The Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir

The Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir trace their roots to the mythical Ikshvaku

Ikshvaku

Ikshvaku pāli: Okkāka) was the first king of the Ikshvaku dynasty and founder of the Solar Dynasty of Kshatriyas in Vedic civilization in ancient India.-In Hinduism:He is remembered in Hindu scriptures as a righteous and glorious king...

(Solar) Dynasty of Northern India, Lord Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

is the 'kuldevta' (family deity) of the Dogras.

The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was the ruler of the erstwhile Indian princely state

Princely state

A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

of Jammu and Kashmir. The first ruler was Gulab Singh, who became Raja of Jammu and Kashmir through a grant from the Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...

, and subsequently accepted the throne of Kashmir. The region of Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by Raja Gulab Singh but was in total control of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Raja Gulab Singh was allowed to collect tax and look after the management of the region with special orders from Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The region of Jammu and Kashmir became an integral part of Sikh

Sikh

Empire, ranging from Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

to Punjab to Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

. The coins in circulation, that time can be found with Sikh

Sikh

motifs and Khalsa

Khalsa

+YouWebImagesVideosMapsNewsMailMoreTranslateFrom: ArabicTo: EnglishEnglishHindiEnglishAllow phonetic typingHindiEnglishArabicAssumptionGoogle Translate for Business:Translator ToolkitWebsite TranslatorGlobal Market Finder...

emblem.

Last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was Hari Singh

Hari Singh

Maharaja Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India.He was married four times...

, his son His Highness Dr. Karan Singh

Karan Singh

Karan Singh is an MP in the Rajya Sabha, a senior member of the ruling Indian National Congress Party serving as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations , India's Ambassador to UNESCO, Chairman of the Auroville Foundation and of the Temple...

is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

History of Dogra's Ruler

According to legend, Raghuvanshi descendant, Agnigarba, who was living as a recluse, came to Nagarkote (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

), 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

Kathua

Kathua is the largest city of the Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the third largest city in the Jammu region and the sixth largest in the state. The word "Kathua" is derived from the word "Thuan" in Dogri which means "Scorpios". The city was the land of Scorpios before the settling of...

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

Sialkot

Sialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...

(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

Dogri language

Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about five million people in Pakistan and India, chiefly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, but also in northern Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, other parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and elsewhere. Dogri speakers are called Dogras, and the Dogri-speaking...

script for the first time. Another of his descendants, Jasdev founded the city of Jasrota

Jasrota

Jasrota is the capital city of the Jasrotia rajputs, founded by Jasdev, a descendant of The Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir.Their castle was a protection fort and was built to fight the Sikhs or any external threats which they perceived from the other rulers of the time. The palace of the...

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 Sakala

Sakala

Sakala may refer to:* Sagala, a city of ancient India* Sakala County, an ancient county in Estonia * Sakala , an Estonian academic corporation* Sakala , an Estonian newspaper...

(Sialkot

Sialkot

).

Among the rulers of Jammu was Raja Ranjit Dev (1728–1780), who introduced social reforms such as a ban on sati

Sati (practice)

For other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...

(immolation of the wife on the pyre of the husband) and female infanticide.

In 1814, Jammu became part of the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...

. Ranjit Singh bestowed the place as a jagir on Gulab Singh, who belonged to the Jamwal Rajput clan that ruled Jammu. As a jagirdar for the Sikhs, Gulab Singh extended the boundaries of the Sikh kingdom to western Tibet with the help of Zorawar Singh

Zorawar Singh

Zorawar Singh may refer to:* General Zorawar Singh, general in the army of Maharaja Gulab Singh* Sahibzada Zorawar Singh, third son of Guru Gobind Singh* Kanwar Zorawar Singh, Indian Army general...

. 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

Gilgit Agency

The Gilgit Agency was a political unit of British India, which administered the northern half of the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Gilgit Agency was created in 1877 and was overseen by a political agent of the Governor-General of British India. The seat of the agent was Srinagar...

and Nagar

State of Nagar

Nagar was a princely state in the northernmost part of Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan, which existed until 1974. The state bordered the Gilgit Agency to the south and west, and the former princely state of Hunza to the north and east. The state capital was the town of Nagar. The area of...

.

After the First Anglo-Sikh War

First Anglo-Sikh War

The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846. It resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom.-Background and causes of the 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

Treaty of Amritsar

The Treaty of Amritsar was signed on March 16, 1846, to settle a dispute over territory in Kashmir after the First Sikh War with the United Kingdom, ceding some land to Maharaja Gulab Singh Dogra...

, the British government then sold Kashmir for a sum of 7.5 million rupees to Maharaja Gulab Singh,, who had been a their loyal ally against the Sikhs. Jammu again became an independent Rajput Kingdom under Maharaja

Maharaja

Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

Gulab Singh, as per the treaties, Treaty of Lahore

Treaty of Lahore

The Treaty of Lahore of March 9, 1846, was a peace treaty marking the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War. The Treaty was concluded, for the British, by the Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge and two officers of the East India Company and, for the Sikhs, by the seven year old Maharaja Duleep Singh...

, signed between the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and the Sikhs.

Maharaja Partab Singh

Partab Singh of Kashmir

Pratap Singh was the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, and head of the Jamwal Rajput clan.Some elements in the British Empire made an attempt to implicate the Dogra Maharaja in a conspiracy case involving the Russian Empire...

(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 maharadjas was the Sher Garhi Palace

Sher Garhi Palace

Sher Garhi Palace is a palace in Srinagar, India. The palace is the former residence of the maharadjas of Jammu and Kashmir from the Dogra Dynasty. The palace complex is located in the southern part of the city on the left bank of the Jhelum River. Sher Garhi means 'tiger fortress'. The complex was...

in their summer capital Srinagar

Srinagar

Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...

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

Gulab Singh (1846–1857)
Ranbir Singh
Ranbir Singh
General Shriman Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Ranbir Singhji, Indar Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Mushir-i-Khas-i-Kaiser-i-Hind GCSI, CIE, Kaiser-i-Hind was the son of Maharaja Gulab Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and head of the Jamwal Rajput clan.The trans-Himalayan territories...

(1857–1885)
Pratap Singh (1885–1925)
Hari Singh
Hari Singh
Maharaja Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India.He was married four times...

(1925–1949)

The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir

The last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...

was Maharaja Hari Singh

Hari Singh

Maharaja Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India.He was married four times...

, 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

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

and Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

against each other. However, following an incursion by tribesmen from Pakistan in October 1947, Singh appealed to India

India

for its help. He acceded to India, though there is considerable controversy over exactly at what point.

These events triggered the first Indo-Pakistan War

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947

The India-Pakistan War of 1947-48, sometimes known as the First Kashmir War, was fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four wars fought between the two newly independent nations...

. Singh retreated to Jammu and eventually left the state.

In 1951 Singh's rule was terminated by the state government of Indian-administered Kashmir. His son Yuvraj

Yuvraj

Yuvraj, Yuvaraja, or Yuvaraj is an Indian title for "Crown Prince", i.e., heir apparent to the throne of an Indian Princely State or former Hindu kingdom ruling the India before Indian independence...

(Crown Prince) Karan Singh

Karan Singh

was elected 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' ('President of the Province') and Governor of the State in 1964, His Highness Dr. Karan Singh is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History of Dogra's Ruler

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

The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir

See also

External links