty to pnt an instant
stop to their aggressions either by his own means or if those are not
adequate to the purpose by uniting with the British Government to
152
that object. Thus on this occasion the British Governor General
seemed intent on supporting his political moves by military force.
Sher Singh, however, "could not afford to impair his amiable relations
173
with the British." He, therefore, hurried to order Zorawar Singh
154
to move back within the former possession of Ladakh, and asked
him to present rupees 525 as Ziafat and rupees 125 as Sarwarna to
Lt. Cunningham He was also desired to procure a Razinama or
155
certificate of satisfication from the British observer in West-Tibet.
But Before these proceedings could take any shape the Tibetan armies
and the caval cade of winter had moved against the Dogra forces of
occupation and the decisive battle was fought at To-yo resulling in
the death of Zorawar Singh and the destruction of the Dogra army.
This changed the whole situation as well as the British attitude towards
Dogras Rajas. Now they tried to placate Gulab Singh by upholding
his claim over Ladakh against the Tibetans, and later on offered
their good offices to adjust differences between the Dogra Rajas
and Chinese, for they needed Gulab Singh's help in their march on
Jalalabad and Kabul.
But Gulab Singh had resented this British interference in his
Tibetan affairs. He did not forgive them for their political pressurisa-
tion in Zorawar's episode. While the British Governor-General was
brow-beating Gulab Singh's suzerain and frightening him into
disowning Zorawar and order his recall, Gulab Singh was showing
his resentment by delaying the advance of the British relieving force
towards Kabul.
The unwanted British interference in his Tibetan affairs provoked
Gulab Singh to bring into play the black magic of diplomacy to
vanquish his white rivals and make them realise his power and sway
in the Punjab. The British 'politicals' at Peshawar learnt to treat
him better than they had done before the Kabul disaster.

149. Datta, C.L Ladakh and Western Himalayan Politics, p. 163.

150. Sec. Cons. For. Deptt., of 11-10-1841, No. 47, Govt, t o Clerk, 8-10-1841.
151. Sec. Cons. For. Deptt., of 8-11-1841, No. 45, a d of 11-10-1841, No. 47.
152. Sec. Cons. For. Deptt., 20-9-1841, No. 66, Government to Clerk.
153. Ibid., 22-11-1841, No. 20, Clerk to Government, 4-11-1841.
154. Ibid., Also No. 18 of 22-11-1841, Clerk to Maddock, 31-10-841.
155. Sec. Cons. For. Deptt., No. 18 of 22-11-1841. Same to same.
 CHAPTER TWELVE

Spell Of Dogra Diplomacy In Sikh State

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(A) THE DOGRA ROLE IN LAHORE t

The one great problem faced by the Lahore State after Ranjit
Singh was that of maintaining its internal unity, integrity and
tranquality, as well as counteracting intrigues of its self-seeking
courtiers and the British expanionists. This need of the State could
not be fulfilled by a purely communal government as the succeeding
events show. On the contrary, it required diplomatic genius of a
secular nature which could coalesce together its divergent constituents
the Muhamma' an, the Sikh and Dogra Rajput. The greatest and
the real danger to this heterogeneous State lay in its own body
politic more than in extraneous infections. The cankerous growth
which could invade its vitality had roots inside its own unhealthy
growth in the form of its p >lity, the disposition of its organs-court,
soldiery, revenues—and the character of its sovereigns, That the
Sikh state lamentably lacked the wholesome balance of these, is evident
from the fact that towards the end of his life, even Ranjit Singh found
it difficult to coatrol the diversified and mutually antagonistic elements
of which his cou t was composed, and when the reins of government
passed from his hands to those of his incompetent successors, order
speedily gave way to anarchy and bloodshed. "The army became
supreme, and the rival princes who endeavoured to buy its support
succeeded only in driving it and themselves farther and farther along
1
the road to destruction."
Ranjit had most of his life suffered from Anglo phobia and to
conceal his behaviour he heartily danced to every tnne of the 'Angrez-
behsdur. His successors took a big leap forward and sought to
bargain away half of the Lahore kingdom in order to hold the other
half for themselves with their support, as events at Lahare Court
from Julv 1839 to March, 1846 reveal Ranjit Singh was much to
share the responsibility of the abrupt downfall of the kingdom of the
Punjab. The signs of downfall had in reality appeared in his lifetime.
He had apprehended the British steadily approaching his borders
with a view to dub his territory. He had more than once recoiled
back indignantly to save his face from the touch of their red
wash but did nothing to save Lahore Kingdom from their onrush.
Rnther he left behnd to his successors a magnified image of British
1. Payne, C.H , A Short History of the Sikhs, reprint, Patiala, 1970, p. 111.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 233
*

power. He lived in constant dread of the British. When in 1826,

Durjansal of Bharatpur sought his aid and offered him to help
Bharatpur, he cowardly remarked, " I might perhaps drive the British
(or the Angrez Bahadur, as he styled them) as far as Allyghur, but I
2
should be driven back across the Sutlej and out of my kingdom."
In 1809 he had ignonimously yielded before British high-handedness,
and again in 1830's, on the question of Sind he is said to have
reminded his warlike courtiers that the Marathas fought the English
3
once —"and where are their 200,000 spearmen now." Such was the
1
reaction of this "Massinissa ' of Indian history to the naked aggress-
ions of the British, who was unconsciously consoliding the small
principalities of western Punjab only to be conveniently absorbed into
the British Indian empire. His attitude thus projected a magnified
impression of British power in Lahore Court resulting in lowering of its
morale.
The result was that the example of his abject submission before
the British was eagerly followed by his successors as the only logic for
the existence of a throne. This led to the development of the
disposition in the Lahore Court to look to the British in all matters,
and weak candidates for throne sought British blessings and help and
seemed to live under the obsessions that the British were their over-
lords, and had started behaving like states of Subsidiary Alliance,
without, of course, singing it.
The Dogra Rajas and most of their companions in the court were
opposed to the attitude of their soverigns. They wanted to see Lahore
kingdom a true soverign state with an independent internal and
external policy irrespective of British reaction. They did not relish
the idea of being allies of a power professing subordination to the
British dictates, except in case of limitations imposed bilaterally by
treaties This attitude of the Dogra Rajas had made them loathsome
to the British 'Politicals' and they considered them their enemies.
Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh could see through their dirty game and
would not allow the British tntriguers to temper with Lahore affairs
so far as it lay in their power They knew that the real danger to
Ranjit's kingdom was nestled in Calcutta and Simla. The British
authorities did their best to malign the Dogra Rajas, intrigued against
them and imputed motives to them. The British influence in Lahore
Court was mostly directed against the Dogra family ; and in spite of
efforts of the Dogra Rajas to stem it, it continued mounting due to
the incompetence of the Lahore rulers and pretenders. On the accession
of Kharak Singh this game had started when Sher Singh, a reputed son
of Ranjit Singh, had secrethy approached the British Agent at Ludhiana,
4
seeking his advice and support for his claim to the throne. Thus started
2. M' Gregor, History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, p. 35, rep ; Patiala, 1971.
3. George Bruce, Six Battles for India, p. 59.
4. "Sher Singh, the brother, has shown discontent and mistrust and he called
his followers about him and had applied to m« for help. " Auckland to
Hobhouse, Private 14 July, 1839. Broughton MS. No. 36476, fol. 105 a
(Hasrat, p. 87).
234 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

the vile conspiracy on the part of pretenders to, and occupiers of,
the throne of Lahore, for subordinating the interests and sovereignty
of the Sikh kingdom to the British—a move which was opposed tooth
and nail by the Dogra junta till their ranks were thinned down by
assassination to only the lone survivor, Gulab Singh.
With the advent of British influence in Lahore Court a new feature
entered the Lahore politics. It was the anti-Dogra move raised by the
rival group anxious to capture power, a move in which rulers them-
selves heartily indulged. The move was initiated by the very first
successor of Ranjit Singh whose accession to the throne was entirely
due to the goodwill of the Dogra Rajas. Kharak Singh did not deserve
the throne, nor was he qualified to hold it for long without the aid of
his able Prime Minister, Dhian Singh. It is doutfui, opines Steinbach,
whether an individual could have been found less calculated to occupy
the place of Ranjit Singh than his successor Kharak Singh.

Naturally of very weak intellect, his education totally neglected,

he soon proved
5
himself wholly incompetent to hold the reins of
government. He ventured to transfer his confidence from Dhian
Singh, the active
6
Prime Minister of his father, to another Chief named
Chet Singh, a man, 7
who had nothing to recommed him but arrogance
and sycophancy. He "being desirous to become an independent
minister,
8
was rival of Dhyan Singh, and was contriving to remove
him." Maharaja Kharak Singh connived at the intrigues of Chet Singh
against Dhian Singh, and both combined to strengthen an anti-Dogra
faction at the court. The courtiers, however, were averse to Chet
Singh's ambitions and Prince Nao Nihal Singh could no longer brook
Chet Singh meddling with State affairs. The courtiers were so much-
disgusted3
with the favourite that ''all were on the watch to seize Chet
Singh."

Unfortunately, the rival factions could not reconcile and Chet

Singh decided to move his rival by an assassin's knife. By the 8th
of October, things had reached such a pitch that the murder of the
whole Dogra family had been decided on. "See, what will become of
you in twenty-four hours," Chet Singh is reported to have threatened
Dhian Singh in a whisper in the Court."
10
Your humble servant, Sir,
we shall see" answered Dhian Singh. And the same night, not Dhian
Singh, but "Chet Singh the most abnoxious and most powerful of the

5. Steinbach, The Punjab, rep. Patiala, 1970 pp. 19-20.

6. Hugh Murray, History of India, London, 1862, p. 557.
7. M' Gregor, History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, rep. 1970, p. 5.
8. Abstract of Punjab Akhbars 20th Julv, cons. 25th September, Punjab-
Akhbars, 1839-41, pp. 239-41—NAl (ND).
9. Secret 1839 Deptt., Copy R. 14th Abstract of Punjab Akhbars, 24th
September Punjab Akhbar, 1839-41, pp. 260, 264-NA1 (ND).
10. Hugh Pearse, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, rep. Patiala, 1970, p . 214.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 235
11
Maharaja' fovurittes was done to death." "On October, 1839, Chef
Singh, the brother-in-law and unwoithy favourite of the Maharaja was
murdered by a combination of Sikh chiefs instigated by Raja Dheean
Singh and with the sanction of Naunihal Singh. The excuse was that
12
Chet Singh was plotting against Dheean Singh."
Kharak Singh's attempt to remove Dhian Singh from Prime
Ministership was premature and inopportune. He perhaps did not'
realise that his own success as a ruler depended solely on Dhian Singh's
cooperation.

At the murder of Chet Singh a general sense of relief was felt by

all courtiers and they were all of the opinion that "now all will ga
straight." But the murder could not improve matters at Lahore. It
not only increased chances of British interference in Lahore affairs, but
also embittered relationa between the Maharaja and his son, Nao Nihal
Singh. Maharaja Kharak Singh refused to acknowledge the autohrity
of Nao Nihal Singh. Finally, the father and the son became averse
to Dhian Singh who found wisdom in withdrawing his hand from
state affairs and the Dogra Raja obtained a month's leave and left
for Jammu on January 16, 1840.

The whole affair reveals that sentimentalism, nepotism and narrow

factionalism reigned supreme in Lahore court at the cost of the stability
of the State and soundness of its administration. The sovereign, the
heir-apparent and some ambitious courtiers were all wading through the
dirty mud of personal rivalries, seeking to drive away their veteran
Prime Minister, only to realise their folly soon after. It is even alleged
that "Nau Nihal's first object was to make himself master of the Punjab
13
by destroying the Jammu Rajas ." But the very first experience of the
ambitious prince was unsavoury and Dina Singh' absence from the
Darbar bred more poblems and eased none. His departure aggravated
Lahore affairs. Mismanagement became rampant on all sides and con-
fusion became all the more confounded. "Consultations are hied in every
14
place but without any satisfactory result." In fact the administration
of affairs was deteriorating. The turmoil created at the Darbar and the
absence of a towering personality resulted in lowering the prestige of
the Central Government and its hold on Kindgom. The grip of the
central authority became weak and the provincial governors and
15
kardars were defalcating with state money and were deliberately

11. Auckland to Hobhouse (Private), 25 September, 1839, Broughton Papers,

M.S.B.M. Hasrat P.P.
12. Lord Aukland to Maharaja Kharak Singh, 24 October, 1839, Broughton-
Papers, MS.B.M. Hasrat, P.P.
13. Cunntngham's History of the Sikhs, 1915, p . 208n.
14. Wad
15. ORPS. 147-III/173 of 9-12-1840. Wade to Maddock
4
236 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
16
witholding payment. The retirement of Dhian Singh, the most exper-
17
ienced and the most able minister the Punjab has ever had" led to
wide-spread chaos and shook the political and economic stability of the
country. Consequently the Kan war and his group of advisers, finding
themselves incompetent, were forced to instruct Dhian Singh on
. January 24 to return soon to the Court 'accoding to his promise',
and on January 30 sent Bhai Ram Singh to Jammu to bring back the
Raja. Even the imbrcile Kharak Singh, realised the true worth of the
; Raja, so that he was fain to reinstate Dhian Singh in his frormer minis-
terial authority "under the promise of absolute power,'but the Raja
18
declined the offer .
He was sceptical of intentions and sincerity of the fiickle-minded
Kharak Singh who seemed to tolerate him in the Darbar because of his
indispensability. The Maharaja persisted in his anti-Dogra attitude
and carried on secret conspiracies to oust them from power, hurled upon
Dhian Singh abuses and insults on every occasion, public or private,
which the Raja bore patiently. The Maharaja remained determined 10
19
spare no effort to make his poiifion untenable at the Darbar.' Min-
awsr was taken away from the Dogra Rajas at their great chagrin, and
efforts were being made to recall Dswan Kirpa Ram for installation as
Wazir. In the middle of August the Maharaja resumed the Neeli Jagir
22
of the Jammu Rajas, a measure which exasperated them still further.
The Dogra Rajas also suspected duplicity on the part of the Kanwar.
Therefore Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh were frequently absenting
themselves from the Darbar on some pretext or the other.

Kharak Singh at last died on the 5th November, 1840, prematurely

old and worn out, and Nao Nihal Singh, became a king in name as
well as in power ;" but the same day dazzled him with a crown and
deprived him of life." He had performed the last rites at the funeral
pyre of his father, and he was passing under a covered gateway (deodki)
with the eldest son of Gulab Singh by his side, when a portion of the
structure fell, and killed the minister's nephew on the spot, and so
seriously injured the prince that he became senseless at the time and
expired during the night.
4

Raja Dhian Singh had kept the death of Nao Nihal Singh a close
secret till it" was at length decided on his advice to offer the crown to
21
the Prince Sher Singh," and till the arrival of the latter at Lahore on
8 November. The Raja who had assumed the active management of
everything, secured the fort, the gates of the city, and the Gobindgarh
Fort. All but ihe most confidential ministers were excluded from the
16. ORPS, 148-1/26 of 21/22-1-1840, Wade to Maddock, P.G.R.
17. ORPS, 149/54. Clerk to Tarrens, August 25, 1840, P.G.F.
18. ORPS, 149/13, Clerk to Maddock May 9, 1840, P.G.R
19. ORPS, 149/58, Clerk to Maddock, August 25, 1840, P.G.R.
20. Ibid.
21. Steinback, The Punjab, pp. 25-27.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 237'

fort. On the arrival of Sher Singh, the news of Nao Nihal's death was.
made public and, Dhian Singh, in consultation with the senior members
of the council, invited Prince Sher Singh to occupy throne. But Chand
Kaur, the wife of Maharaja Kharak Singh and mother of Nao Nihal
Singh who had reached on 6th November, had also preferred her claim
to sovereignty.
She was not slow to challenge the legitimacy of a man22
whom she
described as ' sheroo choba'—the hastard son of a dyer. She found
ready supporters to her cause in Bhai Ram Singh and the Sindhanwala
Sardar. She also tried to make a common cause with Raja Dhian
Singh and tried to "win the Raja and the empire by herself adopting
23
his
son Raja Heera Singh and placing him on the vacant Guddee." This
was, however, declined by the sincere Raja who proposed that instead
she should unite all the parties by marrying Sher Singh. This she
rejected with disdain. No compromise could be arrived at. Chand,
Kaur, therefore, got the help of the powerful Sindhanwala Sardars and
soon her party gathered strength and included Gulab Singh and Hira
Singh beside about a dozen eminent courtiers of Lahore. Sher Singh
described by the British as "an amiable voluptuary" had the backing
of Raja Dhian Singh and a number of other couriiers. Civil war now
loomed large. The disruption of the Kingdom and "feringee" inter-
ference was feared. Dhian Singh once again rose to the occasion and
sought to reconcile the claims of both the claimants to royal power
who seemed in heat of the moment least concerned about the larger
interests of the Sikh kingdom. He struck a bagain between two parties
and on 17 November a calition arragement was arrived at including
Chand Kaur as Regent under the designation "maee" and Sher
Singh Vice-regent and President of the Council of the Chiefs, as well
as commander of the army ; and Dhian Singh was to remain as there-
tofore, the wazir,
24
and Aziz-ud-Did was to be the counsellor of the
State, as usual
But the rivalries of the claimants continued brewing up, and soon
a conspiracy developed to kill Sher Singh who seemed to have lost
courage and slipped away to his estate of Batala, "Dhyan, however,
25
promising to establish him on the throne at an opportune moment. "
On December 2, Chand Kaur was declared the Maharani (Regent)
of the Punjab with the title of Malika Makkadas. A month latter Dhian
Singh was also compelled to retire to Jammu, and Sindhanwala got
complete con trol of the government.
But both the sovereign and her new ministers proved incompetent.
Chand Kaur "regarded the supreme authority as a means of indulging
26
her passions and vices. " The Sindhanwala found the conduct of
22. Kushwant Singh, A Hist, of the Sikhs, II, 15.
23. ORPS, 150/39 of 11-11-1840, Clerk to Mad dock.
24. ORPS, 150/48, of 24-11-1840, Clerk to Maddock.
25. M' Gregor, W.L , The History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, p. 7.
26. Anon., History of the Punjab, Allen and Co., Vol. I I , p. 225.
 23 g A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

administration quite different from the hatching of conspiracies. Conse-

quently, confusion and disorder ensued on a scale as to compel both
the chiefs and the army to invite Sher Singh and Dhian to take up the
administration in their own hands and save the country from the
developing disruption and the British Agent at Ludhiana had to
report.
''The maee said if the Rajah (Dhyan Singh) went at such a time
as this when Dost Muhammad was coming across and other British
convoys marching to Peshawar, she will deport herself to Fattehghur.
Bhaee Ram Singh said that he would return to the Benaras. Jamadar
Khushal Singh said that he would go to his native place near Saharn-
pore. Sardar Uttar Singh said that he would return to the Ganges.
And Fakeer Azeezood 27
Deen begged them for God's sake to talk like
reasonable beings."
Dhian Singh's endeavours at a peaceful settlement had failed, resu-
lting in lowering of the prestige of the rulers, and further intrigues and
riots peeped at every crevice. Gulab Singh had anticipated the deviop-
ment of what might prove harmfnl to the Dogra interests.
Lawlessness amounted. The Sikh soldiery were grown unruly and
mutinous. The men over-ruled the officers, threatened them and
somerimes forced them to resign. They set up small committees called
Punchayats on the pattern of village councils in every unit from troops
" battery and 28company to brigade level to run the Khalsa in opposition to
the officers. Turbulence prevailed everywhere, Various were the
elements of discord raging at Lahore in the absence of Dhian Singh.
Chand Kaur's partisans, the Sindhanwalas proved worst intriguers but
worthless diplomats. They miserably failed to uphold the power and
control of the government over soldiery and other distressing elements.
Ventura was forced to tell the Maharani that the Khalsa power would
dissolve into nothing if Dhian Singh did not return, and the whole
country would rise for plunder
29
and that the British were close at hand
at Ferozepore watching. The English moblised troops towards Sutlej.
Sir William Macnahghton even proposed "that the treaty of 1839 be
unilaterly declared by the British30to be null and void and Peshawar be
added to the Durrani kingdom." He also further suggested that the
Punjab be split into two parts to be ruled by the predominant chiefs in
each 31meaning Siudhanwalias in the plains and Dogra Rajas in the
hills. The Sindhanwalas thus seemed to play the game for the British
in creating dissenions at Lahore and thereby weakening the State.

27. Ibid.
28. Bruce, George, Six Battles for India, p . 67.
29. Ibid, p. 69.
30. Macnaughton, to Governor General, Nov. 26, 1340, Governor General to
MacnaughtOD, Dec. 28, 1840.
31. Ibid.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 239

The second Dagra apprehension about the British interference, was

coming out true. If the British authorities were reluctant to intervene
in Punjab affairs on their own initiative, chiefs were not wanting
in Lahore who sought. British Governor-General's support to
uphold their claims on the Lahore government. Even Sher Singh was
toying for British support and as Aukland wrote : "at my suggestion
or perhaps without it he would write away half of the Punjab to the
British Government to obtain its interference in his favour. Chand Kaur
32
would do the same assuredly should the chiefs turn against her." She
had actually deputed Ajit singh Sindhanwalia to Lndhiana "to sell his
33
country", and to seek British help on the terms that "they should
make their own arrangments in the Punjab, that such a Ministry ahould
please the maee as well as any other ; she would wish to have a resident
34
with one or two battalions at Lahore to protect her rights." Sher Singh
was believed to have been in league with the British since Kharak
"Singh's accsssion.
The British, however, did not support Chand Kaur's lost cause,
nor were Sher Singh's overtures forceful, for he apprehended "the army
would be more exasperated and might destroy him in an hour" before
the arrival of the British help. Dhian's loud protests in the Darbar
may have also deterred the British from moving into the Punjab politics
or else the claimants to throne would have been glad enough to be
relieved of the half burden (which finally did happen in 1846) of the
kingdom of the Khalsa but for Dhian Singh's adroitness and the anti-
British policy of the Dogra Rajas who were prepared to counteract any
such move and maintain the unity and liberty of Ranjit's kingdom.
Gulab Singh was closely watching the developments of events at Lahore
and Ludhiana and was making arrangements to intervene at the proper
moment. Dhian singh stood for the integrity and sovereignty of the
Lahore kingdom and made all possible endeavours to maintain its
honour aud prestige "and to uphold the tottering Khalsa" at this
35
crisis. But when Sher Singh left Lahore on 2nd December, 1840, and
a council of four chiefs, including Dhian Singh, was formed, and he
found his position untenable, he got permission from Chand Kaur to
leave for Jammu for a month and left Lahore on January, 1841. Gulab
Singh and Hira Singh remained behind with the Mai, perhaps in accor-
36
dance with a preconcerted plan.

"As soon as the Raja Ji went to Jammu," writes Sohan Lai,

"differences found their way into the pillars of kingdom and the sweet-
heart of control aud administration of the countries and troops could

32. Auckland to Hobhouse, 7 Dec. 1840, fol. 419 ff.

33. Ibid
34. ORPS, 155/81 of 17-1-1841, Harsaran Das to Clerk.
35. Secret consult., For. Deptt., 116 of 7-12-1840.
.36. Kanheyalal, Tarikh-i-Panjab, p. 338.
240 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
37
not be acquired." Conseqnently Dhian Singh had to be immediately
recalled. It was a triumph of Dhian's diplomatic skill and administrative
ability. Rani Chand Kaur and her associates were to realize value of the
Raja. At the same time Sindhanwalias and other councillors became sure
they had no place in Lahore politics after the return of Dhian Singh.
Chand Kaur also saw her cause despoiled. They, therefore, lost no
time in sending their agent to seek British aid to maintain themselves
in power.
Before leaving for Lahore, Dhian Siugh sent Sher Singh a commu-
nication that the time for his arrival at Lahore was favourable where the
troops were ready to receive him. Immediately on receipt of this
communication he appeared at Lahore on the 14th January, 1841
accompained by only 300 horsemen. But soon leading European officers
like Ventura and Court, and generals and well to do Sikhs deserted to
his side along with their men so that by the night of January 15, not less
than 26,000 infantry, 8,000 horse and 45 guns had joined Sher Singh.
These sudden developments alarmed the ruling party which immediately
38
started preparations to meet situation as best as they could.

Maharani Chand Kaur did not lose heart on Sher Singh's arrival.
She appointed Gulab Singh as the Commander-in-Chiefs and charged
him with the task of defending the city. Raja Gulab Singh and Hira
Singh in concert with Chand Kaur, Sindhanwala Sardars, Jamandar
Khaushal Singh and other chiefs of their party, prepared for the defence
of the city and fort. But soon all other chiefs except Gulab Singh,
became lukewarm to Chand Kaur's cause and left the fort. Gulab Singh
decided to defend the Mai's cause to the last.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ » ^ « ^ n « « ft ^ " * ^

37. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. IV, P t . II. p. 9.

The Minister's departure announced to the whole world that the iron
man whose vigilance had kept the evil forces under control was now no
longer there. The awe inspired by his name which had so long held the
kingdom intact, vanished. The centrifugal forces thus got released and
had their free play. Disorder became rampant in all departments. The
chiefs of the Council were resuming much of the authority which they
had vested in Chand Kaur. Moreover, they acted with no concerned
among themselves. (L.H. Griffin, The Panjab chiefs, 331). In consequence
of such relaxation of authority, insecurity to trade and travellers increa-
sed. (151/6, Clerk to Maddock9th January, 1841 P.G.R.) The troops
grew refractory and the Commanders unwilling t o obey orders soon a
serious danger of commotion developedat the capitals. (L.H. Griffin,
The Panjab Chiefs, p. 331)." Raja Dhian Singh's absence seems already
to be regretted by all but some few Sardars who have not the sense to
discern, or the patriotism to deplore, the ruin which in consequence is
rapdily encompassing the R a j . " (151/2, Clerk to Maddock, 17 January,
1841, P G.R.). "All this greatly alarmed Chand Kaur all her partisans
who left convinced of their incapacity to govern. It was now well
realised that the Raja was quite indispensable. Urgent messages were,
therefore, repeatedly sent to him from the Rani and Bhai Ram Singh
through Misr Lai Singh, Fateh Singh Mann and other entreating him to
repair to Lahore without a moment's delay and engaging that all would'
obery him." (Muhammad Naqi, Sher Singh Nama, I, 14-b).
38. ORPS, 151/12 of 12-1-1841, Clerk to Maddock.
 SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 241

Wijh the intention of eventually gaining the maximum benefit out

of this situation, "the Dogra family now pretended to be divided
among themselves. Raja Gulab Singh and his nephew Hira Singh
espoused the cause of the queen, while Raja Dhian Singh declared for
39
the party of Sher Singh, who assumed the title of Maharaja."

Though on opposite sidas, the Dogras were not of them, but only
adhered the better to bend them to their interests. Most authorities agree
in attributing the different parts taken by them to some deeplaid scheme
of subtle policy. On the other side Sher Singh had started a double
game at Lahore. Fearing the influence of Dhian Singh, he wanted to win
the throne without the aid of Dogra family. For this purpose he found
an active and willing instrument in his Mukhtiar, Jewalla Singh. Thus
while on the one hand Sher Singh was assuring Dhian Singh of his reli-
ance on him alone, he had on the other hand "actually given Jewalla
Singh a written promise that in case the Khalsa troops agreed to and
succeed in the capture of Lahore and the ejection of Chand Kaur and her
party, wihout the aid of Raja Dehan Singh, he (Jewalla Singh) should
41
be appointed Wuzeer." However, Gulab Singh was "too old a pupil in
Ranjeet's school not to be able to see through the schemes of Jawalla
42
Singh and duplicity of Sher Singh." When on 13th January Sher
Singh suddenly arrived in Lahore and the whole Sikh army had been
won over to his side by bribes, Gulab Singh clearly saw that Sher
Singh's success in this enterprise, independent of the aid of his family,
would be a death blow to their hopes, he determined to oppose to the
last any attack made by the prince, and not to listen to any terms till
the arrival of his brother Dhian Singh on the scene of action.

As soon as Mai Chand Kaur and Gulab Singh shut themselves

up in the citadel, the Khalsa troops surrounded the city. "The
situation critical, writes Gulab Singh's artillery officer in the fort. "At
the utmost our force did not exceed 3,000 men and against us probably
not less than 1,50,000 men, with 200 pieces of artillery, encamped on
43
the plain of Mian Mir." But Gulab Singh adhered bravely to his
determination to defend the Maharani to the last. During the night the
defenders of the city gates were won over by Sher Singh and all gates
were thrown open and by daylight Khalsa army marched in at the
several gates of the city. Presently the fierce cries of some seventy
thousand wild infantry, and perhaps fifty thousands still more savage
followers, attracted by the scent of plunder, rent the air in loud
acclamations. Gulab Singh concentrated his Dogra troops in the upper
^ ^ m ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ B ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ *

39. Pears*?, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 228.

40. Symth, G.C., A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 41.
41. Ibid., p . 39.
42. Ibid-t p. 43.
43. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 230.
242 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
44
fort and made requisite preparations for whatever might come. Almost
45
all other Sardnrs deserted Gulab Singh's cause while the host
advanced to the assault. The small and silent band on the walls of the
fort calmly beheld the approach of the dense columns of infantry, the
squadrons of cavalry, and more fearful than all, the enormous train of
the Khalsa artillery. The entire circuit of the fort now presented a
closely wedged mass of the men, forming close up to the very walls. The
number of guns was so great that they formed as it were an entire and
connected battery round the fort ; ai d yet 01 hers for want of room in
the first line, had to take up positions in the rear "The little fort was
46
surrounded by sea of human heads." In face of this thundering ocean
of arms and artillery Gulab Singh's undaunted spirit of resistance was
unswerving. "With the hour, as 1 must say," writes Alexander Gardner,
"is even the case in critical period, came the man, and nothing could
surpass the calmness, the forethought, the activity, and the mental
47
resources of Gulab Singh His determination never failed him."
Gulab Singh made every preparation for the crisis that ingenuity could
devise and for two days they were hard at work. A space in front of the
gateway to the fort was cleared with much difficulty and twelve guns
were placed so as to bear on the wooden portals at a distance of not
more than thirty -five or forty yards in front of them. "The scene at this
moment was of a strange and fearful character, the dense mass of
fierce men waving to and fro almost up to the walls of the fort like an
48
angry sea beating against a rock." Destruction stared Gulab Singh's
small garison in the face—"We had red hot cannon-balls to blow our-
selves and the whole city into air, if the worst came to worst", writes
49
Alexander Gardner, commander of the garrison. Arrangements for
blowing up everything having been made, "On the morning of January
17, Sher Singh summoned Gulab Singh to surrender the Summan Burj. In
reply the latter asked for a truce until Dhian Singh's return. But excited
by the unlimited force at his command, enough to blow up his enemy at
an instance, Sher Singh did not wait for the arrival of Dhian Singh and
50
opened hostilities on the 17th January in the most spectacular manner.
44. Smyth, G.C., A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 47. "Rumours
of an intended outbreak had reached the ears of the Rani's party, and
Gu/ab Singh occupied the summon burj or citadel of Lahore with his
personal troops, about 3,000 men." Ibid.
45. The Chiefs in the fort with Chand Kaur were Attar Singh Sindhanwalia,
Gulab Singh Hira Singh Dogra and Mangai Singh Gulab Singh tried to
know the attitude of the Sikh Sardars. All swore heartily to be faithful
Tej Singh being the most ferven in his protestations of ioyalty. (Hugh
Pearse, Memoirs of Alexander GarJner, p. 231.
Regarding the loyalty of the chiefs within the fort to Chand Kaur.
Clerk observed that " h e r reliance on the cardinal assistance of anv of
these but the first (Attar Singh Sindhanwala) would be misplaced/'
151/13, Clerk to Maddock January 18, 1841-P.G.R.
46. Anon. History of the Punjab, Vol. II, p. 227.
47. Pearse, Hugh, op. cit., p. 282.
48. Smyth. G.C., A Hist, cfihe Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 48.
49. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 293.
50. Smyth, G.C., op. at., pp. 48-51.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 243
"The entire circle of guns about two hundred and thirty
pieces of artilllery simultaneously opened a fire of blank cartidge.
This was done probably in the expectation to terrifying the defenders of
tne fort. Then the twelve guns pointed at the Hazoori Bagh gate were
quietly loaded. The matches were lit and ready to hurl destruction on
the feeble portals. Loud and savage voices were heard, fiercely
demanding the opening of the gate. But the call was unheaded, imme-
diately then the twelve guns were fired at once, and the old gate,
with thirty-seven out of thirty-nine men placed inside to defend it, fell
before the terrible discharge. The two guns loaded with grape were now
all that opposed the entrance of the besiegers and there was left but one
51
out of sixteen artiliery men to fire them." Then with a wild yell some
300 Akalis swept up the Hazuri Bagh and crowded into the gate. They
were packed as clo e as fish, and could hardly move over the heaps of
wood and stone, the rubbish and the carts, with which the gateway was
blocked. Just at the moment when the crowd was rushing their swords
high in the air, Gardner, Gulab Singh's cavalry officer managed to fire
the guns and literally blew them into the air. In the pause which
followed he loaded the guns with the aid of three artillery-men who
survived and their next discharge swept away the hosile artillerymen who
were at the fourteen guns outside who had remained standing perfectly
paralysed by the destruction of the Akalis. Then Sher Singh fled and
grievous carnage commenced. The Dogras always excellent, marksmen,
seemed that day not to miss a man from the walls. The whole of the
artillerymen round the pieces in front of them strewd the ground. In
the Hazuri Baga they counted the bodies of no less than 2,800 soldiers,
200 artillerymen and 180 horses." During the confusion Sher Singh
escaped from the garden back to his former quarters in the barrack of
Mewa Singh and he thought it prudent to keep himself out of harms way
4uring the remainder of the siege.
Thus repulsed in their first attempts—the Khalsa opened a heavy
and general fire from their artiliery all around the place at a distance of
not more than sixtv or a hundred vards. This fire was continued with such
that it threatened tb But under ihe
well-directed fire of the garrison on the walls, the whole of the formidable
line was silenced and deserted in an hour. The Dogra on the ramparts
could now count no less than 146 guns with none but dead and wounded
men, horses and bullocks around them and so completely cammanded
by their fire that none dared to approch them. Only thirty-six guns of
large calibre belonging to the division of Sultan Muhammad were the
last to be silenced by the fire from the fort, the artilerymen having hit
upon an ingenious but barbarous method of protecting themselves They
had seized many women of the city and bound them to the wheels. Out
of gallantry to the sex the Dogra averted their fire. But compelled by
the havoc created by the fire of these guns the Dogra very cautiously
Tesumed fire. "The best proof, not only of their kind feeling but of
their skill as marksmeu, is the fact that of a thousand or twelve hundred
women who were thus barbarously exposed, only nineteen lost their
51. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, pp. 235-36.
244 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

lives, while not less then one hundred

52
and eighty-six of the artillerymen
were shot down at their guns." Only under the cover of darkness
could the Lahore army remove guns to the shelter of houses in the city
but with heavy loss.
Thus for three successive days and nights was heavy and inceasant
cannonade kept up by the Sikhs upon the place and returned by the
garrison to the best of their power. On the evening of January 17 Dhian
Singh and Suchet Singh reached the capital. Through Dhian Singh's
mediation,
5
hostilities terminated towards the noon of Tuesday, January
18. * The loss on the side of besiegers was 4786 men, 610 horses and
320 bullocks killed ; while 54the loss of the garrison did not in killed and
wounded exceed 130 men. Thus ended the memorable defence of the
fortress of Lahore. The part played by Gulab Singh on this occasion
marks him out as one of the cleverest tacticians at the Darbar. It greatly
enhanced his reputation as military leader and afterwards his name
always inspired awe in the55 minds of the otherwise tnrbulent and
uncontrollable Sikh soldiery* Moreover, Gulab Singh's diplomacy of
maintaining the influence of his family supreme in the kingdom of Lahore
had appreciably succeeded. Sher Singh could get throne only through their
favour. 56 Dhian Singh, therefore, was retained as Prime Minister of the
kingdom. They also extracted the maximum political benefit out of the
exigency by getting an agreement from Manaraja Sher Singh on the 11th
April, 1841, whereby he "confirmed in perpetuity to these respected
persons (Jammu Rajas) and their descendants, all honour and Jagheers
and other advantages conferred on757them in the time of Sree Rajah
Bahadur (Maharaja Ranjeet Singh).' This document was decried by
British authorities as virtual abdication of all powers by Maharaja
Sher Singh.
At the close of hostilities, Gulab Singh opened negotiations and
Rani Chand Kaur gave up her right to the throne in return for the
conditions—first, the jagir of nine lakhs for the princess Khari x
Khariall; second, Maharaja Sher Singh could not ask for the Rani s
hand ; third, the Dogra garrison of the fort should be allowed to march
ont unmolested and with flying colour. While evacuating the fort on
the forenoon of January 19, Gulab Singh had not "lost the opportunity
of securing about two millions of treasure in his honourable
58
hands from
the fort which spoil was securely conveyed to Jammu." And now came
/
^^•^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"^^^^^^^

52. Smyth-, G.C., A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p . 51.

53. ORPS, 151/16 dated January 21, 1841, Clerk to Maddock.
54. Smyth, G.C., A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p . 57.
55. Chopra, B.R. Kingdom of the Puujab, p. 127.
56. Griffin, L.H. The Punjab Chiefs, p. 336, rightly points out that "the fort
was defended in the interest of Dhyan Singh and not of Chand Kaur is
clear . rom Raja Hira Singh being present within it and one of its ableast
defender being Sultan Muhammad Khan, devoted follower of the Raja
(Dhian S i n g ) / '
57. ORPS, 40-11/103, dated April 23, 1841, Macheson t o Clerk.
58. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p . 237.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 245

a masterpiece of acting on the part of Gulab Singh," "writes Alexander

Gardner, "He presented the Koh-i-nur with much embrassment to the
reigning sovereign, and took great credit for saving the royal property.
In rethrn he obtained a firman for twenty laks worth of villages west of
Bhimbur59
and was recognised as guardian of the Maharani Chand
Kaur." Eventually when Chand Kaur was murdered a few months
later by the orders of Sher Singh the jagir and property of the Rani was
appropriated by Gulab Singh. Thus the "wily Ulysses" of Jammu
secured to himself, as a result of bravery and diplomacy, objects of no
small consideration. The combined force of all the Khalsa and their
Maharaja could not defeat his diplomacy.
According to Sohan Lai, Gulab Singh and his Dogras evacuated the
60
fort in the forenoon of January 19, 1841, taking with him all the
Darbar's hoard of gold and jewels kept at Lahore. It is alleged that
Gulab Singh had "made immunity from search of himself and his men
61
an absolute condition for surrender of the fort .
On January 21, Gulab Singh, with this wealth and whole of his
force crossed the Ravi to Shahdara aud took up a strong position there.
Soon after through Dhian's intercession he obtained leave of absence
and marched to Jammu.
Maharaja Sher Singh's attempt at ousting Dogra influence from
Sikh court miserably failed and he had to acknowledge his obligation
to their junta in gaining the throne for him. He restored them all the
privileges enjoyed in Ranjit's time, as well added more to their power,
influence and dominion. But Sikh resentment at Gulab Singh's success-
ful defence of Lahore fort leading to the murder of several thousand
Sikh soldiers was played upon by anti-Dogra courtiers, and it grew
keener with the occurrence of fresh events, and both Dhian Singh and
Gulab Singh started substituting Rajputs and Mohammadans for the
Sikhs. As Clerks reports, "Raja Gulab Singh has ejected every Sikh
62
soldier from the many forces held in jagir or in farm by his family."
The Sikhs had yet lively rememberance of his defence of Lahore in
January 1841 wheh he was again called upon to show his prowess in
directing his troops against the rebellious Sikh armies in Kashmir where
on April 17,1841 the two Sikh battalions stationed in Kashmir killed
the Governor Mihan Singh in his court and his son Sant Singh had taken
sheLer in Hari Parbat Fort. The Maharaja, though aware that order in
that region could best be restored through the agency of the Jammu
Rajas and their hill-men, did not like to entrust the sole charge of the
59. Ibid., pp. 237-38.
60, Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 15.
.Smyth, G.C., {A Hist, of the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 60) says that
Gulab Singh evacuated the fort at the mid-night of January 18 which is
obviously wrong.
61, Secret Consultations, For. Deptt. 88 of 8-2-1841.
62. ORPS. 151/34 pi 3-3-1841, Clerk to Maddock.
246 H H H H H H H H H H A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAP

affair to Gulab Singh. He, therefore, put his son Kanwar Partap Singh,,
attended by Bhai Gurmukh Singh, to the Government of Kashmir and
to be assisted by Sheikh Ghuiam Muhi-ud-Din, in the fiscal affairs. The
rebel soldiers of Kashmir were alarmed lo know of Gulab Singh's depu-
tation for suppression of Kashmir rebellion. They made prompt over-
tures to the Raja, who was still at Jammu to renounce their rebellion if
admitted to certain privileges of increased
63
and prompt pay such as the
troops at Lahore had obtained. Presumably, the Raja had no such
mandate and the whole cavalcade moved into the valley.
Gulab Singh seemed to have taken to pacific steps to set.le the
issue. But the mutineers refused to deliver up their arms on being
summoned to surrender, and though Raja Gulab Singh condescended to
64
negotiate with them for some time, it was to no purpose. On the
other hand the rebels tooks to treachery, sent to wait on Raja Gulab
Singh explicitly to make further propositions for their surrender, and by
deceitful representations induced him to mount his elephant, and pro-
ceed towards their entrenchments where a band of fifty suddenly rushed-
out upon him swords in hand, and attacked his escort of five hundred
men with such desperate fury that the Raja had ro seek safety in a pre-
65
cipitate flight to his own camp. Enraged at this treachery and its
effect, Gulab Singh ordered an instant attack by the whole force, which
was already drawn up on the other bank of the Dudh Ganga stream*
opposite the rebel entrenchments. The rebels put up a stiff resistance
and some of Sikh commanders represented to the Maharaja against Gulab
Singh's strong measures. The troops at Lahore were also inclined to
send reinforcemenrs to support their comrades in Kashmir against Gulab
Singh. This situation whipped Gulab Singh to take recourse to vigo-
rous measures, and the mutinous regiments were overpowered by numr
66
bers and punished with severiiy and destroyed the rebels almost to a
man. After the conclusion of this expedition by the end of August
and the restoration of order in the valley, Gulab Singh had to leave for
Lahore along with Partap Singh, Sant Singh and his task force. But
before he left he made it sure that Sheikh Ghulem Muhi-ud-Din had-
entrenched himself strongly as governor of Kashmir, and it was soon;
apparent that Gulab Singh had made the governor, whom he was aid-
ing, a creature of his own and had become the virtual master of ihe-
67
valley.
Gulab Singh had once again proved himself faithful to the profession;
of a soldier and adequately shown his love for law and order. But
once again his success recoiled on him and his brother Dhian SinghJ.
His operations in Kashmir caused much murmur among the men at
Lahore, who said that "he slaughtered the Khalsa as if they had been,
63. ORPS, 151/69 of 10-6-1841, pp. 230-34, Clerk to Maddock.
64. Smyth, G.C. A Hist, of Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 194.
65. Ibid-, p. 195.
66. Cunningham's History of the Sikhs, p. 221.
67. Ibid, ORPS, 152/40 of 3-9-2841, Q er & to Government.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 247
68
Afghans." The Sikh army which was traditionally fickle, became
progressively estranged with the Dogra Rajas. As Mr. Clerk pointed
Khalsa" which im
victim to communal
the European officers as well as Dogras. The anti-Dogra British agents
had imperceptively manipulated this sentiment in a way to channellise
it against Dhian Singh and Gulab Singh. Dhian Singh succeeded to
some extent to reestablish his influence and continued to be popular with
the troops. The army was, however, well disposed towards the Minister
on the whole ; "for men felt that he is a mastermind, and that they
69
always be treated by him as soldiers for his own sake."
Maharaja Sher Singh and Dhian Singh now appeared to be perfec-
tly reconciled. But indications were not wanting that real cordiality had
ceased. The Maharaja seemed keen upon humiliating the Wazir and
his family. In an unguarded moment he threw out hints that he des-
igned to call Raja
70
Gulab Singh to his Darbar to render an account of
his proceedings. Bhai Gurmukh Singh, who had of late acquired the
greatest voice in Sher Singh's councils, was trying to organise and infuse
vigour into the coalition against the Jammu Raja. He had the blessings
of Sher Singh in this affair. Dhian Singh had fully sm It that Maha- 71
raja Sher Singh was attempting to free himself from his domination.
He retaliated by engineering the arrival at Lahore in August 1842 of
Rani Jindan, one of Ranjit Singh's wives and her son, Dalip Singh, a
four OP five years old boy reputed to be another son of the great
Maharaja. The result was a mounting disbelief of each other which
drove Sher Singh under the influence of a double dealing priest, named
Bhai Gurmukh Singh. Sher Singh also moved to make peace with
Sindhanwalas in the 72
hope of using them "as some counterpoise to the
Rajas of Jammu." The stage was set for his reconciliation with the
Sindhanwalas by the anti Dogra British Agent, Mr. G.R. Clerk, who
despite their intransigence, was trying to bring about a reconciliation.
Efforts were made to replace Dhian or at least reduce his authority by
inviting Ventura, Diwan Kirpa Ram and Attar Singh Sindhanwala to
the Darbar. The Sindhanwalas, in their minds, regarded both Sher
Singh and Dhian Singh as their enemies, though outwardly they kept
up a show of cordial friendship towards
73
both and thereby induced both
to attempt to win their favour. They were not reconciled to Sher
Singh's exaltation to the throne which they consideted to be their own
right. Their main target was the removal of Sher Singh, but they
realised the difficulty of doing away with Sher Singh as long as he

68. ORPS, 152/40 ef 3-9-1841, Clerk to Maddock.

69. ORPS, 158-11/102 of 5-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason,
70. Anon., History of the Punjab, Allen and Co., Vol. II, p. ORPS, 158
11/102 of 5-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
71. Satinder Singh, Bawa, Jammu Fox, p. 54.
72. Cunningham, J.D., History of the Sikhs, pp 269-70,
73. Chishti, Nur Ahmed, Tahqiqat Chishti, pp. 517-18.
248 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
74
enjoyed Dhian Singh's support. A conspiracy was therefore hatched
to assassinate Dhian Singh which however failed, as this plan leaked
through one of the palace attendants who had been privy to it and who
disclosed it to Dhian Singh.
Dhian Singh now felt extremely dejected and dismayed and began
"to keep aloof and stand aside from the governmental control and
75
administration," Dr. Bawa Satinder Singh, the latest biographer of
Gulab Singh, states that Dogra relations with the Maharaj finally rea-
ched the breaking point and Dhian Singh with the approval of his elder
76
brother conspired to assassinate Sher Singh. But the Wazir was
determined not to commit the crime himself. Instead he goaded the
Sindhanwalas into killing the Maharaja by convincing them that they
77
had been inveigled to Lahore for their more assured destruction. The
fault, however, does not lie at the door of the Dogras alone as events
narrated above show. Sher Singh perhaps contributed more towards
the formation of conspiracy which, strangely enough, had both himself
aud his Wazir as its victims. According to M'Gregor—a contemporary
writer—the Sindhanwalas prepared an order on the Maharaja's part to
put the Minister to death and obtained his signatures to it, while he was
under the influence of liquor. Later by showing this document to
Dhian Singh, they roused his fury and obtained his signature to a
similar document directing Sher Singh's murder. "Thus," remarks
McGregor, "by the cunning of the Sindianwalas the Maharaja and his
Minister were made the unconscious murderers of each other."
In short, the stage was set for the Sindhanwalas to work their foul
play. On the 15th September, 1843, they treacherously murdered
not only Sher Singh but also his son, Partap Singh. The same day they
occupied the Lahore fort. Later on they even managed to outwit the
unsuspecting Dhian Singh by inviting him to the fort, where he, too
was slain.
Immediately after this Ajit Singh declared himseif the Wazir and
79
designated Dalip Singh the next Maharaja. Thus in the course of a
few hou s, were the Maharaja, his son and Minister slaughtered by the
80
Sindhanwalas. The manner of Dhian Singh's assassination might not
have been premeditated but was suddenly determined upon and carried
81
into effect. after Ajit Sidgh was elated with his first success and had
• ~

74. M' Gregor, History of the Sikhs, Vol. I I , pp. 13-14,

75. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. IV, pp. 26-27.
76. ORPS, Vol. 159 No. 25 of 24-2-1844, Richmond to Currie.
77. Cunningham, J.D., op. cit.9 p. 270.
78. M'Gregor, The History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, pp. 13-15.
79. Ibid, p. 18.
80. ORPS, 48/62 of 20-9-1843 states that "after the murder of Raja Dhian
Singh, Ajit Singh Sindhanwala attempted to murder Dalip Singh as well,
but he was saved by the Goorkha Regiment quartered in the fort."
8\. ORPS, 158-II/U5, 19-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
SP£LL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 249
82
consulted witn Gurmukh Singh. The triple murder was, however, soon
avenged by the youthful son of the assassinated Wazir with the help of
theKhalsawho were infuriated at the simultaneous murder of their
Maharaja and the Wazir.
Next to Ranjit Singh, Dhian Singh stands out as the most sagaci-
ous and capable man of the Punjab during this period. He was "mild in
83
his deportment, affable and magnanimous. Up till almost to the end of
his life, he maintained his grasp over the civil and military affairs of the
state in spite of the rapid decay that was working into the Sikh body
politic. "Notwithstanding his faults, and a steady, but dignified, in-
solence of demeanour, he was one of the best men and the finest fellow
84
in the Punjab which is not, however, saying much for him.
"The abrupt death of Dhian Singh ended the remarkable partner-
ship of the two elder Jammu brothers through which they had jointly
controlled the political scene in the Sikh kingdom for over four years.
Gulab Singh was naturally apprehensive about what this latest develop-
ment at Lahore would do to his aspirations. But since the wazarat
passed to a member of his own clan, the Jammu chief was somewhat
Telieved to find that the Dogra domination at the Sikh capital had not
fully vanished with his brother's demise. He could look forward to the
futre with a degree of confidence. It damped aspirations of the Jammu
Chief. Yet he recovered from the loss quite rapidly. With a weakened Sikh
govenment at Lahore Gulab Singh moved swiftly from autonomy toward
complete independence. He continued to formulate his underhand
politics with skill and determination. But he executed them somewhat
85
more cautiously now that his influential brother was dead.
The years after the murder of Dhian Singh were very crucial for
Gulab Singh and his Jammu Raj. These were the most critical of his life
as well as the most spectacular so far as the success of his diplomacy
was concerned. But these marked him out as the most remarkable man
who occupied the stage in post-Ranjit Singh period. In diplomatic
86
craft and finesse he had no equal. Endowed as he was with remak-
able foresight and astuteness, he gave proof of combining in him "some
of the rarest political virtues possessed by the two most notable contem-
poraries in Europe Cavour and Bismarek. Some of his actions were
82. ORPS, 158-11/113 of 18-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
On the complicity of Bhai Gurmukh Singh in the assassination of Raja
Dhian Singh, "History of the Punjab' (A-llen and Co., p. 27) writes "This
deed was prompted by the Bhaee Goormukh Singh. This man bore a
secret enmity to Dhian Singh, and when the assassin Ajeat told him he
had killed the prince, declared that his life was not safe abhour unless he
destroyed the minister M'Gregor, The History of the Sikhs, Vol. II,
pp. 16-17, also supports this view.
£3. M' Gregor, W L., The History of the Sikhs, Vol. I, p. 242.
:84. Vigne, G.P , A Personal narrative of a visit to Ghazni, Afghanistan, ere.
p. 230.
85. Satinder Singh, Bawa, Jammu Fox, pp. 55-56.
£6. Umdat ut-Tawarikh, Daftar IV, Part III, p. 63.
 A S H O R T H I S T 0 R Y OF
250 i ^ ^ ^ l ^ H ^ ^ I ^ ^ H JAMMU RAJ
unfathomable, others not clearly intelligible to his contemporaries; but
all of them were calculated
87
to minister to the one towering trait of his
character, ambition."

All through these years he had acted generally as a solid prop for
the strength of his family, and did the job of wire-pulling to perfection.
Though at times a string or two might have slipped off his fingers, but
these did not swing much beyond his prompt grasp, and his dexterous
complascency persisted with certainty to play the events to his anticip-
ated con equencess. The sagacious Dhian Singh recognised this diplo-
matic genius of his elder brother and always reposed faith in the
efficiency in critical times. But after Dhian's death his bro.her and
nephew failed to understand his subtle system which secured not only
the eminence of the Dogra family but also assured safety and security
of its members. His over ambitious youngest brother, Suchet Singh,
and his raw young nephew, Hira Singh, were not shrewd enough to
comprehend the unpreditcable Lahore politics. The condition was aggra-
vated by the overboaring and offending tutelage of Hira Singh's adviser
and preceptor, Pt. Jalla. This landed them all in perilous situation, out
of which only Gulab Singh could extricate himself. The follies of his
relatives combined with the rivalry of courtiers and the hostility of
mutinous soldiery ill-disposed towards him, created for him such perils
which only a rare genius survives.
r
i

Things have started favourably for the Dogras after the twin murder
of Maharaja Sher Singh and his minister Raja Dhian Singh, on the
15th September, 1843. On hearing of these ghastly events, Suchet
Singh became despondent. But the Young Raja Hira Singh rose to the
occasion. He worked up the troops with a fiery oration. "The sword
has this day." uttered the youthful Raja to the bewildered soldiery,
"deprived my father of life. I am left alone and fatherless and I now
88
throw myself on you ; either kill me or give me your support. The-
appeal ignited the imagination of gullible soldiery who exclaimed with
one voice "that they would not 89
taste food until they had taken the
heads of the Sundhanwaleas."
*

The tumultous soldiery rose to a man, and under the leadership-

of Hira Singh stormed the fort in the evening the same day, and under
the first impulse of anger and surprise about forty thousand men were
clinging and clustering about the breaches, "like bees at the entrance of
their hives. "By next day the fort was taken and Sindhanwalia Chiefs
Ajit Singh and Lehna Singh and many of their followers and relatives*
were pieces. fl^^H^^^^I^^I^^H^^H^H

87. Gupta, H.R. Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh War, 1844, p. Lxxxi.
88. Smyth, G.C. A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore, pp. 78-80, Sohan
Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Daftar IV, Pt. I l l , p. 31.
89. P.G.R., 163/68, of 25 9-1843, Maharaja Dalip Singh to Richmond ; W.L.
M' Gregor, The History of the Sikhs, Vol. I I , p. 18.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 251

Only the eldest, Attar Singh managed to escape to the other side
oftheSutlej. The bereaved son had thus avenged himself ruthlessly on
the regicides, though "Jn a night; all the bazaars and streets were
sacked by the licentious soldiery ...and whole place echoed with wails
90
and moaning." Next day. September 17, boy Dalip Singh was
declared Maharaja and Hira Singh his Minister. His triumph was com-
91
plete and he "was the absolute ruler of the Punjab. But ruling in
Lahore was not an easy ride. The convulsions which had brought
Hira Singh to surface of power, had put out of gear all the machinery
of the government, whilst the army, upon which he was constrained to
depend was an unruly and insatiable monster. Lawlessness and
panic peeped everywhere. The sack of Lahore and Amritsar was
threatened. The army being without a controlling authority was
inclined to dictate its terms, and so long as this continued, there could
be no continued secruity. There was also the apprehension of a
collision between the Sikh troops and the Jamuiu Rajas or a complete
disruption of the army. Only Raja Gulab Singh's constant support to
Hira Singh could save his position and restore order and discipline
in the soldiery. The growing difference among the Dogra Rajas how--
ever, made such chances remote.
B. Cracks in the Dogra Front
Yet there was another danger lurking in some corner for the Dogra.
family itself, and it was the ghost of disunity amongst the memoers
and their conflicting ambitions, which were soon to make their appear-
ance and give Gulab Singh some nightmares before he could exorcise the'
evil spirit which however wrought much havoc in the portals of the
Dogra Rajas. The sharp end of the wedge of disurity was first driven
by Raja Suchet Singh or 'Malek
92
Adhel', as he was named by the ladies
of Sir Henry Fane's Camp . He was Hira Singh's uncle, a bold and
gallant looking young man of about 42 years, a perfect soldier in
appearance. To his handsome figure and engaging manner, he added
all the advantage of dress and ornament. He was much the man to
gain the93
hearts of a rude soldiery, and in reality he was popular
leader. This perhaps had generated in him a vain ambition and he
seemed not unwilling to separate himself from his brother and nephew
and to coalesce with Sikh chiefs 94
in the hope perhaps of forming a joint'
Wazirship with the Majithias. Besides the pranks of ambition, he
was also dissatisfied with the proceeding of his nephew and his adviser?,
more especially the Brahmin Misr Jalla and 95 a Muhammedan Sheikh
Imamuddin who had no eapacity for affairs. Under Jalla's evil
90. Mohammad Naqi, Sher Singh Nama, folios 74b and 78a.
91. Allen and Co., History of the Punjab, Vol. II, p. 286.
92. Osbarne, Court and Camp of Ranjit Singh, p. 25.
93. Lawrence, H.M.L. Adventures, p. 173.
94. P. G.R. 158/142 of 16-10-1843 and 158/158 of 1-11-1843. Richmond to*
Thomason". Raja Souchet Singh had always been on terms of amitv with
many of the Sikh chiefs than either of his more able brothers..." (159/52- o$
8-4-1844, Richmond to Currie.
252 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

influence, Hira Singh ceased to show due regard to the sentiments of

Suchet Singh who felt grieved in his mind, and cherished a dislike of
96
him on that account. Though Suchet Singh's capacity was inferior
to his ambition and his almost total loss of speech prevented his taking
an active part in the administration, yet he did not abstain from court
intrigues. The growing coolness between the uncle and the nephew was
posing a big challenge to the Dogra family and it appeared that without
Gulab Singh's interference the calamity unleashed on 15th September
would not be averted.
It was the knowledge of these developments which forced Gulab
Singh to leave reluctantly for Lahore. His appearance had long been
expected, but he seems to have been tarrying ?nd recockoning the haz-
ardsof adventuring among the partly disrupted soldiery at Lahore. He
reached Lahore on 10th November and found Suchet Singh intriguing
with Jawhair Singh, brother of Rani Jindan, against Hira Singh. Suchet
Singh had been approached by Jawahir Singh alongwith some of the
chieftains with the complaints that Raja Suchet Singh was more deserv-
ing for the office of the ministry. But Gulab Singh made him understand
the interests of the family and brought him round to his point of view.
Suchet Singh, therefore, gave np Jawahir Singh's company and com-
radeship. But Jawahir Singh persisted in his designs and his threat to
carry away Maharaja Dalip Singh to the British protection at Ludhiana
and his subsequent imprisonment by Hira Singh worsened situation and
an open rupture seemed imminent between Hira Singh and Jawahir
Singh's sympathiser Suchet Singh. Gulab Singh's efforts to dissociate his
brother from anti-Hira Singh junta achieved only a qualified success
and he could only induce him to accompany him to Jammu. Both
toothers left Lahore on 4th December, on the pretence of bathing during
the approaching eclipe in a sacred well there.
For some time Gulab Singh was successful in maintaining the sem-
blance of unity in his family. After the removal of Suchet Singh
from Lahore Hira Singh transfered more faith in his sagacious uncle.
In the beginning he invariably used to consult and seek the advice of
Raja Gulab Singh in all the important matters of the state. In fact he
would send him not often, the original file of papers to help him to
98
form a correct judgement. This was done even publicly and his advice
99
-was awaited anxiously by the concerned.
Hira Singh was also favourably disposed towards Gulab Singh's
pretensions for extension of his dominion and influence. The latter set
up on a career of expansion by acquiring all the properties and estates
of his brother Raja Dhian Singh. Next came his successful persuasion
95. Ibid.
96. Allen and Co., History of the Punjab, Vol. II, p. 290.
97. Gupta, H.R., Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh War, p. Lxxx.
98. Ibid., p. Lxxxi.
99. Pan jab Newsletter No 98, dated 22-1-1844-NAI.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 253

of Suchet Singh who was childless, to adopt his youngest son Mian
100
Ranblr Singh as his heir to all his territory and property . After the
death of Suchet Singh in Mareh 1844 Gulab Singh put Ranbir Singh in
charge of Suchet Singh's possessions. Gulab Singh also got the grants-
of Hazara and Khattur and the administration of the Kashmir valley.
He had desired this country in farm. He even wished to have
101
the river Ravee regarded as the boundary of his Jagir and possession .
Hira Singh would have easily yielded to Gulab Singh's exactions, but
for Pandit Jalla and the Sikh army who were hostile to his designs. If
this scheme had materialised, then, "finding a suitable opportunity later
on Raja Gulab Singh would have become the absolule master of the
102
Sikh Empire.

However, Gnlab Singh's ambition for graspting all the territory

he wanted and Hira Singh's efforts at strenghening his position as prime
minister of Lahore came against rock on Sialkot issue. Kanwars
Kashmira Singh, and Peshora Singh, two reputed or adopted sons of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, had received as their patrimony from their
father Sialkot and Kurianwala, a fort near Sialkot to the west of Chenab,.
respectively.

The Jammu Rajas had always been averse to those youngmen.

Gulab Singh was aware of the wishes if not of the proposals of the
Kanwars to the British Agent, and he considered that he could safely
make use of their leanings towards the British to get rid of them and
to posses himself of flourishing town in the neighbour-hood of his
hilly possessions. That Gulab Singh had designes on Sialkot, the
flourishing town of the Punjab near Jammu, if not of the removal
of the princes
103
from the wuy of the Dogra ascendancy in the end, was
certain. He, therefore, accused the princes of complicity in the
recent Sindhawalia conspiracy104 which had resulted in the deaths of
Sher Singh and Dhian Singh. A forged letter was produced which
established the charge prima facie, and the evidence of
Kapur Singh a hitherto trusted servant of Kashmira Singh,
was enough for the authorities at Lahore to authorise Gulab Singh
to seize the persons and property of both the brothers. Gulab Singh
thereupon, sent on 9 January 1844, his troops to Sialkot who seized
all the property of the "accused" and compelled the Kanwars to go
to Jammu to settle matters with him and they professed innocence,
and on the surety of Baba 105
Mehtab Singh were conseqnently allowed
to return to their jagirs after they had submitted and signed a formal
100. G.C. Smyth, A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore, pp. 101-102.
101. Punjab Intelligence, dated 26-8-1844 NAT.
102. H.R. Gupta, Panjab on the Eve of First Sikh War, p. lxxxiii.
103. P.G.R. 159/41 of 23-3-1344, Richmond to Currie.
104. H.R. Gupta, Panjab on the Eve of First Stkh War, p . Hi.
105. P.G.R., 159/41 of 23-3-1814. Richmond to Currie ; G.C. Smyth, 4 Hist, of
the Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 103.
254 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
106
paper of adhesion to the existing Government and to show clemency
to Kapur Singh. Prince Kashmira Singh ignored his promise and a
few weeks later had Kapur Singh flogged to death. This provided
Hira Singh with an excuse for further proceedings against the Prince,
who was ordered to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000 for the murder which he
declined to pay declaring that "Gulab Singh had taken away all he
107
possessed save his life.
Now a serious action against the Princes became necessary. Gulab
Singh sent a small force to reduce the place which was joined by a
108
detachment from Lahore and fighting took place at Sialkot. The
Princes, seeing no other way out for themselves, strengthened their
garrisons at Sialkot and Kuryanwala. The Najib, a Muslim Battalion
and the Sikh army showed reluctance to fight against the princes.
However, Raja Guleb Singh led to the final assault with the aid of
the late Dhian Singh's Dogra battalions and the princes had to
surrender and evacuated the fort. The two brothers now made
their way to join Suchet Singh who had been helping them in their
designs.
Thus the troubles which had been brewing up for Gulab Singh
since January 1844, had aggravated by the middle of March. All his
efforts to ease them proved futile. He had tried to dissuade Suchet
Singh from becoming Hira Singh's rival in holding Prime Minister's
office. He had also sought to pave the way for Hira Singh's smooth
occupation of the Wazarat of Lahore and to that effect he had co-
operated with him in exterminating his rivals and enemies. But by
the middle of March dense clouds of adversity had gathered on the
firmament of his career. The main reason for this was the conflicting
interests of the three Dogra Rajas, aggravated by the growing anti-
Dogra propaganda of the Lahore courtiers, Pandit Jalla had special
role to play in sharpening the family feud on the one hand and in
widening the gulf between Hira Singh and the Sikhs on the other.
.Gulab Singh could not harness the storm though he cleverly survived
its fury by bending before it rebounding against his enemies when he
had somewhat recovered from the revages caused by this political
whirlwind.

The Pindora's box for the Dogras was unlid by the events of
Sialkot affair. The harassment of Kashmiia Singh and Peshaura Singh
for three months roused the Khalsa against the Dogras. This affair
had further estranged Suchet Singh from the brother and nephew and
Kanwar Kashmira Singh had been seized by Gulab Singh and
imprisoned at Jammu, it was reported "that Suchet Singh was very
109
displeased in consequence" and had remonstrated with }he Raja on
106. Kanheya Lai, RanjUnama, p. 400.
107. Punjab Intelligeuce, dated 2-3-1844, NAI.
108. P.G.R.. of 159/41 of 23-3-1844, Richmond to Currie.
109. Puujab Intelligence, dated 11-1-1844-NAI,
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 255
that subject,
110
and also on the subject of Raja Hira Singh's proceedings
at Lahore.
There existed acute differences between Suchet Singh ahd Hira
Singh's adviser, Pt. Jalla also. The latter left no stone
111
unturned to
widen the gulf between the uncle 112
and the nephew. Suchet Singh
instigated Fateh Khan Tiwana as well as Sardar Jawahir Singh. 113
He was suspected of complicity in Kashmira Singh's insurrection.
It was believed that the troops at Lahore were mutinying against Hira
Singh at his instigation, and that114
to a certain extent he was responsible
for the release of Jawahir Singh.

Hua Singh was unanimous with Gulab Singh on the desirability

of resolving the family feud. He, therefore, tried to patch up with
Suchet Singh and on 31 December,
115
1843 offered him the governorship
of Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Any reconciliation was, however,
impossible in the circumstances. Suchet Singh knew that Pt. Jalla 116
"was at the bottom of estrangement between himself and his nephew.
He, therefore, showed 117
willingness to join the Sikh chiefs in opposition
to Hira Singh and Jalla, and was anxious to return to Lahore and
spurned at the proposal. He, therefore, got ready to leave for Lahore
-early in Mareh 1844, to bring Jalla to account. He received an
invitation from Rani Jindan who "bade him 118
aspire to the Wuzaarut
which she promised to bestow upon him," and from her brother
Jawahir Singh and some troops and officers who sent delegates to
fetch him. Gulab Singh tried to dissuade Suchet Singh from going
to Lahore. But the latter was bent upon reaching there to chastise
or uproot the Prime Minister and his adviser. Finally, he took leave
of his brother on the pretext of going to Samba for a big skikar and
suddenly appeared at Lahore on 26 March 1844 and halted at Shahdara.
On Suchet Singh's sending a word, Hira Singh who had no ill-will
against his uncle, immediately got ready to go to meet him. This
greatly perturbed Jalla who convinced him that he would be murdered
and in support of his prediction he "produced apothi or horoscope in
which it was
119
wiitten that Suchet Singh or Hira Singh would fall the
next day.

110. Ibid., dated 13-1-1844-NAI.

111. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, pp. 253-54.
112. Kanheya Lai, Tarikh-i-Panjab, p. 399.
113. P.G.R. 159/41 of 23-3-1844. *K
114. Cunningham's Hist, of the Sikhs, p. 275.
115. P G.R. 158/162 of 16-11-1843, Richmond to Currie.
116. Pearse, Hugh, op. cit., p. 254.
117. "Raja Sochet Singh they say is ready to join them" Punjab Intelligence,
dated 5th January, 1844, NAI.
118. Smyth, Reigning Family, p. 99.
119. Pearse, Hugh Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, pp. 254-55 ; Kanheya Lai
Tarikh-i-Punjab, p. 406.
256 RAJ
Raja Suchet Singh, however, failed, to win over the troops "partly
because Hira Singh had been liberal in gifts and promises and partly
because the shrewed deputies who formed the Panchayats of the regi-
ments, had a sense of theirjown importance and were not to be won 120
for purposes of mere faction without diligent and judicious seeking."
He was, therefore, advised by the Khalsa to go home but Dogra
adventurer seemed to have burnt his boats. He took up positions in
a ruined mosque and determined to fight it out with his forty
devoted comrades. On the morning 151 on March 27, Hira Singh with a
large army marched against his uncle. A picked body of horse had
been posted on the bank of the Ravi to prevent desertion from Lahore
to Suchet Singh's assistance, and a force of about, 20,000 men with
fifty light guns was dispatched. Suchet Singh and his forty companions,
including Rai Kesari Singh, emerged to face the army.

On being backoned by Suchet Singh122"to come on, one by one and

let the world see the worth of a Rajput" the small hand fell upon their
adversaries with great force and after performing prodigies of valour
they all perished, but had killed 150 and wounded another 200 before
they fell Rai Kesri Singh and Diwan Bhim Sen were also killed
along with ninety followers. Wrote Richmond, "the Jammu chiefs
were embarking upon the game of their enemies. The party was sure
death of Suchet Singh whose manner caused him
thought " 1 2 3
The animosity of the Khalsa
troops was aroused by this recent incident. Suchet Singh's death
weakened the Dogra party and widened an unabridgable gulf between
Gulab Singh and Hira Singh.
The ultimate effects of this murder were positively harmful to the
Interests of the Jammu family. Hira Singh himself dreaded the
pernicious results of this impolitic act, for the deceased's widow and
numerous124 friends and adherents were loud in their cries for
revenge.
125
Differences also arose between Hira Singh and Gulab
Singh, which proved disastrous for the both. It estranged the
Raja of Jammu from his nephew and the court of Lahore. Hira
Singh's position became badly undermined as be lost Gulab Singh's
snpport at the juncture when his rivals and enemies were about to
cornor him from all sides and planned destruction both of the
Minister and his adviser, Pandit Jaila, who had become special object
of hatred for the Lahore courtiers and the Khalsa solidiery. The talk
120. Cunninghams Hist, of the Sikhs, 1897, p. ^75.
121. P.G.R., 159/43 of 29-3-1844, Richmond to Currie.
122. Sita Ram Kohli, The Sunset of the Sikh empire, p. 75 ; 159/43 of 29-3-1844
Richmon to Curne-NAI; Steinbach, The Punjab 37 ; Tahqiqat Chtsti 407-8
Kann Sin n, Twarikhi-Rajgan-e-Janvnu-o-Kashmir, 162-4 ; Kanheya LaU
Tarikh-e-Panjab pp. 400-02.
123. P.G.R., 159/43 of 29-3-1844, Richmond to Currie.
124. History of the
125. ORPS. 159/63 of 29-4-1844, Richmond to Currie.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 257

among the soldiery was "that Raja Heera Singh has done most wrong
in killing his uncle and Rai Kesree Singh and these Jammo Rajas, they
say, are in reality an annoyance to everyone and they must be got rid
126
of." Thus the event antagonised the soldiery and the court to the
Dogras and soon it led to the destruction of Hira Singh and Pandit
Jalla and the invasion of Jammu by the Sikhs.

C. JALLA-HIRA SINGH MOVES AGAINST JAMMU

Jalla was the most energetic and grasping courtier at the Lahore
Darbar. He was a Brabmin of the Jammu hills and was one of the
four brothers whose family had been the household priests of Jamrau
Rajas. Owing to their ability and position they gained a
127
certain amount of influence with Raja Guiab Singh. Pt. Jalla was
128
appointed tutor and guardian of young Hira Singh during the most
Impressionable part of age with the result that he continued wielding
irresisistible influence on him afterwards. This Pandit, a man of
most repulsive cast of countence and of a most tyrannical and
1280
ambitious spirit," a man as senseless and stupid as he was mean
129
and selfish, kept Hira Singh in an abject bondage so that the latter
would not act without a trifiling sign "or some such sufficient guiding
token from his mysterious jailor, his familiar spirit, his preceptor,
1
master ; father and brother, inferior and superior—Pandit Jalla." *'
The Pandit was so sharp and shrewed that by astrollogical observa-
tions and false predictions, by imputing motives to various persons
and parties, by appealing to the Rajput instinct of Hira Singh, by
demanding respect and reverence due to him as the Brahmin priest
of the family and teacher and preceptor of his chief, and by reminding
him of the example of Chandergupta Maurya in submitting to his
Brahmin Minister Chanakya, he would secure Hira Singh's approval
131
to all his schemes and plans.

His insolent behaviour with the boy king Dalip Singh of Lahore
and his mother, and his unwanted interference in administration had
given offence to all the officers of the Lahore court and they all wanted
to get rid of him. The Dogra party, including Gulab Singh, Mians
Labh Singh and Prithi Singh and other Mians of Jammu were of the
opinion that so long as Pt. Jalla lived and had the direction of affairs
132
there could be no peace or safety.
^ ^ __

126. Punjab Intelligence, of 28-3-1844-NAI.

127. P.G.R., 160/25 of 13-8-1844, Richmond to Currie.
128. Smyth G.C., Reigning Family, p. 26.
I28.aPearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 250.
129. Kohli, Sita Ram, in Introduction to Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh War,
p. xvi.
130. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 251.
131. Gupta, H.R., Panjab on the Eve of First Sikh War, p. xlvii.
132. Ibid., dated 16-9-1844 and 18-10-1844-NAI.
258 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Jalla was thus hated by all, and the Sikh army as well as Gulab
Singh tried their utmost to secure the Pandit's dismissal or even
transfer. On such representation Hira Singh is said to have replied
that "he would never forsake Pt. Jalla and whatever he had was all the
133
Pandit's by whose advise he would be guided in all things." Jalla's
action, however, continued to cause the greatest dissatisfaction in the
army, and intrigues were speedily afoot, having for their object
Pandit Jalla's downfall and death.
Jalla was a strong opponent of Raja Gulab Singh's ascendancy
and power, and this rivalry between the two giants ended in the
success of the shrewed diplomat against the clever intriguer. Jalla
was the only person who could match and according to some even
134
could excel Gulab Singh at this game. Hence there was a natural
hostility between the two. Jalla wanted to destroy Gulab Singh and
" wished to deprive him of Jammu." Though this diplomatic battle
was fought in the rame of Hira Singh, but Nicholson reported "the
135
real quarrel was between Pandit Jalla and Gulab Singh."
The design of the Pandit Jalla seems to have been to destroy Raja
Gulab Singh by directing the Sikh Army against Jammu and afterwards
destroy other rivals by similarly gratifying the love of plunder and
excitement natural to a body of soldiers. To reduce authority of
Gulab Singh and keep the attention of his young master engaged, he
urged him to make demands with regard to Suchet Singh's possessions,
which Jalla knew that Gulab Singh would not comply. He would also
have found it convenient to give a new direction to the attention of the
soldiery which might have been pleased with the idea of "avenging
136
themselves on the harsh and oppressive Raja Gulab Singh . The
Khalsa, however, were not willing to be involved in the dispute. They
said that Raja Gulab Singh and Hira Singh had disputed regarding their
private business and that therefore the Khalsa should not assist either
party, although Jalla tried to convince them of the official nature of the
dispute by pointing out that Gulab Singh was asked to agree to the
following terms of submission to the Khalsa themselves 1st that the
Estates of the late Raja Suchet Singh should be annexed to the Khalsa;
2nd that Raja Gulab Singh should remit to the Darbar the arrears of the
farms held by him as others had done ; 4th that Raja Gulab Singh should
attend Darbar and perform such services as should be ordered like
137
other chiefs of the State. Jalla's attempt at 'nationalising' this
133. Ibid., dated 12-9-1844-NAI.
134. P G.R., 160/76 of 30-10-1844, Richmond t o Currie.
135. Hardinge to Elleabrough Piwate-17 September, 1844, E P (PRO), 30/12
(21/7). Richmond observes. "Raja Heera Singh himself is not believed
to be hostile to his uncle there is no good reason why he should be and
his younger brothers and his own family are more over at the mercy of
the man with whom Pandit Jalla urgest a war." 160/25 Richmond to
Currie, August 13, 1844, P.G.R.
136. P G.R. 159/95 of 14-6-1844 and 160/25 of 13-8-1844 .Richmond to Currie.
137. Punjab Intelligence, dated 7-9-1844 NAI.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 259

private dispute, however, did not receive much support of the army,
and Hira Singh too was reluctant to move armies on Jammu. Yet the
affair prolonged for about six months and put on an appearance of
gravity leading to several moves and counter moves from both parties.
Gulab Singh rejected terms as unreasonable and exorbitant and set
himself in opposition to Pt. Jalla. He brought into play all feats of his
diplomacy to outwit the Pandit and his devout disciple, Raja Hira Singh.
When Gulab Singh failed to wean away Raja Hira Singh from Pandit
Jala, he carried on the struggle in a masterful manner. "The recourse
to conciliation
338
and provocation renders this quarrel masterpiece in its
own way ." The entire technique has been summed up by Dr. H. R.
Gupta as under :—
"Gulab Singh seized all possessions and places of Hira Singh in the
Jammu hills, then offered submission in everyway, only wanting to pay
revenues at the old rate. The Kardar of Gujrat was asked to transmit
his revenues to—Jammu under his orders and at the same time a Vakil
of his was present at Lahore to negotiate terms. Gulab Singh, all
through this, remained in close touch with the officers of the Sikh troops
at Lahore and continued to bribe them and win them over, Forming
alliance with the Sikh and other chiefs was another plank of his policy.
He would not miss any opportunity to win over the dissatisfied element
of Lahore Darbar. He exchanged turbans with Chatar Singh Atariwala.
Among the other chiefs won over by Gulab Singh were Habibullah Khan
of Pakhli, Arsila Khan of Zaidah, and Madad Khan, the brother of the
late Painda Khan of Darband, Fateh Khan Tiwana, Rajas of Kulu,
45
Mandi, Sibah, Jaswan, Kehlur, Datarpur and Chamba, and Jagirdars of
Jullundur Doaba. Friendly letters were exchanged with Dost Muhammad
Khan and Akbar Khan, while Pir Muhammad Khan was invited to
139
come to Jammu with troops."
He sought to improve his position as regards military stiength.
Some officers discharged by the Lahare Darbar were employed by him.
Five hundred sepoys of Hira Singh stationed at Jasrota were won over.
He also made fresh recruitment to his troops.
4

To unnerve his enemies he sought to create disturbances throughout

the Sikh Kingdom. There was trouble in the frontier districts of the
Punjab. Where ever it occurred Gulab Singh's influence was clearly
discernible, for it was in his nature to grasp every opportunity of further-
140
ing his own interest.
He started negotiations with Hira Singh at the same time. He
demanded the dismissal of Pandit Jalla, his rival, to which Hira Singh
did not agree. "With vulpine slyness Gulab Singh threw suggestion
138. Gupta, Dr. H.R., Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh war, 1844, p. Ixxxiv.
139. Ibid., pp. lxxxiv-v.
140. Kohli, S.R., Sunset of the Sikh Empire, p. 83.
 260 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

lijtiv 141 be only too willing to submit if his

ixv TTV/WAW is>* v/injr iwv^ vrmiug iv auuiun n Mb cuuuinuns were accep-
ted." But at the same time he was piqued for a war.
Hira Singh was ultimately prevailed upon by Pandit Jalla to send
Sikh troops against Jammu. When the advance guards of the Sikh army
reached Sialkot Gulab Singh changed his policy of confrontation. He
sent a word that he would accept the terms "in the manner his nephew
Mian Jawahir Singh might advise him on his arrival at Jammu." The
troops were therefore ordered not to advance further. Jawahar Singh
was allowed to return to Jammu and he counselled him to make peace
with the Lahore Darbar. Their well-wishers were able to point out
that the split in the family might prove fatal to its interests, expecially
in view of the Khalsa's indifference or hostility. Thus with the help of
intermediaries, a semblance of amity was restored. Consequently,
Gulab Singh agreed to depute his son Mian Sohan Singh to Lahore to
settle terms. He was instructed to negotiate for peace on the following
conditions ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ~
Hazara to be assigned to Gulab Singh for 2\ lakhs annually;
(ii) Chiefs and soldiers in the service of the Lahore Darbar who
joined Gulab Singh to be forgiven;
(iii) the title of Raja to be conferred upon Sohan Singhr
(iv) Gulab Singh not to be charged arrears, but he would pay at
the increased rate in future,
(v) Multan to be given to him in farm on a contract of five
lakhs more than the amount paid by Savan Mai.
142
The young man was welcomed with a salute of guns, on his
arrival at Lahore on November 1 and was lodged in Suchet Singh's
143
house. Mian Jawahar Singh, Hira Singh's brother, however, remained
144
behind at Jammu to take possession of half of Suchet Singh's estates.
The reconciliation was declared to be complete, and in truth the arrange-
145
ments agreed on between them were actually carried into effect. It
was opined that the reconciliation was virtually submission on the part
of the Raja and it was, thus, in some measure, a triumph on the part of
146
the Pandit. Gulab Singh's submission was probably induced, and
141. Gupta, Dr. H.R., op. cit., p. Ixxxvi.
142. Kohli, S.R., op. cit., p. 76.
143. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. IV, Pt. Ill, p. 63 ; P.G.R.O., 164/3 of
13-U-1844.
144. P.G.R.O., 169/76 of 30-10-1844 Richmond to Currie.
145. P.G R.O , 164/3 of 13-11-1844, Broadfoot to Currie.
146. JPG R O., 160/76 of 30-10-18-.4. In this connection, Richmond observes :
- . < fi
"^ it seems doubtful whether the Raja has lost that elasticity of mind
afld resolution of character which have raised him to his present great-
ness and so to have quieted before the superior genius or power of the
Pundit or whether he merely thinks himself unprepared for an encoun fer
and desired solely to gain time (Ibid).
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 261

might have been brought about to a certain extent, by external factors,

including the threatened hostility of Dost Muhammad Khan and his
preparations for occupation of Peshawar. Instead of open hostility,
Gulab Singh now resorted to underground measures to revenge for
insult and destroy his enemies particularly Jalla. Thus the so-called
reconciliation was only apparent. The relations between the two parties
remained as hostile as ever. Gulab Singh was the last person to forget
and bear with Jalla's imprudent counsel to his respectful disciple.
Jalla's supermacy over Hira Singh could last as long as differences
existed between the uncle and nephew, who had already been estranged
on account of the murder of Suchet Singh, Gulab Singh's resolution to
avenge his brother's death and inflict punishment upon Hira Singh for
his bad deeds caused much concern to the latter. He sent Sheikh
Imam-ud-din to Jammu to reconcile his uncle. But the mission failed with
the consequence that Jalla got an opportunity to flare up conflagration of
dispute between the uncle and the nephew. A renewed struggle was
now expected between Hira Singh and Gulab Singh of whose capacity
147
and good fortune the people had a high opinion. "But meanwhile
circumstances turned against Hira Singh and Pandit Jalla with an
unexpected precipitation and swept away both of them.
Hira Singh was certainly 14s "one of the most notable and popular
person s at the court of Lahore. " He had learnt f.om his father the
art of149winning the favour of the troops by his eloquence and pro-
mises. His ascendancy to power as Prime Minister of Lahore was
therefore reckoned as harbinger of peace and strength to the Lahore
State. Notwithstanding several circumstances in this favour, his
position was extremely difficult and perilous. Ventura had rightly 160
predicted that Hira Singh would soon be compelled to fly to Jammu.
In fact the convulsions that had brought him to the surface of power
and cast him upon his present eminence
151
had deranged all the machinery
and functions of the government. The soldiery had grown unruly;
the Sikh Chiefs were set as body against the ascendancy of the Jammu
family, while the Rani Jindan wanted to152reign herself through her
lovers and her brother Sardar Jawahir Singh.

In these circumstances Hira Singh required the help of Gulab Singh.

But the youngman, under the evil influence of Pandit Jalla, murdered
his uncle Suchet Singh and thus antagoised not only Gulab Singh, but
most of the troops and the courtiers. This led to serious challenges to
his authority and ultimately caused his downfall.

147. P.G.R.O., 164/3 of 13-11-1844, Broadfoot to Currie.

148. Osbarne, The Court and Camp of Ran]it Singh, p. 76.
149. Honigberger, Thirty-five years in the East, Vol. II, p. 109.
.150. Ellengorough, to the Queen, 20 Oct., 1843 (EP) PRO 30/12, fol. 97*
151. Anon., History of the Panjab, Vol. II, p. 287.
.152. Ellenborough's Minutes, Punjab Papers, p. 105.
262 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Although he succeeded in destroying Attar Singh Sindhanwalia and

Bhai Bir Singh who had thrown a challenge to his authority, yet he had
become the object of much animosity on account of the death153of the
holy man Bhai Bir Singh and his life was as uncertain as before.

Hence forth followed events which took the wind off Hira Singh's
sails aud led to his eventual downfall and death. Some of these were the
creation of his keen and sincere desire to improve thefinancialand
administrative affairs of the State. Hira Singh and his Brahman ad-
viser Pandit Jalla, "a man as senseless and srupid as he was mean and
selfish," employed themselves ruthlessly to improve the finances and
bring back the troops to subordination which antagonised all the
chiefs. The Queen Mother, Rani Jindan was altogether neglected and
therefore turned hostile. A fatal reaction was brewing up. An extremely
perilous situation 154
had developed and there was a universal expectation
of an upheavel. The nobility, the army and Raja Gulab Singh
abhorred all these measures believed to have been engineered by Pandit
Jalla. One and all demanded his dismissal which Raja Hira Singh
refused. Rani Jindan had also of late began claiming Regency which
was denied by the Ministry resulting in bitterness between the Minister
and the Queen Mother, the Mutsaddi party headed by Diwan Dina Nam,
the Lahore Vakils with the British Agent, besides Bhai Ram Singh. The
Rani appealed directly to the soldiery and raised their disaffection. She
sent a message to the troops charging Hira Singh and his party with
treasonous155designs and throwing hereself and the boy Maharaja on their
protection. On December 19, the officers of the army advised the
Minister to make an accommodation with Jawahir Singh and to make
peace with the Rani. In the evening of December 20, the troops left
cantonments in tumultous bodies, declaring the Rani and her son in
danger. During the night the conspirators and the Rani settled opera-
tions for the morrow and stirred up troops with promises of plunder of
Jammu. On December 21, Raja Hira Singh and Pandit Jalla, realising
that everything was lost for them at Lahore, started their fateful flight
towards Jammu accompanied by some 2,000 or 3,000 hill troops^
Jawahar Singh and Sham Singh Attariwala with Lai Singh and more
than 10,000 men of all arms set out in their pursuit. They soon over-
took the fugitives some 14 miles distant from Lahore, Raja Hira Singh
and Pandit Jalla were killed along with Mian Sohan Sing, son of Raja
Gulab Singh, and Mian Labh Singh. Their heads were cut off and
paraded through Lahore city.

Thus fell the undaunted Minister of the Sikh kingdom who had
steered the ship of Lahore State during the most horrible whirlpool of
anarchy and under the shadow of blood-thirsty swords. The whole army
was responsible for Pandit Jalla's death but "Hira Singh's death was
153. Ellenborough to the Duke of Wellington, 9 June, 1844, PRO 30/12 (28/12)
fol. 147 ff,
154. P.G.R , 164/3 of 13-11-1844, Broadfoot to Currie.
155. Gough and Innes, The Sikhs and Sikh Wars, pp. 56-57.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 263
156
caused by his mistaken loyalty to his tutor. Hira Singh lacked deter-
mination and he was easily misled by Pandit Jalla. His bold design for
averting anarchy and establishing law and order were, nevertheless, soon
:h extreme
disorder and confusiou after a few days of Hira Singh's death. His death
obliterated the last vestiges of the Dogra supermacy over Lahore king-
dom and ushered in a grave danger for the existence of Gulab Singh
and his Dogra Raj in Jammu. His death at the same time sounded the
death knell of the Punjab kingdom which now fast headed towards dis-
137
integration and extinction, and in desperation the rulers of Lahore
directed against Jammu Raj all the fury of anti-Dogra feelings which
were temporarily flared up by the wrong politics of Hira
Pandit Jalla and their ultimate which foreboded
the Sikh invasion af Jammu

D. Invasion of Jammu by Lahore Armies.

The Jammu Raj was now threatened with total annihilation and
Gulab Singh, the only surviving Dogra Raja, had to face the gravest
peril of his life. His diplomatic skill and perfect composure of mind
were sorely put to trial.

The Sikhs had some reasons to be offended with Raja Gulab Singh,
as his intentions had been regarded with suspicion by the Court, while
the Jammu influence had long been reviewed with disfavour by the
Khalsa, The internal condition of the Lahore kingdom seems to have
mam Jammu. It was rooted
the indiscipline and avarice of the Lahore soldiery and the inability of
Sikh almost mutinous
and were pillaging the country side and the government was emptying
l58
the treasury to keep them quiet.
159
It was rumourd that ''They have not twelve lakhs
160
in the treasury.
and it was expected to last only for three months, unless the troops
161
could be prevailed upon to move in hostilities against Gulab Singh.
Rani Jindan even held a council with the deputation of Sardars and
generals, and it was agreed that, in consideration of past gifts and the
depleted treasury, increase of pay should come with the capture of
162
Jasrota and Jammu. The rulers of Lahore, therefore, planned to
163
mobilise against Gulab Singh.

156. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alaxander Gardner, p. 256.

157. Chopra, Barkat Rai, pp. c'n... p. 346.
158. O.R PS., letter No- 37, dated 11-2-1845, Broadfoot to Currie.
159. Hardinge to Ellenborough Private 20-2-1845 E P (PRO) 30/12 (21/7).
160. Same to Same, 23-1-1845 EP (PRO) 30/12 (21/7).
161. > / "

162. 164/31 of 7-1 -1845, Broadfoot to Currie P.G.R.

163. Cunninghams History of the Sikhs, p. 241.
i
264 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

The hope of plunder, no doubt, impelled the military rulers to send

164
a force of about 9,000 men, in February, against Gulab Singh.
In addition, the uncontrollable army had almost usurped all autho-
rity in the State. By o January the state of affairs at Lahore had be-
come so serious that some members of the Government, in fear of their
lives from the soldiery were glad to see them destroyed in a war with the
British. The Rani and her party even desired a subsidiary alliance with
British, which alarmed the soldiery still more. The British, however,
165
decided that such a course must be studiously avoided. In these
circumstances the ruling party thought of directing the troops against
Raja Gulab Singh. Thereby it was intended to remove their presence
from the capital, gratify their avarice as well as their vengeance, and
166
when ordered they marched against Jammu with alacrity. Only plunder
was not object of the Sikh move on Jammu. The authorities of Lahore
wanted to 'conquer' Jammu, remove Gulab Singh and to seat on the
gaddi Raghbar Deo, a son of the late Raja Jit Singh.
*

Gulab Singh was not unaware of the developments at Lahore. He

had been feeling the pulse of circumstances all these days. He even
thirsted for vengeance on the authorities of Lahore, who had killed so
many members of his family. But he took resort to diplomatics moves.
Publically he professed submission to Lahore Darbar, but secretly he
stirred up every enemy of the Sikhs and every ally of himself that his
167
messengers could reach. He had even recalled his troops from
Kashmir, and honourably dismissed every Sikh in his service to avoid
treachery. He tried to rally his people to his cause and won over the
widow of Raja Suchet Singh and Jawahir Singh to his side. He opened
negotiations with the Barakzai Afghans as well as with the British. He
was also conducting intrigues at the Darbar and with Pashora Singh. At
Lahore Gulab Singh set up propaganda terrifying the courtiers by
accounts of his preparations to resist Lahore armies. At the same time his
agents offered and received fresh terms of submission which were duly
168
discussed by the council. His object seems to have been to delay
mobilisation of Lahore armies. He gained enough time to transfer his
treasures to the hill fastnesses and to carry treasures and crown jewels
from Jasrota to Jammu. By prolonging the issue he wanted to bring
about the bankruptcy of the Lahore Government and thus force his
decision on a decrept and weak government. He wanted to avoid an
open clash. He was certainly not so foolish, observes George Bruce, as
weaken himself Khalsa if he could
fight them later with advantage, when it was caught up in its inevitable
164. Anon , History of the Panjab, Vol. I I , p. 313.
165. 135-1/8, Currie to Broad foot, 13-1-1845—P. G.R.
166. Cunningham's History of the Sikhs, op. cit, p. 2 + 1 ; B. R. Che
of the Punjab, 1839-45, p. 363.
167. Sec. Consul. 102 of 4-4-1845, Broad foot Currie, 16 January
New Delhi.
16 8. Ibid.
 DOGRA 265
struggle with the British, to whom indeed he had already offered his
169
services in the event of war. At the same time he made all prepara-
tion for a final struggle. He distracted the imbecile government with a
variety of spacious proposals, at the same time terrifying them with
reports of divisions in his favour in Peshawar and the Derajat. He also
detached the Mutsaddis, and Sardars by promises and large bribes, and
both Bhai Ram Singh and Diwan Dina Nath had received bonds of
170
many lakhs of rupees to be paid when affairs were settled.
Nevertheless, Gulab Singh's own position had been very much
weakened. He had partially failed in his primary object. The armies
of Lahore had been mobilised though reluctuantly, aginst Jammu under
Lai Singh, Sham Singh Attariwala, Rattan Chand Duggal, Sultan
Muhammad Khan, and others. On their approach to Jasrota the
troops of late Raja Dhian Singh and Ganpat Rai, the Diwan of Raja
Hira Singh, deserted Gulab Singh's cause, and joined the invaders.
Mian Jawhair Singh was therefore, ordered by Gulab Singh to with-
draw, which he did under agreement with Sikh leaders and surrendered
Jasrota to them. Nihal Singh Wazir of Raja Suchet Singh and the
Raja's widows followed suit and threw their lot with the Khalsa forces.
Thus Samba and Ramnagar also passed under occupation of the Invaders
without any resistance. The Sambyals turned supporters171of the Khalsa
and descended on Jammu via Uttar Behni and Kuli. Faiz Talab
Khan, Raja of Rajouri and chiefs of Bhimber and Kahuta turned
Gulab Singh's enemies. Thus Hazara, Kahutah and territories west of
the Chenab were lost. Two of Raja Gulab Singh's regiments were
reported to have revolted and gone over to the Sikhs. Whole of his
jagirs and territories had been overrun by the invaders. The Sikh
generals and their troops closed on Jammu from all sides. "About
35,000 men of173the Sikh army were before Jammu," reported Hardinge to
Ellenborough . But according to Jawala Sahai the forces of the Sikhs 174
amounted to 50,000, while those of Jammu did not exceed 3,000.
The situation was perilous indeed ; and Gulab Singh had to fall back
entirely on his diplomacy in this crisis and avoided clash of arms involv-
ing unnecessary bloodshed.

On December 30, messengers from Raja Gulab Singh brought

assurance of allegiance and a request for the confirmation of their
169. s for
170. yf the
111. Kirpa Ram, Gulabnamah, p. 295.
172. ORPS, VII, Letter N o . 24, BK. 164/41, dated 25-1-1845, Broadfoot to
Currie.
173. Hasrat, Btkramajit, Puujab Papers, p. 84, Hardinge to Ellenborough.
174. P.G.R., Vol. IV, Diary of Mr. P. Sandys MdlmLI, Extra Asset, t o the
Kesident at Lahore, 17 July, 1847.
Tnese troops of Gulab Singh were deployed in the following manner ;
500 were in the fort, one column was distributed in the jangle which
covered the hill down to the plains and a second column was held in
^^Hfe*eserve. i ^ B H H H H ^ ^ ^ I ^ ^ ^ I ^ I ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I
266 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

master's jagiis. On the next day, the Darbar granted a confirmation

of all jagirs and assurances of protection to Gulab Singh. But at the
same time the force destined for Jasrota was more than doubled. Some
ten battalions of infantry with increased cavalry and artillary were mobi*
lised towards hill of Jasrota under the command of Sham Singh.
Attariwala. The force in Hazara was also directed to move speedily on
Kashmir, and thence to Jammu. The widow of Raja Suchet Singh was
also declared his heir and entitled to his Jagirs. Sardar Ranjodh Singh
Majithia was appointed to govern Jammu hills, when conquered,
and all the petty
174
Rajas were called on to cooperate against the
Jammu family.
On 6th January, Sham Singh Attariwala marched from Lahore for
Jasrota. But all was tumult and fear at the capital. Gulab Singh had*
cooled down the Sikh enthusiasm for aggression. Consequently, Darbar
moves were slowed down. He also sought to sow disunity at Lahore
and instigate unrest all round. He continually communicated with the
Darbar and there was continual succession of proposals between him and
the Darbar. Unrest had appeared in Hazara, in Peshawar, in the
Derajat at Multan and several other places. The Mutsaddis and Sardars
had been detached. Bhai Ram Singh and Diwan Dina Nath had
already been won over. The Bhai had ceased to go to the Darbar. To
detach Sham Singh Attariwala, Gulab Singh had sent to him his relative
Sher Singh Attariwala who had been for some time in Jammu as ai
refugee from Hira Singh's government. Gulab Singh's diplomacy had
wrought havoc at Lahore with the result that "there have been many
intrigues and changes of parties, producing little other result than the
conviction that out of the present 176
materials a firm and consistent govern-
ment is scacely to be looked for." Finally, the Darbar entrusted the
invading force to Sham Singh Attariwala who lent new vigour to the
expedition because of his personal hostility towards the Jammu)
family who had for years hated him. Gulab Singh, however,
took wind off his sails by opening negotiations with the imbecile Lahore
government which seemed to be anxious somehow to save their face by
coming to some honourable understanding with Gulab Singh and escape
the ignonimity of a recked expedition against the wily hill Chief. He
sent Sardar Chatter Singh 177
Attariwala and others to Lahore as his agents
with full power to treat.
Consequently, it was proposed to transfer the Command from Sham
Singh Attariwala and a treaty of peace with Gulab Singh, marked with,
"the saffron hand," was delivered to the Raja as he should comply to
the conditions stipulated. But the proposed treaty was detected by
troops who rejected it with insults and threats to the negotiators, and,
finally agreed to with some modifications. The treaty was, however, trea- 178
cherous on both sides and was not likely to be ratified by Gulab Singh.
175. 164/24, December 27, 1844, and 164/25, December 30, 1844 Broadfoot to
Currie, P.G.R.
176. 164/36, Broadfoot to Currie, January 16, 1845, P.G.R.
177. 164/36, Broadfoot to Currie. January 16, 1845, P.G.R.
178. J bid.
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 267

On the other side the Lahore treasury was so fast emptying that,,
with their tedious and ineffectual mode of warfare, it was feared that
bankruptcy and revolution must arrive before the resources of the
Jammu Raja could be made available by force. It was, therefore,
desired by any means to obtain part of them as facilitating the acquis-
ition of the rest. Like a dexterous politician Gulab Singh worked out
this situaticn to his own advantage. He sent messengers to deliver over'
the fort of Jasrota to the Sikhs in pursuance of the treaty, and thereby
interrupted the separate negotiations of Mian Jawahir Singh with the
Sikhs. The fort was surrendered and occupied by about 2,000 Sikh
troops under Rattan Singh Mann. The news of this event reached
Lahore on January 23, 1845. The terror and perplexity of the Darbar
immediately gave place to immoderate exultation which was shown
in profuse presents and 179
"in gross and open debauchery both by the
Ranee and her brother."
Great indeed was the frustration of the Darbar when the treasure at
Jasrota was found to contain only Bbout two and quarter lakhs of4
rupees. Before surrendering the fort of Jasrota under the treaty Gulab
Singh had stripped it of its treasure. This seems to have exasperated-
the rulers of Lahore who had in utter desperation invited the army to
march against Jammu. Gulab Singh was declared enemy of the State.
The dispossessed Rajas of Rajouri were encouraged to excite insurrection'
in the hill dependencies of Dhian Singh which had just been guaranted
by the treaty to Mian Jawahir Singh.
Gulab Singh sharply reacted to Darbar's reproaches by pointing-
out this latter instance of bad faith on the part of Lahore Darbar. At"
the same time he hastened his efforts by intrigue and bribery to
embarrass the Darbar and to delay still further actual collision with the
Sikh troops. He even obtained by a heavy present to the slave 180
Mangla,
the silence of the Rani who was usually violent against him. At the
same time he wrote to the British offering to transfer his allegiance and 181
his services to the British Government on certain conditions.
Hardinge was pleased to report that "Gulab 182
Singh has again written to-
us, delightful to enter into terms with us. Gulab Singh's agents, how-
179. 161/40, Broadfoot to Currie, 22-1-1845, P.G.R.
180. 164/47, Broadfoot to Currie, 5-1-1845, P.G.R.
181. O.R.P.S., VII, 164/45, 32 of 4-2-1845, P.G.R.
182. O.R.P S„ VII, 164/45, 29 of 11-2-1845 and 164/51 of 11-2-1845, Broadfoot
to Currie. The first overture was a voluntary offer of his own through
a confidential emissary. The letter I now allude to is in answer to the
intrigue of a Frechman, a Mons. de St. Armand, a great scamp, who took,
it into his head to go to Jammoo from Ludhiana, and after two davs'
delay, finding he could get no employment, pretended he came on a
mission from Capt. Mills to propose an alliance with fhe Kajah and the
conquest of the Punjab. The Rajah's letter by his own emissary had
been previously received and rejected. The Frenchman impudently
wrote to Capt. Mills from Jammoo that his proposals were accepted, and
the Rajah has now sent us a letter entreating us to lose no time. Broad-
foot will show up the imposter and Mons. de St. Armand will have hie*
nose cut or be hanged.
268 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
183
ever, were active enough to vitiate Lahore atmosphere in his favour .
They represented that "pending negotiations, Gulab Singh would pay
within six184months 50 lakhs of rupees to enable the Darbar to support
the army " but if attacked, "he would 186
send away to the mountains, all
his treasure and fight to the last ..."
The result of this was disconcerting as anticipated. The Lahore
troops, after the first division had gone 20 miles, halted. Some comm-
anders feigned illness, while others stayed on the ground of being
dangerous to go among their men. When they had received the pro-
mised gold necklaces, they still refused to proceed, till the Darbar had
adopted a more satisfactory line of conduct with respect to Gulab
Singh196who was now declared an old and faithful servant of the
State. . However a Sikh army of 5776 men was sent from Lahore
towards Jammu on February 8, 1845 under Lai Singh. In about two
weeks, his troops from Lahore gradually closed up to the neighbour-
hood of Jammu in communication with Sham Singh.
•

This move of the Rani and the Darbar however, forced Gulab
Singh to react violently. He caused delay in Sham Singh's advance
from Jasroia ...by breeding mutual distrust between 187
the troops and
the chiefs by every means, for delay was his object. He distributed
his money freely among the Panchayats of regiments ; he gratified
lhe members of these committees by his personal attentions, and he
again 188inspired Peshwara Singh with designs upon the sovereignty
itself. With his small army he held back the invaders, and at one
stage routed Sham Singh and captured five of his guns. With gold and
words of flattery he succeeded in sowing seeds of dissensions among
Sikh generals, courtiers and soldiers. Bhai Ram Singh and
Diwan Dina Nath had already been won over. Now he distributed his
money freely among the Panchayats of regiments and won their favour
by his personal attention. He opened direct negotiations with the
troops. These delegates, selected from the ranks, exceeding 150 in
number, were most humbly received by Gulab Singh. He laid
his sword at their feet 189and declared them as representatives of the
army, to be his masters. He thus won over the troops to his side.
He had given 5 lakhs of rupees to Peshawara Singh who 190 daily held
Darbar at Sialkot and received deputation from the army. There
had been an offer to Gulab Singh to take the office of Wazir, which
183. George Bruce, Six Battles for India, p. 89.
184. 164/47, Broadf.ot toCurrie, 5-2-1845, P.G.R.
185. 164/47, Broadfoot to Currie, 5-2-1845, P.G.R.
186. Ibid.
187. 165/1, Broadfoot to Currie, 23-2-1845, P.G.R.
.188. CunniDgham, J.D. Hist, of the Sikhs, p. 241. Gulab Singh had given 5 lakhs
of rupees to Peshawar Singh who daily held Darbar at Sialkot and recei-
ved deputation from the army. (Ibid.)
-J89. Hardinge to Ellenborough-Private-Calcutta, 8 March, 1845 Hasrat, pp.
Jl 9,0. Cunningham, J.D. History of the Sikhs, op. cit., p. 241
SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 269
of course he had declined in favour of Peshora Singh, who had
consented to accept it provided his demand of five or six heads be
191
conceded..." This deal of Gulab Singh had far-reaching results.
Lai Singh and other Sikh Commanders lost hold on the army. Rani
Jindan and her brother were so unnerved that they thought of fight
across the Sutlaj on February 21 and 22, but were prevented by the
192
troops at Lahore.
The situation, however, improved in favour of Lahore Darbar by
a dubious act of Gulab Singh. An agreement had been negotiated by
the army "panches" with Gulab Singh. He had agreed to pay the
arrears of his tribute and the army sent Vakils (envoys) to receive the
money.
They eeceived four lakhs as the first instalment. But when they
had gone a short distance from Jammu they were waylaid and delibera-
tely murdered
193
by Gulab Singh's orders, and money was brought back
to Jammu. Thi& compromised Gulab Singh's position * with 194 the
army. Some fighting took place, but with no important results.
A peace was soon negotiated. General Mewa Singh and many others
were won over by Gulab Singh. He promised to increase the pay
of the troops to Rs. 15 per month who declared their allegiance
195
to him
and were readv to march to Lahore and make him Vazir.
The army escorted him to Lahore under oaths of safety of his
person and honour, where Fakir Aziz-ud-din, Bhai Ram Singh and
Diwan Dina Nath had already manipulated the situation in his favour.
He was delivered to the Darbar under security of 2,000 army panches 196
who also later on escorted the Raja on his visit to the palace.
Some of the principal Chiefs were ordered by the Panchayats to
conduct Gulab Singh from his place of confinement and 197
back again.
In all respects, the visit was one of the triumph for him.
A reconciliation was effected, and he received favourable terms
He was to pay 68 lakhs of rupees to the Darbar. But allowance was
also made for the losses the Raja had suffered. As a result the Raja
198
had to pay twenty-seven lakhs of rupees only. Taking advantage of
Peshaora Singh's bid for power and revolts in the Chibhal he almost
extorted on 20 May, 1845 the charge of all the territories formerly
belonging to Dhian Singh. On the question of Wazarat he changed
sides between Lai Singh and Jawahir Singh and thus manipulated:
191. P.G.R. 165/1 Broadfoot to Currie, dated 23-2-1845.
192. P.G.R. Broadfoot to Currie, dated 28-2-1845.
193. Hardingeto Ellen borough (private), Calcutta, 22-3-1845, E P (PRO),
30/12 (21/7)-Hasrat, P.P.. p. 87.
194. Ibid.
195. PGRS, VII, 183/88 of 1-4-1845, Broadfoot to Currie.
196. M'Gregor, Hist, of the Sikhs, Vol. II, p. 37 ; G.C Smyth, A Hist, of the
Reigning Family of Lahore, p. 139.
197. P.G.R., 165/31 of 5-5-1845, Broadfoot to Currie.
198. P.G.R., 165/31 of 9-5-1845, Broadfoot to Currie.
270 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Lahore politics io his advantage, so that everybody wished his exit from
199
Lahore. He had visualised the future fate of the Lahore Kingdom and
its impending dissolution and thought it better to retire to the hills
200
which he did at the close of July. Thus Gulab Singh who had "a
201
wonderful gift of evading assassination and violent ceath, " displayed
great presence of mind and a Machiavellian adroitness in extricating
202
himself from a nasty situation, and returned home, financially as
203
well as physically unscathed. As soon as he was back in his home
territories, he reopened negotations with the British and offered them
204
his services in the event of a war against the Sikhs. The war was
already round the corner as later events were to show. For the time
being all parties heaved a sigh of relief on his leaving Lahore as the
contestants for Wazarat were more afraid of his diplomacy than the
danger of the rival.
It is evident that the expedition against Gulab Singh was
•rightly timed when much of his force and courage had been broken
on account of events of 21 December. But Gulab Singh's statesman-
ship tamed much of its velocity and turned the scales against Lahore
Darbar. The whole affair proved quite a heavy burden on the already
depleted Lahore exchequer. Diwan Dina Nath stated that including
25 lakhs of rupees remitted in the first days of joy and generosity the
205
extra expenditure in fifteen days amounted to a crore of rupees.
This was only the expenditure of the first fifteen days of the
crisis which lasted for more than two months. And what was
the return ? Gulab Singh accepted to pay 68 lakhs, but he got away
206
with the payment of 27 lakhs. The government treasury was left
only with 2 or 3 lakhs of rupees. Gulab Singh's diplomacy of prolong-
ing the whole affair had virtually brought about the complete
bankruptcy of the Lahore kingdom without any open hostilities.
Moreover, the Lahore Government lost the trust of the greatest
and most powerful ally at the juncture when they were on the verge
of going to war with the British and when his resources and leader-
ship would have been of immense value to them. This event also
broke the backbone of the Lahore kingdom which was founded and
maintained on the cooperation of the Dogras and the Sikhs. Hardinge
was shrewed enongh to observe ; "and what was most serious the
199. Bawa Satinder Singh observes ; "Disgusted by the prevailing atmosphere
of dissipation and the waves of intrigue and anarchy that had engulfed
Lahore since Gulab Singh's arrival, the darbar concluded that the Raja's
daparture mitht be conducive to establishing some degree of normalcy
and permitted him to return home. (See Jammu Fox, Southern Illinois
University Press, USA, 1974, p. 82.
200. ORPS, 167/12, pp. 76-83, letter No 174 of 26 7-1847, Broadfoot to Currie.
201. Morison, John L., Lawrence of Lucknow, London, 1934, p. 92.
202. Khushwant Siogh, A Hist of the Sikhs, Lond en 1966, Vol. II, p. 37.
203. Bawa, Satinder Singh, op. cit.. p. 83.
204. Khushwant Singh, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 37.
205. Broadfoot to Currie, 7 January, 1845 Sec. Consult. 68 of 4-4-1845 NAI, N.D.
.206. Sec. Consult. 58 of 20-6-1845, Foreign Office NAI, N.B.
.SPELL OF DOGRA DIPLOMACY IN SIKH STATE 271
combination of the Sikhs and the Dogras, mainstay of the Lahore
207
Government during and after Ranjit Singh's rule, had ceased.
Instead of holding the Lahore Government, now Gulab Singh sought
to undermine it. From the treatment he had received from them since
Ranjit's death," it was evident that he had no cause of gratitude or
attachment to the Lahore Darbar, by whose orders and intrigues his
family had 208been nearly exterminated, his possessions taken, "and his
son slain."
Moreever, the Sikhs wasted most of their time and resources in
the Jammu Hills when they should have moved against the British
and taken them by surprise. The invasion of Jammu by the Govern-
ment Lahore was therefore an ill-considered action which recoiled
on them and benefited only
only! tne British power in India. It also laid
down the hey-stone of the foundation of Jammu and Kashmir State.
Gulab Singh finally broke off from his overlords whose aggressive
designs against him forced him to transfer his loyalties from Lahore
to Calcutta, and explains his offer of allegiance to the British
Governor-General of India. In a confidential letter Gulab Singh
justifies the shift in his loyalties in the most emphatic and decisive
words. "Now the Sikhs" writes he, "without any just cause put to
death the following members of my family :
Raja Dhian Singh, Rajah Socheit Singh, Raiee Kesree Singh, with
their personal followers. Rajah Heera, Singh Mean Rooden Singh with
?»
their attendants.
"On this account, "declares Gulab Singh," we are absolved from
209
our allegiance to the Khalsa.
This letter was probably written immediately after the revolution
of 21 December, 1844 in which Hira Singh and other Dogra leaders
were killed. He anticipated attack on Jammu, and so he was desirous
at the same time of receiving aid and countenance from the British
because the army at Lahore was then disorganised and without a
210
leader.
207. Bal, S.S., Anglo-Sikh Relation f - p . 62.
208. Hardinge to Ellenborough, 7 June, 1846 E P (PRO), London-Hasrat,/?p.
209. Br. Mus. Add MSS. 40, 859 t o 40877, Letter from Ripon Papers Vol.
40,877 Rajah Gulab Singh t o Genl. Ventura (NTo. (ate).
210. Hasrat, Bikramajit, Punjab Papers p. 84 Hardinge to Ellenborough.
Though there seems to be much justification in Gulab Singh's assertions
and his pleas for transferring his loyalties yet several writers have
brought against him charges of disloyalty and treachery towards Lahore
State, of which he was a vassal and lease-hoider. I t is asserted that he
should have sided with his liege-lord during the war. Some doubts have
also been thrown on his role in Lahore politics before the invasion of
Jammu. But proof of his treacherous and disloyal conduct prior to the
revolution of 21 December, 1844 are scanty and ambiguous. After that
event he openly turned revengeful against the rulers of Lahore, a fact
which Gulab Singh himself admitted. It is perhaps expectiug much from
a powerful vassal of a crumbling s t a t e that he should have remained
loyal in everv condition, even when he had been snbjected to a humiliat-
ing and destructive invasion and abortive attemptt on his life afterwards.
272 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Thus was Gulab Singh "roused to opposition 211

to Lahore Govern-
ment by almost unheard acts of oppression," Though his off-r of
allegiance was not honoured then. Yet Gulab Singh was confident
that opportunity would come when he would hold the trump card. He
bided his time. His opportunity came when the Lahore troops
crossed the Sutlej with the intention of invading the British military
posts on 11 December, 1845 and the First Anglo-Sikh war broke out.
For the time being, the Jammu Raj was saved from an overshelm-
ing deluge and the credit for this undoubtedly goes to Gulab Singh's
estute diplomacy. At such a juncture a man with a lesser faith in
himself and with a little less strong nerves would have easily succumbed
before a tremendously large combination of enemies, old and new,
dispossessed chiefs, medley of greedy soldiers, jealous generals and
desperate rulers. Gulab Singh's intellectual equanimity and
his diplomacy of gold and sword-brandishing, however, vanquished
them and he succeeded not only surviving himself but also in salvaging
the principality from the perils.

211. Ibid. Rd. Brown to Genl. Venture, dated January

Jammoo).
 /-

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Dogras Get Jammu & Kashmir State

Although estrangement between the Dogra Rajas and the Sikh
Court had started immediately after Ranjit's death, still they stoodfor the
integrity of the Lahore kingdom and specially Dhian Singh Dogra gave
his life and blood in the struggle against discordant elements in the State.
They held unequivocal loyalty towards the great Maharaja, and seem to
have desired to codtinue so after him. But the attitude of Lahore court,
under the shadow of British intrigues, antagonised Gulab Singh, and
forced him by atrocities to change his entire attitude and policy in rela-
tion io the Lahore Darbar.
Gulab Singh's attitude towards the tottering Sikh state was to a
large extent conditioned by the developments since the time of the
assassination of Maharaja Sher Singh and his Minister Raja Dhian Singh
Dogra. After this incident there was a complete collapse of administ-
tration and law and order in the Lahore state and the rulers lamentably
failed to re-establish government authority and to harness the mutinous
army which had learnt to murder the rulers and to plunder the people.
As such there was every likelihood of distintegration of Ranjit's ill-knit
kingdom and little hope of its survival. Punjab Kingdom had, no doubt,
become the'sick-man'of India with no hope of recovery. The rulers
of Lahore had become despaired and the shrewd Gulab Singh had read
the writing on the wall as clearly as British Diplomats had done. Out
of natural sympathy he was though sorry for the dying man, yet the
black glimpse of uncertain future equally solicited his concern. Nobody
could save the Lahore kingdom from headlong disintegration except
collective efforts of its courtiers, chiefs, governors and rulers who were
themselves rent with mutual distrust and jealousies. This realisation had
made Gulab Singh lukewarm towards the cause of Sikh Kingdom.

The spirit with which Sikhs entered the war wi;h the British further
drove Gulab Singh away from the interests of the Lahore kingdom. This
was a strange war fought not for conquest and victory but for defeat
and destruction. No doubt it was a suicidal war. The chiefs in their
desperate condition 1 desired the destruction of the army and their
restoration to power. These men desired that theii only chance of
retaining power was to have the army removed by inducing it to engage
in a contest which they believed would end in its dispersion and pave the
way for their recognition as ministers more surely than if rhey did their
1. Hardinge to Ellenborough, Dogra, 23 October, 1845 EP (PRO) 30/12/(21/7)
273
274 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAj
2
duty by the people. The Ranee and her advisers courted collision for
the purpose of employing their unruly soldiers against their friendly
neighbour, as the safest means of extricating themselves from the per-
3
sonal dangers to which they were constantly exposed. By means of
the war, they expected "in the first instance, to be released from the
terrorising presence of the uncontrollable troops: and that secondly they
4
could use either victory or disaster to their own advantage.
On the eve of the Sikh war, Sardar Jawahir Singh, brother of Rani
Jindan and the maternal uncle of Maharaja Dalip Singh, had been made
Prime Minister of Lahore State, with Rani Jindan as Regent. This pure
Sikh goyernment, however, failed to get Sikh support and the army
remained as allergic to civil authority as before. Rather the Panchayats
of the army were threatening to murder Sardar Jawahir Singh. They
rose to a man against him, accused him and summoned him to the
parade of the whole army hacked him to pieces with bayonets and
brought about his death worse than a dog's in the very presence of his
5
sister, Rani Jindan, the mother of Maharaja Dalip Singh.
This exasperated the Rani. In a fit of despair she swore to wreak
vengeance on the whole Khalsa which was responsible for the murder of
her brother and unprecedented lawlessness. The fire which had been
so long played with now became master. "The idea of the Maharani
in her spirit of revenge was after that of Iago ; Whether Briton killed
Sikh, or Sikh killed Briton, or each do kill one another, each way makes
6
my gain" as she feared the Sikhs for more than the British. Rani

2. Cunningham s history of the Sikhs, p. 257.

3. Governor General Hardinge to Secret Committee, Camp Ferozepur, 31
December, 1845 BISL (I)
4. Wars
5. Lahore iutelligenee, Broadfoot t o Currie, communicates inteligence from
Lahore. The troops march out to the plain of Mian Mir, assume the
government in the name of the Khalsa Panth, "demand Kunwar Peshaura
Singh or in the case of his death, Sardar Jawahir Singh (the Rani's
brother), who is supposed to have murdered him ; Sardar Jawahir Singh
who had hoped to hold out in the Lahore fort, finding the troops the
members of the deputation are made prisoners and one of them, Nur-ud-
Din, is sent back t o tell the Rani that she must surrender Sardar Jawahir
Singh by a certain date ; the whole of the garrison in the fort deserts ;
the Rani, Sardar Jawahir Singh and the other members of the Darbar
set out for the camp of the troops, where Jawabar Singh is killed with
two of his associates while most of the others escape ; Raja Lai Singh
and others made prisoners ; the Rani, the Maharaja Diwan Dina Nath
and others are released next morning and allowed to return to the
Lahore Fort, taking Jawahir Singh's body with them ; the troops
plunder the widows of Jawahir Singh on their way to the funeral pile :
Raja Lai Singh p a t into irons by the troops for having dishonoured the
Rani, " t h e mother af all Sikhs/' Diwan Dina Nath ordered to announce
t h e death of Sardar Jawahir Singh to all the Governors or provinces and
the Vakils at the Court of the Agent, Governor General a temporary
Government is appointed by the troops (C) (SI 2750) ORPS, Vol., 167/36
of 6-9-1845.
6. Gordon, Sir John J & H., The Sikhs, p. 132.
DOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHJVIR STATE 275

Jindan, therefore, saw safety in hurling the 'Burchas' against the British
bayonets to be cut up by them.
Such was the real objects of the Sikh war, which some describe as a
national war against a foreign power, while all the Sikh chiefs including
the Ragent herself, were intriguing with that foreign power to bring
about the destruction and downfal of an unruly army. Gulab Singh too
had his axe to grind in the affair. He had been accused of fostering
this war. He had seen much of the opression of the lawless Khalsa
and perhaps suffered the most during this anarchy. Like the Rani and
her lovers, he too wanted the destruction of the soldiery. Only through
such a war their energies could be diverted or their power destroyed.
He was aware that a war with the English could be popular—by such a
war, both he and the Rani would be rescued from the tyranny of the
arrogant Khalsa. They would be defeated and humiliated, he was sure
7
and then he saw would come his opportunity. There was at Lahore no
sovereign power whom he could be loyal. The soldiery was fickle,
independable and arrogant. Eyeryone was probing his way in the dark
and probably it was only Gulab Singh who had a light in his hand.
And the war came at last. Eleven a.m. was the hour fixed by the
astrologer as auspicious for the march of the troops, but not a Chief
stirred from his house. The officers and pancliayats, regular, irregular to a
number of a couple of thousands crowded to the Darbar and demanded
the reason; the Rani tried to soothe them, saying that the fortunate
hour being passed, the march could not be undertaken till the astrologer
found another. The crowd demanded that this should be instantly done
and the court astrologer was ordered into their presence to find proper
time. They proposed that the Rani and her son should march, and
intimated that
8
till they made an example or some chief no march should
take place.
The Rani complained that whilst the troops were urging the march,
they were still going home to their villages as fast as they got their pay;
and Sham Singh Attariwalah declared his belief that unless something
was done to stop this he would find himself on his way to Ferozepore
9
with empty tents. What the Rani said was quite true of the sepoys
dispersing to their houses; the whole affair had so suddenly reached its
present height, that many of the men themselves thought it would come
to nothing.
Such were the preparations of the Lahore Court for war. Some of
the old Sikh Sardars were averse to this, but they were powerless against
the Court and the insolence of the soldiery. Therefore, all the "Sardars
though obliged to join and lead the Khalsa troops, were in general
l0
averse to the war The Sikh army also moved with evident reluctance
7. Thorburn, S.S. The Punjab in War and Peace, p. 3t.
8. Broadfoot to Government, 21 November, 1845—EISL (I).
9. Ibid.
10. M'Gregor, The History of the Sikhs. II, p. 212.
11. Governor-General to Secret Committee, 4 December, 1845—BISL (I).
2 7 6
A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

and was •'calling Gulab Singh, who was collecting forces at Jammu
Wa Wa hi g the
?? ^ A u u £ . P^gress of events," to whom it was quite
-evident that the Rani and the Chief are, for their own preservatr-
endeavourmg to raise a storm which they will be powerless either to
direct or allay. The chiefs, with a view to secure their own i n t e r s
were-in clandestine communication with the British. Both Lai Sineh
and Tej Singh had written to the English, and in all probability Rani
Jmdanwas aware that Lai Singh had written to the British < to con-
sider him and the Bibi Sahiba (Jindan) as 12their friends and cut up the
burchas (ruffians, i.e. the Khalsa) for them.

Thus the Sikhs entered the war in a clumsy and leisured manner
The court astrologer was again demanded to fix another day and he
announced 23rd as a fortunate date on which the army commenced the
march, but halted some miles13 from Lahore because havln o their
many soldiers went home.

The Khalsa did not seem serious over the war. It seems thev were
trying to avoid it if possible. But their pride and vanity compelled
them to make a funny show of war preparations, while their rulers and
generals revelled in debauchery at the prospect of destruction of their
army. As such the defeat of the Khalsa was a foregone conclusion
Some writers, however, would not believe in the turn of Sikh tide with-
out an extrinsic factor, which they were pleased to find in the person
ot the "omnipotent" Gulab Singh who was supposed to have given a
coup de grace to the whole affair. Raja Gulab Singh, observed one
critic, had fulfilled his promise," "to divide the Lahore Government the
4
army and the people,"* ignoring the fact that these elements of the king-
dom of Lahore were never united coherently even in the heyday of Ranjit
Singh's power, and as soon as he died, these fell asunder. Statecraft
is a matter of diplomacy, and Gulab Singh certainly excelled all his
rivals in this craft. It was unwise on the Dart, of th* mWc ^f T * W A
, . , him
. . ^at.........
such a juncture and continue to expect help and
from him after unsuccessfully attempting to annihilate him.
At last the troops tumultously moved towards the frontier and on
December the Sutlej. Lord Hardin
war and Darbar's possessions on the south of the Sutlej were confiscated
and cis-Sutlej chiefs were called upon to cooperate in punishing a
common enemy". All of the cis-Sutlej
states, with one exception threw their lot with the British. The Hill chiefs
were the first to rise against the Sikh occupation.
The Darbar, however, was wanting in political wisdom and offered
no suitable terms to Gulab Singh whom they had estranged by attacking
him in his capital only ten months before. They conld win him to their
cause by sincere expiation for the wrongs done to him by the Lahore
12. Nicholson's Diary, dated 12-12-1845
13. Bruce, George, Six Battles for India, 1969, pp. 95-96.
14. Ganda Singh, Anglo-Sikh Wars, Introduction, p. 81.
DOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 277

Coutt. The rulers had no ambition to win the war and did not there-
fore deem it necessary to make up with Gulab Singh and to take him in
confidence.

When at last the Sikh forces were locked in a deadly conflict

for the first time with the British forces at Mudki, on December 18
they thought of the Dogra chief, who was still licking his wounds
inflicted him by the unruly Khalsa and its imprudent chiefs and probably
counting them and swearing vengeance on every count. Three days
later on December 21, Khalsa forces sustained another staggering defeat
after a brave fight throughout the night when "the fate of India trembled
in the balancer" This disaster at Ferozeshahr broke the morale of the
handful of brave commanders who had remained loyal to the Darbar.
At this juncture Gulab Singh, who could have bought 40,000 men by a
sign of his finger, was being implored by the Sikhs to aid them. He
had a critical and difficult game to play. The army offered to make
him Maharaja, and to kill the traitors Lai Singh and Tej Singh. Fortu-
nately for the British their prestige had its influence on his mind and his
memory recounted the treacheries of the Sikhs to himself and his
countrymen, and he decided otherwise. He remained firstly at Jammu,
the Rani Jindan telling him not to stir unless she required him. Mean-
while Gulab Singh cajoled the whole of the leading Panchayats of the
Sikh army, affecting to see every visitor from the battle field at any
moment, whether he was bathing or eating, as if his whole heart was
with the Sikhs He got all the wheat-carriers in .he country, loaded
them with immense display with about one-fourth of what they would
•carry, put placards in "Gurmukfu" on their necks to the effect that they
were carrying supplies from Gulab Singh, so that the army and the
country might imagine that incessant and enormous supplies were being
forwarded to the15
stalwart and devoted Khalsa by their loyal and affec-
tionate friend. But before his active participation in the battle he
decided to await the result of the struggle, knowing 16
well, that, whatever
result followed, his position was a safer one. He knew that "the
Sikh oligrachy hoped for the destruction of the17 unruly democratic
Khalsa, which was trying to take over the State. He had therefore
expected, sympathetic though he was, "that the Sikh army would be
destroyed by their powerful opponents then he could safely step in as a
mediator between the British and the Sikhs The Raja therefore tarried
but the repeated demand of the Sikh army that he would join it, obliged
him to leave Jammu and proceed to Lahore, but he had determined to
keep clear of the struggle untill the onset should show how he was to
18
act. '[ am not going empty handed to great campaign that is to end
at Calcutta," gave out Gulab Singh. "When all is ready for campaign-
ing, off I start. This will be a long war", said he, "It is a race to the
capital and devil catch the hindmost." Thus he temporised. But he
15. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 269.
16. M'Gregor, Hist, of the Sikhs, p . 41.
17. Bruce, George, Six Battles for India, p. 159.
18. M'Gregor, Hist, of the Sikhs, p . 42.
 I

278 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RA?

held the power to create an insurrection which should have shaken the
British power more even than the mutiny of 1857. All the protected
Sikh States in the Malwa, Nabna, Jhind 19
and Patiala were ready to
envelop the British army in case of reverse.

But from the disorganised manner the Sikhs enteied war, Gulab
Singh could rightly anticipate their defeat. Moreover, he had not been,
consulted on or taken into confidence in the affair. He, therefore,
dallied participation in a war which had almost been lost by the. division
of loyalties among Sikh chiefs and the lukewarm reluctance of the Khalsa
forces. If things had been in his power he would have avoided the
situation. "Had Gulab Singh succeeded Jawaheer Singh," observes
M'Gregor, "he would have used his best 20
endeavours to prevent a colli-
sion between the Sikhs and the British. So he had not approved of
the Sikh action in being first to break the treaty of 1809 by crossing
the Sutlej. He knew the ill intentions of the Rani Jindan and courtiers
in inciting the army for a war but he had not expected the army to
precipitate matters. The two consecutive defeats of the Khalsa forces
confirmed his suspicions and revealed to him true intentions of the rulers
of Lahore. He had therefore decided to remain neutral, and avoided
joining a suicidal WCT.

However, after Mudki and Ferozeshah even the Rani had implored
Gulab Singh to come to Lahore and bring his troops to her aid. He
sent evasive answers. After the battle of Aliwal more pressing invita-
tions were sent; he alone, in their opinion, could settle 21
affairs with the
English, beeause he had not taken part against them. The Lahore
Darbar, k owing "he had not participated in their crimes chose to
employ him for a 22particular object as being the man most acceptable
to us (the British)." At this invitation Gulab Singh had found the
occasion opportune to return from Jammu to Lahore and was sponta-
neously hailed as minister and leader at Lahore on the 23 27th January
(1846) to give unity and vigour to the counsels of the Sikhs.
*

But Gulab Singh came too late ; their fame had reached
24
its height
and defeat and subjection speedily overtook them." The next day,,
on 28 February at Aliwal the British general Harry Smith inflicted a
sharp defeat on Ranjodh Singh Majithia and Ajit Singh of Ladwa, both
of whom fled the field. Large number of Sikh soldiers were killed
fighting, many were drowned in the river. Fifty six guns weue lost to
the enemy.
l^ta^^^Bi^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^™^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^™^^-^^""^^^^^ ^^^^

19. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, p. 164.

20. M'Gregor, W.L., History of the Sikhs, p. 42.
21. Hardinge to Ellenborough (Private) 7 June, 1846 (PRO), 30/12 (21/7). Cf.
Punjab Papers. Hasrat, p. 95.
22. Ibid.
23. Governor-General to the Secret Committee. 3rd February, 1846.
24. Cunningham's History of the Sikhs, p. 27S.
DOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 279

The defeat of Aliwal resulted in the evacuation by the Sikh garrison

of all the forts hitherto occupied by detachments of Lahore soldiers on
this side (south) of the river Sutlej, and the submission of the whole of
25
the territory on the left bank of the river to the British Government."
The defeat of the Sikhs at the very time when they were rejoicing
in united councils and exulting in anticipated victory, completely
overthrew their whole scheme. Gulab Singh protested publicly in the
Darbar against all that had been done. Instead of wasting time and
energy in attempting to rally his defeated forces, he upbraided them for
the rashness and folly of hoping to overcome the conquerors of India.
He accepted the responsibility of attempting a settlement and immedi-
26
ately opened negotiations with the English Commanders."
When the representatives of the Khalsa implored the Raja, whose
military skill was considerable, to lead them against the enemy, Gulab
Singh is reported to have merely taunted them their stupidity in fighting
allies to whom Ranjit Singh had been loyal for more than a quarter of
a century.
" I refrained from joining you against the English when you first
crossed the Sutlej," he told them, "Why should I help you now when
you face certain defeat." When they offered to murder Lai Singh
and Tej Singh and27 make him commander-in-chief instead, he merely
laughed at them. He had been pursuaded to come to Lahore to bring
about an honourable settlement for the Lahore Government and to
salvage it from the impending disruption to which the rebellious
soldiery had dragged it. The lawless Khalsa had been destroyed and
the object of the Rani and her Government had been satisfactorily
achieved. Now they wanted some settlement with the British Govern-
ment and safegaurd their personal interests and offices. They requested
Gulab Singh to undertake this onerous task as he was the only person
"acceptable" to the British. He was not expected to lead the
Khalsa to victory, as they had already suffered three severel defeats and
had been shattered. He would have squeezed out of the British the
best terms possible in the circumstances but in the heat of a despaired
defeat the Khalsa would not succeed to the extent he had desired.
The defeat of Aliwal had shattered all hopes and Gulab Singh now
lost no time in sending a communication to the Governor General which
might "lead to overtures for an arrangement." He was to be made
minister and "says he is ready to do whatever we (the British Governor-
28
General) like to order."
While negotiating for settlement of the fate of the defeated Lahore
25. The Governor-General of India to the Secret Committee, Camp Kanha
Cushwa, February 19, 1846 Despatches and General Orders, p. 88.
26. Hugh Murray, History of British India, London, 1862, pp. 642-43.
27. Bruce, George, Six Battles for India, p. 174.
28. Lord Hardinge to his wife, 31 January, 1846, Camp Ferozedore.
280 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Government, Oulab Singh had his own interests also in view. The
disintegration of Sikh State was imminent and the disbandment
of the Khalsa unavoidable as Hardinge had emphasised once more
that "It is indispensable that the Sikh army should be disbanded.
29
Their state of anarchy and mutiny is the cause of all the mischief, "
and that "the existence of the Sikh army on Republican system cannot
be permitted to remain as it is," Gulab Singh therefore, secretly sent
his personal physician, a Hindu named Bansider Ghose, to negotiate on
his hehalf with the British. He is said to have written that he would
help the British in their campaign with all means in his power if they
would confirm him and his family forever in possession of their present
estates and lands ; leave him also in possession of all territories then
under his rule "contenting yourselves with a tribute of five annas in
every rupee of re venule.''
The letter was handed over to Major Henry Lawrence, whose assis-
tant, Lake, wrote in reply ; •
"He who wishes to climb the summit of a lofty mountain must
start at day break. Should he delay night may close over him ere he
had gained the desire of his heart. The treasure which is buried in the
depth of mountain will become the prize of that man who is the first to
30
reach its summit.*'
Athough Hardinge has been reported to have reprimanded Lake for
this hasty reply as he was not in favour of committing his Government
while hostilities were going on, yet he was by no means displeased that
the Lahore Oovernment, in the person of Gulab Singh, was ready to
negotiate. " l a m obliged to be cold and haughty." Hardinge wrote
to his wife, "but propose to allow him to come to propose terms and
31
make a beginning. Hardinge felt that to defeat the Sikhs at Sobraon,
cross the Sutlej, lay sieze to Lahore, Amritsar, Multan and Peshawar
was a task full of grave risks, especially in the approaching hot weather.
Involvement in such a protracted campaign might also disturb India's
political calm. Moreover, the Sikh force at Sobraon could not be des-
troyed by one defeat; and Gulab Singh might well become a leader of
all the desperate chiefs in the Punjab.
Negotiation with Gulab Singh were therefore opened. It was clear
to him that provided the Khalsa was disbanded or greatly reduced in
strength, Sikh sovereignty in Lahore would still be acknowledged.
Gulab Singh was satisfied at the prospect of an honourable settlement
which could also bring credit to his statesmanship in case he could buy
off British withdrawal after receiving some war indemnity or disbanding
some Sikh forces. He therefore, ordered the Khalsa at Sobraon to
29. Quoted by George Bruce in Six Battles for India, p 174.
30. Lieufemant Edwards Lake, Political Assistant t o Maj. H. Lawrence at
Ludhiana to Governor-General. Cf. Gulabnama, p. 328, where name of
Gulab Singh's messenger is given as Nandgir.
31. Lord Hardinge to his wife, 31 January, 1846, Camp Ferozepore.
OOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 281

withdawn north across the Sutlej, into Lahore territory. His order
caused much uncertainty and low morale, and it was not obeyed. The
soldiery once again disobeyed civil and diplomatic authority and ulti-
mately brought about the doom of the Lahore State. Gulab Singh's
advice and order was disregarded. He was expected to settle terms for
the Lahore State without of course the obedience of military force with
which instrument diplomats see their views through.
With much of the Sikh force intact, which was later destroyed at
Subraon, Gulab Singh could bring into play his subtle diplomacy to
keep the British confined to the South of the Sutlej and contented to
receive an indemnity and formal supplication ofamensty. Immediately
after Aliwal, and in anticipation of a speedy settlement now when
Gulab Singh had arrived on the secne, Hardinge had welcomed
his moves ar.d had not envisaged to annex any part of Lahore
Kingdom north of Sutlej. On that occasion Hardinge had only found
it indispensable that the Sikh Army should be disbanded. 32
Their State
of anarchy and mutiny is the cause of all the mischiefs he believed.
He was not in favour of conquest of any part of the Sikh Kingdom "as
India was already so over-grown and large that we do not want terri-
toryt We shall keep what we have confiscated on this side, make them
pay expenses of the war, clip their wings and lessen their power, but
I have always been averse to annex territory and I still hope to keep up
a Sikh nation, that is a Hindoo people as contradistishguished from the
S3
Muhammadan. "
Hardinge was also not ignorant of the fact that if Gulab Singh
chose to lead the Sikhs in war his skill and capacity might have
protracted the war. Gulab Singh who had not desired for himself an
independent kingdom at that time and "was still more desirous of
34
becoming the acknowledged minister of dependent Punjab," did not
like the reckless Sobraon. He hoped to sqreze out honourable terms
for the Khalsa from ths British Governor General. But the impatient
soldiery disdained all diplomacy, and had lost all faith in their
leaders whom they had not only disobeyed but even molested
and persecuted oftenly. The matters therefore, verged on disaster, and
the armies of Lahore which had in a surprise thrust, advanced only
15 miles into the British territory retraced back all the dustance, mnssed
on the left bank of tha Sutlej for a final showdown, which came on
lOthFebuary, 1846,
Gulab Singh however, had not come to lead the Sikh army
in a battle. He had been appointed Wazir by the chiefs and people when
danger pressed them". Rani Jindan had sent for him "from
Jammu 35and entrusted him with the task of negotiating with ihe
British. " He had not "appeared on the scene ostensively on behalf
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Cunningham's History of the Sikhs, po. 286-87.
35. Khushwant Singh, Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab, p. 106.
282 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ
36
of the Lahore Darbar and entdred into negotiations with the British ,
on his own accord.
"Gulab Singh refused to forward provisions or gun powder to the*
army at Sobraon and opened communications with the governor-
37
general, Lord Hardinge. He had been called upon to salvage the Khalsai
Kingdom, from the peril to which it had fallen due to the obstinacy
of its soldiery, and was not expected to win a lost war. He had tried
to keep back the Khalsa from falling into the futility of another battle-
and extract jhe most favourable terms for his oppressors. But in the
heat of defeats the army listened to no prudent advice. On the lOtto
February the British charged the Sikh entrenchments from three sides.
Tej Singh fled across the pontoon bridge and had it destroyed. The
soldiers fought desperately and bravely under the dauntless Sham
Singh Attariwala, but were routed. Many were killed, and many more-
drowned in the swirling waters of the Sutlej. Nearly 10,000 soldiers
lost their lives in the action. All their guns were either captured or
abondoned in the river.
38
It was a complete and crushing defeat at which the populace of
Lahore expressed their exultation by deriding the defeated soldiers as
they had been pleased at the prospect of relief from the obsessions of
lawlessness characterised by the term "Sikh anarchy." The remains of
Sikh under Sardar Tej Singh and Raja Lai Singh on retiring fromi
Sobraon entrenched at Raibam, about eighteen miles east of Lahore.
They were variously estimated at from 14,000 to 20,000, one horse and
foot, with about thirty-five guns. They had been positively ordered by
39
Raja Golab Singh to remain stationary. The war of a self-willed
and self-seeking army thus ended in an ingominous defeat and disaster
after five desperately fought out battles from 18th December. 1845 to
10th February, 1846. Now the helpless diplomat was left with difficult
and delicate task of rectifying the damage done to the Lahore State by
lawless "burchas* who had at last learnt the benefit of showing respect
and obedience to the civil authority. But it came about too late. Had
it occured before Sobraon, it would have made a difference.

To Gulab Singh's overtures for safeguarding his personal interests-

in the event of the falf of Lahore Kingdom, Governor-General had
given uncommittal replies, but at the same time he referred to his
proclamation which assured consideration to those who did not parti-
cipate in hostilities against the British. Hardinge was apprehensive
of Gulab Singh's attitude and was afraid lest he should throw in his
weight on the side of the Sikhs in which case the results could be
disasterous. To secure the continuation of his neutrality, Hardinge
committed himself to the interests of Gulab Singh. He had been told
36. Ganda Sineh, Anglo-Stkh Wars, p. 97.
37. Khushwant Singh, The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab, p. 106.
38. Khushwant Sihgh, A Hist, of the Sikhs, Vol. II, p. 53.
39. Governor-General to Secret Committee, 19th February, 1846-BISL (I).
 DOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 2o#

by Major Lawrence a week before the battle of Sobraon, on the

third of February, that "we appeciated his wisdom in not having
taken up arms 40against us, and that his interests would be taken into
consideration."
Thus the Governor-General did all that was honourably possible
41
"to keep Gulab Singh and his over-rated Rajput levies neutral, " and
he admitted that "Gulab Singh's neutrality was most valuable before I
42
crossed the river Sultej."
When the news of the defeat of the Khalsa reached Lahore the Rani
and the Darbar urged Raja Gulab Singh to proceed immediately to
the British camp, to beg pardon in the name of the Darbar and the*
Sikh Government and endeavour to negotiate some arrangements for the
preservation of the country from utter ruin. Before he undertook this
mission, the Raja stipulated that the Darbar, the Chiefs, army officers
and the 'Panchayats" should sign a solemn declaration that they would
abide by such terms as he might determine on with the British
43
Govern--
ment." This is said to have been immedately acceded to.
On the night of 12 Februay the advance guard of the British army
camped among the ruined domes and fallen arches of the old town of
Kasur. Hardinge had meantime sent a note to Gulab Singh, to present
himself for negotiations 44at once if Ranjit Singh's kingdom was to survive-
as an independent state. Hardinge had also reached Kasur on th 14th
Gulab Singh arrived promptly the next day, the 15th February, accom-
panied by Diwan Dina Nath, Fakir Nurud-Din and Sultan Muhammad
Khan in the Governor-General's camp with full credentials from the
Maharaja, and empowered to agree in the name of the 45Maharaja and*
the Government to such terms as Hardinge might dictate
When Gulab Singh, accompanied by Sultan Muhammad Khan and
several influential Sardars, met Harding him and*
his colleagues that the ofifencj which had been committed was most
serious and the conduct of the chiefs and the army was most unwarrant-
able. He, however, admitted that he "recognised the wisdom, purdence
and good feelings evinced by him in having kept himself separate from
these unjustifiable hostilities of Sikhs. He also expressed his willingness
to make his sense of that conduct in the proceedings which were to be
46
carried through.
40. HardiDge to Ellenborough (Private) 7 June, 1846-EP (PRO), 30/12 (21/7)
Punjab Papers, Hasrat, p 95.
41. Wo/
42. Jun
43. Governor-General to Secret Committee, Camp Kanha Cuchwa, 19 February,
1846-BISL(I).
44. Bruce, George, Six Battles for India, London, 1969, p. 191.
45. Hasrat, Punjab Papers, pp. 141-43, Governor-General to Secret Committee,
19 Feb., 1846.
46. Hasrat, Punjab Papers, pp. 141-43, Governor-General to Secret Committee,
19 Feb., 1846.
284 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

On his arrival at Kasur, Hardinge had prepared for circulation, a

proclamation declaratory of his present views and intentions with regard
to the Punjab. A translation of the same was given to Raja Gulab Singh
47
and his colleagues. This proclamation had clearly laid down that the
occupation of the Punjab by the British forces will not be relinquished
*'until ample atonement for the insult offered to the British Govern-
ment" shall have been exacted. These objects will include full indemnity
for all expenses incurred during the war. It also declared in equivocal
terms that "the Government of India will, under any circumstances,
annex to the British provinces, the districts, hill and plain situated
48
between the river Sutlej and Beas " The chiefs remained the greater
part of the night in conference with chief secretary to Government and
Major Lawrence and before they separated a paper was signed by them
conceeding all the demands. The terms demanded and conceded were
the surrender of the territory, hill and plain, lying between the Sutlej
and Beas rivers, the payment of one and a half crores of rupees as
indemnity, the disbondment of the present Sikh army and its reorgani-
sation on the basis of pay which obtained in the time of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh and limiting the extent of the force to be henceforth
employed. It was also agreed to surrender all the guns that had been
pointed agaiDst the British. The entire regulation and control of the
49
both banks of the river Sutlej was also given over to the victors.

Gulab Singh played his part dexterously in conducting the

negotiations. He protested against the imposition of large indemnity.
He came out several times to consult his companions on all vital points
of settlement which had to be considered in the light of the principles
already determined by the victors in the proclamations. As a result of
this protest, the indemnity demanded by the victors was reduced from
50
two crores to rupees one crcre and a half. Gulab Singh's whole-hearted
endeavours, as being the mediator between the falling State of Lahore,
and the victorious Governor-General of India, were directed towards
maintaining the prestige and honour of the former. Therefore, not a
moment WES to be lost in adopting measures for retarding the progress
of the British army towards Lahore ; for then the Raja's position
might probably not be an enviable one ; at least it would not be so
51
agreeable as he desired. He had accordingly proceeded with all
expedition towards Kasur, to endeavour, if possible to arrest the
progress of the Governor-General. Everybody at Lahore had expected
a British attack on Lahore and a total disruption of the Sikh State.
Gulab Singh's first endeavour was to avert this calamity. He, therefore,
went to Kasur with all the preparations for the continuation of a war
and to negotiate from the position of confidence, if not of strength. The
47. Despatches and General Orders, The Governor General of India to Secret
Committee, dated 19 Feb., 1846.
48. Despatches anaI General Orders, pp 137-40.
f
49. Hasrat, Punjab Papers, pp. 1 1-43.
50. Gulabnama, Enp. trans., pp 316-17.
51. M'Gregor, W.L. History of the Sikbs, I I , pp. 201-2.
DOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 285

remains of Sikh army under Sardar Teja Singh and Raja Lai Singh out
retiring from Sobraon had encamped at Riabam, about 18 miles east of
Lahore. They were variously estimated at from 14,000 to 20,000 one
horse and foot with about thirty-five guns. They had 52
been positively
ordered by Raja Gulab Singh to remain stationary. The Raja had
himself moved from Jammu to direct affairs at Lahore. He went to
meet Major Lawrence at Kasur. He was accompanied by this troops
and his artillery commander, Alexander Gardner. " I had about 500 men.
writes Gardner," Gulab Singh some 2000, and 20,000 or 30,000 men
within hail. Now here were the Sikhs ctossing at Hari-Ka-Ghat and
the British at Kasur who were therefore in a most critical position, as
they were between the Sikh and Dogra armies. Of course Gulab Singh
had a double move and Lawrence seemed to be anxious at the military
mistake of moving the British army between one strong, thongh beaten, 53
force and another fresh in body and of a doubtful course of policy.
Gulab Singh was certainly conscious of this position and was the last
man not to exploit it. J. D. Cunningham records that "at Kasur he
(Gulab Singh) had said the way to carry on a war with the English was
to leave the sturdy infantry entrenched and watched,
54
and to sweep the
open country with cavalry to the gates of Delhi." The strategy implied
in Gulab Singh's threat was exactly the one against which Hardinge had
already received a caution. He had received a letter from the Duke of
Wellington in which he had urged "most strongly to look after Delhi,
reinforce its garrison and watch all roads leading to it, for the Sikhs
would certainly make for it, and if it fell into their hands, the place
would, from the prestige attending its name become at once a rallying
point for the55
disaffected all over India, and the result might be most
disastrous."

But as the Sikh command and the Lahore courtiers were not
anxious to win the war "It by no means being the intention of the
regency that their troops should be successful, but on the contrary,
56
be
destroyed by the British, so as to get rid of them forever." Hence
there was no question of following such a strategy. But now when Gnlab
Singh was at the helm of affairs at Lahore he could exploit all the weak
points in case he was provoked to join arms with the Khalsa. His
influence with the Sikh forces and his own wealth both in treasures and
munitions of war, rendered him still formidable should he be driven by
the exacting demands of his conquerors to fall back on the support of
57 fo
the Sikhs. The
which
were still circulating all over the country. Rumours of the mos
52. Governor General to Secret Committee, Camp Kanha Cushwa, 19 Feb.,
1846-BISL (I).
53. Pearse, Hugh, Memoirs of Alexander Gardner, pp. 270-71.
54. Cunningham's History af the Sikhs, pp. 287-88.
55. Edward es, W., Reminiscences of a Bengal Civilian, p. 41.
56. Edwardes, W., Reminiscences of a Bengal Civilian, p. 97..
57. Murray, Hugh, History of British India, 1852 (London), p. 653.
 286 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

alarming and disastrous character now began to circulate. It was

reported that both the Governor. General and Commander-in Chief had
been killed, our (British) army annihilated and the Sikhs in full march
3
on Delhi.* It was feared that the protected cis-Sutlej Sikh States,
•would rise against the English and throw in their lot with the Kbalsa
soldiers. "The wildest rumours prevailed as to the results of the
campaign itself, due in part to severe straits in which the British
59
themselves during earlier stages of the war." Once, at least, during
the conflict they (the Sikhs) were wihin an ace of a victory which would
6
have set all India in a blaze." ° Though Sikh generals had failed to
exploit this situation, yet Gulab Singh held the power, and if compelled,
could have used it to "create an insurrection which would have shaken
the British power more eveu than the mutiny of 1857. All the protected
States in the Malwa, Nabha, Jhind, and Patiala were ready to envelop
61
the British army in case of a reverse." Every State, more expecially
euery Hindu State, disseffected towards British rule had looked to the
Sikh rising with the hope that at last a Hindu army had appeared which
62
might drive back the English.
Gulab Singh was not of these
sions of the British Governor-General and his assistants. His military
powers and diplomatic skill was well-known to them. His preparedness
to court the perils when his views and desires were not given due
consideration were all too well-known to the British to ignore him
Particularly while negotiations were still pending and the season
.advancing it was desired to conciliate one who might render himself
formidable m a day, by joining the remains of the Sikh forces, and by
63
opening his treasures and arsenals to a war-like population. As early
as the third of February, Governor-General's political agent, Major
Lawrence, had m written document, told him "that we appreciated his
wisdom m not having taken up arms against us, and that his interests
64
would be taken into consideration." Gulab Singh had, since Sikh
attack on Jammu in January, 1845, made several overtures to the British
in anticipation of break up of the Lahore Kingdom and its aanexation
by the British, offered to transfer his allegiance to them in return for
confirmation of all territories in possession of his family The Sikh
defeat would necessarily lead to the end of Ranjit's kingdom, that was
what could be reasonably expected. But when the British Governr-Gene-
ral announced his willingness to suffer the existence of a dwarfed Sikh
kingdom at Lahore under their protection Gulab Singh was pleased to
aspire for the office of Prime Minister of Lahore. In the ooinion of Gulab
58. Edwardes. W
*/ -t_j — - ^»—• » w m m m %*» • » / i-* • \^r

59. Gough and Innes, The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars, p. 145.
60. Ibid., p. 251.
I >/Alexandi
62. Wars, p 145-
63. Cunningham's History of the Sikhs, p. ]
,64. HardingetoEllenboroug (Private), 7 June, 1846 See Bikramkit Hasrat,
Punjab papers, p. 95.
OOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 287

Singh'sgreatest critic J, D. Cunningham, he was "still more desirous of

becoming the acknowledged minister of the dependent Punjab," and
that "the overtures of the Raja-after the battle of Aliwal had foreboded
the total rout of the Sikh army—were all made in the hope of assuring 65
to himself a virtual viceroyalty over the whole dominion of Lahore."
Even when the Britsh Government had openly decided to instal him as
Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir "his separation was less in accordance 66
with his own aspiration than the ministry of Ranjit's empire."
Howevr, the Brstish Governor-General had his own plans of weakening
and partitioning the Lahore Kingdom, and thereby appearing Gulab
Singh by making him the master of one portion.
During the negotiations Gulab Singh's honest endeavour was, if
possible to arrest the advance of the Governor-General on Lahore ; but
his intentions and hopes were doomed to meet with disappointment' for
the Governor-General indignatly refused to listen to any arrangement,
which would prevent him from sealing under the walls of Lahore, any
treaty that might be made. The Raja was alarmed at the posture of
affeirs and determined on bringing the young Maharaja Dalip Singh to
meet the Governor-Genejal.
Three days later, Maharaja Dalip Singh was escorted by Gulab
Singh Dogra and Bhai Ram Singh to the British camp at Lalliani to
tender submission to jhe British Governor-General. Gulab Singh acted
as Master of Ceremonies for the Governor-General's Darbar. "Gulab
Singh's oriental form of expression was rather fine," wrote General
Hope Grant who was present at the meeting. "If, said Gulab Singh,
my son or dearest friend' were taken ill, I shonld immediately send for
the most eminent physician, and throw the sufferer into his hands,
request his advice, und make the patient swallow the physic prescribed.
I now place the Maharaja in the hands of the Governor-General as that
skilful physician. I know everything he 67
will do with regard to him will
be for the best and for his advantage."
Thus the submission was tendered and the pardon of the British
•Government was requested, the Governor-General treatad the Maharaja
as a prince restored to the friendship of the British Government. The
next morning the Governor-General accompanied him to Lahore and
reached there on the 20th February.
On the restoration of young Dalip Singh to the head of 68
the
government, Gulab Singh was appointed Wazir or prime minister. He
had already negotiated terms for a settlement at Kasur, leading to the
Treaty of Lahore on 9 March, 1846. By the terms of the Taeaty the
Darbar was compelled to give up the Jalandhar Doab, pay a war
65. Cunningham's History of Sikhs, pp. 286-87.
66. Ibid., p. 288.
67. M'Gregor, The History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, p. 208.
68. Clause 12 of the Treaty of Lahore, 9 March, 1846, see Appendix.
288 A SEORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

indemnity of 1 | crores of rupees, and reducee the army to 20,000

infantry end 12,000 cavalry. The Treaty also included an important
stipulation that Maharaja Dalip—Singh "hereby agrees to recognise the
independent sovereignty of Gulab Singh, in such territories as may be
made over to the said Raja Gulab Singh by a separate agreement
between himself and the British Government with dependencies there of
which may have been in the Raja's possession since the time of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh."

Though it was not immediately revealed to the public it was at this

juncture, as betrayed by this clause, that the British authorities devised
this scheme by which they in due course would assist Gulab Singh to
acquire Kashmir and other hill territories. Hardinge, who had previously
informed Peel of his resolve to make J ammu independent of Lahore,
convinced that the financially bankrupt Sikh Government would be
unable to pay sitpulated indemnity, obviously planned to manoeuvre
Lahore into surrendering Kashmir and hill territories as compensation
69
and in uirn to transfer them to Gulab Singh.

As Hardinge anticipated the Darbar was unable to pay the full war
indemnity and two thirds of the indemnity could not be realised. The
Lahore Darbar instead ceded the hill territories between the Beas aud
the Indus, including Kashmir and Hazara. A week later, on 16 March,
1846 the British signed a "separate agreement with Gulab Singh and
transferred to him" all the hilly or mountainous country with its
dependencies situated to the eastward of the river Indus, and westward of
70
river Ravi, including Chamba and excluding Lahul , for 75 lakhs of
rupees, "and to mark our (British) sense of Raja Gulab Singh's conduct
during the late operations, by regarding him in the mode most in
71
accordancs A\ith his amhitious desires."

The Sikhs reacted venomously and expressed their bitter resentment

over this arrangement and once more unsuccessful attempts were made
on the Raja's life. Rani Jindan dismissed him from wazarat and
72
resinstated Lai Singh. In an angry letter to Henry Lawrence, she
warned that if Kashmir were given to Gulab Singh she will appeal
73
directly to Queen Victoria. The vindictive Rani and her new Wazir
also endeavoured to nullify the Raja's power by offering his territory to
the British as reparation for the indemnity. Gnlab Singh found this a.
pretext for breaking off his relation with Lahore.

69. Ba*a Satinder Singh, Jummu Fox, p. 116.

70. Treaty of Amritsar, March 16, 1846, Article I. See Appendix.
71. Governor--General's Despatch to Secret Committee, of March 4, 1846.
72. R N. Cust Paper 'p 76 European MS. in 101. Cust an assistant to Lawrence
claimed to have witnessed an attempt bv unknown snipers to kill Gulab
Singh on Feb. 24. C. Hardinge, Viscount Hardinge, pp. 138-39 also refers
to a conspiracy by Lai Singh to murder the Raja.
73. Gulabnama, Eng. Trans, by Dr. Charak, 1977.
DOGRAS GET JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE 289
This (offer) appears to have alarmed Gulab Singh exceedingly and
he openly declared that they might manage their affairs as they pleased
he would have no further concern with them—that 74
he should take his
departure and make his own terms with the British.
Gulab _ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Maharaja on March
1846, and the Treaty of Amritsar Govern
ment was signed the next day. But a portion of the territory first
him payment
reduced. The was then trans-
him on the payment of £ 750,000. The liquidation was made
dered the heir to h
75
found at Ludhiana and estimated at 15,00,000 rupees. The territory
finally transferred to him included Kashmir, the portion of hill country
to the south between Ravi and Indus and Ladakh and Gilgit. with
Baltistan and Indus Valley to Chitral. A special clause in the Treaty
imposed upon Raja Gulab Singh the obligation to respect the rights of
the disapossessed chiefs and the Rajas under the guarantee of the
British Government whereby cash allowances were a signed to them in
perpetuity.
Chamba, west of the Ravi, and Hazara, were included in the
terrtories transferred to Gulab Singh. But an arrangment was made
Henry Gulab
76
on the Ravi and Bhadarwa, in lieu of chamba. Finding it difficult to
Gulab the Sikh Darbar with
a proposition of exchange. His request was granted through the good
offices of the British Government and the ilaqas of Manawar, Garhi,
77
etc., were given to him in exchange. In 1847 a settlement was
affected between Gulab Singh and the Hill Rajas, under guarantee of
British Government, which took the form of an assignment to them of
certain cash allowances which amounted to Rs. 42,800. The Government
of India took over from Gulab Singh the districts of Sujanpur, part of
Pattankot, and certain lands between the Chakki and Beas rivers as a
of the maintenance of some
removed from Kashmir The boundary
Jammu and Kashmir was thus finally laid after these
minor
r also bound Gulab Singh "to join with the whole of his
military force the British troops when employed within the hills, or in
territories adjoining his territories." On their part "the British Govern-
ment will give its aid to Maharaja Gulab Singh in protecting his
tearitories from external enemies." The sum of seventy-five lakhs of
74. The Treaties of Lahore 'in the Times, May 25, 1846, p. 8.
75. Cunningham, J.D., op. cit.t pp. 262-63.
76. Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence t o the Governor-General. 22nd November
1847. '
77. Proceedings (Roburkaree) of Agent, Governor-General, North-West
Frontier and Resident at Lahore, the matter of the exchange of the count™y
of Hazara, May 1, 1847.
78. Aitchison, C.U., Treaties, Engagements and Sanads. Vol. 10.

»
290 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

rupees was to be paid in two instalments, "fifty lacs to be paid on

ratification of this treaty and twenty-five lacs on or before the 1st
October of the current year, A. D. 1846." But we find that only first
instalment and about 15,00,000 of the second were paid by the 14th
April, 1847. The last instalment, 79 however was paid into the Lahore
treasury as late as 15th March, 1850.

Finally, Gulab Singh was to "present annualy to British Govern-

ment one horse, twelve perfect Shawl goats of approved breed (six male
and six female), and three pairs of Chshmere Shawl" as tribute.
Thus Gulab Singh's efforts fructified in the formation of the new
Jammu and Kashmir State. The political consciousness of the region of
Jammu, which had found expression in a long string of names of its
rulers in the Vansavali, and was further deepened by the efforts of
Dhruv Dev and Ranjit Dev, found its ultimate fulfilment. Gulab
Singh's latest ambition had been positively anticipated by the British
agent who informed Ellenborough as early as April, 1844 that in the
event of an Anglo Sikh war Gulab Singh would probably align himself
with the British, but he would in return, want to "be recognised as the
independent soverign of Peshawar and Cashmeer and also the Hill
80
States between the Indus and the Sutlej. Gulab Singh managed to
materialise his ambition without, however, aligning himself with the
British, by sheer diplomatic moves and dexterous handling of events to
his benefit a realistic trait of personality in which he equalled the top-
ranking British and Indian diplomats of his time. Like a practical
statesmen, following a ruthless, Kautillyan political ethics, he had the
nack to read the spirit of the time and the necessities of his rivals and
to make the maximum out of these. Whether it was the disintegrating
condition of Lahore Kingdom, or the need of the British power in
India, these served Gulab Singh's ends exactly as he had calculated
these to fetch him political distinction, and to talk about the want of
potriocism or treachery of Gulab Singh—the last of a Sikh murdered
81
family— is worse than idle." Similarly to talk in terms of sale and
purchase of Kashmir is to ignore the nature of treaties and politics, as
the transaction included "all the hilly or mountainous country eastward
of the Indus and westward of the Ravi, "including Jammu, Chamba
and Ladakh, and not only Kassmir. Moreover, in the words of a
contemporary observer; Gulab Singh has as undoubted a right to
purchase, as they (the British) to sell it. In exchange for a crore of
rupees they took it ; and in exchange for a crore of rupees they parted
82
with it again."
79. See Appendix. Final Receipt for the Purchase of Kashmir, 1850 signed by
the Board of Administration.
80. Richmond to Currie, April 3, 1844, Sec. Deptt., "Enclosures to secret
letters from India MSS. in India Office Library, London, Vol. 96, ace 22,
letter 23.
81. Calcutta Review, Vol. VI, 1846, pp. 300-01.
82. Ibid., p. 300.
 CHAPTER FOURTEENTH

Conclusion
A bird's eye view of the by-gone annals of the Jammu Raj reveal
the romance of the struggle of a small principality against heavy odds
arrayed all around it. A fresh crop of enemies of the Raj appeared
on the scene with succeeding ages and sought to devour this small
principality ruled over from different capitals according to the con-
venience of the age. It was in the last quarter of the fourteenth
century that Jammu town became the capital of the D ogra principality
and continued so thereafter in face of great odds. The annals of the
country are strewn with the cemetaries of numberless principalities
which came into existence and disappeared during the long past
centuries. Out of this political cataclysm which history records, the
survival of the Dogra Raj of Jammu is no short of a miracle and
informs us of the sagacity of its rulers and the valour of its people
who braced all those odds and not only maintained the existence of
the state but won for it the undisputed politcal leadership of the
region which culminated in the formation of Jammu and Kashmir
state. Some of its ancient rulers had established a small kingdom in
this region in the shadow of tribal invasions and alien domination.
They thus initiated the tradition of a Durgara or Dogra Raj in; these
hills as early as the tenth century, which in due course of time became
dominated by Jammu. Rajas Bhoj Dev, Mai Dev and Bhim Dev in
the middle ages and Ranjit Dev and Gulab Singh in modern t i m e s ^
had been inspired by the same urge of building and reviving the Dogra
Raj which arose and fell from time to time during a long sequence of
centuries.
Like several other political units of India, Jammu also experienced
ups and downs in the political arena of the country many times,
before its emergence as the leader of the traditional twenty-two hill
states and one of the decisive factors in the Punjab politics. This later
position it secured due to a few important factors. Situated on the foot-
hills, commanding an important entrance to the mountain fastnesses
along the Tawi valley, it controlled the safest and most frequented
trade route from Delhi to Kashmir, Afghanistan and beyond. This
trade route passed through Jammu territories or a codsiderable
distance, from Basohli in the east to Rajouri in the west, and was
known as early at least as the days of Albiruni. Even in the first
quarter of the fifteenth century the kings of Delhi had entrusted the
safety of this route to the Rajas of Jammu. When Maharaja Ranjit
Singh became the master of Kashmir, he also entrusted the safety of
291
292 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

vital line of commnnication to Gulab Singh by the sanad of 1820.

Jammu city itself was one of the important markets and caravan camps
on this trade route.
The economic prosperity of Jammu is attributabie to another
factor also. No other principality of this region possessed as much
fertile cultivable land as Jammu. The plain, fertile country skirting
the Jammu hills in the south, from the Chenab to the Jhelam, a length
of over 250 Kilometres, has been the most productive part of the
territories possessed by the Dogra principalities This fertile area pro-
duced a variety of crops and addel a considerable revenue to the
Jammu exchequer. All other principalities were confined mostly to
the dry and rugged hills scantily populated, whereas the arable territory
in possession of Jammu held a sizeable population, which in turn added
to its strength and prosperity. In former times the strength and
power of states mostly depended on these two factors, and these helped
Jammu attain preeminence among all Hill principalities lying between
the Ravi and the Jhelum. Thus the foctors which helped Jammu
emerge as the hub of the economy of this region also assured her
ultimate political supermacy.
*

The relative security conferred on the Jammu region by geography

was also an asset. It is situated on the spurs of hills extending to-
wards the plains of the Punjab and has high hills, fertile valleys and
dense jungles in its rear. Wealthy people naturally sought shelter
here and political power could steadily grow in its protective environ
ment. In this protected and safe region flourished trade and com-
merce, and evolved the famous Dogra schools of miniature paintings
—Basohli. Ramanagar, Jasrota, Jammu, etc.—adding more feathers to
its cap.
Even in the later medieval period Jammu territories had constanly
been ruled by the kings of an old royal dynasty, and the dynastic
changes at Delhi or Lahore had little effect on the life and aspirations
of the people. It simply meant a formal transfer of allegiance on the
part of the Dogra ruler. While the adjoining territories of the Punjab
suffered from chaos and invasions, the people of Jammu were usually
autonomous and asserted her independence at the first opportunity.
This situation enabled its rulers to maintain their self-governing status
under all circumstances.
Moreover, at least ten principalities of the 'Duger Group',
were branches of the ruling family of Jammu and remained
socially subordinate to the former. This had invested these rulers
with the spontaneous leadership of a large group of principalities
based on the ties of kinship. This privilege greatly helped Jammu
in extending its sway over a number of neighbouring principalities
such as Bhadarwa Kishtwar and others, with the help of its numerous
dependencies. While studying the cause which led to the preeminence
of Jammu in the hills, the importance of this single factor will be hard
to minimise.
CONCLUSION 293

These factors, strengthened by the differences of language and

culture with th ir neghbours, have developed in the people of
Jammu the consciousness of distinct political identity. Even when
it had been annexed to the Mughal, and later, to the Sikh state, her
individuality was not lost. Ranjit Singh acknowledged Jammu's
separate and distinct existence when he bestowed it as an old and
hereditary principality on Gulab Singh in 1822. Thus Gulab Singh
became the ruler of the principality which had the reputation of being
the leader of the Dugar states, and the capital of the old kingdom.
This further helped Jammu in emerging as the premier state in the
Dogra hills.

Above everything else, however, it was the fact of personalities

and leadership which could exploit the favourable geographical and
political factors to the benefit of a state. Without such statesmen,
states do not achieve eminence. Jammu Kingdom was fortunate in
having a number of great rulers in a span of the latest millenium, and
at least three able leaders in a period of about three-quarters of a
century in the latest stage who built the greatness of Jammu as an
important state.

These were Ranjit Dev, Gulab Singh and General Zorawar Singh.
The former chief was famous as a just ruler, possessed of secular
ideals. He gave shelter to big and small, irrespective of caste and
creed. He was also a great military leader and a wise administrator.
He not only conquered Basohli, Akhnur, Rajouri, Bhimber and
Chamba, but extended his influence over some other States of
Kangra Group. During his reign Jammu acquired considerable
power and fame and his friendship was sought by Mughal and Afghan
rulers.

Like the Guptas, Ranjit Dev recognised the political importance

of matrimonial alliances with the neighbouring ruling houses. He had
contracted such relations with the royal houses of Bilawar, Nurpur
and Chamba and had thus guided their destinies in the capacity of a
big boss. It was he who made Jammu power to reckon with even by
the ferocious Sikh Misls.

Gulab Singh, a scion of the junior branch of the Jamwal ruling

family, took his queue from Ranjit Dev and aspired to revive the
greatness of Jammu Raj with the aid of the sources of Lahore kingdom
and his own diplomatic skill. Taking full advantage of the position of
Dhian Singh and the confidence which Maharaja Ranjit Singh reposed
in him, he conquered Ladakh, Zanskar, Purig, Baltistan and a part
of Gilgit, ostensibly for the Sikhs, but in reality for himself. His
great general, wazir Zorawar Singh captured and occupied these
territories and made these an integral part of the Dogra Kingdom,
He thus opened these mountainous regions to the Indians and severed
for the future all the political relations of Leh with Lhasa.
294 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Gulab Singh's forward policy in Tibet, however, aroused the

bitterest opposition from tha British who henceforth viewed his designs
with suspicion and objected to any further addition to his power and
possessions. The British, in league with anti-Dogra element of Lahore
Court, intrigued to dislodge the Dogras from their position. This led
to the assassination of Dhian Singh at the hands of pro-British
Sindhanwalia Chiefs and afterwards caused the loss of lives of Raja
Hira Singh, Mian Sohan Singh, Pandit Jalla and several other Dogra
leaders and soldiers. The fortunes of the Dogras were once again
on the decadence. But Gulab Singh extricated the Dogra Raj from
these perils by his shrewd diplomacy and political power. His estates
were vast and spread from the borders of Tibet and Korakaram
pass in the north and north-east to Sialkot and the Jhelam in the
south and west. He had encircled Kashmir which he wanted to
possess. His prestige as a military commander was indeed great and
as a diplomat he was not in any way inferior to the British politicians
So, when the Anglo-Sikh War broke out he manipulated the situation
to his utmost benefit. The image of his power and prestige which he
had projected in the British court helped him achieve his object. The
territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Hazara with which the British
were yet unacquainted, were given over to Gulab Singh, of which he
was recognized 'the Maharaja'. Thus, reposing in the sagacity and
power of Gulab Singh, the British Government of India created Jammu
and Kashmir State as a buffer State between their Indian Empire on
the one side and Afghanistan and Russia on the other, as well as a
counterbalance against the surviving Sikh Kingdom of Lahore.
The long string of historical events thus culminated in the forma-
tion of a new state in the polity of India and the addition of a large
chunk of territory to the Indian continent. These two events speak
volumes about the military and political prowess of the Dogras who
were the sentinels of the north-western parts of India at least since the
invasion of Arabs and the Ghazanavis on Indian frontier in that
direction.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. ORIGINAL SOURCES
(a) Documents in Dogri/Takri Script:
(1) Title deed in Dogri, in whieh Raja Raj Singh of Chamba
confers the Pargana of Dhundhi on his wazir Zorawar in recognition
of his services in Jundh in connection with the war between Chamba
and Basohli which ended with the conquest of latter place by Raj Singh
probably in 1783 A.D.
(2) Letter in Takari from Raja Raj Singh of Chamba to Sukhdev
Singh, son of Manaku Dev granting him the state of Kishtwar as a
jagir dependent on Chamba.
(3) Agreement in Tankari between Raja Raj Singh of Chamba
and Fateh Pal of Bhadarwah who is made Raja of that state on certain
conditions.
(4) Latter from Raja Brijraj Dev of Jammu to Raja Raj Singh,
conveying to him the parganas of Jundh, Bhalai, Bhandal and Kihrar
and Diur, on condition of service, dated Sastra 57 (A.D. 1782).
(5) Document stating that Rs. 29,000 had been borrowed from
Raja Brijraj Dev of Jamma by Kundan Singh of Kishtwar and Raja
Raj Singn became security for its payment. Dated 12th Bhadon,
Sastra 57.
(6) Title Deed in Dogri in Tankari characters containing the
confirmation as in No. (1) above.
(7) Letter in Tankari from Raja Brijraj Dev of Jammu ordering
the officials of Jundh pargana to be obedient to Raja Raj Singh, dated
28th Sawan, Sastra 59 (A.D. 1784).
(8) Sanad in Tankari from Raja Brijraj Dev to Raja Raj Singh of
Chamba, restoring him the pargana of Jundh, Bhalai, Drier, Bhandal
and Khir, as having always been of right Chamba territory. Dated
18th Bhadon, Sastra 59 (A.D. 1784-5).
(9) Letter from Raja Brijraj Dev to Raja Raj Singh. Dated 20th
Pau. Sastra 59 (A.D. 1784-85).
(10) Letter from Dayapal of Bhadarwah to Raja Raj Singh
acknowledging allegiance and to fulfil certain promises.
(11) Letter from Bhup Chand of Bhadarwah to Raja Raj Singh
stating that he had taken over Bhadarwah and tried to make friends
with Daya Pal, but Day a Pal would not accept his advice.
(12) Letters from Fateh Pal of Bhadarwah to Raja Raj Singh
(Owing allegiance to Chamba, Dated 22 Chet, Sastra 60,
295
296 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

(13) Letter from Bhao Singh of Bhadarwah to Raja Raj Singn.

Dated Sastla 81 (A.D. 1786-87).
(14) Letter in Tankari from camp of Chamba army that invaded
Kishatwar in A.D. 1786.
(15) Friendly letter in Tankari from Raja Jit Singh of Jammu to
Raja Jit Singh of Chamba.
*

(16) Letter from Raja Tegh Singh of Kishtwar promising:

allegiance to Chamba. Dated 12 Jeth, Samvat 77 (A.D. 1801).
(17) Letter from Raja Jit Singh of Chamba to Raja Tegh Singh.
of Kishtwar, suggesting to help each other in case either of them was
iuvaded by a third party. Dated 1st of Jeth, Saetra 79 (A.D. 1804).
(18) Letter from Mian Mahinder Pal of Basohli to Raja Jit
Singh ( ? ) , making a pact between the two states. Dated 18th of
Sawan, Sastra 82.
(19) Letter in Tankari from Mahinder Pal to Raja Jit Singh
making a trenty with Chamba. Probable date A.D. 1806.
(20) Copper plate grant issued by Amrit Pal during his occupatioa
of Chamba territory.
(21) Portrait of Amrit Pal of Basohli, which bears inscription in
Nagari character.
(22) Letter in Tarkari from Diwan Singh (probably of Jammu)
to Raja Jit Singh of Chamba, stating that Nurput, Balor, Jasrota.
Mankot, and Chamba with Bhadarwah and Kashtwar are united against
Kangra dated 2 Phagon, Sastra 77 (A.D. 1802).
(23) Letter in Tankari from Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu to Raja
Charat Singh of Chamba, promising his help in connection with Raja
Bir Singh of Nurpur dated 1 Bhadon, Sastra 3 (A.D. 1827).
(24) Letter in Nagari from Amar Singh Thapa and Ranjt Singh
to Raja Jit Singh. Jit Singh ( ? ) is sent to Duggar (Jammu) for help.
Undated, but probably written between A.D. 1806 and 1809, when the
Kangra Valley was occupied by the Gurkhas.
(Copies of the above mentioned documents are in collection of the
author).
25. Brijraj-Panchasika ofKavi Dev Datt, a martial poem in
Braj Bhasha mixed with some verses and words of Dogri, describing
invasion of Kangra by Prince Brijraj Dev of Jammu.
(b) Persian documents :
(i) In State Archival Repository, Jammu (SAR-J) :
(1) File No. 1, Persiau Records. Patta given by Mughal Emperor
Muhammad Shah to Rajas Drub Dev Singh, Ranjit Dev and Gujral
Dev.
(2) File No. 281 of Samvat 1921, containing a scrap of paper,,
possibly a note from some history of Akhnur.
(3) File No. 1352 (Vernacular), Table No. 7, 19 (ii).
BIBLIOGRAPHY 29?'
(4) Copy of letter in Persian from G.R. Clerk to Raja Gulab
Singh, acknowledging with thanks services rendered by him during the
Kabul expedition dated 20th April, 1842.
Persian Records File No. 174 SAR-J.
(5) Copies of letters (Murasilas) from the Panjab Government,,
addressed to Maharaja Gnlab Singh, Persian, Persian Records File No.
139 for year 1855-56, containing a letter No. B concerning negotia-
tion on Dogra Prisoner in Tibet SAR-J.
(6) Akhbarat (Newsletters) of Mirza Saif-ud-Din of Kashmir, an
iutelligencer in the pay of tne Britishers, who used to send intelligence
from Sirinagar, bound in 13 volumes, folio size. Some of the news-
letters refer to the events which occurred before 1846. MSS IN Govt.
Research Department Library, Srinagar (GRD-S).
(7) Persian Records. File No. 560, Patta Dated 11 the Rajjal,
A.U. 1192, confirming Ranjit Dev's possession on Sialkot territory.
(8) Persian Records Document No. 2, of the year H- 1188,.
recognising "Raja-i-Rajaha Raja Ranjit Dev" as Raja of Jammu and his
allegiance to the throne of Delhi.
(
Museum
(9) Sanad, dated Rajjab, 1211 Hijri(A.D. 1797), issued by Shah
Zaman of Kabul to Raja Jit Singh of Chamba, ordering him "to per-
form the services of the Diwani in union with Raja Sampuran Dev, Raja
of Jammu."
(10) Sanad issued by Ahmad Shah Durani to Raja Umed Singh in
A.H. 1175/A.D. 1762, mentioning " Raj a- i -Raj ha Ranjit Dev of
Jammu."
(11) C-69 Letter In Persion addressed to Sri Singh of Chamba which
also contains a warning against Pandit Jalla Undated. But it must have-
been written between September 1843 and 21 December, 1844.
(12) C-70 letter in Persian from Sir Henry Lawrence to Raja Sri
Singh of Chamba, notifying that Chamba State had been included in the
territoty transferred to Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu. He is enjoined
to pay his tribute and render all customary service to Raja Gulab Singh.
Dated 16lh March, 1846.
(13) C-71. Letter in Persian to Raja Sri Singh notifying that
Chamba has come under the control of the British Government. Dated
29th Phagun, V.S. 1902 (A.D. 1846).
(iii) Persian Documents in Panjab State Archives, Patiala.
(14) Copy of *QabuIiat* signed by Mian Kishore Singh and his
three sons accepting jagirs of Jammu, Bhoti, Bandraltn, Chaneni and
Kishtwar on certain conditions. Dated 15th Maghar, V.S. 1877 (27th
November 1820) Document No. M/503, Punjab State Archives,
Patiala.
(15) Copy of'Qabuliat' (Agreement deed) bearing acceptance by
Gulab Singh, Dhian Singh and Suchet Singh of the Raj of Chakla^
*
298 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMM RAJ

Jammu in return for certain conditions. Dated 6th Har, V.S. 1879
(18 June 1822)—Document No. M/504, Punjab State Archives, Patiala.
(16) Copy of the deed of agreement signed by Raja Jit Singh the
ex-Raja of Jammn, renouncing all his claims to the ancestral princip-
ality, in fauour of Raja Gulab Singh and his brothers. Dated 13th Har,
V.S. 1879 (25 June 1822)—Documeut No. M/505 Punjab State Archives,
Patiala.
(17) Copy of 'Sanad' conferring on Dhian Singh the title of 'Raja'
and the 'Raj' of Bhimber aud Chibhal. Dated 7th Har, V.S. 1884 (19
June 1827)—Docoment No. M/507. Punjab State Archives Patiala.
(18) Certified copy of the Deed of Grant, by Maharaja Ranjit Singh
granted to Raja Hira Singh the 'Raj* of Jasrota, Besohli the the
Khas. Dated the 17th Asuj, V.S. 1894 (29 September
857)—Punjab State Archives I

(19) Certified of Deed of Affirmation by Maharaja Kharrak

Singh of the Punjab confirmin grants of estates, titles and powers,
made by his father (Maharaja Ranjit Singh) to Rajas Gulab Singh
Dh gh and Suchet Sin eh. Dated the 20th Sawan, V.S. 1896
(2 August, 1839) State
(20) D/27, M/492: Copy of treaty between the British Government
and Maharaja Guiab Singh, coucluded at Amritsar, on the 16th March,
1846.
(21) D/28, M/493 : Certified copy of Award given by the Punjab
Board, dated 13th August, 1852, dividing the State of Chibhal between
the brothers, Raja Jawahar Singh and Moti Singh Poonch.
(22) D/29, M/494 rtified copy of Deed dated 1859 by which
sferring Jawahar Singh's territorry to Kashmir, he was deported
Ambala
(23) D/31, M/496: Ori Memorial addressad to Governor
General of India by Raja Jawahar Singh dated
(24) D/33, M/498 D M/499 D M/500 D/36, M/501
copies of letters and testimonials concerning the Pooni affair disDUfc
between Maharaja Gulab Singh and the Rajas of Poonch
(25) D/56, M/521; Certified copy of a letter from Raja Gulab Singh
Mian Jawahar Singh informing him that he was prepared to give him
half of Raia Suchet Singh estates. No
(26) D/57, M Copy of letter from Gulab Singh to Mian
Jawahar Singh asking him to make Raja Hira Singh come to some
under inding. Dated 11th Asuj, 1901. (23-9-1844).
(29) D/58, M/523 ; D/59 M/524 and D/60, M/525 ; Copies of
letters written hy Gulab Singh to Mian Jawahar Singh on mi
affairs between Samvat 1901 and 1904.
(30) D/6 M/526 raphed copy of from Maharaj
Gulab Singh to Mian Jawahar Singh informing him that all mountainous
territory from Jasrota to Hazara had been granted to him (Gulab Singh)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 299
prepetually with the title of Maharaja. Dated 7 Chet, 1903
(19-2-1847).
(31) D/62, M/527 : Certified copies of letter from Maharaja Gulab
Singh to Mian Jawahar Singh to send immediately with Diwan Loodan
Cash of 5 lakhs dated 12 Chet 1902 (24-2-1846).
(32) D/64, copy of the complaint of the Raja of Poonch against
Gulab Singh to the Governer General. No Date.
(33) D/67, M/533 : Certified eopy of written statement filed on
24th Besakh, 1905 Bikrami in the court of Agent to Governor General
by Maharaja Gulab Singh in the case of the Mians of Poonch.
(34) D/68, M/533, Original latter of Maharaja Gulab Singh to Mian
Moti Singh, informing him That there was complete peace and order in
Naushera. Dated 11 Maghar 1909 (23-11-1852).
(35) D/69, M/534 : Original letter of Maharaja Gulab Singh to
Mian Moti Singh to proceed at once with two Battalions to Naushera.
Dated 1st Magh, 1905 (13-1-1859).
(36) D/70, M/535 ; Certified copy of Sanad of Maharaja Gulab
Sidgh to Raja Moti Singh giving him the Raj of half the state of Bhim-
harand Chibhal. Dated 20th Jeth 1906. Station Anantnag (2 June,
1849).
(37) D/71, M/536: Original Sanad by Maharaja Gulab Singh
taking Raja Moti Singh in his own protection.
(38) D/78, M/540 and D/76, M/541 : Copy of complaints of Raja
Jawahar Singh to British officials about his sufferings at the hands of
Maharaja Gulab Singh.
(39) D/78. M/543 : Original letter from Maharaja Gulab Singh
to Raja Moti Singh regarding general instructions io administrators
U
_ administration ; undated,
(C) English Records :
BISL (I)
of 31-12-1845, Hardinge to Secret Committee
of 4-12-1845, Hardinge to Secret Committee
of 19-2-1846, Govr-Genl to Secret Committee
(2) Despatches and General Orders, reprint Patiala, 1970.
(3) Foreign Miscellaneous, Vols. Nos. 125, 334 and 335.
(4) Hasrat, Punjab Papers :
30/12 (21/7;, 7 June, 1846, Harding to Elenborough
30/12 (21/7), 21 June, 1846 -do-
(5) A Journey to Kashmir, Fng. MSS No. M/480, Punjab State
Archives, Patiala.
(6) News letters, Vols. I-V, April 1839 to March 1842.
These are precis of intelligence received from countries in the
Western Parts of India and Kabul—(Vol. Nos. 331-35).
300 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAT

(7) Old Records in the Punjab Secretariate (ORPS)t Lahore,

Vol. VI, 1831-40, Vol. VJI, 1840-1845. Printed Lahore, 1915.
159/63, of 29-11-1844, Richmond to Currie
160/25, of 13-8-1844, Richmond to Currie
Letter No. 37 of 11-2-1845, Broadfoot to Currie.
164/41 of 25-1-1845 /do/
164/45 of 11-2-1845 /do/
164/51 of 11-2-1845 /do/
164/45 of 4-2-1845 -do-
164/47 of 5-2-1845 -do-
165/1 of 23-8-1845 -do-
VII, 167/31 of 18-9-1845 Broadfoot to Currie.
167/34 of 22-9-1845 -do-
135/107 of 2-10-1845 Edwardes to Broadfoot.
VII, 167/36 of 6-9-1845. Broadfoot to Currie.
(8) Political, Secret Proceedings and Consultations, Foreign*
Department. 1834-1848, National Archives, Lahore, 1915.
(9)Punjab Akhbars, of 8-1-1844 NAI.
Punjab Akhbarat,
Confidential reports in English of the Governor-General's Political!
Agens at Ludhiana, on important events etc ... (Vol. No. 89).
(10) P.G.R. 151/33 of 7-5-1841, Clerk to Maddock.
159/92 of 3-6-1844, Richmond to Currie
163/68 of 25-9-1843, Maharaja Dalip Singh to Richmond.
158-11-117 of 20-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
159/52 of 8-4-1844, Richmond to Currie
158/128 of 25-9-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
158/131 of 2-10-1843, Richmond to Thomason.
158/11/174 of 12-12-1843, Richmond to Currie.
159/41 of 23-3-1844, Richmond to Currie.
158/11/169 of 28-11-1843, Richmond to Currie.
158/162 of 16-11-1143 Richmond to Currie.
Tarikh-Namah, Vol. I.
159/43 of 29-3-1844, Richmond to Currie.
160/25 of 13-8-1144 Richmond to Currie.
160/76 of 30-10-1844 Richmond to Currie..
159/95 of 14-9-1844
160/48 of 10-9-1844
164/3 of 13-11-1844 Broadfoot to Currie.
BIBLIOGR APH Y 301
159/63 of 20-4-1844 Richmond to Currie
30/12 (28/12), PRO, of 9-6-1844.
1 6 4 / J I of 7-1-1845, Broadfoot ta Currie.
135/1/8 of 13-1-1845 Currie to Broadfoot.
164/24 of 27-12-1844 Broadfoot to Currie.
164/25 of 30-12-1844 -do-
164/36 of 18-1-1845 -do-
161/40 of 22-1-1845 -do-
164/47 of 5-1-1845 -do-
164/47 of 5-2-1845 -do-
(11) PRO, London:
30/12 (28/12) of 15-2-1844, Ellenborough to Wellington
30/12 (28/11) of 16-2-1844, Ellenborough to Queen.
30/12 (21/7) of 20-2-1845, Hardinge to Ellenborough
30/12 (21/7) of 7-6-1846 -do-
30/12 (21/7) of 2-7-1845 -do-
30/12(21/7) of 23-10-1845,
(12) Punjab Government Records Diaries,
1847
(13) Punjab Government Recotd Office Monograph No. 17 : Events
at the Court of Sirdar Ranjit Singh (1810-1817), Lahore, 1935.
(14) Punjab Intelligence.
Abstracts of intelligence reports seut by the Agent, Governor-
General, N.W.P. 1844—(Vol. Nos. 349). Punjab intelligence,
of 7-1-1844 NAI i

of 10-1-1844 NAI
of 4-7-1844 NAI
of 2-3-1844 NAI
of 14-3-1844 NAI
of 11-1-1844 NAI
of 5-1-1844 NAI
of 18-3-1844 NAI
of 28-3-1844 NAI
of 8*9-1844 NAI
of 16-9-1844 NAI
of 18-10-1844 NAI
of 12-9-1844 NAI
of 7-9-1844 NAI
of 24-10-1844 NAI
 302 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAP

(15) Punjab Newsletter N o . 98 of 22-1-1844 — NAI

(16) Punjab and Ranjit Singh —1830
A geographical sketch of the Punjab with the history of Ranjit:
Singh. The Punjab and Ranjit Singh by C M . Wade, 1824.
(17) The Punjab in 1839-40, Selections from the Punjab intelligence,,
and Akhbars. by Dr. Ganda Singh, Patiala, 1952.
I

(18) Secret Consultations,

119 of 20-12-1845
102 of 4-4-1845 -
|
102 of 16-1-1845. NAI
(19) The Punjab in 1839-40. selections from the Punjab Akhbars
Punjab Intelligence, etc., by Dr. Ganda Singh, Patiala, 1952.
(20) Private correspondancz relating to the Anglo-Sikh Wars, by Dry
Ganda Singh, Amritsar, Sikh History Society, 1955.
(21) Punjhb Papers (contains selections from family collections of*
Governor-General of India from 1839 to 1849). Hoshiarpur, 1972.
(22) Imperial Records Department—Calender of Persian Corres-
pondence, 11 Vols. Calcutta : Central Publications Branch, Govern-
ment, of India, 1911-14.
(23) Press Lists of Old Records of the Punjab Secretariat Lahore
(ORPS). Vol. VI, Ludhiana Agency correspondence with Government,
1831-1840. Lahore : 1915.
Press Lists of Old Records in the Punjab Secretariat, Lahore, Vol. VII,
N.W.F. Agency correspondence with Government, 1840-1845. Lahore :
1915.
Press Lists of Old Records in the Punjab Secretariat, Lahore, Vol.
• VIII, North West Frontier Agency, Miscellaneous correspondence,
1840-1845. Lahore, 1915.
(24) Punjab Government Records Office Publications-Monograph
No. 17: Events at the court of Ranjit Singh, 1810-1817, Reprint,
Patiala, 1970.
Punjab Government Records Office Publications-Monograph No.
18 : Punjab Hundred Yeaes Ago. Reprint, Patiala, 1970.
(25) Selections from the Public correspondence of the Board of
Administration for the Affairs of the Punjab, Vol, I, Lahore : The
Government of the Punjab, 1852.
(26) Papers respecting the Late Hostilities on the North Wertern
Frontier of India presented to Parliament by command of Her Majesty'.
London : House of Commons, 26 February, 1846.
Further Papers respecting the Late Hostilities on the North Western-
Frontier of India...presented to both Houses of Parliament, London :
Printed by T.R. Harrison, 1846.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 303

B. PERSIAN WORKS
(a) Manuscripts :
1. Abbas Khan Sarwani: Tarikh-USher Shahi c. 1580 A.D., Udai-
pur : Saraswati Bhandar Library MS No. 135.
2. Abdullah, Tarikhi-Daudi, written in Jahangir's reign, 1605-27
A.D. MSS in Aligarh and Allahabad Universities.
3. Ahmad Yadgar ,Tarikh-i-Salatin-i-Afghana, MS. KCA.
4. Ahwal-i-Adina Beg Khan, MS. in BM., London.
5. Aina-i-Sikandar, Delhi May 1840, National Archives of India,
New Delhi (NAI-ND).
6. Akhbar-o-Marasilat-in-Siasi-w-Mulki, of the times of Maharaja
Gulab Singh and Maharaja Ranbir Singh, intellience reports by British
intelligencer at Srinagar Mirza-Saif-ud-Din, news-writer. MS in 13
vols., Govt. Research Department Collection, Srinagar, (RDL-S).
7. Ali-ud-Din, Mufti, Ibrat Namah, c. 1854 A.D. MSS. India
office Library London (IOP) and Khalsa College, Amritsar (KCA).
8. Anand Ram Mukhlis, Takirak, MSS. in Aligarh University and
Rampnr State Libraries.
9. Ajudhia Prasad Diwan, Waqai-i-Jung-i-Sikhan, written soon after
the actual happenings—Sometimes between 1845 and 1846 A.D. The
narrative is an eye-witness and contemporary, and is free from all
literary or dedicatory superfluities. Diwan Ajudhia Prasad, being an
eminent official of Lahore Darbar, observed the political developments
at very close quarters and had ample means to collect first hand infor-
mation. Therefore, being an original and authentic narrative of events,
the manuscript is a rare record of important events and the role of
Gulab Singh in the first Sikh War with the British in India, 1845-46.
10. Baharisian-i-Shahi, MS. in RDL (S).
11. Birbal Kachru, Tawarikh-i-Kashmir, MS. RDL (S).
12. Ganash Dass Badehra Raj Darshani, Tawarikh-i-Rajgan-i-
Jammu, A.D. 1847 ; MSS, the British Museum, London (complete text);
the Library of India Office, London (starts from the events of Raja Bodh
Arjan); Sri Partap Museum, Srinagar (incomplete).
It is a history of the Rajas of Jammu from the earliest times to
A.D. 1846-47. Its writer Ganesh Dass was a Qanngo of the Chakla of
Gujarat in the Punjab when Maharaja Gulab Singh took him to Jammu
and appointed to the Daftar of that Province. The work was completed
in 1847.
13. panesh Dass Wadehra, Chahar Bagh-i-Punjab, 2 vols. MS. in
India office, London written in 1849 A.D. It is a detailed history of
the Punjab from ancient times to the time of annexation of the Punjab
in 1849 A.D.
14. Ganesh Dass Wadehra, Chahar Gulshan-i-Punjab. This is a
very short history of the Punjab, later expanded by the author into the
 304 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

work listed at No. 11. Ms. in Khuda Baksh Library, Bankipore,

Patna.
15. Ganeshi Lai, Kashmir Name or Siyahat-i-Kashmir MSS. (1)
London : British Museum : (2) Patiala Archives of the Govt, of the
Punjab. It is a stage-wise record of a visit from Ludhiana to Sringar
and back via Kathua from 28th March to 11th June, 1846 by some
prominent British officers. The work was completed in 1847.
16. Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami, Mir, Khazana-i-Amira. Written
1762-63 A.D. MS. in Aligarh University, Library. Printed edn. Cawn-
pore : Nawal Kishore Press, 1871 and 1900.
•

17. Ghulam Muhi-ud-Din, surnamed Bute Shahs Tar ikh-i-Punjab,

1842 A.D. MSS. in Patiala Archives Govt, of the Punjab and Lahore.
Punjab University Library. The author was employed in the Agency
at Ludhiana when he wrote this book, probably between 1840 and 1842
A.D. Tnis history begins with earliest times and closes with the
death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1839 A.D. Later some portion cover-
ing the period after Ranjit Singh to the assumption of Wazarat by
Raja Kira singh (1843 A.D.) were added to it by the Author,
18. Imad-ud Din Husain Chishti, Tarikh-i-Husain Shahi, MS.
1798 A.D.
19. Kanhaya Lai Hindi, Rnajit Nama, M.S. Lahore : Punjab
University Zibrary.
The author was the executive Engineer, Lahore Division, Lahore.
A translation of thi > work in Urdu was prepared by Ghulam Ali Khan
and was published at Lahore, 1909 A.D. The Persian text was litho-
graphed at Lahore in 1876 A.D. (E. Rehatsek, Indian antiquary, Vol.
XVI, 1887, pp. 305 sq.)
20. Khair-ud Din, Maulavi Muhammad, Allahabadi, Ibrat Nama,
written 1791 A.D. 2 Vol. MSS. in KCA. and Khuda Baksh Library,
Bankipore, Patna.
21 Khushwant Rai, Tawarikh-Sikhan, also called, Kitab-i- Tawa-
rikh-i-Panjab. 1811 A.D. MS. Patiala Archives.
22. Mahrab Singh Kayasth, Tarikh-i-Mulk-i-Hazara, also called
Tarikh'i-Hazara.
23. Maulvi Ahmad Bakhsh Chishti (Yakdil) Roznamacha. MS.
in possession of the author's descendents at Lahore. The work is
divided into twenty Volumes and covers the period from about 1819 to
1860 A.D It is based on eyewitness knowledge of events and informa-
tion received from eminent contemporaries
24 Mihan Singh, Colonel, Tarikih-i-Kasnmir.
25. Mufti Ali-ud Din, Ibrat Nama, completed on 13th September,
1854, A.D. MSS. KCA. and Punjab University Library, Lahore.
26. Muhammad Ali Ansari, Tarikh4-Mazajfari, MS , 1225 A.H.
(1810 A.D.) Aligarh University.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 305
27. Muhammad Negi Peshawari, Sher Singh Nama also called
Halalt-i-Punjab, MS. in Patiala Archives. The work covers years, from
1839 to 1843 A.D.
28. Munshi Harbhagat Rai, Zafar Nama (Manual) of Military
Training). MS. Patiala, Punjab Govt. Museum. It was prepared by
the French General Ventura in French aad was afterwards rendered into
Persian by Maharaja Ranjit Singh's order.
29. Narayan Kaul Aziz Pandit, Taw arikh-i-Kashmir MS. dated
1846, RDL Srinagar. It was completed by native of Kashmir in 1710.
11 AD. and continued by a later writer down to about 1846 A.D.,
up to the conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War.
30. Nizam-ud Din Tabaqat-t-Ahbari 3 Vols. Lucknow, 1920.
31. Qudratullah, Jam-I-Jahan Numa Vol.11.
32. Raja Ram Tota Gulgashat-i-Punjab, MS. Patiala Archives,
dated A.D. 1849. A general history of the Punjab.
33. Rajjab Ali, Maulvi, Roznamcha, 3 Vols. MS. Patiala
Archives.
34. Ram Sukh Rao Jassa Singh Binod compiled between 1801 and
and 1837. MS. Patiala Archives.
35. Rattan Chand Khalis Nama, MS. Patiala Archives. The book
was composed beween the period from 12th March, 1842 upto 27th
October, 1843 and deals with the Sikh history from the earliest times
upto the accession of Maharaja Dalip Singh. The author was employed
under the Attri Chiefs as Munshi or Correspondent. His account is
there based on reliable knowledge of the contemporary events in the
Punjab.
36. Sahj Ram Kaul, Maharaja Namah. MS. Srinagar, Sri Partap
Singh Museum.
37. Shah Yusuf, Muhammad Gardezi, Halat-i-Multan. MS. dated
186)..
38. Tahmas Khan Miskin, Tahmas Namah or Tarikh-i-Tahmas.
MS. in BM. London. The author lived at various places from Jammu
to Delhi, and had served eminent persons like Mir Munno' his
young wife Mughlani Begam and Zain Khan, governors of Lahore and
Sirhind.
39. Tarikh-i-Sayyid Ali, MS. RDL (S).
40. Tariskh-i- Muzaffari.
41. Waqay-i-Shah Alam, MS. Patiala, Dr. Ganda Singh's private
Collection.
Wakiat- i-Mushtaki.
(b) Printed/Lithographed
42. Abdul Karim 'Alawi', Munshi Muhammad, Tarikh-i-Punjab
Tuhfatil-ul-Ahbab. Mid-19th century work. Lithoraphed edn., 1849.
Matba Mudemmadi Press (Zuchnow 2) 1862.
 306 A SHORT BISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

43. Adbul Karim (Alawi), Tarikh-i-Ahmad, 1850, AD MS. in

Bombay University Library. Printed edn. Lucknow, 1850.
44. Abu Talib al Husainl al-Ariazi Turbati, Mir, Malfuzat-i-
Timuri, 1628-37.
45. Ahmad Yadgar, Thrikh-i-Salatin-Afghana, Calcutta. Asiatic
Society (Bibliotheca No. 257), 1939.
46. Ahwal-i-Adina Beg Khan, edn. with notes by M. Bagir Malik,
Oriental College Magazine, 14(2), Lahore, February 1938.
47. Amar Nath, Diwan, Zafar. Namah-i-Ranjit Singh, Lahore.
48. Aziz Beg, Mirza Muhammad Tarikh-i-Hazara, 1874.
49. Gulam Husain Khan Tabatabai, Siyar-ul-Mutakharin, 1781
A.D. 2 Vols. Lucknow, 1833 and 1836: Cawnpore, Nawal Kishore,
1866 and 1897.
50. Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami, Khazana-iAmira Nawal Kishore
Press, Kanpur, 1900.
51. Husan Malik, Tawariki-i-Kashmir or Tarikh-i-Hasan. A history
of Kashmir upto the end of Maharaja Ranbir Singh's reign (1885) in
Vols. Printed Govt. Research Department. Srinagar, 1962'
52. Imperial Records Department. Calender of Persian Correspon-
dence, 11 Vols. Central Publications, Branch, Government of India,
1911-1914, Calcutta.
53. Kaneheya Lai Hindi, Rai Bahadur Jafar Namah-i-Ranjit Singh
Mustafi Press, Lahore, 1876.
54. Khusrau, Amir. Nuh Sipihr, 1318 A.D. Ed. by M. Wahid
Mirza, Islamic, Islamic Research Association Series No. 12. Calcutta
Madras, 1950.
55. Kirpa Ram, Diwan, Gulab Namah, Srinagar, Tuhfa-i-Kahmir
Press, 1876 ; rep. Jammu : Sri Ranbir Prakash Press, 1919. The
work is a biography of Gulab Singh and was completed in Bikrami
Samvat 1932-3/1867.
56. Kirpa Ram Dewan, Gulzar-i-Kashmir. Lahore,": Koh-in-Nur
Press, 1870. It gives a brief history of Kashmir from the earliest
times to the year of its compilation. The main body of the work is
composed of economic and professional data and contatins a useful
account of handicrafts and industries In Kashmir.
57. Muhammad Azam, Tarik/i-i-Kasfwiir-i-Azami, 1741 A.D.
Lahore : Muhammadi Press, 1886.
58. Muhammad Hadi, Mirza. Tuzak-i-Jahangiri, Munshi Nawal
Kishore Press, Lucknow.
59. Nur Ahmed Chishti, Tahqiqat-i-Chishti.
60. Shah Nawaz Khan, Nawab Samsam-ud-Daulah, Md'asir-ul-
Umara Ed. by Abdul Rahim and M. Ashraf Ali. Calcutta : Asiatic
Society, 1888-81. 3 Vols.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 307

61. Sharaf-ud-Din 'Ali Yazdi, Maulana, Zafaranma 1424, A.D.

Calcutta : Asiatic Socieiy, Vol. 1 : 1887 ; Vol. II, 1888.
62. Sohan Lai Suri, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, 5 Vols. Lahore ; Aryz
Press, 1885-88.
Sohan Lai was the official Akhbar Nawis (News-writer) at the
Darbar under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors. His work
covers the history of the Sikhs from the origin of the Sikh religion till
the annexation of the Punjab by the British, A.D. 1469 to 1849. It
contains useful references to the conquest of Jammu by the Sikhs and
detailed account of the role of Jammu Rajas in the Sikh Darbar upto
1896 and is therefore a valuable contemporary source for the history of
Jammu.
63. Yahya-Bin-Ahmad-bin-Abdullah Sirhindi. Tarikh-i-Mubarak
Shahi.
C. Translations of Original Persian Works :
(i) In English :
64. Beveridge, Henry (Tr.). The Ma'' athir-ul-Umara of Shah Nawaz
Khan and Abdul Hayy. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 2 Vols. (I) 1911-42,
(11)1952.
65. Beveridge Henry, and Rogers, Alexander (Trs.) The Tuzak-i-
Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jaghangir. Reprint, 2 Vols, in one, Delhi-6.
Mnnshiram Manoharlal, 1968.
66. Beveridge, Henry (Tr.). Akbar-nama of Abul Fazl, Asiatic
Society, Calcutta, Vol. II, 1912 and Vol. Ill, 1939.
67. Blochmann, Henry Ferdinand (Tr.) The Ain-UAkbari of Abul
Fazl Allami; Calcutta : Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (Bibliotheca
Indica), 1871-1873.
68. Briggs, J. (Tr.). Tarikh-i-Firishta or Gulslian-i-Ibrahimi,
London, 1829. Reprinted Calcutta, 1908-10.
69. Charak, Sukhdev Singh, Kirpa Ram's Gulabnama, Delhi,
Light and Life Publishers, 1979.
70. Elliot, Henry Miers and John Dowson. The History of India
as told by its own historians : the Muhammadan Period. London ; Trubnar
& Co., 1867-1877. Vols. I-VIII.
'•Tarikh-ul-Hind" of al-Biruni, 2 : 1-13.
<'Malfuzat-i-Timuri" of Amir Timur, 3 : 389-477.
"Zaffurnama" of Maulana Sharaf-ud-Din 'All Yazdi, 3 : 478-522.
"Nuh Sipihr" of Amir Khusrau, 3 : 557-566.
"Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi" of Yahya bin Ahmad, 4 : 6-88.
"Tarihh-i-Sher Shahi" of Abbas Khan Sarwani, 4 : 301-433.
308 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

"Tarikh-i-Daudi" of Abdullah, 4 : 434-513.

"Tarikh-i-Salatin-i-Afghana" of Ahmad Yadgar, 5 : 1-66.
"Tarikh-i-Alfii" of Maulana Ahmad, 5 : 150-176.
"Akbarnama" of Abdul Fazl, 6 : 9-102.
"Akbarnama" of lllahbad 'Faizi Firhindi, 6 : 116-146.
"Waki* at-Jahangiri" of Emperor Jehangir, 6 : 276-391.
"Tazkira" of Anand Ram Mukhlis, 8 : 76-98.
"Tarikh-i-Ahmad Shahi", 8 : 104-123.
"Tarikh-i-'Alamgir Sani", 8 : 140-143.
"Farhat-un-Nazrin" of Muhammad Aslam, 8 : 163-174.
"Ahwal Adina Beg Khan", 8 : 167.
"Ibratnama' of Fakir-Khair-ud-Din Muhammad, 8 : 237-254.
71. Jadu Nath Sarkar, Sir, (Tr.). Waqay-i-Shah Alam, Eng, tr.
under the Title of Delhi Chronicle, 1738-1798, MS. in Dr. Ganda Singh
private Collection, Patiala.
72. Kamal Krishna Basu (Tr.) The Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shake.
Baroda : Oriental Institute 1932.
*

73. Raverty Major H. G. (Tr.) Tarikh-i-Nasiri of Minhajjuddiny

2 Vols, Reprint New Delhi, 1970,
74. Ranking (tr.) Muntakhab-ul-Tarikh of Badaoni, Eng. tr. Vol. L
75. Rogesr Alexander (Tr.) and Beveridge Henery (Ed.) The
Tuzck-i-Jahangiri, or 'Memoirs of Jehangir, London : Royal Asiatic
Society, Vol. 1, 1909, and Vol. II, 1914. Reprint, Delhi-6, Munshiram
Manoharlal, 2 Vols, in one, 1968.
76. Sachau, Edward C. (Tr.). AlberunVs India, 2 Vols., London :
Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1888. Reprint, Delhi: S. Chand &
Co., 2 Vols, in one, 1914.
77. Setu Mahadava Rao, P. (Tr.) Tahmas Nama : the autobiogra-
phy of a slave (abridged). Bombay : Popular Prakashan, 1967.
78. Vidya Sagar Suri) (Tr.). Umdat-ut-Tawarikh Dafter III (parts
i-V), 1831-39 A.D. Delhi : S. Chand and Co. 1961 ; Daftar IV. 1973.
79. Vidya Fagar Suri (Tr.) Sayahat-i-Kashmir or Kashmir Nama
of Ganeshi Sal, Chandigarh, Punjab Itihas Prakashan, 1977. |

(ii) In Urdu ; I

80. Ghulam Ali Khan (Tr.) Sher-i-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh, •

Sikhon Ki Shamsher-i-Abdar. Urdu tr. of Kanheya Lai Hindi's Jafar-
Namah Ranjit Singh. I
81. Hasam Malik's Tawarikh-i-Kashmir, Srinagarr
BIBLIOGRAPHY 309

82. Mnnshi Ashraf Ali (Tr.) Tarikh-i-Kashmir-i-Azami of

Muhammad Azam. 1747 A.D. Edn. Urdu tr. Delhi, 1846.
C. SANSKRIT WORKS : ORIGINAL, PRINTED & TRANSLATED
83. Astadhyayi
84. Amarkosa
85. Brahmanda Purana
"8 6. Briha tsamhita
87. Bum/tier, Prof. A Report on a Tour in Search of Sanskrit MSS,
etc. 1877.
8 8. CItandravyakarna
89. Ganapatha
90. Gunaratna-Mahodadhi, edn. Eggeling.
91. )fSrivara (Text), Calcutta, 1835.
92. mi ed. by Srikanth Kaul.Hoshiarpur 1967
.93. Kalika Purana,
SA. Kasikavritti.
95. Mahabhashya.
96. Mahabharata : Adi. P., Bhishma P.
'97. Markandeya Pur ana
98. Nilamata Parana, ed. by Dr. Ved Kumari, 2 Vols., J. & K.
Academy of Culture, Art and Languages, 1967,
9 9. Padma Pur ana
100. Rgveda
101. Srivara, Jaina-Rajatarangini, ed. by Srikanth Kaul, Hoshiar-
pur, 1966,
102. Tolmon, H.C., Ancient Persian Lexican and the Texts t
Achaemenan Inscriptions.
103. Vishnu Parana, Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, 1960.

D. URDU MANUSCRIPTS
104. Ahwal-o-taraqqi-i-Raja Dhyan Singh, M.S. in British
Museum Library, London.
105. Hhwal-i-Pind DaJdan Khan-w-hun Miani, MS. in British
Museum Library, London.
 310 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

106. Anonymous : Urdu Tarikh-i-Jammu, RDL(S), MS. No. 770.

107. Muhammad Khan, Ahwal-i-Mulk-i-Ladakh, MS. RDL(S).
198. Ramju Dar, Tarikh-i-shahi Khandan-i-Dogra, M.S. RDL(S).
109. Sita Ram Pandit, Khulasa-i-Ahwal-i-Khandan-i-Rajaha-i-
Kishtwar, MS. in Dr. Ganda Singh's private collection, Patiala.
DL CONTEMPORARY WORKS
(a) Reports, Gazetteers and Travels
110. Adams, Andrew Leh : Wanderings of a Naturalist in India
the Western Himalayas and Cashmere. Edinburgh, 1867.
111. Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report for the year
1905-06, Calcutta 1909.
112. Archaeological Survey of India, New Imperial series, vol. I,
Calcutta.
113. Bates, Charles Ellison (comp.): A Gazetteer of Kashmir
and the adjacent districts ofKishtwar, Badarwar, Jammu, Naoshera, Punch
and the valley of the Kishan Ganga. Calcutta : Superintendent of Govern-
ment Printing, 1873.
n B rili er Francoi
7^ ?;^o 4: , ' s : Travels in the Mughal Empire, A.D.
1656—1668 Tr. by Irving Broe. London, 1891.
115. Bhuri Singh Museum Chamba, Catalogue of: by J. Ph. Vogel.
116. Barnes, G.C.: Report of the Land Revenue Settlement of the
Kangra District, Lahore, 1889.
117. Census of India, 1931 Vol. XXIV. Jammu and Kashmir State,
Part I. Calcutta, 1933.
118. Coomaraswamy. Anand Kentish : Catalogue of the Indian
collections m the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Part 5, Rajput
Pamtmg. Bosten, 1926.
9 are Louis
ieo}l ' ? ' Williams: Gazetteer of Gurdaspur District,
1883-64, vol. 1. Lahore 1884.
l2 Davie
T u °- s , Captain H.S.P. : Gujarat District Gazetteer, 1892-93.
i-anore : Government of the Punjab, 18y3.
121 Dunlo
T u - P Smith, J.R. : Sialkot District Gazetteer, 1894-95.
Lahore : Government of the Punjab, 1895.
122. Egertom, P.H.: Journal of a Tour through Spite to the frontier
of Chinese Tartory. Lodon, 1864.
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324 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

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326 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

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•
 APPENDIX I 327
APPENDIX I
Sanad issued by Ahmad Sfiah Durrani to Raja Umed Singh in A.H.
1175, mentioning Raja-i-Rajaha, Raja Ranjit Dev.

"* I ^y . i ,.ZO V
)

,J J
k'fcj&fobhj> r> > J l ^ f v ^ i ^ fa / ^ # ^ ^
.1 " J « - v L... -,I?-S V
jy-SL.^«,/,/.?)J^>W^V^
^^H>4^-^^^^^^-^ ^

iW^**^
•*. V*

6te>j< ^^u^c^/^kd^fi
«JU,. . -.J, p^h^tfy >J)>Z>I>>)
S

" - )
 328 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

APPENDIX II
Copy of Emperor Bahadur Shah's Patta in favour of Raja Ranjit Dev,
dated 11 Rajjab, 1192 (A.D. 1778).

aj*&±&

es^.^4?

**^bfJ>C&r*}j. 6l^)^>bJ 6 • \

^ o % > & J p . ^ \g£, s^Jp-Cr^ftCif

A
^^(fc&LP-s^l <^W>(*^ j> uftS
O^J^>^^ PA^J &/*\
j ^ > > > ^V U^z> &&&$ )>»fj£% ^^U
s
bPu?)l?f?^ U OUU *)»)j,)J*Jj(fi'*f*-) u>

^ ^ V ^ ' C ^ V ' M ^ ^ ^
0
tb ^S*&>(jr & i dU Cs)db> {Jtej^SJvtyl*?^
(y^^^^^.^^^^h^^ t^) <=^ &?><-->**)!
i

U&>£«- 6/>l ^ Co l^C^^/t^j J/tM^{J>j ^Jj 1

I
p^i >- A ^ S ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ .
APPENDIX III 329
APPENDIX III
Sanad issued by Shah Raja Singh of Chamba in A.H.
1211 (A.D. 1797), asking him to per fori '• functions of Diwani in
collaboration with Raja Sampuran Singh of

z>M(j> $i f->

u) >

« •
Ot)UAj]}
Oi06\J^cC?lotv

L?L_4>2/ Q&
7

(jO'ilA? J ^o?<*jbl»

Sbo > L-JSWJ 1 m

>->j> <—4>^

rUijjd VfCAv* ofr^Wfo^

'CJ C^> ) > ; / U 171)

SO)
• "
 APPENDIX—IV
Braijraj Panchshika
An important event in the history of Kangra and Nurpur was the
invasion of these territories by the armies of Jammu in about 1773 A.D.
Raja Ghamand Chand Katoch was the ruler of Kangra. He occupied
by force the Pathiyar fort of Chamba. Raja Raj Singh of Chamba,.
a minor, and a vassal of Maharaja Ranjit Dev of Jammu, appealed
to his superior for help. Ranjit Dev sent his son and heirapparent,.
Mian Brijraj Dev, at the head of an army commanded by Ajmat Dev
Mankoiia, Shamsher Chand Huntal, Mian Amrit Pal of Balaur,.
Rattan Dev of Jasrota and others. Dev Datt alias Kavi Datt, the
court poet of Jammu, happened to accompany the Prince on the
Kangra expedition. He wrote a short account of this expedition in
verse. Being a document written by the one who was an eye-witness
to the incidents described, it seems to be an important source of the
history of these hill states at a period when the whole territory was
in turmoil and there were frequent clashes of arms between the
troops of these hill states. The war poem has been reproduced below
in full in its original Braj-bhasha version containing a few verses and
words of the Pahari or Dogri dialect.

5T3RT3T
A
q^CTfW
tfftST—Tsff «ft T^^ STO ^T Wtfa f^T^T
3TT STCrre ^ *ter TPTt 5TT ^ferT ^t II (1)
c\ c\

q%2TCFT*ff 5rfarorT|t f ^ f f a ^ II (2)

w^o o
ifftfsr ^ m ?T ^ r ST^TM ^i
Jr? ?T5T ^T'R^ ^fer ^"t m? sff || (3)
$ft fm^K fofr TMT Tsi^ ^ i
3TT^ m%? *^r ^rrsFT *r T^T | a (4)
330
 IV
C
sr«r SSTR T^T
c\
5T*RT
tr^r fe^r ^SRT?T wt ^r TOTTt ^rrf i
TFFt ^ f TSTR ^ fcRt ^iN t (5)

jff *TR sarit R*nf STT! STR T*R 3ft

cTT fer fcRf ^ ? m WIW *R sTJRR % (6)
^ft T*R *PT5nf JRJTR" S^RRT *ff
^ 3R> cPT 3TTf ^ i f r *R ^ T ^ft I (7)
3T*T*R % TTRfolT *P%T =TR ^TT*T
3TT SRim ^ t SR> Tftaf 3RT T M l| (8)
T<R % «RRtferr are * R R ^ ^^i^r i
IT W T ^ t T R *f ^ | ^ ? r <R^T?T II (9)
^"fa foR ^WU^ ^^ft cR *R.RT3T qft TRT TT^^ r
ST**- fcR T<T SRT % <TR ^ R SR ^ R R 5RT# 11
Trf% *R*R> SR> +fa<M =3% *RRR ^ t T R ?RH#
^r i t ^ r 3f fpr sst ^rsr f t faR tffotzu *nvz u (10)
3TR SRFT =TR> R f i | TT# |Rfa" f*RT cT^Ra" ^RR*ft I
Trf| % TI# T f t ^ T 3TRcT 3TR *ft ^ 5 T T fa^RR II
-
SIR ST T 9T ^ f t 5R cfT^T ^ftq 3RTR T^R^ft I
C\ CV Cv C\

R # ^ T > <TR T R t ^ R % *ft ^ vjTTf ^ ?ff^ ^RTt II (1

Sjppr W T T^T T£ SW^t * R f | ERJRT I

^TT T R ^ T W T *f¥ W<T TOTR* TR II (
3TR =^R TSTR *R *RR«T W& I
3R STRR $t TTT %R SxT f^RcT f ^ l| (13)
3RSTR ^ *R^R f | W * R R ^ t 3fR f f §TT% I
^TW Tlf T%T f*Rt f3RF3T *R arfcf ^ B R BT% II
qrsr w *rt sq> ^Rftr ^ R ^ <TR ^T^ TTT% I
cnff[ ^R W»R ^TT ^R *rfi| ^rRT T>% ?HTR ^ |f# n (14) t

^RcT sfrq- cR ^q- qfqr ^ T

C\ \3
^ R STR ?IR I
3Tf| qf % ^T^ ^TRR % cfk II (15)
TR1TT 3RRR <R TT^F T R T ? R ^f^rnT i
%T =q% T ^ | 5 f W R T R ^ f TTfe^lR ^ 3RT II
 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

3n^ faetfr ^ \ M ^ *T|tqfr w>v% *R f^r^t *PT VT^ I

*rr r fo^r fair s?r *nfa % TT^T % m*r fa%*r ^TTq u (16)
3n*fr 5^T ^O^T^T ^ft zf\ ?arfN" *r? ^ ^ i
5JW 5T>T *F£Nr % ^CT3TT q-| 5R I (17)

c R ^ t SRTT 3TOT 'sr^f ^sq-r^T^TT I

C\ ^ C\

^*TRF TSqiTT TRT ^<ft sft ^ M R t II

Tl^T £V *fsfr ^rT ^ «RV %TR> ^ I
wrS\ *r>r STT^ sf^ qfNr srw^rt
3FJR ^fTTIT frpcft ^ f T 3T 1%RiTT sft l
<fteft p r ^T^T ^ s f
O X.
^% ^^srRTKt ii
vl

gr^f fa%q *T?T sfrc TTIT fmt srft i

sfteif *ra" T^Rff ^ T =#¥ ^rRTSTRrt^ ti (18)
TT% % arsr *f fcr rarw % *rfsr f%ift frpft ^fl «r^rf i
sft ST^RM g tft fatM ^t 3%r 3R> * T%T % s n r u
iff *rfa
o
*FFTST ^ r *R*r STT^ arre <Rt fasRrf i
3TIT fWr w^ft s*r f <Efr ST^ *r% | T ^ T 3f srrf u (l 9)
tr^fT fe^T f^ t%^ fjfOTT K" S^RT^r I
iftcr srTfa 3 R ^ ^ 5 <rc?r ^rr^r s r ^ r u (20)
^Rift SrT T?R ^Tt ^ET cT# TO tt ^^f% ^t 3TTf 1
^z% ^t ^ aftr ^ *FR S R <TSPT ^t ^ r <rsTf n
^f% T* ^rf| fe*T STT fe 3TTT ^FT^r ^ff ^fk ^Tf I
Mr ST^RT^T snre 5Rnq" ^* STTTCT S R ?r| ?r ^ n f u (21)
Ti^rf%^ ^ R T ^ T mi ^ ^ r T ^ R ^rr i
i

SR> fa^r ^ r ^rr^r m% fw?m *mjsm *ft u (22) •

^fe 3TTR 3T ^T ^t ITT f^TT^T ^fR I
^ T ^T? TT^?T ftnft ^T^T f^T^ STR sfR U
f%^ tsTT^ ^ i ^ r mo ^ t f ^ ^rf^
o
m ^rq-
c\
i
STTf facift ^3TIW cT^T TW ^ ^ 3H<T II (23)
^tf^: ?T^T ttft cr# ^RTSTM o
^r^r ^T^TT srrsft i
-
^iff |^T srfa ^ ^nrsn^r ir^t fef ^nf?r ^pft i^ri^ a
-
^5T <T3FT ^ ^ l ^ r a ^ T ^ 3" SfTT ^ t q;f?T STRt I
*R?r ^t ?m?TTf ^r% ^T^F?T ^ % ^ T S ^t f^rR> u (24)
APPENDIX IV 333

sfa *TT:<T ft^r %% ^ft ?ffa7 wit ^ TIT

ST ST ^% S^cT | 3fTW if sp^TTf 11 (25)
-
^ 0 _ ^ ^> fa^ T S " ^ SS ^qrf^f ^
3fs*Tt cFf ST 5ft STST *RSR *ff I
^ t e s t | TST^nft *r%T ^ ^ M ,
^ SRST ^TS ^m ifcr SFt^ff 3TCTSTF tff I %

SS
' T S?t 3RRT 3fK ^fjf^ % ^ O S ^RST,
s^r *R ^ s <7^r qrsr qrssR sit" i
37TS *PTffT# W TT^T STTJST5T ^ft,
sdsf ^ t \ ^ S T fq^r snrfa ^*TR *ff t (26),
Sfrft S t V s R <TSSR 5f fe;TR sftsf,

ST lff[ ^ M S^SW *ff 3RfS~f | I

STf I *T%T ST~t ^ S TSlf>fST *ft
^ srfTOSf fflif ST ffT«T 3Tfiff f 11
-
S^TT SR sftsr ss # s ?p ^ s
sfe 4 S37S *TR %9T S?t STTFTt | I
•

Sr| ^ TRt Stf SlSt 5f> S W ^ ^Jt,

S^TS % *RT*T TSsffS ^ WIST | II (27)

<fto_ ^ r qfs ^ts 5f^rTcr ft «ft I^RTW STTR I

3RSR t%S" SST fsSTSTT q-R
g-o |T s *m fs^R sfts SR ^ R ^#rar 5fif <T^RST ;
*ft<j <$ZT ^fe mst *rs sprang s^t ^r *f fa ftraRst 11
st *rfa sitf s sre sfr q w STRS ST ?nr <SR ST^RST I
-
mfs *rq 3rgcrf<vr ^ N " ss s^| sffc s *T?S" fasrcst II (29)
x x x

3T?r SfSrSHH *PsNt* W>T SfTSS S^S*?

>D

tfo — TTfa "^ft SRSR S^SR S*ffT FTS s f e SR S flfsf

O C\ w

Tf^ SST^ SSTS % sfaf S?f^ *R> (f') S" SR> T^f ^ t # I
^ r T^t CRSR ?nft ^wsfT T | ^R ?TR % q^tt i
V* NO >P

Srr ^ft^-f s" ^ S R SSTT # w^s |crf| s i t u (30)

 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

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APPENDIX IV

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 JAMMU

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 ^^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^_ ^_^_

APPENDIX V
Treaty between the British Government and Maharaja Gulab Singh,
concluded at Amritsar, on 16th March 1846.

Treaty between the British Government on the one part, and Mi haraja
Gulab Singh of Jammu on the other, concluded, on the part of the British
Government, by Frederick Carrie, Esq., and Brevet-Major Henry Montgo-
mery Lawrence, acting under the orders of the Right Honourable Sir Henry
J
Hardinge, G.C.B., one of Her Britannic Majesiy s Most Honourable Privy
Council, Governor-General, appointed by the Honourable Company to direct
and control all their affairs in the East Indies, and by Maharaja Gulab
Singh in person.

Article 1.—The British Government transfers and makes over, for

ever, in independent possession, to Maharaja Gulab Sidgh, and the heirs
male of his body, all the hilly or mountainous country, with its depen-
dencies, situated to the eastward of the river Indus, and westward of
the river Ravi, including Chamba and excluding Lahul, being pari of
the territory ceded to the British Government by the Lahore State,
according to the provisions of Article 4 of the Treaty of Lahore, dated
the 9th March 1846.

Article 2.—The eastern boundary of the tract transferred by the

feregoing article to Maharaja Gulab Singh, shall be laid down by the
Commissioners appointed by the British Government and Maharaja
Gulab Singh respectively, for that purpose, and shall be defined in a
separate engagement after survey.
Article 3.—In consideration of the transfer made to him and his
heirs by the provisions of the foregoing articles, Maharaja Gulab Singh
will pay to the British Government the sum of seventy-five lacs of
rupees (Nanakshahi), fifty lacs to be paid on ratification of this treaty,
and twenty-five lacs on or before the 1st of October of the current year,
A.D. 1846.
Article 4.—The limits of the territories of Maharaja Gulab Singh
shall not be at any time changed without the concurrence of the British
Government.
Article 5.—Maharaja Gulab Singh will refer to the arbitration of
the British Government any disputes or questions that may rise between
himself and the Government of Lahore, or any other neighbouring
State, and will abide by the decision of the British Government.
337
338 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMM RAJ

6.—Maharaja Gulab Singh for himself and heirs

to join, with the whole of his force, the British
employed within the hills, or in the territories adjoining his
7.—Maharaja Gulab Singh engages never to take
his subject, nor the of any Europ
American State, without the consent of the British Government
Anicte 8.—Maharaja Gulab Singh engages to respect, in regard to
the territory transferred to him, the provisions of Articles 5, 6 and 7,
of the separate engagement between the British Government and the
Lahore Darbar, dated 11th March 1846.
Article 9.—The British Government will give its aid to Maharaja
Gulab Singh in protecting his torritories from external enemies.
Article 10.—Maharaja Gulab Singh acknowledges the supremacy of
the British Government, and will, in token of such supremacy, present
annually to the British Government one horse, twelve perfect shawl
goats of approved breed (six male and six female), and three pairs of
Kashmir shawls.
This treaty, consisting of ten articles, has been this day settled by
Frederick Currie, Esq., and Brevet-Major Henry Montgomery Law-
rence, acting under the directions of the Right Honourable Sir Henry
Hardinge, G.C.B., Governor-General, on the part of the British
Government, and by Maharaja Gulab Singh in person ; and the said
treaty has been this day ratified by the seal of the Right Honourable
Sir Henry Hardinge, G.C.B., Governor-General.
Done at Amritsar, this 16th day of March in the year of our Lord
846, corresponding with the 17th day of Rabi-ul-Awwal 1262
Hij njab Government Record Office Museum)
 A PPENDIX VI
THE FINAL RECEIPT FOR THE PURCHASE OF KASHMIR
Final receipt1
for the purchase of Kashmir signed by the Board of
Administration.
The Hon'ble The East India having from His
Highi the Maharajah Gulab Singh the sum of Rs. 75,00,000
(seventy in payment of the amount guaranteed by the III
Article of the Treaty between the Hon'bk Company and His High
dated Amritsar the 16th March, 1846. The acknowledgment of
the receipt of the whol amount is granted ird of Adminis-
Punjab the request Dewan Jowalla
Sahae, in addition to the receipts already given to His Highness agents
by the receiving officers, for the instalments received by them from time
to time between the date of the Treaty and the 14th March, 1850, the
day on which the last instalment was paid into the Lahore Treasury."
H.M. LAWRENCE.
JOHN LAWRENCE
Lahore, 29th March, 1850. C.E. MANSEL.

1. Copy in the Punjab Record Officer Museum.

339
*

• i

:
 INDEX
A Akhnur 16.21.22.31
Abraj Siaj 104. 33. 135
Abhisara. 43 173
Abhisari. 42. Akhrota,
Gonpa. 218. Aksai, 2.
S Raja Mankot Alam De
105, Alam S Akhnuria, Mian
Achhran. Rani, 77, 78. 132, 13., 135.
Adam Khan, 79. Albiruni, Alberuni, 30, 291.
Adam Khokhar, 82. Alexander, 28, 30, 42, 43, 45.
Adeenanugur, 16 \ Alexander Gardner, 242, 243
Adina Beg, Khan, 98 99, 101 245, 285.
110. AliSherKhaa, 220, 221.
Adi Varah. 42. Alivval, 278, 279, 287.
Aeen. 174. Alishah, 73, 74, 75.
Afghan, 15. Almora 205, 210, 214, 226
Afghanistan. 2, 198, 298, 230, Amar Kshatriya Sabha,
291, 294. Ambaran. Ambaraivan 21, 22
Aghar Khan, 148, 160. 23, 84, 120.
Agnigarbh, 32, 33. Amb e>
Agnigir, 32. Amar Singh, 150.
Agni Karn. 36. Ambi, 21.
Ahmad Khan, of Tolti, Amolak Singh, 137.
Ahmad Shah ; of Balti; 193, Amrit Pal, Raja, Balauria, 104
218. 113, 119. I2i, 132
Ahmad Shah Durrani, Kabul Amir Khan Mir-i-Miran, 90.
98. 99, 100, 101, 103, 115, 121, AmirChand 158
122, 128, 139, 160. Amir Timur, 8, 67.
Abmich-Cho, 219. Amritsar, 135, 144, 174, 280.
Airan Davi, .*3. Ananda Raja of Trigarta. 60.
Ajab Singh, Raja. 148. Ananda Paul, 56, 58.
Ajab Deo or Ajeo, 55. Anand Pal Shahi, 58.
Ajay Dhar, 52. Kashm 59.
Ajay Singh, 43, 44. Anant, Anand Dev, 89, 92, 109
Ajender. 37. Anglo-Sikh War, First, 272
Ajeo Dev, 77, 78. 290, 294.
Ajey or Ajab Dev, 55. Andrews. Mr. 44.
Ajit Singh, 248, 250. Ang Pal, Tunwar, 49.
Ajit, of Ladwa, 278. Antiachos III, 47.
Ajit Singh Sindhan walia, 170, Antergiri, 251.
239. Anushirwan, 51.
Akbar. 84, 85, 88, 90, 93, 110, Apaga, 25.
130, 131, 147, 149, Arabs, 294.
341
 342 A SHORT HISTORY GF JAMMU RAJ

Arab invasion, 54. Bajar, Bajarla Dhar, 52, 53. 54.

Ardhasir Babgan, 48. Bajwat, Bajwath, 71,96,135,139.
Arjan Dev, 62. Baijnath, 57.
Arjan Singh, 133. Baila, 68.
Arniya, 122, 135. Bakht Mai, 102.
Arsila Khan, of Zaida, 259. Balaor, Balaur, Balawar, 31, 60,
Artaxerxes, 41. 61, 92, 125.
Aryan-S, 4, 7, 24. Bali Baran, 37, 39.
Asata, of Chamba, 61. Balha, 60.
Askot, 220. Balol, 69.
Astor, 193, 206, 221. Balbhadra (Balidar) of Lakhan-
Attar Singh Kalal, 152. pur, 84, 85.
Attar Singh Dalpatiah, Mian, Baldev Chohan, 53.
132. Balti, 6, 7, 9, 193,
Attar Singh Sindhanwalia, 170, Baltistan, 2, 3, 4, 166, 193, 194,
251, 262. 197, 199, 200, 201, 212, 213,
Attock. 126, 155, 172. 214, 220,221,222, 229, 289,
Auckland, Lord, 225. 293.
Audumbaras, 27, 28. Balwalta, 165.
Aurangzeb, 98, 90, 91, 93, 99, Balwant Singh, 94, 111, 153.
100, 123. Ban, 122.
Aurel Stein, 44. Banda Bahadur, 91, 92, 116.
Avtar Dev, 57, 58. Banhr, 53.
Awan. 65. Bandralta, Bandral, Bhadarwal,
Ayodhia, 32. 125,145,161,163,167,168,172.
Ayuk or Ayek-Nadi, 25. Banihal, 36, 101, 103, 122.
Azam Humayun, 82. Bansider Ghose, 80.
Azim Deda Mari, 14 Bappanila, 32.
Azizud-Din, Azizuddin (Azeezoo- Bara Manga, 50, 82.
deen), Fakir, 98, 226, 238,269. Basak Nag, 58.
Azmat Dev (alias Narpati) Man- Baramula, 62.
kotia, 88, 104, 108. Bari Brahmana, 68.
B Bashahr, Bushehr, 112,201,205,
Babbapura (Babaor), 8, 12, 31, 22 , 223, 224, 226, 227, 228.
32, 36, 56, 59, 60, 61. Basanter (river), 19, 106, 107.
Babliana, 36, 40. Basohli, 8, 15, 17, 31, 58, 88,
Babor, Babaor, 15, 21, 24, 31, 89, 91, 92, 108, 112, 114, 116,
36, 4J, 53, 68. 119, 120, 126, 132, 136, 137,
Babur, 81. 138, 143, 144, 148,291,293.
Badan Singh, Mian, 138. Basti Ram, Colonel, Mehta, 204,
Badri Nath, 199. 205, 208, 209,210, 211, 214,
Bahadur Shah, 22, 95, 96. 221.
Bahadur Singh, 105, 116. Batda, 22.
Bahlolpur, Behtolpur, 81, 122. Batala, 237.
Bahu, 9, 51, 54, 61, 70, 83, 84, Batwal, 26.
85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 Basu, Raj of Man (Nurpur), 84,
97, 98, 100, 108, 109, 12.\ 85.
135, 164. Bawa, Jitto, 55.
Bahulochan, 34. Bazgo, 201.
Baj(Bijay) Dev, 61, 62. Bein (river), 18.
INDEX 343
Beas (river) Bias, 64, 66, 67, 119, Bhupat Dev Jamwal, Rai, 89,
121,284,288, 289. 90.
Behet (Vitasta), 45. Bhupanagari, 44.
Behistun, 41. Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba,
Behlolpur, 122. 89.
Behrian, 117. Bias, 42.
Beol, 157, 167. Bijay Dev, 62.
Bengal, 39. Bijay Dhar, 52.
Bhadarwah, 2, 9, 12, 25, 31, 96, Bijay Pal, of Basohli, 136.
121, 136, 289,292. Bijay Singh, 44.
Bhadravaksha, 12, 31. Bikram Pal Tuar, Raja, 52, 53.
Bhalai, 114, 136. Bidhi Chand, Raja of Kangra*
Bhandal, 114, 136. 84
Bhabhu, Raja of Jasrota, 85, 86. Bilaspur, 15, 112, 293.
Bhad(dh)u, 92, 124, 125, 148. Birbal Kachru, Pandit, 121.
Bhaddra Kaksivati, 27. BirBangahal, 113.
Bhagwan Singh, thanader, 193, Biram, Birem Dev, 78, 79, 80,81.
214. Bir Singh, Mehta, 55, 77.
Bhagwant Singh, 133. Bir Singh, Bhai, 262.
Bhag Singh, 134. Bismarck, 250.
Bhambu Khan Rohilla, 140. Bodh Arjun, 37.
Bhamma Singh 118. Bomba tribe, 103, 121.
Bhan Rai of Jasrota, 84. Brah village, 102.
Bhair—devata, 58. Brahma Prakash, 37.
Bharsavan, 49. Brij Bashi, Pandit, 51.
Bhandian, 157, 163. Brijendar, 37.
Bhau, Bhaudev, 35, 125. Brereton, H., 152.
Bharasivas, 23. Browne, 138.
Bhawani Dass, Diwan, 149. Brij (Braj) Raj Dev, Raja, 101,
Bharatpur, 233. 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107,
Bhera, 117, 173. 111, 115, 116, 119, 120,
Bhidya (Bein), 26. 121, 122, 123, 130, 132, 133,
Bhikshachara, 31, 60. 134, 135, 136, 137, 138.
Bhimgarh, 158. Buddha, 3, 22, 39.
Bhim, Rai, 72, 76, 291. Budh Singh Sindhanwalia, 169,
Bhimber, 16, 31, 66, 71, 73, 74, Bhulol (Behlol) Lodi, 77, 78, 80.
120, 125, 145, 147, 149, 157, Buhlolpur, 78.
167, 172, 174, 175, 265,293. Bushehr, 106.
Bhimsen, Diwan, 256. C
Bhoj Dev, 11, 56, 57, 60, 98, Calcutta, 131, 233, 271, 277.
110,291. Cavour 2 50.
Bhoj Parmar, 50. Chack Hazara, 155.
Bhoom Datt, 41. Chamba, Champa, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12
Bhowa, 75. 15, 29, 31, 43, 56, 57, 59, 6o'
Bhoti, 9, 32, 45, 125, 136, 145, 61, 88, 89. 92, 95, 96, 103'
161, 163. 104, 106, 108, 112, 113, 114'
Bhupa, Bhup Singh (Dev), Mian, 115, 116, 119, 120, 122, 125'
138, 150, 158. 136, 137, 139, 143, 259. 288'
Bhup Singh, Raja of Kishtwar, 290, 293.
87. Chahar Mahal, 160.
344 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Chak, Chakar, Dev, 59, 60, 61. Cho(a)ng-Tsang, 226.

Chak Lehrian, 39. Chorbat, 194.
Chakar Dhar Dev, Raja, 93. Chuchak or Anchu. 66.
Charari, 122. Chumurti, 201, 204.
Chandan Dev, Mian, 97, 98, 109, Chushul, 202.
Chandar, 66. Clerk, G.R„ 1, 199, 216, 222,
Chandrahasa (Has), 31, 33, 34 223. 224, 226, 227, 230, 247.
50. Court, General, 240.
Chandrabhaga, 25, 31, 33. Cuimingnam, J. D , Captain,
Chand Kaur, 237, 238, 239, 240 169. 175, 195, 211. 224, 226,
241, 244. 227, 230, 231, 285,287.
Chanehni, Chaneni 32, 125, 136. Cunningham, Gen; Sir A: 42, 46.
145, 145, 161, 165. D
Channan Dev, 80 Daba, 201, 202, 210.
Chanor, 104.
Chaprar, 59, 135, 139. Dag (Dog) pacha, 202, 203.
Charak, Ochhab, 88. Dagla Khar, 204*
Charaks, 48, 52, 61, 77. Dagyana, 40.
Charatl Singh Sukerchakia, 28 Dahmala, 31.
Dalai Lama, 220.
120. 128. Dalel Dev, Dalel Singh, Mian,
Chara 133.
Dev 1C6, 130, 132, 133, 139, 140,
Charnu, 146. 145.
Chakki, river, 289, Dale! Singh, of Mankot, 105, 112
Chatrar Singh Collection, 15. 139, 145.
Chattar Singh, of Chamba, 88. Dalpat, 21,
Dalpat Pur, 125.
Chattar Singn Attariwala 259 Dalpat Rai,
366. 137, 145
Maurva Dal Singh, I
Chanakya, 257. Dalip Singh, Maharaja, 247, 248,
Chaubhat Doab, 77. 251, 252, 257, 273, 287, 288.
Chera Udar Karewa, 102. Damodar Datt, 42, 43.
Chenab, Chinab, Chanab, river, Dange Man. Mian, Mana, 84.
2, 5, 9, 12, 19, 22, 26,28, 30, Damal, 133, 135, 163.
31, 32, 34, 43, 58, 59,65, 71, Daoltanagar, 127.
75, 96, 100, 105, 111, 120 121, Darayavaush (Darius), 41.
50 253, 265, Darius, 41.
292. Dard, 3.
Darva, 12, 27, 28.
Chet Singh Sardar. 234, 235. Darvabhisara, 12, 42, 59.
Chhak-jot, 216, 217. Darya Pind, 50.
Chhattar Rai, 47. Datarpur, 104, 259.
Chib 81. Datta Kavi, 13.
Chibhal (i), 3, 72, 72, 172, 174, Dawande Khan of Kamona, 149
269. Dayavan, 164.
Chibhan (Bhimber), 71. DayaPal, 105.
Chigtan, 193. Dehli, 42. 49. 59. 63. 64, 65, 66
Chi bra, 200. 73. 74. 76
China, 2, 226, 230. 95,96
Chit' ang, 200, 208, 210. 120, 122, 124, 126, 127, 164
Chitral, 289. 173, 285, 286, 291, 292.
INDEX 345
Demetrius, 47. Dina Nath, Diwan, 262, 265,
Debi Prashad, 14. 766, 268, 269, 270, 283.
Degh or Dek, 25. Dieur, 136.
Deoli, 163. DiyalaChak, 19, 21.
Derajat, 265, 266. Diyar, 114.
Dera Ismail Khan, 166. Diyawan, 141.
Deva Singh Majithia, 150. Diwan Singh Mian, 146,147, 149,
Deva Batala, 118, 144, 150. 150.
Dev Dutt. Dogri poet, 103, 124 . Diwan Singh Khalki Mandiwa'a,
Devala Dhar, 51, 52. 146.
Devika (river), 12, 25, 38, 68. Diwan Singh, Riasiwala, 146,
Dev Raj, 45. 147, 148, 150, 158, 171.
Devi Singh, 142, 171. Diwan Chand Misr, 157.
Dhammar, Dhameri (Nurpur), 64, Doda, 3 7, 165.
71, 85, 87. Dogra, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 31, 32,
Dhankar (Tekhar), 66. 36, 39, 54 56, 59, 65, 7>, 74,
5
Dhanna Singh Khalsa, 138. 77, 80, 81, 93, 94, 96, 99, 10 ,
Dhanpat Rai Puri, Diwan, 138. 108, 111, 116, 117, 118, 119,
Dharam Singh Raipuria, 166. 120, 122, 130, 131, 132, 136,
Dharanagari, 33, 41, 51. 137, 138, 143, 144, 145, 147,
Dhatu Baran, 37. 149, 152, 153, 153, 155, 156,
Dhatrial, 22. 157, 158, 154, 162, 163, 164,
Dhaula Dhar, 3. 166, 167, 168, 169, 170,
Dhiraj Pal, of Basohli, 88. 171, 173, 174, 175, 176, 193,
Dhiyar, 4. 194, 195, 19S 197, 199, 200,
Dhruv (Dhrov) Dev (Singh), Raja, 201, 202, 203, 2C4, 205, 206,
11, 15, 91, 92,93, 94, 95, 96, 207,208,209, 210, 211, 212,
108, 111, 112, 29, 136, 137, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218,
142, 153, 168, 290. 219, 220, 222, 223, 224, 225,
226, 227, 228, 231, 232, 233,
Dhian Singh, Mian, Raja (Dheean, 234,235,236, 238, 239, 241,
Dehan, Dhyan', 9, 13, 144, 243, 245, 247. 248, 249, 250,
14 , 148, 153, 154, 156, 157, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256,
160, 161, 163, 168, 170, 1171, 257, 263, 270, 271, 273. 277,
172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 195, 285, 287, 291, 292, 293, 294.
196, 197, 215. 2,9, 225, 226,
228, 232, 234, 235, 236, 237, Dogra Art Gallery, 24.
238, 239,240, 241, 242, 244, Dost Mohammad Khan, 238,
245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 259, 261.
254, 265, 267, 269, 271, 273, Dras, 214, 221.
293, 294. Drew, Ferederic, 130.
Dudh Ganga, 246.
Dial Chand, Aaja, 165. DuduChak, 117.
Dibal(Dipal) rur, 65, 67, 76, Durjansa/ of Bharatpur, 233.
77, 93. Dugar, Duger, Duggar, 55, 56,
Dido'(Deedoo), Mian, 142,149, 104, 116, 118, 126, 171, 291,
150, 151, 152, 158, 162, 166, 292, 292.
167, 171. Dulla, 62.
Dilhu, Raja, 42. Durg, 42.
Dilawar Khan, 87. Durgara (Duggar), 8, 11, 12,
Dinanagar, 140, 142. 28,29. 31, 59, 60, 61,291.
 346 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Durgarewara, 56. Garoo, Garo, 198, 200, 201,

Dyalu, 27. 208, 212, 215, 224, 230.
E George Bruce, 264.
East India Cgmpany, 140, 174, Ghammand Chand Katoch, Raja
226, 230. 95
Ellenborough, 265, 290. 123
Eminabad, 117. Ghansar Dev, 94, 95, 96, 97. 98
Euthydemos, 47. 99. 109 124, 153.
Gharib Dass, Jogi, 80
F Ghazanavis, 294.
Fabri, Dr. Charles, 22 Gheo, 228.
Faiztalib Khan, 265. Ghikar, Khokhar, 80.
Farrukh Siyar, 93. GhogharDev, 81, 82.
Pateh Khan, 79. Ghor Sucha, 50.
Fateh Khan Tiwana, 255, 259 Ghulam Khan, Diwan of Mirpur,
Fateh Singh Man, 151 105.
Ferishta, 8, 22, 42, 48, 65. Ghulam Khan of Bazgo, 201,
Ferozepore, 238. 202, 203.
Ferozeshahr, 27. Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din, Sheikh,
Feroze Shah, of Dehli, 63. 225, 246.
Firuz, 73 Gian Singh, Bhai, 14, 135.
Forster, George, 119, 124, 126 Gilgit, 1, 3, 9, 14. 194, 206,
131, 133. 289, 292.
Francke, A. H., 194, 199, 213. Goendwala, gate, 144.
Fur (Poros), Raja, 42. Goetz, H , 14.
Gohasan, 104.
G Gonpa Chamra, 217.
Gadaharas, 48. Gapal, 58.
Gaj, Guj, 45. Gopipur Dehra, 104.
Gaje (Gajai) Singh, 89, 90, 91, Gordon, J.H., 176.
92. Gorkha War, 229.
Gajansu, 135. Goti Pani, 43.
Gajni, Gajnipur, 45, 46. Govardhan Chand Raja of Guler,
Gambhira Simha of Kanda, 61. 104.
Ganda Singh Bhangi, 107, 120. Govind Chand, Raja, 104.
Gandharb Rai, 45, 48, 49. GovindRai, 120.
Gandhara, 22, 23, 24, 36. 41: Govind Garh, 169, 236.
Ganesh Dass, Badehra 13, Govind Singh Guru, 116.
36, 39, 49, 51, 59, 61 Govind Ram Bhai, 197.
73, 120, 130, 135, Griffin, Sir Lepel, 119, 142.
150, 151, 156, 157. Guda, 21.
Ganeshi Lai, 151. Gujjar Singh, 118. 134, 135.
Ganga Dhar, 51, 52. Gujral Dev (probably Ghansar
Ganpat Rai, 265. Dev), 96.
Ganpati Nag, 24. Gujranwala, 117.
Garh Damala, 157. Guj 65, 96, 100, 117, 118,
Garni. 289. 122, 123, 124, 125, 140, 172
Garhtok. Garhdok, 199, 200 174, 259.
202, 2. 224. Gulab Dev, 129.
Garhwal 205. Culab Singh Bhangi, 127.
INDEX 347
Gulab Singh, Raja, Maharaja, 9, Hamira Dev, 72, 73. 74, 75, 76,
13, 15, 16, 17, 93 94, 135, 77.
126, 137, 142, 144, 147, 148, Haran Kamal, 37.
152, 153, 155, 156, 157, 161, HariDev, 89, 90,91, 92, 108.
162, 164, 165, 166, 167. 168, Hari Chandra, 37.
169. 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, Hari Chand, Diwan, 215, 216.
176, 194, 195, 196, 196, J97, 217,218,220.
198, 199,206,210, 212, 214, Hari Singh, Bhangi Sardar, 118,
214, 216, 217, 218, 220, 222, 123, 127.
223. 225, 228, 229, 231, 233, Hari Singh, Maharaja, 91,
234, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, Hari-ka-ghat, 285.
241, 242, 243,244, 245, 246, Hari Parbat fort, 245.
247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, Hardinge, Lord, 265, 267, 270,
253, 254, 255, 256, 25/, 258, 276, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284,
255, 260. 261, 262, 263, 264, 288.
266, 266, 257, 268, 269, 270, Harry Smith, 218.
271, 272,273, 274, 275, 276, Harshavardhana, 23, 29.
277, 2J8, 279, 280, 281, 282, Hasal Dev, 80.
283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, Hasalathia (Salathi). 80.
28 , 290, 291, 192, 293, 294. Hasan Khan Malkana. 105.
GulDev, 98, 110. Hashmatullah Khan, Maulvi, 14.
Guler, 104, 108, 112. Haveli Begam, 128, 138.
Gulam Ali, Kashmiri, Mulla, Hazara, 253, 260, 265, 266, 288,
14. 289, 294.
Gumat, Gumut, gate, 52, 70, Hazru. 155.
128, 139, 144. Hazuri (Hazoori) Bagh, 243.
Gupta, Dr. H. R., 269. Hemis. Monastery, 201, 212,
Gupta, S. N. 22. 213.
Gurbakhsh Singh, 117, 135. Henry Fane, Sir, 251.
Guran Ditta, Munshi, 21 \ 216. Henry Mr. Lawrence, 280.
Gurdaspur, 105, 114, 117, 123, Himachal Pradesh, 13.
124, 142. Hindustan, 53, 65.
Gurmukh Singh, Bhai, 197, 246, Hindu Shahiya, 55, 56*
247. Hira (Heera) Singh, Raja, 13,
Gurjara, 28, 29, 34, 54. 157, 161, 173, 174, 237, 239,
Gurmukhi, 277. 240, 241, 250, 251, 252, 253,
Guru Baba ka Tibba, 22. 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259,
Gwalior, 23. 260, 261, 262, 263, 265, 266,
H 271,294.
Habibullah Khan, of Pakhli, 259. Hiuen Tsiang, 29, 49.
Haidar Ali of Mirpur, 105. Hodi Raja, 47.
Haider Khan, 214. Hope Grant, General, 287.
Haider Shah, 79. Hoshiara, Mian, 145.
Haidru or Hazru, 156. Hoshiarpur, 50.
Hajipur, 117. Hugelt Baron Charles, 16, 131
Hakikat Singh, 133, 134. 132, 161, 172.
Hakbamans. 40. Hukam Chand, 155.
Haladhara, 59. Hukma Singh Chimni, 141, 143,
Hamigarh, 122. 144.
 348 RAJ

Huna, 28, 33. Jammu, town, raj, kingdom, pro-

Hussain Beg, 86. vince, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10,
Hussain Khan, 193 I I , 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
Hutchison. J. and Voghel, 14, 19, 20, 21,24, 25, 26, 27,28,
59. 29, 30, 31, 32, 3 , 34, 35,37,
Huviska. 48 39,40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45,46,
I 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,54,
56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62t
Imamuddin, Sheikh, 251, 261. 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70,
Inait Ullah Singh, Raja, 164. 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79,
Indarpat, 49, 52. 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87,
India, 2, 229. 230, 285, 289, 290 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93,94,95,
291, 293, 294. 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103,
Indus,'41, 288, 389, 290. 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110,
Iravati, river, 25
Isa—Khania, Rajput tribe, 81. I I I , 118, 113, 114, 115. 116,
Islamgarh, 118. 117, 118, 120, 121, 132, 123,
Islam Shah, Suri, 82, 83. 124, 126, 127, 129, 130,^131,
Ismailpur, 154, 163. 132, 134, 135. 136, 137, 138,
139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144.
J 145. 146, 147, 148, 149, 150,
Jabar Khan, 160. 151, 152, 153, 154, 157, 159,
Jabbar Khan of Astor, 193. 161, 163. 164, 165, 166, 167,
Jacquemont, Victor, 16. 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 176,
Jafar Chak, 22 194, 198, 199,210, 213, 215.
Jagannath Puri, 61. 216*221,222, 229, 235, 236,
Jagatu (or Sathru), 146, 147. 237, 239, 245, 246, 247 249,
Jagat Singh Attariwala, 152. 252, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260,
Jagdev, 83, 108, 120. 261, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267,
Jagat Rai, 47. 268, 269, 271, 272, 275, 277,
Jagat pur, 19. 278,285, 286, 288, 290, 291,
Jagat Singh, Raja of Dhameri 292, 293.
(Nurpur). 87. Jammu and Kashmir State, 150,
Jahangir, 87, 88, 93. 271, 287, 289, 290, 291-
Jaimal Singh, 138.
Jaipal Shahi, 57, 58. Jamwant, 35, 80.
Jai Chand, 42, 62. Jamwal, 14, 49, 50, 77.
Jai Singh, 37. Janpahnu, 138, 145, 146 170.
Jai Singh Kanhaiya 105, 107, 114, Jar.galwar, 165.
116, 133. Janhava (Chanab), 75.
Jankar Dev, 64.
Jalalabad, 231. Jaral, tribe, 5.
Jala la ferry, 105. Jasaskar Dev, 59, 64.
Jalla Pandit, Misr, 250, 251, 253, Jasata of Chamba, 60.
254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, Jas Dev, 58.
260, 261, 262, 263, 294. Jasrota, 9, 16 32, 71, 80, 84,
Jalandbar, Jallandhar, 43, 75, 85, 86, 89, 91, 92, 96, 105,
105, 115, 116, 287. H I , 115, 116, 125, 133, 136,
Jaman Prakasb, 143, 144, 148, 160, 174, 259,
Jambu—or Jamu—Lochan, 39, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 292.
50. Jasrath, 43, 74, 75, 76, 77.
INDEX 349
Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, 114, 119, Kahan Singh Balauria, Thakur,
120. 10, 18, 37, 43, 44, 49, 51,
Jawahar Singh Agawaria, 150. 60
Jawahir Singh Mian, 217, 252, Kahlur, Kehlur, 104, 259.
255, 260, 264, 265, 267. Kahuta, 265.
Jawahir (Jawaheer) Singh, Sardar, Kalakot, 25.
261, 262, 269, 273, 278. Kala Knkuda, 25.
Jawala Sahai, 241, 265. Ka*anaur—Batala, 74, 76, 83,
Jawala Mukhi, 104. 114.
Jaswan, 259, Kalasa, ruler of VaHapura, 59,
Jehlum, Jhelum (river), 2, 5, 12, 61.
34, 43, 44, 49, 58, 65, 71, 80, Kalasa, 22.
107, 121, 168, 171, 174, 292, Kalesar, 104
294. Kaleth, 35.
Jaya Sinha of Kashmir, 8. Kalowal, 123.
Jhanda Singh 118, 120. Kali Janni, 63, 64.
Jhiri,21, 22. Kalhana, 32, 60.
Jhind 278, 286. Kailas Rana, 64.
Jhundh, Jundh, 114, 136. Kailasa, mount, 200, 203, 204,
Jhelum, town, 173. 205.
Jhelum, river (see Jehlum). Kaigohar, 42.
Jigsmat Namgyal, Gyalpo, 112. Kainthi, 148, 164.
Jindpn, Rani, 247, 252, 255, 261, Kaid Raj, 42,
262, 269, 273, 274, 276, 277, Kamluka, Kamal Varman, 56.
278, 281, 288. Kamal Baran, 37.
Jit Singh Kalal, 146. Kamarupa, 38.
Jit Singh, of Chamba, 139. Kanada, Kanda (Kandi), 12, 61.
Jit Singh, of Jammu, 133, 139, Kanauj (Kanyakubja), 46, 53.
140, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148, Kandhar, 43.
153, 154, 170, 171, 264. Kanawar, 199, 223, 224.
Jiur, 4 Kangra, 10, 25, 38, 40, 41, 45, 57,
Jiwan Singh, 143. 68, 71, 84, 87, 88, 95, 103,
Jodh Dev, 62, 63. 106, 110, 112, 113, 115,
Jodh Singh, 135. 116, 119, 120, 123, 140, 144;
Jogi Gharib, Dass 80. 293.
Jog Rai, 49, 51. Kanpur, Village, 137.
Jonaraja, 76. Kanpur, 20.
Jugtee, Jagati, 151. Kanth, family, 103, 121.
Jundh,. 114. Kanyakubja (Kannauj) 29.
Junah, 41. Kapur Singh, 253, 254.
Jullundur, 74. Kapur Dev, Raja, 81, 82, 83,
K 89, 108.
Karam Chand (Ghammand Chand),
Kabir Dev, 89. Raja, 115,
Kabul, 54, 56, 164, 171, 195, 197, Khari-Khariali, 105, 125, 174,
214,231. 244.
Kabuli Mai, 128. Kharmang, 193.
Kabul Shah, 42. Khardrung, 193.
Kachu Haider Khan, 220, 221. Kharoji, 157, 163.
Kadamb Rai, 45, 46. Khaplu 194.
350 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Kharpoche, 214, 221. Karzu Bagh, 213.

Khasa, 12, 28, 29. Kashmir, Cashmere, 1,2, 12, 25,
Khasal, Khasali, 105, 159. 27, 30, 31, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44,
Khattur, 253. 45, 49, 50, 54, 57, 59, 60, 61,
Khir Rai, 47. 65, 69, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79,
Khizr Khan, 72, 75. 81, 84, 87, 88, 94, 97, 98, 100,
Khokhar, 43, 54, 65, 66, 78. 101, 102, 121, 122, 124, 138,
Khokhar Sanka, 66 148, 157, 160, 161, 162, 163,
Khokhar Rai, 66 164, 166, 168, 169, 171, 174,
Khshayarsha, 41. 175, 176, 193, 194, 196, 197,
Khuda Bakhsh Khan, hakeem, 206, 214, 216, 217, 223, 226,
98. 227, 245, 246, 253, 264, 266,
Khushal Singh, Jemadar, 159, 288, 289, 290, 291, 294,
160, 197, 238, 240. Kashmira Singh, 253, 254, 255.
Khusru, 66. Kashtavata (Kishtwar), 12, 38,
Khusrau Malik, 62. 61.
Khushwaqt Rai, 107, 135. Kasur, 283, 284, 285, 287.
Kihar. 114, 136. Katas, 173.
Kirghal, 158. Katra, 133.
Kiragram, 57. Katil, 48.
Kirpa Ram, 175, 226, Diwan, 10, Kathmandu, 1991 224, 230
11, 13, 95, 97, 347. Kathua, 17, 19, 25, 26, 32, 33r
KirpalDev, 9. 75, 148.
Kishan Dev, alias Ajit Dev, Raja Kaura Mai, Raja, 127
of Bahu, 88, 108. Kehar Pal, 47.
Kishan Singh, 137. Kesari (Kesree) Singh, Rai, 256,
Kishore Singh, Mian, 144, 152, 257.
153, 154, 155, 160, 161, 162, Khakha, tribe, 103, 121.
167. Khakhar Rai, 47.
Kishore Inder, 37. Khaibar Pass, 214.
Kishanpur Nagrota, 19. Khalil Ullah Khan, faujdar, 90;
Kishtwar, 9, 15, 25, 32, 62, 63, Khanda Rao, 62.
87, 121, 122, 136, 160, 161, Khasalu, 214.
162, 164, 165, 166, 168, 199, Karak Dev, 57.
292. Kharak Singh, prince, Maharaja,
Kohistan, 76. 142, 145, 146, 149, 150, 233,
Komal Dev, 98, 110. 234, 235, 236, 237, 239.
Korakoram, 299. Krimchi, 9, 15.
Kotli, 96, 157, 162. Kripal Dev of Bahu, 88, 89, 101.
KotNaina, 117. Kripal Dev of Jasrota, 111.
Karam Raj, 46. Krishan Rai Balauria, 84.
Karam Singh Dulo, 137, Kulaith, 80.
Karam Ullah, of Rajauri, 105. Kulu, 201, 216, 259.
Karan Dev, 57? 58. Kulowal, 105.
Kargil, 2, 216, 220, 221. Kumaon, 195, 205,, 223, 224,
Kardung(m\ 202, 203, 208, 211. 226, 228, 230.
Karianv/ala, 122, 133, 134. Kundan Dev, 135.
Karim Dad Khan, Haji, 103, Kunjah, 117.
121. Kurukshetra, 69.
Kartakshe, 220, 221. Kurrora, 21.
 INDEX
• 351*
Kurro, 19. Lai Singh. 262, 265, 268, 269,
Kurus, 36. 276, 277, 279, 282, 285, 288.
Kurrus 214. Lama, 7.
Kuryanwala, 254. Lawrence, Major H.M; 159, 198.
Kusala, 49. 283, 284, 285, 286, 288, 289.
Kutehar pargana, 102. Leh, 194, 200, 202, 209, . 12..
L 213, 216, 219, 227, 293.
Labh Singh, Mian, 257. Lehna Singh, 170, 197, 250.
Lehrian, 21.
Labrang, 216.
Lachemi Narain, 130 Lellotras, 48.
Ladakh, 7, 14, 166, 172, 174, Lepu Lakh Pass, 210.
193, 194 195, 197, 198, 199, Lhasa, 194, 198, 199, 200, 202;.
200,201,204, 205, 206, 211, 203, 205, 107, 208, 209, 2/0,
212, 215, 216, 219, 227, 230,-
212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 293.
217, 218,219, 220,222, 224,
225, 226, 227, 228,229,231, Lin-zi-Tang, 2.
289, 290, 293. Lohara, 12, 30, 61.
Ladda, 31. Lohitgiri, 25.
Lahore, 13, 16, 17, 22, 46, 59, Ludhiana, 210, 233, 238, 239, 252,.
fcO, 6 1 , 6 4 , 6 5 , 6 6 , 67, 76,77, 289.
91, 93, 97, 98, 99, 101, 102, Luna, princess of Chamba, 46.
109, 112, 116, 118, 120, 138, Lushington, Mr., 214.
139, 141, 146, 147, 148, 150, M
151, 153, 154, 155, 160, 161, Machhi Bhawan, 104.
164, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, MacNaughton, William, 238i
195, 196, 197, 198, 206, 210, MadinShah, 193.
211, 215, 219, 222, 223, 225, Madhu Nal, 44
226, 227, 228, 230, 232, 233, Madja, 12, 27, 33, 48.
234,235,237,238,239, 240, 241, Madad Khan, of Darband, 259:
244, 245, 247, 248, 250, 251, Magna, thanadar, 213.
252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, Mahan Singh, Sukerchakia, 1185.
259,260,261, 262, 263, 264, 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139;.
265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 140.
271, 272, 273, 274, 276, 277, Maheshi gate, 128.
278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 284, Mahmud, 11, 57, 58, 63, 65.
285, 286, 287; Treaty of-277; Mahorgarh, 15.
288, 290, 292, 293, 294. Maju Singh, 318.
Lahul, 229, 288. Mai Dev, 55, 64, 65, 66, 70, 71,.
Lake, 280. 152,169,291.
Lakhanpur, 18, 84, 85, 86, 92,
125, 289. Mai Dev ki Mandi, 8, 64, 93.
Lakhpat Kishtwaria, 127, 164, Malbe, 214,216.
220,221. Malhan Hans, 49, 50.
Mali, 10.
Lala Chobara, 163. Malika Zamani, 127.
Lai Dev, 83, 84, 85, 148, 163, Malik Khusrau, 59.
164. Malik Kandhu, 67, 90.
Lai Jadu, Pandit, 11. Malik Tazi (Yari) Bhatt, 79..
Lalliani, 287. Maliok of Bara Manga, 82.
Lalliya Shahi, 56. Malwa, 278, 286.
352 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

'Malnhas, 50. Menandar, £3, 47t

Manawar, 80, 96, 122, 135, 139 Mewa Singh, General, 169.
174, 289j Mang-Pao, 202, 218.
Man 200 204 M'Gregor, 248, 278.
2 Mian Musa, 124, 141.
Maranu, 19, 21. Mian Mur, 241.
Mandi, 104, 112, 259. Mian Nath, 89.
Mandi Mai Dcv, 00. Mian Singh, Baba. 156.
Mandi Mubarak, 91. Mihan 'Mehan) Singh, 245.
Manda, 22. Mihar Singh Raja, 105, 121,
Mandhata, 21. Mihirk (g) ula, 49.
Mandli ki Mera, 21. Milinda (Menandar), 33, 47.
Mandiala, 21. Minawar (Manaor), 77.
Mandikhel, 105, 122, 123. MirbalPass, 121.
Manak Dev, 57. Miran Sahib, 97, 109.
Manga, 117. Mir Khan, 73.
Manglan Dai, 43. Mir Mannu, 127.
Mangla Slave, 279. Mirpur, Mirpur-Chumak, 3, 9
Mangal Singh Kalalwala 150 31. 120, 122.
158. Mir Shaikh AH, 77.
Mangal Chand, Raja Miskin, 125.
Mangla, fort, 60, 6 >,! 66. 80 Misra, 202, 209.
Mangarh, 58. Moghulpur, 127.
Manhas, 50. 51, 52. Mohkam Chand, Diwan, 147.
Manharas, 49. Mohar Singh, Jandraia, 145.
Mankera, 166. Mohalla Rajjian, 92.
Mankot, 32, 57, 62, 82, 84, 85, Moga (Maues), 48.
86, 125. Morli, 117.
Man, Raja, 87. Mortan Chin, 218.
"Man, Zamindar of Jammu, 84. Mota. Mian, 133. 135, 138, i
Man Singh, 187, 141, 43 14 145, 46
Mansar, 32. 147, 153, 154, 155, [56.
Mansura, 54. Moti Ram, Diwan, 175.
Manu, village, 70. Mubarak Shah, Sultan, 72, 75.
Mari Khokhran, 122. 76, 77.
Maryum (Mayum) Pass, 198, 200, Mudki, 277.
202. 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, Mughlani Begam, 125, 128.
211.
Muhammad Latif, 14.
Vlarahattas, 94. Muhammad Ghori, 60, 61, 62, 65
Marmahti, 105. Muhammad Shah, S/o Raja of
Mastgarh, 128. Ishkardu. 193.
Masud, 58. Mahammad Shah, emperor, 92,
Ivlathura, 23, 45.
Ma-tsang, 207. 95, 96, 127. •
Mau (Nurpur), 84. Muhammad, Sultan, 77.
Mauess (Moga), 48. Muhammad Tughlek, 64, 66.
Mauraya, 27. Mukhtiar Munshi, 193.
Mee (Mir) Mannu, 98, 99, 100, Muktapida, 40.
127. Mukerian, 117.
Mehtab Singh, Baba, 253. Mulk Raj Bedi, 156.
INDEX 353?

Multan, 46, 54, 67, 158, 159, 166, Oodhu (Udho) chak, 106.
169, 260, 266, 280. Omul, 83.
Muinul Mulk, 128. P
Munim Khan, Khan-i-Kanan, 90.
Muqarrab Khan, 67. Padam Rai, 47.
Padmavati. 20.
Musa, Mian, 124, 140. Pahlad Dev, 57, 58.
N Palam, 104.
Nabha, 278, 286. Palampur, 103,.
Nadaun, Nadaon, 104, 115. Palth, 19.
Nadir Shah, 94. Pamberwan, 21.
Naga, 23, 29, Pandus, 36.
Nagarkot (Kangra), 32, 38, 40, Pang-Kong, lake, 2, 200, 217.
43, 45, 68. Panjal Pir, 1, 3, 28.
Nagrota, 18, 20, 40, 145. Panikkar, K M . , 13.
Nain Singh Kumedan, 146, 151. Panini, 25, 26, 27,
Najib battalion, 254. Paras Ram, Raja, 83, 84, 85, 87,.
Nandi, i9. 88, 108.
Nandna, 43. Pargowal, 50.
Nao Nihal (Naunihal) Singh, 234, Parmeshwari, 61, 93.
235, 236, 237. Parol, (Kathua), 33
Narendra, 37, 38. Parthian, 27.
Nari, (Naris), 194, 198, 200, 201. Pasrur, 100, 122.
Narpati (Azmat) Dev, 88. Patliputra, 3, 47.
Narsing Dass Nargis, 14, 37. Pathiar, 103. 104, 113, 115.
Narsing Dev, 62. Pathankot, 71, 85, 86, 143, 289.
Naushehra, 16, 26, Patiala, 278, 28 .
Nasiruddin Muhammad Tughlak, Paurava, 42.
67. Persia, 40, 41.
Neela Rani, 55. Pehlwan Singh, commandant,
Neeli jagir, 236. 213, 216.
Nepal, 174, 198, 1 9 , 210, 222, Peshawar, 46, 124, 148, 160, 174,
223, 228, 2z9, 230. 197, 214, 215, 233, 238, 255,.
Nicholson, 258. 26 i, 265, 266,280, 290.
Nihal, 157. Peshora Singh, 253, 254, 264,.
Nihal Singh, 265. 268, 26e.
Nila, naga, 29. Pi-hsi, 203, 207, 209, 210, 212,
Nilapura, 32, 61. 213,217.
Nono Sodnum, 202, 203, 208, Pin, 228.
210. Pind Dadan Khan, 65.
Nubra, 194. Pingani, 19.
Nurpur, 31, 6 4, 104, 105, 106, Pir Mitha, 80.
112, 116, 119, 122, 125, 12o, Pir Muhammad Khan, 173,246,
132, 148, 293, 248.
Nurud-Din Bamezei, 101, 102. Pir Khoh, 80.
Nurud-Din, Faqir, 283. Pir Panchal Range', 103.
-
Nusrat, 66, 67. Poros, 42
Prakasa, 49.
O Pratap Dev Roy of Mankot, 82,.
Ochhab Charak, 88. 84.
Odumbara, 27. Pratap Singh, 87, 246, 248.
.354 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Pratap Singh, Maharaja, 11. Rajauri, Rajaori, Rajapuri, 3, 11,

Prinsep, H. T., 135. 12, 16, 28, 29, 30, 61, 72, 73,
Prithvi Raj Chohan. 62. 74, 75, 77, 79, 101, 120, 122,
Prithvi Singh, of Chamba, 89. 157, 160, 167, 171, 173, 291,
Prithvi Singh, of Nurpur, 104, 293.
105, 116, 119, 132. Rajasthan, 21.
iPrzyluski, Levi J., ?, 26, 27. Raj Singh, 103, 104, 112, 113,
Purani Mandi, 34, 63, 64, 93. 114, 115, 119, 137.
Punch, 1, 3, 11, 14, 16, 28, 57, Raj Vallabh, Ballabha, 40, 41.
7 2 , 7 3 , 7 7 , 7 9 , 1 0 1 , 118,148. Rakasta], 202.
157. Rakwals, 77.
Punjab, 24, 28, 29, 33, 34, 36, Rama Chandra, 50.
42, 4>, 45, 46,47, 48, 49,52, Ram Dev, 60.
54, 59, 65, 72, 74, 82, 83, 91, Ram Dev Rathore, 45.
92, 94, 99, 100, 101, 108, 117, Ramal, village, 137.
118, 122, 123, 124, 127, 128, Ramgarh, 44, 77, 86, 117, 139,
131, 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 157, 163.
140, 141. 142, 172, 173, 176, Ram ji Mai, 217.
194, 195, 197, 198, 211, 232, Ram Singh, Bhai, 137. 1 5, 1 6,
236, 237, 238, 239, 249, 251, 148, 149, 197, 236, 237,
253, 259, 273, 280, 281, 284, 238, 262, 265, 266, 269, 286.
287,291.
Ramnagar, 15, 16, 137, 265, 292.
Purmandal, 20, 23, 38, 68, 141, Randhawa, M. S., 14.
145, 153. Ranbir Singh, Mian, 16, 253.
Puran, 46. Ranjit Dev, Runjeet Deo, 13, 15,
Puran Karn, 35. 34, 44, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97,
Purig, 193,214,216,220,221,393, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104,
Puru, 43. 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110,
Purushini, 26. 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116,
Purang, 203. 117, 118, 119,120,121,122,123,
Puro Darorha, 158. 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131,
Puiren, 203. 132, 137, 138, 140, 141, 152,
Purva Sen, 43. 153, 163, 164, 166, 168, 290,
Puskyum, Puskam. 193, 214, 216. 291 293
Pushpavati, 33. Ranjitgarh, 96, 135, 137.
Pushklavali, 41. Ranjit (Runjeet) Singh Suker-
Q chakia, Maharaja, 94, 98, 140,
Oamarud-Din, 92. 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146,
Qutub Alam, 79. 148, 149, 150, 152, 153, 154,
Qutubuddin Khan, 92, 100. 155 156, 157, 158, 159, 160,
162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167,
R 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174,
Ragasha, 217, 218. 175 195, 196, 197, 223, 232,
1
Raghbar Deo, Raghbir Singh, 142, 233, 234,239,241, 244, 247
171, 264. 249,253,271, 273, 275, 279,
Raiban, 282, 285. 283,284,286, 287, 289, 291,
Rahim Khan, Kahlon, 193 293.
Rahimullah Khan, 160. Ranjodh Singh, 266, 278.
Riasi, 123, 158, 159, 163, 167. Rasalu, 31, 35, 46.
• 17 3. ^^^^^^^^^^M Rasul Beg. Mirza, 193.
INDEX 355
Rattan Dev, of Jasrota, 104,115, Sakaladvipa, 33.
124. Sakawand, 57.
Rattan Dev Mandiwala, 104. Sakas 46.
Rattan Dev, Mian, 91, 99, 105, Saketa, 47.
109, 111, Salchr, 135.
Rattan Chand Duggal, 265. Salavahana, 33, 36, 45, 47.
Rattan Singh Mann, 267. Salathi, Salathia, 80.
Rattan-Ju (Rinchen Bhot), 62. Salahrias, 48.
Rattan Pir, 2. Salbahanpoor, 46.
Rattan, Mian, Wazir, 215, 217, Salva, 27.
219, 220. Salavahan, 31.
Ravi, river, 2, 9, 12, 18, 19, 26, Samba, 3, 19, 80, 92, 106, 123,
31.42,65,75,76, 92, 95, 103, 125, 148, 172, 255, 265.
104, 107, 111, 116, 119, 122, Samartha, 145.
137, 169, 173, 245, 253, 288, Samahal Dev, 89, 94.
289, 292. Samhalur, 44.
Rawalpindi, 46, 118, 255. Sampuran Dev Raja, 138, 139,
Rawan Hrad, lake, 200. 140, 146.
Rehatsak, E., 13. Samudragupta, 28, 48.
Rehr, 29 Sangata, 61.
Re-tang (Wazir Ratnu), 219. Sangaldeep, 32.
Rezia Bag, Kbwaja, 88. San gram Dev, 59, 61, 84, 85, 86,
Riasi, 16, 25. 88, 89.
Richmond, 256. Sanguli, 16, 18, 228.
Rodgers, C. J. 16. Sangramapala, 61, 89.
Rohtas, 173. Sankhatra, 101, 122, 123.
Rondu, 193, 214,221. Sansar Chand, 42.
Rooden Singh, Mian, 271. Sansar Chand Raja, Maharaja
Roras, 105, 123. Katoch, 115, 120, 140, 144,
Roshan Shah, Wali, 52. 169.
Rudok, Ruthog, 199, 200, 202, Sarva, 36.
204, 210, 217, 223, 224. Sarva Prakash, 36.
Rupsu, 7. Sarbla Dhar, 52.
Russia, 1,2. Sarang Dhar Dev, 89, 91.
Sarang Khan, 67.
S Sarkar, J. N. 100.
Sabuktigin, 56, 57. Sarkhania, 80.
Sadakaur, Rani, 169. Sarvayasas, 49.
Sadangula naga' 29. Sathru, 147, 156.
Sagauli, treaty of, 195. Satinder Singh Bawa, 32, 248.
Sahajpala, 60. Satluj, 68, 75.
Saharan, 357. Satwari, 69.
Sahib Singh Bedi, 141, Saumattika, 56.
Sahil Varman, 8, 56. Saut, 214.
Saidhu Jamwal, 77. Savanmal, 260.
Saidagarh, 144, 149. Sawan Mai, Diwan, 197.
Saif AliKhan, 95. Sayalpur (Smail), 156.
Saifuddin, Mirza, 16. Sayedpur, 135.
Sakala, 37, 45, 46, 47 (Sagala), Seh Dev, 62.
27, 29. Seleucid, 41.
 *
•

356 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Shahabud—din Muhammad Ghori, 137, 143, 148, 174* 253, 254r

60,61. 260, 261.
Shahwali Khan, 99, 101. Sibah, 259.
Shahbaz Khan Faujdar, 91. SiddhGoriya, 81.
Shahjahan, 90. Siddh Swankha, 81.
Shahnawaz Khan, 99. Sikandar, Sultan of Kashmir, 62„
ShahAlamll, 122. 73.
Shahanchi Bashi, 140. Sikandar Lodi, 78.
Shahamat Ali, 95, 98, 115, 156, Siladitya, 49.
163, 167, 174 Simla, 233.
Shahzada Dev, 135. Sind Rai, 47.
Shah Zaman of Kabul, 139,140, Sinh Rai, 47.
141. Sind, 195.
Shah Sujahul Mulk, 164, 196, Singge Namgyal, 198.
197. Siva Ram Jalali 102.
Shakt Karan, 36, 37. Siva, 23.
Shahi Khan, 74, 75. Skarduh, Iskardu, 2, 174, 193,.
Shahis oi Kabul, 57. 214, 218,221.
Shaikha Khokar, Malik, 66, 67, Smailpur, 137.
68. Smith V.A , 48.
Shal, Raja, 36. Smyth G, C , 10, 63, 71, 95, 98.
Sham Singh Attariwala, 262, 965, 119, 128, 155.
266, 274, 282. Sobraon, 280, 281, 282, 283.
Sharaffuddin Yazdi, 69. 285.
Sham Sher, 63, 138. Sohan Lai Suri, 135, 143, 161.
Shamsher Chand Hamtai, 104. 162, 239, 245.
Shahdara, 245, 255. Soham Singh—Mian, 294.
Shakargarh, 117, 123. Sohan Singh Mian, 260.
Shankar Dass Duggal Diwan, Sojla Dhar, 51.
151. Sojla Chahrak, 51.
Sham, 212. Som Datt, 35.
Shastri, Raja, 152. Som Pal of Sambarth, 56.
Sher Singh Maharaja, 176, 196, Soraj, 164.
197, 224, 225, 230, 231, 233, Spiti, 212, 216,228, 229.
236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241. Sruinsar, 32.
242, 243, 244, 245, 247, 24«, Subhaga Sena, 47.
253, 273 Sucheta, 216
Sher Singh Attariwala, 266. Suchetgarh, 9.
Sher Shah Sari, 12. Suchet Singh, Soocheit, Seocheit,.
Sheoji Dhar, 12. 148, 153, 157, 160, 168, 171,.
Shera, 80. 172, 173. 174, 175, 244, 250,
Sheru Naraynia, 146. 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256,.
Shiv Prakash, 36. 258, 260, 261, 264, 265, 266,
Shigar, 221. 271, 289.
Shudamahan Dev, 24, 26, 29. Sujaupur, 289.
Sialkot, 29, 33, 34, 36, 4l, 45, Sujan Singh, Raja, 121.
46, 49, 50, 60, 62, 64, 66, 74, Sukhjiwan Mai, 100, 101, 102.
78, 79, 80, 81 82, 83, 84, 86, Sultan Mohammad Khan, 196,.
96, 100, 118, 122, 123, 124, 243, 265, 283.
INDEX 357
Sultan Khan of Bhimber, 147, Tegh Singh, Muhammad, 164,
175. 165.
Sumergarh, 162. Tegh Singh, Subedar, 213.
Sundar Dass, 83, 87. Teij Singh. Mian, 115.
Suraj Dev, 54, 55, 56. Tej Baran (Varuna), 38.
Suraj Dhar, 49, 51, 82. Tej, Teja Singh, 276, 277, 279,
Suraj Hans, 81. 282, 285.
Surat Singh, Mian, 94, 97, 109, Tekhar, 66, 73.
133, 138, 50. Thalora, 68.
Suru Kartse, 214. Thana, Thanna, 74. 75.
Surta Bhagial, 188. Tholing, 201.
Surkhang Kahlon, 205, 207, 210. Thub, Thumb. 135, 139.
Suru, 221. Tibet, 14, 62, 166, 174, 195, 197,
Sussala, 31, 60. 198, 199, 201, 202, 203, 205,
Sutlej, Satluj, Sutlaj (river), 95, 212, 214, 215, 220, 2 2, 223,
103, 147, 162, 167, 228, 269, 224, 225, 226. 227, 228, 229,
272, 276,278, 279, 280, 281, 230, 294.
282, 283, 284. 286, 290. Tikri, 22.
Sutah, 19. Timur, 12, 34, 63, 66, 67, 68,
Savvan Singh, 157. 69, 70, 71, 72.
T Timur Shah, 139.
Tirathpuri, 200, 204, 208, 211.
Taj burun (Tej Baran), 37. Tirikot, 125.
Tak, Takshak, 29. Tolti, 221.
Tak (Takka)-desh, 12, 29, 34. Top Sherkhanian, 39.
Takhar (Tekhar), 66. Toramana, 30, 49.
Taklakot, 202, 203, 204, 206, Tosha Maidana, 70, 102.
207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 223, T o - y o (Do - yo), 208, 209.
229. Treaty of Amritsar, 289.
Taklakhar, see Taklakot. Trehdu, 147, 156.
Takshakas, 41. Trigarta, 29, 59, 60.
Takshila 43, 44. Trikota, Trikuta, Trakota, 109,
Takshashila, 45. 134, 159, 167, 173.
Talab Raja, 105. Tripartite Treaty, 195.
Talamba, 67. Tsa Mountain, 203.
Taragarh, 71, 148. Tsang, 207.
Taranatha, 47. Tseh—kia, 29.
Tara Singh, 141. Tse—wang Raftan, Gonbo, 212.
Tarn, 47. U
Tarra, 19. Uehhala, 60.
Tasa (Tsa-) parang, 201, 202, Udai 5ingh of Chamba, 92, 112.
210. Udda, 25.
Tashigong, 202, 218. Uddhya, 25.
Tashkand, 206. Urddha, 25.
Tatar Khan, 64, 67, 79, 88. Uddalik Aruni 27.
Tausi, 25. Udey Chand, 44.
Tawi, River, 1, 6, 18, 33, 34, Udhampur (Balwalta), 3, 18, 19,
38, 40, 58, 63, 70, 145, 291. 109.
Taxila, 41,42. Udho, 124, 125.
Tegh Singh, 132. Udhu (Oodho) Chak, 106, 107.
 358 A SHORT HISTORY OF JAMMU RAJ

Udumbara, 27. Vistaspa, 27.

Ugar Dev, 89 97, 109. Vishwamitra, 26.
Ugar(Uggar) Singh, 92, 112. Vitasta, 96.
Ujh, river, 2, 25, 26. Voghel J. Ph; 34, 70.
Ukalghar, 50. W
Umar bin Lais Saffar, 56.
Ummed Singh, 112. Wazirabad, 117, 135, 159, 174,
Undes, Hundes, 205. 206.
Urasa (Hazara*, 61. Wellington, Dake, 285.
Urdu Bazar, 90. Y
Uri, 2.
Usinara, 25, 28. Yahia Khan, 99.
Usiraka, Mt., 25. Yajnavalkya, 27.
Utkarsha, 61. Yarkand, 194, 198, 206, 222,
U—Tsang, 207. 224.
Uttam raja, 61. Yuan—Ch wan g, 12.
Uttar Behni, 20, 68, 265. Yusufzai, tribe, 160, 167, 173.
V Z
Vallapura (Balaor) 31, 59, 60. Zafarwal, 101, 106, 122, 123,
Vaidyanath, 57. 139.
Vaishno Devi Shrine, 88. Zainul Abidin, 74, 75, 77, 78,
Vajradhara, 60, 61. 131.
Varahamihara, 28. Zakariya Khan, 97, 98, 99.
Vartula, 31, 59, 50. Zanskar, 3, 216, 220, 221, 222,
Varuna, 38. 293.
Vasantra river, 36.
Vashisht, 26. Zorawar Singh Khahluria, Gene-
Vasiska, 48. ral, Wazir, 158, 166, 193, 194,
Vasudeva, 48. 198, 199, 200, 20^, 202, 203,
Vanersharv, 38. 204, 205, 208, 219, 210, 211,
Vayusitasava, 27. 212, 214, 218, 221, 222, 233,
Ventura, General, 197, 238, 240, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 230,
261. 231, 293.
Victoria, Queen, 288. Zorawar Singh, Mian, 133, H i ,
Vibhunaga, 23, 24. 153, 154, 157.
Vigne, G T., 16. Zoorkung, Zarkang, 217, 219,
Vikramajit, 45. 227.
Vima Kadphises, 4 8 Zulfiqar Turk, 62,
 SUKHDEV SINGH CHARAK, an
educationist, destined to found a couple of
colleges and serve these as teacher and
Principal, has widely travelled in the
western Himalayas, from Shimla to
Srinagar, in his quest to study the history,
culture and arts of the mountain people,
and happened to develop an infatuation for
historical research in which he was much
benefitted by his knowledge of Sanskrit,
Persian, Urdu, Hindi and Tankari which
was once the popular media of
communication in the Pahari region. He did
his M.A 's in History and Political Science
and passed examinations in Urdu and
Persian languages from the Punjab
University.
The Rise and Fall of Jammu Kingdom and
the Indian Conquest of Himalayan Territories
are his earlier attempts at research in the
history and culture of the Pahari people and
an analytical approach towards cultural
trends in Jammu, Ladakh and Tibetan
regions. His annotated English translation
of the Persian historical work Gulabnama
has been aclaimed as a monumental
contribution. Finally, he conceived, his
voluminous work History and Culture of
Himalayan States on a grand scale, of which
five comprehensive volumes have so far
been published. In addition, over two dozen
of his research papers on various facts of
history, culture and art have appeared in
research journals.
A

The Indian Council of Historical Research

awarded him Fellowship for conducting
research in the history and culture of
Jammu at the University of Jammu, for
which work the University conferred on him
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and
inducted him on its regular staff as Reader
in Medieval history and culture.
His latest works, in addition to the book in
hand are General Zorawar Singh, Published
by Publication Division, Government of
India, and Life and Times of Maharaja
Ranbir Singh, 1857—1885, and Pahari
Styles of Indian Murals.
2S
 I

Works by Dr. Sukhdev Singli Charak

(

J-1
l. Gulabnama, annotated English translation Rs. 250/-
f

Maharaja Ranjit Dev and Fall

*
Jammu Kingdom Rs. 100/-
I

3 Indian Conquest of Himalayan Territories Rs. 125/-

4,5,6. History and Culture of Himalayan States, •

vols. I, II, III, on Himachal Pradesh each Rs. 250/-

7, 8. History and Culture of Himalayan States,,
vol. IV & V on Jammu Rs. 250/-
9. Introduction to History and Culture of the
Dogras. t 4 Rs. 60'
/

T*

10. General Zorawar Singh, published by Publi-

cation Division, Govt of India. Rs. 12/-
11. A Short History of Jammu Raj, from
earliest times to 1846. Rs. 250/-
12. 5PHST ( ^ T ) sftTT^TT % f (fftft) Rs. 60/-

l 3. T^JX PIT VT$tt ^ (^n&) Rs. 60/-

14. Life anrf rzwes of Maharaja Runbir Singh,

1857—1885 Rs. 300/-
^^^^

15. Pahari Styles of Indian Murals Rs. 600/-