Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)

Jammu and Kashmir, also known as Kashmir and Jammu,[1] was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance under British East India Company rule from 1846 to 1858 and under the paramountcy (or tutelage[2][3]) of the British Crown, from 1858 until the Partition of India in 1947, when it became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: China, India, and Pakistan.[4][5][6] The princely state was created after the First Anglo-Sikh War, when the East India Company, which had annexed the Kashmir Valley,[7] from the Sikhs as war indemnity, then sold it to the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, for rupees 75 lakhs.

This article is about the administration of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. For the history, see Kashmir § History.

Jammu and Kashmir
1846–1952
Map of Kashmir showing the borders of the princely state in dark red
Map of Kashmir showing the borders of the princely state in dark red
StatusPrincely State
CapitalSrinagar
Jammu
Common languagesKashmiri, Dogri, Ladakhi, Balti, Shina, Pahari-Pothwari, Gujari, Kundal Shahi, Bhaderwahi, Burushaski, Brokskat, Domaaki, Khowar, Bateri, Purgi, Zangskari, Tibetan, Punjabi, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), Sanskrit
Religion
Hinduism (state), Islam (majority), Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism
GovernmentPrincely state
Maharaja 
• 16 March 1846 – 30 June 1857
Gulab Singh (first)
• 23 September 1925 – 17 November 1952
Hari Singh (last)
Dewan 
• 15 October 1947 – 5 March 1948
Mehr Chand Mahajan (first)
• 5 March 1948 – 17 November 1952
Sheikh Abdullah (last)
History 
1846
• Independence from British India
15 Aug 1947
22 Oct 1947
• Accession to the Indian Union
26–27 Oct 1947
• Constitutional state of India
17 November 1952
• Disestablished
1952
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Sikh Empire
Jammu and Kashmir, India
Azad Kashmir
Gilgit-Baltistan
Today part ofIndia (Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh)
Pakistan (Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan)

At the time of the partition of India and the political integration of India, Hari Singh, the ruler of the state, delayed making a decision about the future of his state. However, an uprising in the western districts of the State followed by an attack by raiders from the neighbouring Northwest Frontier Province, supported by Pakistan, forced his hand. On 26 October 1947, Hari Singh acceded to India in return for the Indian military being airlifted to Kashmir, to engage the Pakistan-supported forces.[8] The western and northern districts now known as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan passed to the control of Pakistan, while the remaining territory stayed under Indian control, later becoming the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.[9]

Administration

According to the census reports of 1911, 1921 and 1931, the administration was organised as follows:[10][11]

In the 1941 census, further details of the frontier districts were given:[10]

Prime ministers (Jammu & Kashmir)
# Name Took office Left office
1 Raja Sir Daljit Singh 1917 1921
2 Raja Hari Singh 1925 1927
3 Sir Albion Banerjee January 1927 March 1929
4 G. E. C. Wakefield 1929 1931
5 Hari Krishan Kaul[12] 1931 1932
6 Elliot James Dowell Colvin[12] 1932 1936
7 Sir Barjor J. Dalal 1936 1936
8 Sir N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar 1937 July 1943
9 Kailash Narain Haksar July 1943 February 1944
10 Sir B. N. Rau February 1944 28 June 1945
11 Ram Chandra Kak 28 June 1945 11 August 1947
12 Janak Singh 11 August 1947 15 October 1947
13 Mehr Chand Mahajan 15 October 1947 5 March 1948
14 Sheikh Abdullah 5 March 1948 8 August 1953

See also

References
  1. "Kashmir and Jammu", Imperial Gazetteer of India, Secretary of State for India in Council: Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 15: 71–, 1908, archived from the original on 21 December 2019, retrieved 27 August 2019
  2. Sneddon, Christopher (2021), Independent Kashmir: An incomplete aspiration, Manchester University Press, pp. 12–13, Paramountcy was the 'vague and undefined' feudatory system whereby the British, as the suzerain power, dominated and controlled India's princely rulers. ... These 'loyal collaborators of the Raj' were 'afforded [British] protection in exchange for helpful behavior in a relationship of tutelage, called paramountcy'.
  3. Ganguly, Sumit; Hagerty, Devin T. (2005), Fearful Symmetry: India-Pakistan Crises in the Shadow of Nuclear Weapons, Seattle and New Delhi: University of Washington Press, and Oxford University Press, p. 22, ISBN 0-295-98525-9, ... the problem of the 'princely states'. These states had accepted the tutelage of the British Crown under the terms of the doctrine of 'paramountcy' under which they acknowledged the Crown as the 'paramount' authority in the subcontinent.
  4. "Kashmir: region, Indian subcontinent". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2016. Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent. It is bounded by the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the northeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east (both parts of China), by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south, by Pakistan to the west, and by Afghanistan to the northwest. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, ... The southern and southeastern portions constitute the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions are divided by a "line of control" agreed to in 1972, although neither country recognizes it as an international boundary. In addition, China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and since 1962 has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region)."
  5. "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 18 December 2021 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
  6. Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 18 December 2021 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
  7. Panikkar, Gulab Singh 1930, p. 111–125.
  8. "Q&A: Kashmir dispute - BBC News". BBC News. 7 July 2010. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  9. Bose, Sumantra (2003). Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace. Harvard University Press. pp. 32–37. ISBN 0-674-01173-2.
  10. Karim, Maj Gen Afsir (2013), Kashmir The Troubled Frontiers, Lancer Publishers LLC, pp. 29–32, ISBN 978-1-935501-76-3
  11. Behera, Demystifying Kashmir 2007, p. 15.
  12. Copland, Ian (1981), "Islam and Political Mobilization in Kashmir, 1931–34", Pacific Affairs, 54 (2): 228–259, doi:10.2307/2757363, JSTOR 2757363

Bibliography

This article incorporates text from the Imperial Gazetteer of India, a publication now in the public domain.

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