Hari Singh

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For other uses, see Hari Singh (disambiguation).

Hari Singh
Hari Singh 1931.jpg
Hari Singh in 1931
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Reign23 September 1925 — 17 November 1952
Coronation29 March 1926[1]
PredecessorPratap Singh
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
RegentKaran Singh (1949–1952)
Born(1895-09-23)23 September 1895
Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir,(present-day Jammu and Kashmir, India)
Died26 April 1961(1961-04-26) (aged 65)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India (present-day Mumbai)
Spouses
Sri Lal Kunverba Sahiba
​
(
m. 1913;
d. 
1915)
Rani Sahiba Chamba
​
(
m. 1915;
d. 
1920)
Dhanvant Kunveri Baiji
​
(
m. 1923,
d.
)
Tara Devi
​
(
m. 1928;
sep. 
1950)
IssueKaran Singh
HouseDogra
FatherAmar Singh
MotherBhotiali Chib
ReligionHinduism[2]

Maharaja Sir Hari Singh GCSI GCIE GCVO (23 September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Born in the city of Jammu in 1895, Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. His father, who was the heir to his brother Pratap Singh, died in 1909, making him the heir to the throne. In 1923, following his uncle's death, he became the new Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. He married four times, and his fourth wife bore him a son, Karan Singh. After Indian Independence in 1947, he wanted Jammu and Kashmir to remain an independent kingdom, but was forced to accede to the Dominion of India, to get the support of Indian troops against an invasion by Pakistani forces.

Singh remained the titular Maharaja of the state until 1952, when the monarchy was abolished by the Indian government. After spending his final days in Bombay, he died on 26 April 1961. As per his will, his ashes were brought to Jammu and spread all over Jammu and Kashmir and immersed in the Tawi River at Jammu.

Singh was also a controversial figure due to his involvement in a blackmail scandal by a prostitute in Paris in 1921, the agitation in Kashmir against his government in 1931, and the rebellion against him in Poonch in 1947.

Early life[edit]

Amar Mahal Palace, the birthplace of Hari Singh

Hari Singh was born on 23 September 1895 at the palace of Amar Mahal, Jammu, the only surviving son of Raja Amar Singh Jamwal,[3] the brother of Maharaja Pratap Singh, then the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir in a Dogra Rajput family. Since the Maharaja had no issue, Hari Singh was heir to the throne of Jammu and Kashmir.

In 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of honour to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar. At the age of thirteen, he was sent 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, Hari Singh went to the British-run Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehradun for military training.[citation needed]

Maharaja Pratap Singh appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the State Forces in 1915.[4]

Personal life[edit]

Hari Singh in 1920

Hari Singh payed £300,000 to a prostitute who blackmailed him in Paris in 1921. That issue resulted in a court case in London in 1924 during which the India Office tried to keep his name out of proceedings by arranging for him to be referred to as Mr. A.[4]

Singh was known as a lavish spender of money. The funeral of his uncle and former ruler Pratap Singh is believed to have expended much gold and jewelry in the funeral pyre.[5]

Marriages[edit]

File:The Maharaja and Maharani of Kashmir.jpg
Hari Singh with his fourth wife Maharani Tara Devi, 1950

Singh married four times as his first three wives failed to give birth to his heirs. Each of them died within a few years of childlessness allowing Hari Singh to immediately take a new bride. With his last wife, Tara Devi Sahiba of Kangra, he had a son, Karan Singh.[5][6]

No. Name Date of marriage Fate of marriage Issue and fate
1 Rani Sri Lal Kunverba Sahiba 7 May 1913 Ended with her death Died during pregnancy in 1915. No issue.
2 Rani Sahiba Chamba 8 November 1915 Ended with her death Died 31 January 1920. No issue.
3 Maharani Dhanvant Kunveri Baiji Sahiba 30 April 1923 Ended with her death Died young. No issue.
4 Maharani Tara Devi Sahiba of Kangra 1928 Separated Separated in 1950. Died in 1967.
Mother of Karan Singh

Reign[edit]

A film of the coronation of Maharaja Hari Singh at Mubark Mandi palace in Jammu in 1926

Following the death of his uncle Pratap Singh in 1925, 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.[7]

The Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh had a Crown at the top. A katar or ceremonial dagger sat below the crown. Two soldiers held flags. An image of the sun was between them, to symbolise his Rajput lineage from Lord Surya, the Hindu Sun God.

  • Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh as printed on the Civil List of his government

    Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh as printed on the Civil List of his government

In 1930, Hari Singh attended the First Round Table Conference in London. He suggested that the Indian Princely states would join an “All India Federation” and pleaded for equal status for Indians in the British Commonwealth of Nations.[8] While replying to the inaugural address by King-Emperor George V, Hari Singh said:

"I must express our deep gratitude to His Most Gracious Majesty for the cordial welcome tendered to us and I pray that providence may grant us the vision and the will to realize the hopes expressed in the inspiring words uttered this morning by our beloved Emperor. This is the first occasion on which the Princes of India meet in person at a Conference Table along with the representatives of British India and His Majesty's Government to discuss the political future of India. ... I feel deeply gratified at the progress which has been made with the scheme of an All-India Federation as worked out in the Report of the Federal Structure Sub-Committee. But ever since the idea of a Federation was taken up in this Conference, some surprise has been expressed in various quarters in India and in England at the willingness of the Princes to join an All-India Federation. It is said that Princes have forced the pace and that in any case they should have opposed a Federation with British India. I have never disguised from my friends, my warm support of the idea of an All-India Federation".[8]

Partition and accession[edit]

The last Maharaja of Kashmir

In 1947, after India gained independence from British rule, Jammu and Kashmir could have joined India, joined Pakistan, or remained independent.[citation needed] Hari Singh originally manoeuvred to maintain his independence by playing off both India and Pakistan. Pashtun tribesmen from Pakistan then invaded Kashmir and defeated Hari Singh's forces. Hari Singh appealed to India for help.[9] 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 could send its troops. Hence, considering the emergency situation, the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947, joining the whole of his princely state (including Jammu, Kashmir, Northern Areas, Ladakh, Trans-Karakoram Tract and Aksai Chin), to the Dominion of India.[10][11][12] 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 Prince Regent of Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, although he remained the titular Maharaja of the state until 1952, when the monarchy was abolished by Nehru's government. He was also forced to appoint the popular Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah as the prime minister of Kashmir. He had a contentious relationship with both Nehru and Abdullah.[13] Karan Singh was appointed 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' ('Head of State') in 1952 and Governor of the State in 1964.[13] Abdullah would later be dismissed from his position as prime minister of Kashmir and jailed by Karan Singh.[14]

Final years and death[edit]

Nehru and Abdullah conspired to banish Singh from Jammu and Kashmir and forced him to live in exile in Bombay. Singh spent his final days in Bombay. He died on 26 April 1961, after fourteen years of his banishment. As per his will, his ashes were brought to Jammu and spread all over Jammu and Kashmir and immersed in the Tawi River at Jammu.[15]

Legacy and memorials[edit]

Tributes and memorials[edit]

  • In 2007, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad inaugurated the 'Hari Singh Janana Park' for women. It is landscaped by Gardens and Floriculture Department at New Secretariat.
  • On 1 April 2012, the occasion of Ramanavmi, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and MP Karan Singh unveiled a statue of Hari Singh near the Tawi bridge in Jammu.[16]
  • Jammu Municipal Corporation erected a statue of Maharaja Hari Singh in standing posture near Bagh-e-Bahu Police Station adjoining junction crossings linking Gujjar Nagar Tawi Bridge, University, Bagh-e-Bahu, Narwal[17]
  • On 16 May 2018, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti inaugurated 'Maharaja Hari Singh Park' and a statue of Hari Singh in sitting posture.[18]
  • On 23 September 2019, the Amar Kshatriya Rajput Sabha (AKRS) installed a life-sized statue of Hari Singh on his 119th birthday at Samba district, near Veer Bhoomi Park.[19]
  • On 23 September 2020, an audio-video song album in Dogri was released highlighting social reforms introduced by Hari Singh from 1930 onwards.[20]

Titles and honours[edit]

Title and style[edit]

Titles of Maharaja Hari Singh and Yuvraj Karan Singh on the first page of his Civil List of 1945

As Maharaja, Hari Singh's full style was:

Lieutenant-General His Highness Raj Rajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Maharaja Shri Hari Singhji Bahadur Indar Mahindar, Sipar-i-Saltanat-i-Inglishia, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, LLD

Honours[edit]

Honorary degrees[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Coronation of Sir Hari Singh as the Maharajah of Kashmir . 29 March 1926
  2. ↑ Mridu Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects 2004.
  3. ↑ General Sir Raja Amar Singh Jamwal : 14 January 1865 – 26 March 1909
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Snedden, Christopher (2015). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kashmir’s Last Maharaja, Kashmir Life, 2 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Mufti, Kashmir in Sickness and in Health 2013, p. 157.
  7. ↑ Anand, Ragubhir Lal (1 February 2014). IS God DEAD?????. Partridge Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-48281-823-9.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Remember Maharaja Hari Singh". Daily Excellsior. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Maharaja Hari Singh's Letter to Mountbatten". www.jammu-kashmir.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. ↑ Ramachandra., Guha (1 January 2008). India after Gandhi : the history of the world's largest democracy. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0060958589. OCLC 474262656.
  11. ↑ Justice A. S. Anand, The Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir (5th edition, 2006), page 67
  12. ↑ Kashmir, Research Paper 04/28 by Paul Bowers, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom. Archived 28 July 2004 at the Wayback Machine, page 46, 30 March 2004
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ramachandra., Guha (1 January 2008). India after Gandhi : the history of the world's largest democracy. Harper Perennial. p. 92. ISBN 978-0060958589. OCLC 474262656.
  14. ↑ Ramachandra., Guha (1 January 2008). India after Gandhi : the history of the world's largest democracy. Harper Perennial. p. 262. ISBN 978-0060958589. OCLC 474262656.
  15. ↑ Dynasty clash in Kashmir: Hari Singh's grandson Ajatshatru challenges Abdullahs, The Economic Times, 14 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Maharaja's Statue unveiled". The Tribune. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "City's statues in a sorry state". Daily Excelsior. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "JDA sold Maharaja Hari Singh Park!". Dainik Jagran. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  19. ↑ "Maharaja Hari Singh's statue unveiled on his 119th Birthday anniversary". Early Times. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  20. ↑ "Album on Maharaja Hari Singh released". Tribune. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

Bibliography[edit]


External links[edit]

Hari Singh
Born: 23 September 1895 Died: 26 April 1961
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Pratap Singh
(as Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir) 		Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
1925–1952 		Succeeded by
Republic of India Karan Singh as titular Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir

Template:Indian civil servants

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