Dogra dynasty

The Hill fort of Maharaja Gulab Singh, 1846 drawing.

Dogra was a Hindu Rajput dynasty which traced its roots to the Ikshvaku dynasty of northern India. The rulers of the dynasty were Dogra Rajputs and the royal house of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was the ruler of the erstwhile Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The first ruler was Gulab Singh, who became Raja, Governor-General, of Jammu principality through a grant from the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and subsequently accepted the throne of Kashmir after the First Anglo-Sikh war. The principality of Jammu was ruled by Raja Gulab Singh as a governor of Sikh Empire till 1846. After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, under the terms of the Treaty of Amritsar, the British government sold Kashmir to Maharaja Gulab Singh and the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the second largest princely state in British India, was created. Further expansions in the 19th century, including the assimilation of the Principality of Gilgit and the emirates of Hunza & Nagar under the reigns of Maharajas Partab Singh and Ranbir Singh would grow the territory of the empire to 222,870 km² of Himalayan lands. Thus making Jammu and Kashmir the largest royal state in British India at the time of the partition in 1947.

After the First World War the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was granted a hereditary 21-gun salute in recognition for the service of his soldiers for the British cause. This was the highest number given to any salute state with only 5 of the 565 princely states attaining the honour. During the Second World War as well as providing soldiers for the allied cause the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir served as a member of Churchill's British War Cabinet.

The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was Hari Singh who had ascended to the throne in 1925 after his uncle Pratab Singh died with no direct heir. In October 1947, Hari Singh conceded partial governance of the state to India by the Instrument of Accession after being unable to suppress Pashtun uprisings allegedly backed by Pakistan.

By this treaty signed with India's Governor-General Lord Louis Mountbatten, India's jurisdiction was limited to external affairs, defence and communications. However, in 1949, after the First Kashmir War between India and Pakistan he was obliged by India to leave the state and it's governance to Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah. The disputed nature of the Instrument of Accession would leave the region embroiled in the ongoing armed Kashmir conflict and later further plagued by the extremist Islamic insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.

After Hari Singh passed away, his son Karan Singh never officially adopted the title of Maharaja and was the only royal of a princely state to voluntarily surrender his privy purse. Instead he had been appointed Prince Regent by Nehru's intervention, he abdicated in 1952 to become the President of Jammu and Kashmir and then it's Governor in 1964. "I followed Pandit Nehru and not my father." Karan Singh had stated remembering the history in a 2011 interview with Outlook Magazine.

Later Dr. Karan Singh would serve as a cabinet minister in the Government of India that terminated and abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration (privy purses) by the promulgation of the Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1971. This barred all Indian citizens including Karan Singh and his lineage from legally holding royal titles which were considered incompatible with the country's "egalitarian social order."

Though in July 2015, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir declared that "it has been authoritatively ruled by the Supreme Court that signing of Instrument of Accession did not affect the sovereignty of Maharaja over his State." In the ruling justices MA Attar and AM Magray had given the observation that "the sovereignty of the State of J&K under the rule of Maharaja... legally and constitutionally remained intact and untampered."

The Dogras continue to play a role in politics in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and India.

History of Dogra rulers

See also: History of Kashmir and Kashmir and Jammu (princely state)

File:Gulabsingh1840.jpg

Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of princely state of Jammu and Kashmir

According to legend, Raghuvanshi descendant, Agnigarba, who was living as a recluse, came to Nagarkot (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh), in the Shivalik Hills. When the Raja of Kangra came to know about this person's ancestry, he offered him the hand of his daughter and a part of kingdom. The river Ravi was then the boundary of Nagarkote. Agnigarba crossed it and captured some villages in the Kathua area and declared himself as sovereign king.

After his death, his son Bayusharva (B.C. 1530 – 1500) married the princess of Parole (Kathua). The princess was known as Erwan and she died young. The Raja founded a city after her which is still found near Parole, though now a small village and at the 'Samadhi' of the queen, a 'Mela' (fair) is held at every 'Baisakhi' (13 or 14 April) every year. Bayusharva extended the boundaries up to the river Ujh. Bayusharva's great grandson, Bahulochan was enthroned after his death. He migrated from Erwan and built his fort on the banks of river Tawi. Bahulochan died in a bloody battle with Chadaras, Raja of Sialkot (Shayalkot) and his younger brother Jambulochan (B.C 1320–1290) ascended the throne. In those days the area beyond Tawi (the present city of Jammu) was used for hunting. Tradition has it that one day Jambulochan came to this area and while he was sitting behind a bush to ambush some bird or animal, he saw a lion (a tiger in some accounts) and a goat drinking water from the same pond. This peaceful coexistence encouraged him to found the city of Jammu, which some say is named after him.

One of his descendants, Raja Shaktikaran (B.C 1200–1177) introduced the Dogri script for the first time. Another of his descendants, Jasdev founded the city of Jasrota on the bank of river Ujh, and another Raja, Karan Dev built a fort on the banks of the river Basantar. In the early centuries of the first millennium the area came under the sway of the Indo-Greeks, with their capital at Sagala (Sialkot).

Among the rulers of Jammu was Raja Ranjit Dev (1728–1780), who introduced social reforms such as a ban on sati (immolation of the wife on the pyre of the husband) and female infanticide.

In 1808, Jammu became part of the Sikh Empire, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh bestowed the place as a jagir on Gulab Singh, who belonged to the Jamwal Rajput clan that ruled Jammu. As a Jagirdar (Governor) for the Sikhs, Gulab Singh extended the boundaries of the Sikh Empire to western Tibet with the help of his fine General Zorawar Singh. The Sikh rule was then extended beyond the Jammu Region and the Kashmir Valley to include the Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh and the Emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar.

After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, Sir Henry Lawrence was appointed British Resident and Lal Singh was asked to surrender Kashmir. Under the terms of the Treaty of Amritsar, the British government then sold Kashmir for a sum of 7.5 million Nanakshahee rupees to Maharaja Gulab Singh. Thus the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir came into being under Maharaja Gulab Singh, as per the treaties, Treaty of Lahore, signed between the British and the Sikhs.

Maharaja Partab Singh (enthroned in 1885) saw the construction of Banihal Cart Road (B.C. Road) mainly to facilitate telegraph services.

One of the main residences of the Maharajas was the Sher Garhi Palace in their summer capital Srinagar.

List of Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir (1846–1949)

Detail of the Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh as printed on the Civil List of his government

• Gulab Singh (1846–1857)
• Ranbir Singh (1857–1885)
• Pratap Singh (1885–1925)
• Hari Singh (1925–1949)
• Hari Singh (Title Only) (1949–1961)
• Karan Singh (Title Only) (1961–1971) (Monarchy abolished)

Family tree

• I. Gulab Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir (1792–1857; Maharaja: 1846 (abdicated 1856))
  • II. Ranbir Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir GCSI, CIE (1830–1885; r. 1856–1885)
  • Maharaja Man Singh
    • Maharaja Udhai Singh(Abdullah)
      • Raja Ala Din
        • Raja Karam Din
          • Raja Lal Hussain
            • Raja Qamar Uz Zaman
              • Kunwar Bilal Hamid
                • Kunwar Saad Abaidullah
                  • Kunwar Saqib Ali
    • III. Pratap Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir GCSI, GCIE, GBE (1848–1925; r. 1885–1925)
    • Raja Amar Singh KCSI (1864–1909)
      • IV. Hari Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir GCSI, GCIE, GCVO (1895–1961; r. 1925–1952; titular Maharaja: 1952–1961)
        • V. Karan Singh, President of Jammu and Kashmir (b. 1931; Regent of Jammu and Kashmir: 1949–1952; Sardar-e-Riyasat (President) of Jammu and Kashmir: 1952–1965; Governor of Jammu and Kashmir: 1965–1967; titular Maharaja: 1961–1971; pretender: 1971-present)
          • Yuvraja Vikramaditya Singh (born 1964)
            • Mian Martanday Singh (b. 198?)
          • Maharajkumar Ajatshatru Singh (born 1966)
            • Mian Ranvijay Singh (born 1993)

Persecution of Muslims by Dogras

In 1837, Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu was entrusted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to suppress the revolt of the Yousafzai tribe which formed the biggest proportion of Pashtun tribes. He offered one rupee for the head of every Yousafzai man brought to his feet. He made Kahuta his headquarters and hunted for Muslim Pashtun tribes. He had some of the women spared, but others were kept for Raja Gulab Singh's harem and the rest were sold as slaves in Lahore and Jammu. It was reported that this expedition resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of Pashtun rebels and thousands of women were sold into slavery. In 1863 the Dogra ruler Maharaja Ranbir Singh ordered a major invasion of the frontier areas of Yasin and Hunza to punish Muslim rebels. 3,000 troops were commanded by General Hooshiara Singh who invaded the frontier. The Dogras took all men as prisoners and many Dogra soldiers entered the back portion of the Mandoori Hill which was full of Yasini and Hunza women and their children. Those women who were injured but not dead were burnt alive and approximately 2000 Yasin villagers were killed overall. About 5,000 Yasinis were taken back to Srinagar for forced labor and many of their surviving women were included either in the harems or in the zenanas of Dogra Soldiers.

The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir

Maharaja Hari Singh, the last monarch from the Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir.

The last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir was Maharaja Hari Singh, who ascended the throne in 1925. He made primary education compulsory in the State, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage and threw open places of worship for the low castes.

Singh's reign saw the accession of Jammu & Kashmir to the newly independent Indian Union in 1947. He originally manoeuvered to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan against each other. There was an armed movement against the Maharaja's rule especially in the Poonch district of Jammu, when his troops were unable to control these fighters and his troops retreated to Jammu, in October 1947, Singh appealed to India for its help. He acceded to India, though there is considerable controversy over exactly at what point.

In June 1952, Singh's rule was terminated by the state government of Indian-administered Kashmir. His son Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh was elected 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' ('President of the Province') and Governor of the State in 1964.

Dogras in Politics post 1952

Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh after serving as the President of Jammu and Kashmir from 1952-64 would go on to become the youngest cabinet minister as a leading member the Indian Congress Party in 1967. He was also the Indian Ambassador to the USA in 1989. His elder son Vikramaditya Singh is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. Karan Singh's younger son Ajatshatru Singh was a member of the National Conference (NC) headed by Omar Abdullah, grandson of Sheikh Abdullah who had abolished the monarchy in 1952. Ajatshatru Singh had served with the NC as a minister in the Jammu and Kashmir Government from 1996 to 2002. In 2014 he quit the NC to join the BJP, stating that he had done so to satisfy the “people’s desire to have a corruption and dynasty-free government”. Dogra leader Bhim Singh once close to Karan Singh had commented though that the move was “unexpected of the descendants of the secular, democratic Hari Singh”.

Kunwar (Prince) Bhim Singh, descendent of celebrated Dogra General Zorawar Singh, was the President of the Jammu and Kashmir State Youth Congress, 1973–74 and General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, 1980-82. In 1982 he founded the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, and was its Chairman for 30 years until 2012. "Let the Dogra monarchy return as it was in 1947," Bhim Singh was quoted as saying in 2000, arguing that the Monarchy's abolition in 1952 by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, under Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah was itself undemocratic as Abdullah had appointed 65 of the 70 members of the State Assembly.

The Panthers Party now represents Dogra interest along with secular values in the state. Bhim Singh's elder nephew Harsh Dev Singh served as a cabinet minister in Jammu and Kashmir from 2002–08 and became the Chairman of the Panthers Party in 2012, while Bhim Singh's younger nephew Balwant Singh is the state President of the party and was a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

See also

• Kashmir and Jammu (princely state)
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Kashmir conflict
• Kashmir region
• Dogra

External links

• Kashmir and Jammu, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 15, p. 71.
• Genealogy of the ruling chiefs of Jammu and Kashmir
• Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of California, Berkeley, USA; University of California at Berkeley Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list
• Brief history of Kashmir rulers with their coinage details
• Brief history of Jammu rulers with a coin image