An historical sketch of the native states of India/Kashmir
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in subsidiary alliance with the British government (1875)
Author: George Bruce Malleson (1825-1898)
Publisher: Longmans, Green & Co. London
Kashmir
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Area: 25,000 sq. miles. Population:1,500,000. Revenue: 6,50,000 rupees.
According to tradition, the valley of Kashmir was colonised by the Hindus about 2,666 years before the commencement of the Christian era, and ruled by a regular succession of kings of that race. It appears certain, however, that, even at an early period, these princes were subjected to desultory invasions, and even to the temporary occupation of their country by Tartar and other chiefs. Thus it seems clearly ascertained that Ogyges, probably a name of Oghuz Khan, the Scythian, attempted an entrance into the country some time antecedent to the Christian era, and though at first repulsed by the ruler of the country, by name Jagma, he eventually, after a year's struggle, succeeded in forcing his way into the valley. Others of the stream of invaders who followed him must have made similar attempts, for it is recorded that from 150 to 100 B.C., the country was governed by three Tartar princes. From that period until the predatory attacks of Mahmud of Ghizni, the record is uncertain and the details are scanty. But it would appear that, though often temporarily occupied by invaders, Kashmir continued, in the main, under the rule of its Hindu princes.
Mahmud of Ghizni is said to have overrun the valley in 1011 and 1012. On the second occasion, however, his army, in retiring, was led into the wrong pass, and suffered very considerably. He passed the passes in 1017, but did not enter them again
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Kashmir would seem to have enjoyed comparative peace from that time till the beginning of the fourteenth century, when it was definitively conquered by a Tartar prince of the family of Chug. It was ruled with one or two trifling breaks by the descendants of this prince till the year 1587, when it was conquered by Akbar, and its king enrolled among the nobles of Delhi, and assigned a large jaghir in Behar. Akbar himself only paid three visits to Kashmir after his conquest of it, but it became the favourite summer retreat of his successors.
Kashmir continued under the dominion of the Moguls till some time after the year 1739, when the conquest of Delhi placed it in the hands of Nadir Shah, by whom it was annexed to the kingdom of Kabul. It remained attached to that kingdom till 1809, when the governor of the province, Mahomed Azim Khan, disavowed his allegiance, claimed independence, and set the sovereign of Kabul at defiance. Seven years later an army was sent from Kabul to reconquer the country, but there was a traitor in the camp, and the army was forced to retreat with heavy loss. In 1819 Ranjit Singh conquered the city of Kashmir, and some portions of the country in its vicinity. The chief of the country, Mahomed Azim Khan, did not, however, readily surrender the remainder, for in 1820 two persons arrived at Delhi, charged by him with overtures for a treaty of alliance, and with an earnest request that Kashmir should be taken under British protection. The request was refused, and thenceforth the whole country, gradually but surely, fell under the domination of Ranjit Singh.
During the whole of this prince's life, and subsequently till 1846, Kashmir was governed by a nobleman appointed by him. On the defeat of the Sikh army in 1845-46, a treaty was negotiated at Lahore (March 1846), by one of the clauses of which Kashmir was transferred to British rule. But the Governor-General of the day, deeming his resources insufficient to guard all
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the acquisitions obtained by the treaty, whilst he was obliged to keep a watchful eye on the Sikh nation, humiliated though not vanquished, determined to make a friend of the astute chief of Jammu, Golab Singh, by conferring upon him for a pecuniary consideration the territory of Kashmir, with the rank and title of an independent sovereign, and to make with him a separate treaty.
The chieftain so elevated bore the character of being alike cautious and cunning, a watcher of the atmosphere, always holding back from committing himself, but ever ready to seize the ball when it lay at his feet. He had begun life as a horseman in a troop of cavalry commanded by the favourite chamberlain ofRanjit Singh. He soon raised himself to an independent command, and in this he distinguished himself by taking prisoner Agar Khan, chief of Rajaori. For this service Ranjit Singh conferred upon his family the principality of Jammu. Here Golab Singh took up his residence, and from it managed soon to extend his authority over his Rajput neighbours, and eventually into Ladakh. In the revolutions which preceded the outbreak of the war he was elected minister of the Khalsa, and he took an important part in the negotiations which followed the battle of Sobraon, casting the weight of his influence in favour of the restoration of friendly relations with the British.
In the second Sikh war, Golab Singh was true to the character I have recorded of him. From his eyrie in Jammu he watched the course of events. He had an instinctive notion that the victory would be with the British, and though he might have been shaken by the doubtful battle of Chillianwala, yet the fall of Multan and the ' crowning mercy ' of Gujrat soon came to reassure him.
Golab Singh died in 1857, and was succeeded by his son Ranbir Singh. This chief performed excellent services in the year of the mutiny, sending his troops to Delhi, where they behaved well and loyally. Subsequently
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Maharaja Ranbir Singh was invested with the insignia of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India. In 1867 he reduced all transit duties through his territories to a payment of five per cent, ad valorem. In this and in other respects the Maharaja has shown a laudable desire to meet the wishes of the British Government.
The Maharaja of Kashmir has been granted the right of adoption.