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| Maharaja hari singh |
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Reign - 1925–1961
Predecessor - Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir
Successor - Monarchy Abolished (Karan Singh As Head of State )
Born - 23 September 1895
Jammu , Kashmir and Jammu, British Raj
Died - April 26, 1961 (aged 65) Bombay , Maharashtra , India
Spouse - Maharani Tara Devi (4th Wife)
Issue - Karan Singh
House - Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir
Father - Amar Singh
Religion Hinduism
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| Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, Mr. Hari | Singh (1895–1961) |
(Crown Prince) Karan Singh.
Early life
Hari Singh was born into the Hindu Kachwaha caste, part of the Rajput community. He was born on 23 September
1895 at the palace of Amar Mahal, Jammu, the only surviving son of General Raja Sir Amar Singh Jamwal (14 January 1864 – 26 March 1909), the younger son of
General Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Ranbir Singh and the brother of Lieutenant-General Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Pratap Singh, the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.
Education and preparation for the
throne
In 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of honour to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar . At the age of thirteen, Hari Singh was dispatched to Mayo College in Ajmer. A
year later, in 1909, his father died, and the British took a keen interest in his education and appointed Major H. K. Brar as his guardian. After Mayo College, the ruler-in-
waiting went to the British-run Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehra Dun for military training. By the age of twenty he had been appointed as commander-in-chief of the state of Kashmir.
Reign
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| The last Maharaja of Kashmir |
Following the death of his uncle Sir Pratap Singh in 1925, Sir Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir. He made primary education compulsory in the
State, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage, and opened places of worship to the low castes . [ citation needed]
Singh was hostile towards the Indian National Congress , in part because of the close friendship between Kashmiri
political activist and socialist Sheikh Abdullah and Jawaharlal Nehru . He also opposed the Muslim League and its members' communalist outlook illustrated in their two-nation theory . During the Second World War , from 1944–1946 Sir Hari Singh was a member of the Imperial
War Cabinet . In 1947, after India gained independence from British rule,
Jammu and Kashmir had the option to join either India or Pakistan or to remain independent [ citation needed ] . He
originally manoeuvred to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan. There was a widespread
belief that rulers of the princely states, in deciding to accede to India or Pakistan, should respect the wishes of
the population, but few rulers took any steps to consult on such decisions. Jammu and Kashmir was a Muslim
majority state, and Pashtun tribesmen from Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir with the help of Pakistan's government under the impression that Hari Singh would
accede to India. Hari Singh appealed to India for help. [1] Although the Indian Prime Minister Nehru was ready to
send troops, the Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, advised the Maharaja to accede to India before India would send its troops. Hence,
considering the emergent situation, the Maharaja signed an Instrument of Accession to the Dominion of India.
Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947, acceding the whole of his princely state
(including Jammu, Kashmir, Northern Areas, Ladakh , Trans-Karakoram Tract and Aksai Chin) to the Dominion
of India . [2][3] These events triggered the first Indo- Pakistan War .
Pressure from Nehru and Sardar Patel eventually compelled Hari Singh to appoint his son and heir, Yuvraj
(Crown Prince) Karan Singh, as Regent of Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, although he remained titular Maharaja
of the state until 1952, when the monarchy was abolished. Karan Singh was appointed 'Sadr-e- Riyasat' ('President of the Province') in 1952 and Governor of the State in 1964.
Hari Singh spent his final days in Kashmir at the Hari Niwas Palace in Jammu. He breathed his last on 26 April
1961 at Bombay . As per his will, his ashes were brought to Jammu and spread all over Jammu and Kashmir and immersed in Tawi River at Jammu.
Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh
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| Detail of the Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh | as printed on the Civil List of his | government |
The British Crown is at the top, representing the Emperor of India, whose Resident was posted in Kashmir. A katar
or ceremonial dagger sits below the crown. Two soldiers hold flags. An image of the sun is between them, as the Rajput clan to which Hari Singh belonged claimed to have
descended from the sun.
Family
1. Dharampur Rani Sri Lal Kunverba Sahiba; married at Rajkot 7 May 1913, died during pregnancy in 1915. No child.
2. Chamba Rani Sahiba; married at Chamba 8 November 1915, died 31 January 1920. No child.
3. Maharani Dhanvant Kunveri Baiji Sahiba (1910–19?); married at Dharampur 30 April 1923. No child.
4. Maharani Tara Devi Sahiba of Kangra,(1910–1967); married 1928, separated 1950, one son: Yuvraj (Crown Prince), i.e., heir-apparent Karan Singh (9 March 1931–)
Titles
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| Titles of Maharaga Hari Singh and karan singh |
Title page of Civi List(List of civil officers
of Hari Singh) 1945 .Interesting for two
reasons. (a) Has seal of Maharaja Hari
singh at Bottom.(b) On page 30 serial
No:5 shows that Molvi Abdul Rahim one
of the leaders of the 1931 agitation was
appointed as a judge by the Maharaja in
1934.This proves that the agitation was
for democratic reforms and not directed
against the Maharaja
1895–1916: Sri Hari Singh
1916–1918: Raja Sri Hari Singh
1918–1922: Captain Raja Sir Hari Singh, KCIE
1922–1925: Captain Raja Sri Sir Hari Singh, KCIE,
KCVO
1925–1926: Captain His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir , KCIE, KCVO
1926–1929: Colonel His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir, KCIE, KCVO
1929–1933: Colonel His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir, GCIE, KCVO
1933–1935: Colonel His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir, GCSI , GCIE, KCVO
1935–1941: Major-General His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir, GCSI, GCIE, KCVO
1941–1946: Lieutenant-General His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir, GCSI, GCIE, KCVO.
1946–1961: Lieutenant-General His Highness Shriman
Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar
Mahindar Bahadur, Sipar-i-Sultanat, Maharaja of Jammu
and Kashmir, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO
Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to
India
Further information: Timeline of the Kashmir conflict Kashmir became a princely state on 16 March 1846 after
its acquisition by the British. They then sold it to Gulab Singh, the ruler of Jammu. Hari Singh was the great- grandson of Gulab Singh. The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah , had perhaps assumed that Kashmir, by the logic of its majority Muslim population, would become a part of his
country. But a few years before Partition, when he sent an aide to Kashmir for an assessment, the conclusion
was sobering: "No important religious leader has ever made Kashmir his home or even an ordinary center of
Islamic activities", the aide reported that "It was require considerable effort, spread over a long period of time, to
reform them and convert them to true Muslims." Hari Singh, in the weeks after 15 August 1947, gave no indication of giving up his State’s independence. Pakistan
then decided to force the issue, and a tribal invasion to drive out the Maharaja was given the green light. According to C. B. Duke, the then British High Commissioner in Lahore, "Kashmir has always been
regarded as a land flowing with milk and honey, and if to the temptation to loot [by the tribesmen] is added the merit of assisting oppressed Muslims, the attractions will be nigh irresistible." In the early hours of 24 October 1947 the invasion began,
as thousands of tribal Pathans swept into Kashmir heading for Srinagar , from where Hari Singh ruled. The Maharaja appealed to India for help. On 25 October, V. P. Menon , a civil servant considered to be close to
Patel, [ clarification needed Who? Not mentioned previously] flew to Srinagar to get Hari Singh’s approval for
Kashmir’s accession to India.
On 26 October, Hari Singh and his durbar shifted to Jammu, to the safety of the Maharaja’s winter palace,
and out of harm’s way from the marauding tribesmen. Hari Singh’s prime minister, M. C. Mahajan , requested immediate military aid on any terms, he urged Nehru , the
Indian Prime Minister, to give them the military force they needed. "Take the accession and give whatever power
you [India] desire to the popular party. The Indian army must fly to save Srinagar or else they will go to Lahore
and negotiate terms with Mr. Jinnah."
The accession to India was completed on 27 October when India’s 1st Sikh battalion flew into Srinagar. When Jinnah learnt of the Indian troops landing, he belatedly sent troops to Kashmir but by then Indian
forces had taken control of nearly two thirds of the state. Gilgit and Baltistan territories were secured by Pakistani
troops. Fighting between Indian troops, and the tribesmen and Pakistani troops continued for more than a year after
the accession, in what is generally known as the first India-Pakistan war.
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