Kashmir: Under The Rule of Rajas and Maharajas

The natural beauties, the glorious climate and other attractions of our Kashmir valley have received lot of praising. Kalhan, the greatest historian refers to Kashmir in the following words “It is a country where the sun shines mildly, being the place created by Rishi Kashyap, for his glory – big and lofty houses, learning, Saffron, icy cool water and grapes rare in Heaven are plentiful here – Kailash is the best place in the three worlds (Tri-lok), Himalayas the best place in Kailash, and Kashmir the best place in Himalayas”.

The greatest Sanskrit poet Kalidasa writes about the valley “The place is more beautiful than the heaven and is the benefactor of supreme bliss and happiness. It seems to me that I am taking a bath in the lake of nectar here.” After reading these lines, no one is left with any doubt about the fact that Kashmir is the most beautiful place in the world. Unfortunately Dogra Maharajas who ascended the Kashmir throne one bye one, badly affected the political geography of this centuries old glorious land of Kashmir and the Kashmiris were put to the centuries of misrule, oppressive taxation and official bullying to which they have been subjected without any hope of redress, and without any authority to which they could appeal with the smallest hope of success.

Kashmir was derived from Kashp, the local saint who is believed to had drained the waters of this land. Ancient Greek records call it Kaperiria, while Chinese account mention it as Kia Shimelo. Tibetans and Dards have named it Kashrt. The people inhabiting this land have named it as Kasheer and its people as Kashmir.

In the early years of the fourteenth century, Kashmir was governed by Hindu rulers, except for several comparatively short interludes, the most important of which was when the country fell into the hands of Asoka, who is supposed to have founded the city of Srinagar. Asoka also introduced Buddhism. After Asoka, the name of Lalitaditya, who flourished about 700 A.D, has been handed down as the most famous king during this long period.

A hundred years later Avantivarma, the founder of the city of Avantipur, led the country along the paths of prosperity. After his death the history of Kashmir sinks into a long tale of court intrigue with one weak king succeeding another, until the centuries of Hindu rule came to an end in 1323, when Renchan Shah, a Tibetan by birth and an adventurer at the court, raised a successful rebellion and usurped the throne.

When Zain-ul-Abadin, who was to reign for more than half a century, became king in 1420 for a time more moderate councils prevailed. He made for himself so great a reputation as a tolerant and enlightened monarch that his name has been handed down to succeeding generations endowed with legendary powers. He is supposed to have introduced the manufacture of the once famous Kashmir shawls by importing wool from Tibet and workmen from Turkestan, and the manufacture of papier mache articles, which still remains an important industry, is believed to have been started in his time.

After his death the advantages that the country had enjoyed under his enlightened rule rapidly disappeared, and the Chaks, a family of turbulent and unscrupulous chiefs, who had become the most powerful influence in the country, reduced it once more to disorder and despair. So that when tales of the rich vale that lay behind the mountains bordering the sun-scorched plains of the Punjab came to the ears of the Moghul court, and Akbar dispatched a strong expedition to subdue the country, little effective opposition was made and Kashmir feel completely into his hands by 1586. The Moghul emperors were not slow to appreciate the beauties and temperate climate of their mostly lately acquired provinces, and it soon became, as it were, a watering place for the Delhi court and its fame spread far and wide. The great emperor Akbar himself visited the valley on more than once occasion, and the wall, which still exists round the hill of Hari Parbat, was built under his orders. In the reign of Jehangir the famous gardens, some of which are still in existence and which even in their present decayed state are one of the sights of the valley, were laid out along the shores of the Dal lake. But, as the power of the Moghul dynasty waned, the governors sent from Delhi became so much the more oppressive and corrupt, and the country once again fell into its only too usual condition of disorder and anarchy.

Eventually the influence and protection of the Moghul Empire became no more than nominal, and when a Pathan army, under the leadership of Ahmad Shah, appeared in 1752, they met with little difficulty in overrunning the country. It was then that the wretched Kashmiris, who for ages past had been inured to grinding taxation and pitiless tyranny, drained the cup of misery to its dregs until, unable to endure the appalling savagery of their Afghan rulers any longer, in 1818 they appealed to Ranjit Singh, who even then had already become famous entered the valley and were so completely successful that before long the Sikh flag was flying from Hari Parbat. At the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh army, which was quartered in Srinagar, mutinied and murdered the Governor. This mutiny was quelled in 1841 by Ghulab Singh, who was then one of the most prominent generals in the Sikh army, and who, after successfully dealing with this rebellion, became the virtual ruler of Kashmir, though he still acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the court of Lahore, until after the battle of Sobraon in 1846, which marked the final overthrow of the Sikh forces by the British.

Ghulab Singh was a Dogra Rajput and his native country was the small and once independent state of Jammu, situated among the foot-hills bordering on the Punjab, and which had been in the hands of the Sikhs for a number of years. The Sikhs found small outlying states, such as Jammu, difficult to control, and in order to increase the security of their hold over them, they adopted the wise policy of keeping the most influential of the inhabitants in their employ. Ghulab Singh, who had quarreled with the then Rajah of Jammu and who had served for some time in the Sikh army, where he had quickly attained distinction, was obviously a person to be placated if possible. He was first made Governor and a short time after Rajah of Jammu, where he found ample scope for his enormous energy in reducing the affairs of that state to order, and in leading expeditions against the ruling chieftains of Baltistan and Ladakh, both of whom he subdued.

He also engaged himself in conducting tortuous, and to modern eyes highly doubtful intrigues, which resulted in his gaining possession of the province of Kishtwar without striking a blow. Thus, at the outbreak off the war with the British, he was ruler in all but name of the provinces bordering on Kashmir and his sphere of influence almost completely surrounded the prize that he had in view as the ultimate object of his ambition, namely the rich and fertile valley itself.

At the choice of the war, during which he had managed to remain neutral and had acted as a mediator between the opposing forces, the whole of these provinces were ceded to the British as one of the terms of peace. As a reward for the valuable work done by him in the course of the negotiations between the British and Sikh governments prior to the treaty of Lahore, a separate treaty was concluded with him immediately afterwards, by which the British Government, acting on the advice of Sir Henry Lawrence, made over to him the independent possession of the whole of the mountainous country that lies between the Indus and the Ravi. This, of course, includes almost the whole of present-day Kashmir, Baltistan, Ladakh and Kishtwar.

In exchange Ghulab Singh agreed to pay to the British Government seventy five lakhs of rupees and promised to make an annual tribute of one horse, six pairs of shawl goats and three pairs of the most perfect Kashmir shawls. This entitled Ghulab Singh to have his complete sway over the Kashmir. Ghulab Singh died in 1857 and was replaced by Rambir Singh (1857-1885). Two other Marajahs, Partab Singh (1885-1925) and Hari Singh ruled in succession. Maharaja Sir Hari Singh ascended the throne in 1925.

The State of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Dominion of India on October 26, 1947 when Maharaj Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession and the Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten, accepted the Instrument. The texts of the letters exchanged between the Maharaja and Lord Mountbatten and the Instrument of Accession as well as the circumstances in which they were executed are set out in the Government of India’s White Paper on Jammu and Kashmir (1948).

(Courtesy Kashmir Monitor)