Col J P Singh
It is rather difficult to describe the foresight, shrewdness and valour of Dogra Rulers by which they formed a vast empire out of diverse geographical, religious, cultural and linguistic regions and ruled it for more than a century. While the history of formation of Jammu & Kashmir as a Princely State by Maharaja Gulab Singh has been documented by historians and talked about, the subsequent period involving consolidation of vast empire, stretching from Pamir Plateau in the North to plains of Punjab in the South, by his successors has not received much attention.
How the founder ruler and his successor survived the intrigues of Lahore Darbar and emerged victorious out of the decay and destruction of their family is equally difficult to fathom. Eventually the Dogras succeeded in extending the boundary of their empire deep into Northern areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh, Trans-Karakoram Tract and Aksai Chin. Maharaja Ranbir Singh stands out in the process of consolidation of a vast Dogra kingdom.
Maharaja Ranbir Singh was born in the month of Sawan 1887, corresponding to August 1830 at Ramgarh, the original Jagir of Gulab Singh where the family lived after he became Raja of Jammu. He was called Mian Feena when young. His uncle Raja Suchet Singh had no issue. He adopted nephew Feena as successor. Being youngest son, Ranbir Singh had no chance of succeeding his father but the providence had destined rulership for him which couldn’t be denied. His elder brother Udham Singh got mysteriously killed in Lahore in September 1840 along with Prince Nau Nihal Singh. Other brother Sohan Singh was killed in December 1844, along with his nephew Raja Hira Singh, then Prime Minister of Sikh Kingdom, as a victim of anti-Dogra campaign. Luckily Ranbir Singh survived. That is how he became the sole inheritor of the Dogra Kingdom.
In 1844, when Ranbir Singh was 14, his father saw the powerful Lahore Kingdom collapse due to the neglect of proper grooming to the ‘heir apparent’. Sikh empire collapsed soon after Maharaja Ranjit Singh died. Maharaja Gulab Singh therefore paid special attention to Ranbir Singh’s grooming. In order to avoid Punjab like situation under his successor, Maharaja had given enough opportunities to Ranbir Singh to lead many military expeditions independently. He also shared the gravest misfortune of his father during 1845, when Jammu was invaded by Khalsa army with the objective of destroying Raja Gulab Singh and annexing entire Jammu Raj. In this battle Ranbir Singh defended Ramnagar and Utter Behni which he had inherited from uncle Suchet Singh. An entire year cast the shadow of misfortunes over Jammu Raj & ruling family. Hence Ranbir Singh had to face many privations as young prince, in the making of a ruler. It was not he alone, the entire family spent most part of their lives in military expeditions and armed conflicts in which both his uncles and their sons fell victim to the Sikh Swords. By some divine blessings he and his father only survived. In 1847, after having taken possession of Kashmir and becoming Maharaja, Gulab Singh sent Ranbir Singh, when 17, to Shimla to wait upon Lord Hardinge, the Governor-General of India, to offer him thanks and pay first tribute for all the favours he had shown towards them. It was thus natural for Ranbir Singh to grow as a soldier and get trained in the art of warfare to be a Warrior King, like his father, to effectively rule his kingdom.
Seeing him confident enough to shoulder the responsibilities as ruler, Maharaja Gulab Singh anointed Ranbir Singh on 20th February 1856. Maharaja put a Saffron Tilak on his forehead with his own hands in the Thakurdwara from where the royal procession moved to Purani Mandi Jammu where the prince was formally seated on the royal throne. Diwan Kirpa Ram was appointed his secretary whose able son, Jawala Sahai as the prime minister. On this occasion British govt presented him a Khilat as token of their recognition of his accession. Tribute were paid to the new maharaja by all the chiefs, nobles, generals & courtiers.
Ranbir Singh by nature was very humble and humane. Maharaja Gulab Singh had left many things undone and several economic and administrative problems could only be solved with the cooperation of British. Moreover he nurtured the ambition of reaching beyond the Northwestern and Northern frontiers of his state. He wanted to go beyond Pamirs. He prepared grounds for his ‘leap frog’ into Central Asia. Besides these strategic issues, neutralising European intrigues on Kashmir, appeasement of Kashmiris and many other problems required the goodwill of British govt and support of its officials. He had therefore to strike a balance between his subordination to British and his right to independent decisions in internal and external spheres, which he did wisely.
He brought about many administrative reforms. He divided Jammu into seven Zilas (districts), viz, Jammu, Jasrota, Ramnagar, Udhampur, Reasi, Minawar and Nowshera and Kashmir into six, viz, Kamarraj, Pattan, Srinagar, Shopian, Anantnag and Muzafrabad. The Northern vast cold desert was divided into three Governorships namely Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh. Poonch Jagir remained more or less autonomous under him. He set up 25 Courts and introduced a remarkable penal code structure called ‘Ranbir Penal Code’ (RPC) which was replaced only in November 2019 with Indian Penal Code on abrogation of Article 370. Law and order was well kept. Serious crimes were less heard. Trial for homicide and rape cases was heard by a jury of 100 men, 50 named by complainant and 50 by the accused. Capital punishment was rare.
When Ranbir Singh ascended to the throne there were only bridal paths connecting Jammu and Kashmir. There were five routes to Kashmir from different directions, two from Rawalpindi, (i) Muree-Kohala-Baramulla, (ii) Abbotabad-Domel-Baramulla), (iii) Bhimber-Rajouri-Pirpanjal, (iv) Bhimber-Poonch-Hajipir, (v) Kotli-Poonch-Uri-Baramulla. None from Jammu. A network of speedy communication was necessary to administer his vast hilly country. This became all the more necessary when valley was struck by a severe famine in 1877. Transportation of grains became difficult in the absence of vehicular roads. Driven by British strategic interest in the area at its peak, the need arose for good roads for use by troops in the event of a Russian threat. The need of prompt communication of information over the extensive territory of the state, spreading from Karakoram and the Pamirs to the Northern fringe of Punjab plains, also assumed tremendous importance due to the political developments in the Central Asians Republics.
Maharaja gave top priority to the establishment of Postal and Telegraphic connections and construction of Motorable roads. British had constructed a Railway-line up-to Rawalpindi. Maharaja wanted a road from Rawalpindi to Srinagar. He entered into an agreement with Punjab Govt to meet half the cost of construction of Bridge over Jhelum at Kohala. The bridge was completed in 1870 and the govt of J&K paid Rs. 31,000 as its share of expenditure incurred on construction. In September 1880, Maharaja appointed Er. Alexender Atkinson for the task of constructing Kohala-Baramulla road (Jhelum Valley road). For speedy construction of this 100 miles road, the work was divided between 60 contractors. The road was completed in 1890. BC Road also received Maharaja’s attention. A suspension bridge over Chenab was constructed at Ramban. Both these roads were great feats of engineering skills and together they made 400 miles of hill roads, the largest in the world. A ruler, so humane and scholarly, left his impression on every sphere of administration and judicial system. RPC, now IPC was his compendium of Law.
So much talked about Aksai Chin’s ‘umbilical-cord’ is attached to India only by strategic adventures of Maharaja Ranbir Singh. In 1864 he dispatched a composite military garrison, sixty miles as the crow flies, North of Karakoram Pass to Shahidullah on the Caravan route from Leh to Kashgharia where a military post was established and a fort built. At the same time, he entered into a correspondence with Amir of Khotan, (now in Sinkiang Province) Haji Habibulla Khan, who had assumed power in the town in the absence of Chinese authority. In the quest of possible allies in turbulent and uncertain times, Amir of Khotan wrote to Maharaja Ranbir Singh to facilitate his direct contact with East India Company. Maharaja saw that Amir’s overtures could well be exploited to his advantage. He wanted to expand his territories and trade with Eastern Turkistan to protect it from bandit raids and to ensure that it was properly taxed to the benefit of his treasury. These were the major objectives of Shahidullah garrison. In 1865 Maharaja Ranbir Singh asked Govt of India to map his Northern boundary. The task was entrusted to W.H. Johnson. In return for the promise of future employment with the state, Johnson agreed to act in a diplomatic capacity on behalf of the Princely State. (After his retirement Johnson was appointed Governor of Ladakh).
The results of the Johnson survey was published in 1868 by the Govt of India in the Gazette entitled ‘Kashmir Atlas’. This showed the State of Jammu and Kashmir extending far to the North of Karakoram Pass and Aksai Chin. It was calculated by one British observer that the boundary of Jammu and Kashmir had been expanded by 21,000 sq miles Eastwards under Maharaja Ranbir Singh. Hence the only survey available was Johnson map which became an authority to lay the foundation for the post-1947 Indian claim to Aksai Chin. J&K, the ‘Crown of India’ is Dogras gift to the nation. But no mention of or reference to Maharaja Ranbir Singh or Kashmir Atlas prepared under his eye is currently made while claiming the Crown. That renders Indian claim over Aksai Chin fall flat in the world diplomatic discourse despite tall claims of Indian strategic prowess. This realization too is necessary at this moment.
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