Maharaja Ranjitdev and the Rise and Fall of Jammu Kingdom from 1700 A.D. to 1820 A.D (An Old and Rare Book: Only 1 Quantity Available)

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Foreword In his book "The Rise and Fall of Jammu Kingdom" Mr. Sukhdev Singh Charak has made an admirable and highly com-mendable attempt to write the history of Maharaja Ranjit Dev (1725 to 1782 A.D.). Maharaja Gulab Singh is generally considered to be the founder of the Jammu & Kashmir State and also the consolidator of the twenty-three principalities of the Jammu Province into one integral unit of the State. Although Ranjit Dev also made an attempt to conquer the Kashmir Valley he did not achieve his objective. On the other hand in the consolidation of the Jammu Province the range of his jurisdiction went beyond the present confines of the Jammu Province. A very interesting map attached to the book shows that a large area of the present day West Pakistan including the Pathankot bulge covering the area from Nainakot-Mandikhel to Shakargarh-Zafarwal almost bordering Philora and Sialkot was under the control of Ranjit Dev. Further north his authority extended to Jhelum touching Jhelum and Mangla. The Jhelum Khairian-Gujerat military bastion of present day West Pakistan was outside his authority as also Poonch further north. The chapter on Ranjit Dev's Conquests and Territortial Possessions reveals a vacuum of authority in the whole of Northern India from the middle of the 18th century. After the decline of the Mughal Power and also the weakening of the authority of the Afghan feudatories in the North Western region there was a golden opportu-nity for adventerous conquerors with a local power base to assert themselves and to conquer the adjoining territories. This very fascinating subject has been dealt with very briefly in a chapter of four pages. In chapter V on Ranjit Dev and Sikh Misis the author has traced the rise of the sikh power in Northern India and the retirement of Ranjit Dev to Jammu and adjoining hill areas. This subject deserves further and detailed study. Ranjit Dev being the hero of the author, an estimate of his achievements (Chapter VI) is very interesting. The testimony of autho-rities such as Forster, Drew, Hugel, Letif and Gupta is quoted to suggest that the prosperity of Jammu was at its height under Ranjit Dev. But there is no objective description of the economic conditions at that time, a period of utter lawlessness all round. It, however, goes to the credit of Ranjit Dev that he was "a wise administrator, a just judge and a tolerant man".

Preface The following papers have hurriedly been put together in the form of the present monograph. These were written separately as independent compositions. The repetition of certain facts therefore became unavoidable, which, it is hoped, will not fall heavy on the reader simply for the reason that the Dogra history, though an un-explored field so far, is nevertheless a highly interesting subject which is now attracting the attention of historians and scholars. Those who happen to read the vernacular history of Jammu by Kahan Singh Balauria, and the Persion biography by Diwan Kirpa Ram, entitled Gulabnamah, may come to the conclusion that Dogras had no history before the rise of Maharaja Gulab Singh. Like so many others the present writer also used to believe in the scantiness of Dogra annals. But before coming to the final decision he thought of working out some phase of Dogra history in order to assess the extent of material which could be arrayed from various sources. He chose the biography of Maharaja Ranjit Dev, worked out the subject, and succeeded in preparing a paper comprising some two dozen pages which he intended to read in the Panjab History Conference held at Panjabi University, Patiala. Although he read out a different paper on that occasion yet his work on a subject of Dogra history dispelled all his previous notions, and he had to convince himself that the Dogras possess a rich legacy which can make a real and interesting history. The present attempt is the result of that conviction.