Dogra rulers and their run-ins with China

Harbans Singh

Archaeologists know Akhnoor, in Jammu, as the last Indus valley settlement in the North. This was the point from where timber from higher reaches was floated down the Chenab for downstream settlements. In the history of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, this was the place where, in the shadow of the Akhnoor Fort, on the banks of the mighty Chenab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh applied Raj Tilak to the Dogra general Gulab Singh and anointed him the Raja of Jammu.

On this June 17, the Dogras celebrated the 199th Raj Tilak ceremony, from whence began a journey that added a new chapter to the history of the subcontinent. The first half of the 19th century had witnessed the fall of the Gurkhas, the Marathas and the Jats while battling the British for supremacy. In the meantime, the Sikhs attained such heights of power and splendour that Lahore attracted people from far and wide. However, their downfall was as swift as their rise — by 1946 they too were a spent force.

From among the remaining Indian princes rose the man who was to shape the destiny of the region. Ambitious but cautious, Gulab Singh took approval of the Lahore Durbar for his ambitious campaigns in the snowbound mountains with Ladakh (Tibet-i-Kalan, i.e. the greater Tibet) as his first target. He had realised that the occupation of the Himalayan kingdom would not only give him the monopoly over Leh’s flourishing entrepôt frequented by merchants from Tibet, Sinkiang (present day Xinjiang) and Kashmir but also the control over an important route between Tibet and Kashmir, which was used for the lucrative pashmina trade. This project began in 1834 under the command of his most trusted and intrepid Dogra General Zorawar Singh. It claimed thousands of lives, including that of the general during the Lhasa campaign in 1842. In 1841, the present day battalion of the 4th Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, then commanded by General Zorawar Singh, captured Mantalai Standard, the flag of the Chinese Imperial Army in a battle in Tibet. It is still in possession of the JAK Rifles. Eventually, with the general killed and the army annihilated, the biting winter and snow halted the march of the Jammu force towards Tibet.

Farsighted and flexible

It was in these adverse circumstances that the farsightedness and flexibility of Raja Gulab Singh came to the fore. Unlike earlier examples, he did not seek reprisals even as he re-established control over Leh, and accepted the limits of his ambition. The Tibetans and the Imperial Court of China, on the other hand, too, realised the futility of waging a war in this extreme end of their empire at a time when it was facing a greater threat in the form of the first Opium War. As a result, both the parties entered into a treaty, signed at Chushul in 1842. It was agreed that the traditional boundary between Tibet and Ladakh would be respected and trade would follow the traditional route between Lhasa and Leh, opening up new trade interests for the Jammu kingdom. For the next 120 years, that's where the boundaries of Ladakh remained, notwithstanding the fact that the border regions of such lands were inhabited by peregrinating populations for whom cultural identities were stronger than political ones.

Beyond Ladakh

While conquering Ladakh, Raja Gulab Singh looked westward towards Baltistan, known as Tibet-i-Khurd, i.e. the little Tibet, and brought it under his control in 1840, laying the foundation of future expansion by his successor to take control of the trade routes to Kashgar (Xinjiang) and central Asia. It must be said that Kashmir did not figure in his plans since it was part of the Sikh empire. However, a combination of circumstances, which generated a lot of heat and dust, made him acquire it after paying the indemnity that the Lahore Durbar was unable to pay. In 1846, the journey of a soldier in the Sikh army reached its pinnacle with the Treaty of Amritsar between him and the East India Company, bestowing upon him the title of Maharaja.

Soon, these conquests and acquisitions formed the geostrategic pivot that was vital for the interests of Tsarist Russia, decaying but still formidable Imperial China and Great Britain. It continues to be so except that the old rivals are known by new names. Had the Partition of the subcontinent not taken place, India would have been a major player in the politics of the region spanning two continents. But with the Partition began the first phase of the dismantling of the legacy of Maharaja Gulab Singh, when Pakistan occupied the strategic region of Gilgit after the British engineered a revolt of Ladakh Scouts, and Baltistan. What followed is wrapped in enigma and historians are yet to explain the reason why Indian Army marching through Kargil after crossing Zoji La in November 1948 moved towards Leh rather than take the road to Skardu where the State forces had held out against the Pakistani siege till 14th August 1948. Thus, we cry over spilt milk when we protest over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) since we had displayed no intent to recover the area from Pakistan.

The final phase of dismantling Maharaja Gulab Singh's legacy was nearly completed last year when, on August 5, 2019, Ladakh acquired a separate entity as a union territory, and Jammu was left in the prickly and uncomfortable embrace of Kashmir as another union territory. With the proud achievements of the Dogra dynasty receding to the pages of history, this 199th Raj Tilak celebration is a reminder of the ruthless march of time which reduces Alexanders and Chandraguptas to mere dates and landmarks.

—The writer is the author of ‘Maharaja Hari Singh: The Troubled Years’ and ‘Karan Singh: Jammu and Kashmir 1949-1967’

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