Hari Singh

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Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, Hari Singh (1895–1961)

Hari Singh (born September 23, 1895 in Jammu , † April 26, 1961 in Bombay ) was the last ruling Maharaja of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir in India .

He was married four times. With his fourth wife Maharani Tara Devi (1910-1967) he had a son, Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh .

Life

Hari Singh was born on September 23, 1895 in the Amar Mahal Palace in Jammu as the only surviving son of General Raja Sir Amar Singh Jamwal (January 14, 1864 - March 26, 1909), the younger son of General Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Ranbir Singh and brother of Lieutenant-General Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Pratap Singh , the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir born.

Education and preparation for the throne

In 1903 Hari Singh served as a page for Lord Curzon at the Delhi Durbar . At the age of 13, Hari Singh was sent to Mayo College in Ajmer . In 1909 his father died and the British developed a keen interest in his upbringing and appointed Major HK Brar as his legal guardian. After Mayo College, Singh went to the Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehra Dun for military training under British supervision. At the age of 20 he was appointed commander in chief of the state of Kashmir.

Domination

The last Maharaja of Kashmir

After the death of his uncle Sir Pratap Singh in 1925, Sir Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir. He introduced compulsory primary education in the state, passed laws banning child marriage, and opened religious sites to members of the lower castes .

Singh was opposed to the Indian National Congress because there was a close friendship between the political activist and socialist Sheikh Abdullah and Jawaharlal Nehru . He also rejected the Muslim League because of its two-nation theory . During World War II , Hari Singh was a member of the British War Cabinet from 1944 to 1946.

After India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947, he intended to convert Kashmir into an independent Hindu state. He also looked at the possibility of joining Pakistan, as the majority of the population was Muslim.

However, after the Mountbatten Plan came into force on August 15, 1947, Hari Singh showed no signs of giving up the independence of his state. He offered both countries a pact of standstill over a decision. Pakistan then decided to settle the matter and allow Pashtun tribal warriors to march in to drive Singh out.

According to CB Duke, the British High Commissioner at the time in Lahore , Kashmir has always been viewed as the land of milk and honey, and the temptation to pillage by tribal warriors has been heightened by highlighting it as a support for oppressed Muslims.

In the early hours of October 22nd, 1947, an invasion of thousands of Pashtuns began. They pushed into Srinagar , from where Hari Singh ruled. Muslim civil servants refused to support the Maharaja against the invaders. Singh asked India for help. Even though Prime Minister Nehru of India was ready to send troops, the Governor General of India , Lord Mountbatten of Burma , advised the Maharaja to join India before sending troops. VP Menon , an official who worked closely with Sardar Vallabhbhai's godfather , flew to Kashmir on October 25 to obtain Singh's approval for the annexation of Kashmir to India . On October 26, Hari Singh and his government took refuge in the Winter Palace in Jammu, where Singh met Menon. Kashmiri troops succeeded in stopping the Pashtuns who had penetrated near Uri for 48 hours . The Kashmiri Prime Minister MC Mahajan nevertheless demanded military support from India at all costs. He urged Nehru to give them the military power they needed.

In view of the situation, the Maharaja signed a decree on October 26, 1947, for the good of his country, as he saw it, to join India and entered into with the entire princely state (Jammu, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , Shaksgam Valley and Aksai Chin ) India at. This process sparked the First Indo-Pakistani War .

Under pressure from Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel, Singh finally appointed his son and heir Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh as regent of Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, although he remained Maharaja until 1952 when the monarchy was abolished. Karan Singh was appointed Sadr-e-Riyasat (President of the Province) in 1952 and became Governor of the state in 1964 .

Hari Singh last lived in Kashmir at the Hari Niwas Palace in Jammu. He died in Bombay on April 26, 1961 . According to his will, his ashes were brought to Jammu and distributed over Jammu and Kashmir, and scattered in the Tawi near Jammu.

Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh

Details of the seal

The British crown at the top represents the ruler of India, whose representative was present in Kashmir. A Qatar lies below the crown. Two soldiers hold flags. An image of the sun between them symbolizes his mythical descent from Surya , the Hindu sun god.

family

  1. Dharampur Rani Sri Lal Kunverba Sahiba; Marriage Rajkot May 7, 1913, died in pregnancy in 1915. No children
  2. Chamba Rani Sahiba; Marriage: Chamba November 8, 1915, died January 31, 1920. No children.
  3. Maharani Dhanvant Kunveri Baiji Sahiba (1910-19?); Marriage: Dharampur April 30, 1923. No children.
  4. Maharani Tara Devi Sahiba of Kangra, (1910-1967); Marriage: 1928, separation in 1950, one son

Awards

Post fame

On January 24, 2017, the government of Jammu and Kashmir was asked by its parliament to declare September 23, the birthday of Singh, a public holiday. The motion was introduced by Ajatshatru Singh , a grandson of Hari Singh and representative of the BJP in Parliament. The application was supported by representatives of the PDP . The motivation was justified by the fact that Hari Singh gave Jammu and Kashmir his identity according to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and it is intended to make clear the importance of the Dogra kings for the development of Kashmir. In a debate on the motion, the government stated that given the number of public holidays already in existence, it was not possible to make this day a public holiday. Parliament decided to accept the motion, contrary to practice, to withdraw motions from MPs in the event of government objections.

literature

  • Sugate Bose; Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy , Routledge, London and New York, 2nd edition, 2003, ISBN 0-415-30787-2 .
  • Sumantra Bose, Kashmir: roots of conflict, paths to peace, Harvard University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-674-01817-4
  • Ian Copland, Princes of India in the Endgame of Empire, 1917-1947 , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and London, 2002 ISBN 0-521-89436-0 .
  • Yasmin Khan, The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan , Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, ISBN 0-300-12078-8
  • Alastair Lamb, Kashmir: a disputed legacy, 1846–1990 , Oxford University Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0-19-577423-8
  • Alastair Lamb, Incomplete partition: the genesis of the Kashmir dispute 1947-1948 , Roxford, 1997, ISBN 0-907129-08-0
  • Mridu Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights and the History of Kashmir , Princeton University Press / Permanent Black 2004, ISBN 81-7824-202-8
  • Barbar Ramusack, The Indian Princes and their States Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and London, 2004 ISBN 0-521-03989-4
  • Burton Stein, A History of India , Oxford University Press. New Delhi and Oxford, 2001, ISBN 0-19-565446-3

Web links

Commons : Hari Singh  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Raghubir Lal Anand: Is god dead. The truth about Jammu & Kashmir. Partridge Publishing 2014, ISBN 978-1-4828-1823-9 .
  2. ^ A b History of Jammu and Kashmir at: Department of Employment, Jammu and Kashmir Government, accessed November 11, 2016
  3. ↑ a b c Maharaja Hari Singh and Kashmir Dilemma on: Asian Voice, accessed November 11, 2016
  4. ↑ a b October 26th 1947: Maharaja Hari Singh agrees to the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India , from: Maps of India, accessed on November 11, 2016
  5. ^ Maharaja Hari Singh's Letter to Mountbatten.
  6. ↑ Poulasta Chakraborthy, Kashmir Issue begins with the Instrument of Accession on: Indiafacts, accessed November 11, 2016
  7. ↑ a b Smriti Kak Ramachandran, Saving Kashmir was only concern of Maharaja Hari Singh: RS MP Karan Singh in: Hindustan Times, October 25, 2016, accessed on November 11, 2016
  8. ^ Justice AS Anand: The Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir. 5th edition, 2006, p. 67 ( books.google.com ).
  9. ^ Paul Bowers: Kashmir, Research Paper 04/28 ( Memento of July 28, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) House of Commons Library, United Kingdom, p. 46, March 30, 2004.
  10. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: J&K power defaulters cocking a snook at CM. )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / dailypioneer.com
  11. ↑ LC adopts resolution for holiday on Hari Singh's birthday in Greater Kashmir, January 24, 2017, accessed on January 25, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Hari Singh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Jammu
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1961
Place of death Bombay