Sat Parkash Suri & Dr. Gurdev Singh
Jammu and Kashmir State as it stood on the map of India on August 15, 1947, the day India’s partition, came into existence on March 16, 1846 by virtue of the Amritsar Treaty concluded on that day between Gulab Singh in person and the representatives of Lord Hardinge, the then British Viceroy and Governor General of India. By his ceaseless and untiring efforts, political manipulations and shrewd strategies, Gulab Singh was able to carve out an independent State of his own which produced four Rulers who contributed tremendously in its stability, consolidation, purging the administration from corrupt practices and modernizing it with innovative measures. The successive rulers of the State including Maharaja Gulab Singh remained plagued by British diplomacy and the contrivances which they employed on one or another pretext and deterred the rulers not to execute the pro-people policies for their betterment.
Jammu and Kashmir State occupied a unique geo-political position in the Indian Sub-continent as its boundaries were contiguous with Afghanistan, Sinkiang and Western Tibet. The southern Russian States were its close neighbours in the Northwest. The designs of Russian and Chinese expanding their regimes continued to worry the British strategists and added fear to their calculations towards the second half of 19th Century.
Maharaja Gulab Singh had personal and cordial relations with the British officials but his diplomatic relations with them were not friendly. In 1848, Lord Hardinge communicated to Maharaja Gulab Singh mentioning that the nature of his internal administration aroused misgivings in the mind of the British Government and claimed their right to interfere in his affairs. The purpose of this communication was to get a Resident appointed in his Durbar. Maharaja responded that a promise had been given that no Resident would be stationed in his State as there was no provision provided in the Amritsar Treaty of 1846.
So long as the British remained preoccupied with the crisis in Punjab, they left Gulab Singh to himself. After the final subjugation of the Sikh State and their territories (Subraon battle- 1845), they lost no time in squeezing and in extending effective control over Gulab Singh. Three years had not elapsed when the British realized the heinous blunder of ceding to Gulab Singh and his male heirs in independent and permanent possession ‘of all the hilly and mountainous tracts with its dependencies situated to the eastward of the river Indus and westward of river Ravi’ which also included the strategic area of Gilgit. The British wanted to regain the control of this territory at any cost. They hatched plot after plot and pressurized Maharaja Gulab Singh and his successors to regain the possession of these areas.
Inspite of initiating potential relief measures and putting the economy of the State on fast track, the British authorities complained about the reports of oppression and mismanagement in the affairs of the State. They deputed one of their experienced officers, Henry Lawrence to make a detailed report about the mal-administration in the State. Lawrence submitted the report and it was found that allegations levelled against the administration and the Maharaja were untrue and exaggerated. The Governor General warned the Maharaja that the Indian Government would not hesitate in interfering in the administration in case he failed to take effective steps to reorganize the affairs of the State.
Sir John Lawrence sent a letter to Dewan Jwala Sahai,(Maharaja Gulab Singh’s Prime Minister) dated 14th Jan 1852, about the appointment of a political supervisor in the valley. He writes: “on account of certain excesses committed by some European visitors in the past year, I intend to appoint some responsible European official at Srinagar to stay there till the return of the said visitors in order that he may put a stop to the occurrence of such excesses, as the Maharaja is well acquainted with the good intentions and sociability of Major Macgregor, I wish he may be allowed to stay at Srinagar till the end of hot season to supervise the conduct of European visitors to Kashmir. As this arrangement is also for the benefit of His Highness, it is hoped it will be gladly accepted by His Highness”.
Gulab Singh was left with no alternative but to agree to this new arrangement which he had stubbornly refused in 1848 by strongly protesting against the appointment of a political officer because it was against the degree of independence granted to his State.
Major Macgregor was the first officer on special duty in Kashmir but he enjoyed no power of political importance and he could not stay in Kashmir for more than six months only during the summer season.
Like a sagacious and a Ruler of far-sighted vision, he wanted to see his only surviving son, Ranbir Singh, to hold the successful charge of his patrimony in his own life time. He had many reasons to be worried about because the British had become aggressive thus causing embarrassment to Gulab Singh. He was a disillusioned man because he was apprehensive of Dalhosie’s manoeuvers who would ‘one day invoke the notorious doctrine of lapse and take the State over under British administrators’. His nephews, Jawahir Singh and Moti Singh, sons of late Dhian Singh, had claimed their right to share the territories and the private common property of all the brothers. In addition to these Gulab Singh was suffering from dropsy and he had requested Dr. Hornigberger to join him as his physician in Srinagar which he politely refused. The disease became worse with time and in 1856, his health further dipped down. As a result, Gulab Singh decided to entrust the administration of the State to his only surviving son and to retire quietly from the affairs of the State. So Gulab Singh deputed Dewan Jwala Sahai, his most trusted confidante, to convey to Governor General for the enthronement of his only son, Ranbir Singh.
The British Governor General in India confirmed Ranbir Singh as Maharaja Gulab Singh’s successor to the throne of Jammu and Kashmir State. Thus Gulab Singh cleared all the cobwebs and complications before he finally retired to lead a quiet life at Srinagar. Gulab Singh himself applied the saffron paste of royalty on Ranbir Singh’s forehead at Thakurdwar and there from the royal procession moved to Purani Mandi Tilak Bhawan where Ranbir Singh sat on the Royal Throne. Mr. Angels and other British Military officials from Sialkot cantonment and his Rajput relatives also applied saffron tilak on his forehead.
Thus Maharaja Gulab Singh installed his only surviving son, Ranbir Singh on the throne of Jammu and Kashmir State on February 20, 1856 with great pomp and show. He lived a subject citizen of Ranbir Singh but for all practical purposes, he continued to be the real sovereign of the State till his death on 4th of August, 1858. It was a rare example in Indian history rather than in the world history that a ruler had abdicated his royal powers during his life time.
‘Gulab Singh who in his youth dreamed of carving out a State ultimately won for him a throne of his own at the age of 54 . In a century bereft of historical achievements in Indian history, Gulab Singh stands out as a solitary personality of political eminence. The foundation of composite Jammu and Kashmir state is his monumental achievement.
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