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| Maharajah Gulab Singh and his Empire | | |
M. M. Khajooria
His family having fallen on bad times, Gulab Singh was obliged to start his military carrier in a somewhat humble position in the army of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. By dint of his unmatched velour and outstanding qualities of Military leadership he rose to be the commander-in- chief of the Khalsa army, a Wazir in the Durbar of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and Raja of Jammu.
The Maharajah accompanied Gen. Hari Singh Nalwa in crushing the rebellion in Afghanistan –His valour and exemplary qualities of Military leadership were thankfully recognized by the General.
Begining with consolidation of his rule over a dozen Jammu independent Principalities he went on to craft an empire spanning over 2 lac square kilometres. He achieved this miracle by three modes. First to tighten his grip over the number of Jammu principalities . Second ,by bringing about the miracle of extending his reach to Ladakh and Baltistan much before he got control over Kashmir under The Treaty of Amritsar The Dogra army under legendry General Zorawar Singh ,then based at Kishtwar as the Governor was given the stupendous task of conquering distant Ladakh, an impossible task for the finest of armies of the world at that point of time. I have walked on the tracks that bore the footprints of these matchless warrioras . It amazed me and made me feel proud to belong to the Dogra tribe whom British military historians described as “Dogra, the Hillman, a fighter par excellence’. From Leh, the Dogra army proceeded to conquer Kargil and most of Baltistan which task was accomplished much before the sighing of Treaty of Amritsar 1846. Thirdly, Through treaties,.
By virtue of the Treaty of Amritsar signed on 16th March 1846 , the British made over to “independent possession of Maharajah Gulab
Singh and heirs male of his body, all the hilly or mountainous country with its dependencies situated towards eastwards of Indus and westwards of Ravi…. ”Maharajah Gulab Singh was, in terms of article 111 of the treaty to pay to the British government a sum of seventy five lakh of rupees (Nanak Shahi), the war indemnity exacted by the victorious British from the Khalsa Durbar.In return the Maharajah accepted the supremacy of the British government, who in quid pro que undertook to “ give aid to the Maharajah in the protecting the territories from external enemies.” There were two other main stipulations. One. The Mahrajah was required to provide military assistance to the British in the event of war And Two. He was Not to foster relations with any foreign power inimical to the British government. He will not employ in his service any foreigner or British subject without concurrence of the British authorities In token of subjecting himself to such supremacy, the Maharajah was obliged to present annually to the British government an interesting package of goodies Comprising of “one horse, twelve perfect shawl goats of approved breed (six male and six female) and three pairs of Kashmiri shawls.” The ridiculous clause regarding the gift of twelve perfect shawls goats was dropped in 1893 by mutual agreement.
An analysis of the terms of the Treaty reveals that except for Kashmir the rest of territories were already under the Control of Maharajah Gulab Singh- Even transfer of Kashmir was notional. The Governor of Kashmir had revolted against Khalsa Durbar and offensives had to be mounted to gain control over Kashmir through Military action.
As mentioned above, the amount of 75 Lacs was payable to The British by Khalsa Durbar as War indemnity as no faction or combination in the Khasa Durbar was able to pay the amount .This posed a grave obstacle to the signing of Treaty of Lahore between the British an Khalsa Durbar brokered by Ghulab Singh. To save the treaty from collapsing he undertook to pay the amount which found mention in the Treaty of Amritsar. So why did the British agree to the making over in “Independent possession” these strategic territories. if not for the compensation of Rs 75 Lac?
The rationale of this momentous decision is contained in the dispatch dated 19th March 1846 to the address of the Hon’ble Secret committee of the East India by the Governor General in the fallowing words: “I request your Hon’ble committee’s attention to the treaty made with the Maharajah Gulab Singh, by which a Rajput Principality of the hill districts has been constructed extending from Ravi to Indus and including the province of Kashmir. The treaty declares the Maharajah independent of Lahore State and under the protection of the British government. “ He further added that:
‘As it was of the utmost importance to weaken the Sikh nation before the government could be re-established, I considered the appropriation of this part of the ceded territory to be the most expedient measure I could devise for that purpose by which a Rajput dynasty will act as a counterpoise against the power of a Sikh prince, the son of late Maharajah Ranjit Singh, and both will have a common interest in resisting attempts on the part of any Mohammedan power to establish an independent state on this side of Indus or even to occupy Peshawar.”
This strategy aimed at killing two birds with one stone eminently suited the interests of the British at that point of time. There was a controversy about the wisdom of this action .But that a critical but separate issue.
The warrior statesman Maharajah Gulab Singh went on to craft not a State but ab Empire. ‘empire’ for Jammu & Kashmir .as crafted by. If the Dgra ruler accepted the suzerainty of the British and paid nominal tribute there were around half a dozen Rajahas of Giligit-Baltidtan and the Mehtar of Chitral who became Subjects of Jammu & Kashmir. They along with their high ranking entourage remained in attendance in Annual Durbar a personally pained tribute to the Dogra Durbar.
It may be emphasized that the independence of Ruler of Jammu & Kashmir was not symbolic. We had our own Foreign Office, official language, army, and our own currency. British citizens treated as foreigners.
The grandeur of the Dogra Durbar is aptly described byArthur Neve, in his treatise Thirty years in Kashmir.
Dogras ruled “….”.a Kingdom larger than England , in fact ,about equal to Great Britain, with tributary peoples speaking a dozen different languages and dialects, and at a Durbar , in the olden days , one might have not seen only Dogra Princes and Sikh generals, with bold Rajput veterans of the many fiercely contested mountain campaigns , but those who had been subjugated , Tibetan chiefs from Leh and Zanskar, Balti Rajahs from Skardo or Shigar, Dard chiefs from Astor or Gilgit, with their picturesque and truculent followers, all clad in the most diverse costumes.
It Is a matter of pride for the Dogras that the foreign territories conquered by Dogra Army under the command of General Zorawar Singh and others even today form part of Indian Republic.At the same time ,it is a matter of regret, nay shame that the Empire crafted by Gulab Singh today lied in tatters- Gilgit Baltistan has been absorbed by Pakistan. This belligerent country occupies a large chunk of our territories named as Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Back home the residue of the Empire has been bifurcated by creating two Union territories of Ladakh and Kashmir and Jammu. What the future holds for the Empire of Gulab Singh lies in the womb of unpredictable future. |
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