About Us

Sandeepa Dhar

Sandeepa Dhar is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films and Web series. She made her acting debut in 2010 with Isi Life Mein. For her performance in the film, she was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer and Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow. Dhar did a cameo in Dabangg 2. Dhar also received critical acclaim for her performance in Sajid Nadiadwala’s hit film Heropanti.

Early Life & Education

Dhar was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India in a Kashmiri Pandit family. She is professionally trained dancer. Have won several awards for her dancing, she trained in Bharatanatyam for 8 years from Vani Ganpathy. She also trained in Jazz and Contemporary for 4 years from Shiamak Davar and Terence Lewis.

Dhar was educated at St. Michael’s Convent School, Mankapur, and at National Public School, Indiranagar. She then graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Career

In 2010, Dhar made her cinematic debut in Rajshri Production’s Hindi film Isi Life Mein opposite actor Akshay Oberoi. Her performance was well received, earning the actress a best newcomer nomination at the Star Screen, Filmfare and Stardust Awards. Taran Adarsh praised her performance in the film saying, “Sandeepa Dhar is another talent that catches your attention.”

Dhar’s next release was Gollu Aur Pappu, produced by Viacom 18, co-starring Kunal Roy Kapur and Vir Das of Delhi Belly fame. She signed a 3-film deal with Viacom 18.

Vidyut Jammwal

Vidyut Dev Singh Jammwal (born 10 December 1980) is an Indian actor, martial artist and film producer who predominantly works in Hindi films. He is also a practitioner of Kalaripayattu. He is best known for his roles in Commando film series, and is recipient of several awards including one Filmfare Award.

He made his Telugu debut with Sakthi, Hindi with Force and Tamil debut with Billa II, all in negative roles. His first lead role was in the successful film Commando. He went onto appear in various films including Anjaan, Thuppakki, Baadshaho, Commando 2, Junglee, Yaara, Commando 3 and Sanak.

Early Life

Vidyut Jammwal was born in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India. He is one of three children born to an Army officer and lived in various parts of India (owing to his father’s transferable job) and trained in Kalaripayattu in an ashram in Palakkad, Kerala which was run by his mother, since he was three years old. He traveled to many countries training with martial artists in various forms, some of which find their base in Kalaripayattu. Jammwal travelled to over 25 countries, where he performed in live action shows.

Career

Debut, modelling and recognition (2011-12)

Jammwal made his Bollywood debut with the John Abraham starrer 2011 film Force, a remake of the Tamil-language film Kaakha Kaakha.[8] He played a negative role in the film and won multiple best debut awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.

2011 witnessed Jammwal featuring in negative roles in the Telugu-language films Shakti and Oosaravelli, both starring NTR. In 2012, Jammwal made his debut in Tamil cinema with Billa II, as the antagonist opposite Ajith Kumar which earned him critical appreciation. The same year, he played the antagonist in Thuppakki opposite actor Vijay, which became a blockbuster. He also received a SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role for the film.

Turning point in acting career and success (2013-present)

Jammwal later acted in Hindi-language film Commando as a protagonist and performing real-world combat-based action without the aid of stuntmen. The film was showcased internationally for the first time in July 2013 at the Fantasia Film Fest in Montreal, followed by a screening at the Fantastic Fest in Texas in September 2013. He received positive feedback from international media and action directors, calling him India’s answer to Bruce Lee and Tony Jaa. After the success of Commando, he played a sharpshooter cop in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Bullett Raja. In 2014, he played a supporting role in the Tamil-language film Anjaan, alongside Suriya. In 2017, he starred in Commando 2, the sequel to Commando, which became a box office success. Baadshaho was his next release that year in which he played Major Seher Singh, the movie did average business worldwide.
Jammwal ramp walking for a fashion show in 2012.

In 2019, Jammwal starred in American director Chuck Russell’s first Bollywood film Junglee and Commando 3. The latter saw him returning to the Commando series and became the most successful film in the franchise. His next project was Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Yaara, an official remake of the French film Les Lyonnais. Yaara was one of three films Vidyut signed for – the other two being large format films by director Ram Madhvani, creating an aura similar to the Hollywood flick 300. In 2020, he appeared in an action thriller Khuda Haafiz which was inspired from real life events. The movie became his biggest opener ever and its sequel Khuda Haafiz Chapter II was announced with same leads. He also played the lead role in the movie Sanak.

In the Media

Jammwal has also been part of a number of popular magazine lists. He ranked in The Times of India’s listing of India’s Top 10 Most Desirable Men in 2012 and 2013. Men’s Health declared him as List of Best Bodies and Top 5 Fittest Men in 2011 and 2012 respectively. In 2012, People Magazine India listed him in as one of The Sexiest Men Alive. In 2014, He was honoured as PETA’s Hottest Vegetarian along with Kangana Ranaut. In 2018, he was declared as “Top 6 Martial Artists Around The World”.

Personal life

Jammwal is a vegan and a rock climber.

On 1 September 2021, Vidyut Jamwal announced his engagement with fashion designer Nandita Mahtani. In 2023, Jammwal and Mahtani broke their engagement.

Kunal Khemu

Early Life & Background

Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri Pandit family to actors Ravi Kemmu & Jyoti Kemmu. He is the older child to the couple and has a younger sister named Karishma Kemmu. He stayed in Srinagar in early years and got initial education from Burn Hall School, but shifted to Jammu after the Insurgency in Kashmir during the 1990s, for being a Kashmiri Hindu. Later, his family stayed in Mira Road area of Mumbai, Maharashtra. He finished his schooling from N. L. Dalmia High School in Mira Road; and later attended SVKM’s Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Vile Parle for his further studies. He now lives in Khar, Mumbai.

His grandfather, Moti Lal Kemmu (original spelling of last name) is a Kashmiri playwright and a recipient of several awards by the government of Jammu and Kashmir: Rashtra Bhasa Prachar Samiti, Sahitya Akademi award in 1982 for his contribution to Kashmiri literature as a playwright and Padma Shri.

Personal Life

Khemu was in a relationship with actress Soha Ali Khan Pataudi since May 2013. The couple got engaged in July 2014 and got married in a private ceremony in Mumbai on 25 January 2015 in the presence of selected members of Soha’s Family. Through his marriage to Khan, he is related to the Pataudi family.On 29 September 2017, Khan gave birth to their daughter Inaaya Naumi Khemu.

Career

Kunal made his debut as a child actor appearing in the Doordarshan TV series Gul Gulshan Gulfaam (1987), directed by Ved Rahi. He made his film debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s movie Sir (film) (1993). He went on to star as a child artist in movies including Raja Hindustani, Zakhm, Bhai, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, and Dushman.

He played the male lead in the 2005 film Kalyug, which was directed by Mohit Suri. Kalyug was based on the pornography industry. In 2007, his first release was Madhur Bhandarkar’s Traffic Signal, where he played a street-smart money lender who lends money to poor families, but always gets it back with interest.

His second release of 2007 was Dhol in which he again played lead. In 2008, in his only release, Superstar, he featured in a double role. In 2009, he starred in Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge and Jai Veeru. In 2009, he appeared in the comic-thriller 99. In 2010, he appeared in Golmaal 3 in which he played a supporting role as Laxman.

In 2012, he appeared in Mukesh Bhatt’s Blood Money, in which played the lead role as Kunal Kadam, an honest and hard worker who is unknowingly taken into the dark side of Diamond Trade by his Boss. He co-starred in Go Goa Gone, a Zombie comedy film, which was released on 10 May 2013. Both the films fared well at the box office.

In 2015, after over a two-year break, Kunal returned to the screen with the thriller Bhaag Johnny about a man who gets to live two lives by the help of a Jinn, portrayed by director Vikram Bhatt. Though the film began shooting in 2013, it released on 25 September 2015 to mixed reviews and low box office collections. His second release of the same year was the comedy film Guddu Ki Gun, in which Kunal appears in the title role along with Sumeet Vyas. In 2017, he did a voice over in an animated film Hanuman: Da’ Damdaar in role of Lord Indra. He also appeared in the fourth installment of Golmaal (film series) named Golmaal Again reprising his famous role of Laxman Sharma. He portrayed a noteworthy negative character in Malang and gained critical acclaim for his role in Kalank.

ZEE5 team will go on the release the Abhay Season 2 in September 2020 and the streaming will be in October 2020. Kunal Khemu playing main role in this web series. This series directed by Ken Ghosh. He will return as the investigating officer in Season 3 as well.

Sanjay Suri

Sanjay Suri (born 6 April 1971) is an Indian actor and film producer of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in the film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999). He went on to star in many supporting roles, but finally got his big break with Jhankaar Beats in 2003, when he got recognised by the audience as a seasoned actor. He is also the co-producer and actor in the film I Am. He is also the co-founder of the film production company Anticlock Films.

Personal life

Sanjay Suri was born on 6 April 1971 to a family of Punjabi origin in Srinagar, Kashmir, where he spent 19 years of his life. He has an elder brother and an elder sister. Living in Srinagar, where he attended Burn Hall School, he developed a strong love for nature and the outdoors. As a child, Suri was a star squash player and was on his school and state teams. In 1990, his father was killed in a terrorist attack, and the family was forced to flee to Jammu, where they briefly lived in a refugee camp. They then shifted to Delhi.

Suri and his wife, Ambika, have two children.

Career

Modelling

When Suri moved to New Delhi in 1990, he was thrust into the world of modelling. He modelled for many companies including Gillette, Nilkamal Furniture, Times of India, Philishave, and Nescafe.

Acting

1999 witnessed Suri’s breakthrough in Bollywood with a supporting role in the movie Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, co-starring with Rinke Khanna and Dino Morea. Although the movie flopped, Suri was noticed. His next films were Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001), Filhaal… and the musical Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002).

With 2003’s Pinjar co-starring Urmila Matondkar he got rave reviews, but it was not until Jhankaar Beats later that year that he became popular. His role alongside Juhi Chawla was greatly appreciated. Slowly, he got more roles in movies, but his movies were not box office successes. Despite the failure of his films, his performances continued to get appreciation.

In 2005, he delivered a critically acclaimed performance in My Brother… Nikhil, as a homosexual who happens to be HIV positive, once again co-starring Juhi Chawla. The movie received unanimous praise among Indian film critics. The movie fared decently in Mumbai, but was a failure elsewhere in India.

Production

Suri and Onir (who also directed My Brother Nikhil) also worked on Sorry Bhai! and under the banner of Anticlock Films have produced I Am, which weaves together four stories on different topical issues. With this film, they have ventured into a new mode of production involving crowdsourcing, a concept that had not been explored before in Indian cinema. The movie released on 29 April 2011 and went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Accolades

Sanjay Suri has been honoured by Sandeep Marwah with membership of the International Film and Television Club of Asian Academy of Film & Television. I Am, co-produced and directed by Sanjay Suri, was awarded the David Flint honorary award for promoting human rights. The film also won the best in Asian Cinema award (NETPAC) at the international Kerala film festival 2010 and went on to win the audience choice award, best film at the Florence “River to River” festival 2010. Suri was a part of the Incredible India team that represented ‘I AM’ at the Cannes Film Festival 2012.

Parvez Dewan

Parvez Dewan is an Indian administrator, author and librettist (lyricist). He is an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre. He became Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in 2011, and also the chairman of the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC). In 2012 he was appointed India’s Tourism Secretary.[1]

Dewan has authored books on Jammu & Kashmir, religion (Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism) as well as on Tibet.

Early Life

Parvez Dewan was born on 13 October 1972 in Srinagar. His father was a Wing Commander who began his career in the Royal Air Force and grandfather an Army Brigadier, who later became the first Indian Inspector General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dewan was educated at St Joseph’s, Allahabad; St. George’s Grammar, Hyderabad; Stanes, Coimbatore[citation needed]; The Air Force Central School, Subroto Park, New Delhi and St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. He was elected President of St. Stephen’s College. He received his higher education at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. Dewan was the Senior Treasurer of the CU (Cambridge University) Friends of the Earth; and active with the CU Greens and CU Mystical Society.

Dewan was later elected a visiting research fellow of Queen Elizabeth House at the University of Oxford. At Cambridge, he won the Jennings Prize for obtaining the highest marks, as well as a distinction, in the Development Studies class. At St. Stephen’s he was awarded the L. Raghubir Singh History prize for ranking first in his class.

Career

Civil Services

Dewan joined the IAS and was allotted the Jammu and Kashmir cadre.

During his first posting as Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Basohli, he revived its school of miniature painting.

Dewan was the Divisional commissioner of Kashmir from 2001 to 2003. and also chairman of the state co-operative bank between 2002 – 2003. Dewan was also the resident commissioner of Jammu & Kashmir before he took charge as the chairman and managing director of India Tourism Development Corporation in 2006. The company recorded its three highest-ever profits under him, and declared the only three dividends that it has since 1997.

Dewan was the Tourism Secretary of India (2012–14). He helped WoNoBo.com devise virtual walking tours of Indian cities, five in the first place, with almost fifty more to follow, making Incredible India the first national tourism authority anywhere to offer such a useful and entertaining facility.

In October 2014 Dewan asked for and was granted voluntary, premature retirement, in order to concentrate on his career as a writer, especially to work on his South Asian encyclopaedia, Indpaedia.com.

Advisor (minister)

In 2016 Dewan was appointed Jammu and Kashmir’s Advisor (i.e. cabinet minister) for twelve departments including Education, Tourism, Public Works, Culture, Health & Medical Education, Consumer Affairs, Information Technology, Youth Services and Sports. (In India ministers are elected politicians. However, sometimes when state governments are between elected governments they appoint career civil servants as ministers and call them Advisors to the Governor.)

Writer

Dewan translated the Hanuman Chalisa into English, written The Names of Allah, and brought out Jesus Christ Superstar in Urdu. He has also converted Habba Khatun’s songs into Urdu songs, set to the same tune.

Dewan is also the co-author of Tibet: fifty years after with Siddharth Shrivastava. Dalai Lama has written the foreword to this book. In the foreword, HE the Dalai lama advocates peace for Tibet and China, and states that violence is counter-productive and creates misery. Dewan and Shrivastava visited Tibet after the 2008 failed uprising of Tibetans against the Chinese rule, & documented the population figures and the socio-political situation in the region.

Dewan has researched into various caste and religious groups in India. He has focused on the biased projections that the media has created for minority religious and ethnic groups within the country—and tried to compare them with similar prejudices against internal ethnic groups in Pakistan (Punjabi and Urdu cinema; textbooks), the USA (including US cinema and TV), the UK, Turkey, Indonesia, Europe (French cinema; permission to wear religion-appropriate clothing) and Africa.

Narsingh Dev Jamwal

Narsingh Dev Jamwal (born 1931) is an Indian writer and playwright from Jammu, who has authored 48 books, including Sanjhi Dharti Bakhle Mahnu (novel), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978. He received India’s fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri (2019) for his contribution in the field of literature and education.

Life

He was born in 1931 in Bhalwal. Jamwal completed his matriculation in 1945. On 23rd October 1947, he was part of Subedar Duni Chand’s platoon at “Battle of Garhi” led by Rajinder Singh (brigadier) and was jailed in Pakistan as POW (prisoner of war) only to be released a year later. He joined the Jammu & Kashmir Police in 1953. He also holds a master’s degree in Dogri from Jammu University.

In 1978, Narsingh Dev was honoured with a Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel in Dogri language, Sanjhi Dharti Bakhle Mahnu. In 2008, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Indian theatre as a playwright.

Plays

Aan Maryada

Mandlik, Pinjra

Kaure Ghutt

Sarkar

Devyani

Allad Goli Veer Sipahi

Awards & Recognition

Padma Shri (2019)

President’s Police Medal (1986)

Sahitya Akademi Award (1978)

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2008)

Ved Kumari Ghai

Ved Kumari Ghai (16 December 1931 – 30 May 2023) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar from Jammu City, Jammu and Kashmir. She was head of the Sanskrit department in Jammu University.

Early Life

Ghai was born on 16 December 1931, in Pratap Garh Mohallah, Jammu. She completed her school education in Jammu. She completed her MA in Sanskrit from Punjab University in 1953 and MA in Ancient Indian History and Culture in 1958 and PhD in Sanskrit in 1960 from Banaras Hindu University.

Career

Ghai started her career as a professor of Sanskrit at Government College for Women, Parade, Jammu. She was a head of post graduate level Sanskrit Department, Jammu University until her retirement on 31 December 1991. She taught Panini’s Sanskrit grammar and literature at the Institute of Indian Studies, Copenhagen University, Denmark in 1966–1967 and 1978–1980. She was a scholar in Dogri language and also knew Hindi. She was also involved in social work. She was a member of the Amarnath shrine board.

Personal Life & Death

Ghai married Dr. Ram Pratap, who was also a Sanskrit scholar.[1] Ghai died on 30 May 2023, at the age of 91.

Recognition

Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014.

Certificate of Honour by President of India for her scholarship in Sanskrit.

Gold Medal in 1995 by Jammu and Kashmir Government for social work.

President’s Award for Sanskrit in 1997.

Dogra Ratan award in 2005, lifetime achievement award in 2009 and Stri Shakti Puraskara in 2010.

Vishwamurti Shastri

Vishwamurti Shastri is a Sanskrit scholar with knowledge of Vedic literature and related subjects. He served as a principal of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Jammu. He was appointed to Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in 2019. He is director of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul, Katra. He also serves as the chairman of J&K Dharmarth Trust Advisory Committee.

Prof Shastri has written a number of books in Sanskrit. He has organized many non-formal Sanskrit teaching programs in J&K. He has delivered religious discourses from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan, which are telecast live on national TV channels during Navratras.

The Government of India honored him in 2022, with the fourth-highest civilian award of Padma Shri.

Early Life & Education

Vishwamurti Shastri was born in 1946 in a small village in Ramnagar tehsil of Udhampur district to Pandit Anant Ram Jyotshi and Uma Devi. He successfully completed Shastri in 1965 and Acharya in 1967 from Jammu and Kashmir University. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Deemed University in 1986.

Awards & Honours

Vishwamurti Shastri was awarded the President’s award for classical language scholars in 2009. He was awarded the fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri by the Indian Government in 2022.

Shiv Datt Nirmohi

For 85-year-old Pandit Shiv Dutt Nirmohi, Padam Shree, writing is as important as breathing. He strongly believes that a lot still needs to be done to do justice with the literature of the region.
This is the reason the octogenarian has been publishing 3 books every year now against his routine of publishing between one to two books per year from a fixed part (10-20%) of his pension dedicated to his writings.
Having written 41 books thus far on different subjects particularly anthropology, folklore, linguistics, art and archaeology, culture, and history of Jammu region, Prof. Shiv Dutt Upadhyaye (retired), who is popularly known by his pen name Shiv Nirmohi by the acclaimed writers and authors of India, has been awarded by two former Prime Ministers including Chandershekhar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former President Ramnath Kovind for his immense contribution to the literature of the Jammu region.
Born on April 19, 1937 in Painthal village of Reasi District, Prof. Nirmohi began his professional career as a primary school teacher in the year 1956 and retired in 1995 as Professor of Government Degree College (Women) Udhampur.
Nirmohi began his writing career in 1958. Initially he wrote short stories and poetry but gradually started writing dramas as well. In the year 1958 itself, one of his dramas, “Bharat Cheen Da Takrav” (India-China’s confrontation) was staged in a theatre in Reasi. The money that was generated from this drama was donated to National Defence Fund by the writer.
In the year 1972, Prof. Nirmohi was awarded with the State Award for best teacher. Eight years later, he was awarded with the Bal Sahitya Award by then Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the year 1980.
A former expert in UPSC for Dogri language, three of Prof. Nirmohi’s books—Duggar Ki Lok Gathaen (Jammu’s folk tales), Duggar Ka Lok Sahitya (Jammu’s folk literature) and Kishtwar-Sanskriti Aur Parampara (Kishtwar’s culture and tradition) have been awarded with best books award by J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.
Two of his books—Duggar Ki Sanskriti (the traditions of Jammu) and Paddar: Lok Aur Sanskriti (Paddar: people and traditions) have been awarded by Central Hindi Directorate, New Delhi in the years 1990 and 2003. The awards were presented to him by former Prime Ministers Chandrashekhar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Prof. Nirmohi has been awarded with several other acclaimed national and international awards by different reputed organisations for his contribution to the promotion of language, heritage, and literature of Jammu region.
He was awarded Padam Shree in the year 2020 and Lifetime Achievement Award by J&K government in the year 2021.
Prof. Nirmohi has published over 100 research papers on the topics of history, culture, literature, and heritage of Duggar (area inhabited by Dogras) in regional and national magazines, newspapers etc.
Radio Kashmir Jammu has broadcasted his more than 60 talks on the topics of regional history, and culture. DD Kashmir and DD Jammu among several other national media organisations have also telecasted his talks on different subjects.
He has also discovered many places of heritage relevance and started a movement for the preservation of natural as well as cultural heritage.
Prof. Shiv Dutt Nirmohi has also discovered the intimate regional relationships on Himalayan culture ranging from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand to Nepal through his books.
Prof. Shiv Dutt Nirmohi has documented through his 41 books all major subjects including Jammu’s folk tales, Jammu’s folk literature, religious places of Jammu, Jammu’s traditions, Jammu’s languages, Jammu’s freedom fighters, Jammu’s demigods, Jammu’s godheads (Devtas), Jammu’s anecdotes, Jammu’s history, Paddar’s people and traditions, Jammu’s forts, Jammu’s cave shrines, Jammu’s folk songs, Jammu’s temples, Jammu’s famous women personalities, Jammu’s dervishes, Jammu’s saints, Jammu’s towns, Jammu’s rivers, Jammu’s Upadhyayes, Panchairi: people and traditions, Kishtwar: culture and traditions, Jammu’s princely palaces, Jammu’s war memorials, Jammu’s historical graves, Jammu’s lakes, Jammu’s ponds, Jammu’s springs, Jammu’s castes: a study, story of Kashmir and several other subjects.
To get a detailed account of Jammu’s history, art, culture, heritage, tradition and languages, Prof. Nirmohi’s works are a perfect material to study by the young literature lovers. This is the reason he is also known as a “living encyclopaedia of Jammu” by the art and culture enthusiasts.

Jitendra Udhampuri

Jitendra Udhampuri is a famous litterateur of Dogri language . He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981 for Ek Sheher Yaadein Da, a poetry collection written by him . [1] The Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri , the country’s highest civilian award, in 2010.

Ram Nath Shastri

Padma Shri Ram Nath Shastri, known as the “Father of Dogri” for his pivotal role in the revival and resurgence of the Dogri language, was born on 15 April 1914.

In 2001, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, awarded by the Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, the highest literary honour conferred by the Government of India.

Early Life & Career

Prof. Shastri’s father, Vaid Gauri Shankar, was an Ayurvedic doctor and originally belonged to a small village Marhi in Reasi tehsil of Udhampur district (now Reasi district). For better prospects, he moved to Jammu. Initially, he wanted Ram Nath to adopt the same profession and instructed him to learn Sanskrit. All ancient scriptures being in Sanskrit, it would be immensely helpful as an Ayurvedic doctor. He joined Ranbir Sanskrit Pathshala at the Ranbir High School. After which, he did post graduation in Sanskrit and Prabhakar in Hindi. He started his career as a high school Sanskrit teacher for 5 years and later he became a college lecturer.[citation needed]

In 1944, on the day of Basant Panchami, along with a few friends, he established the Dogri Sanstha. Every upcoming writer in the Dogri language would first enroll himself in the Sanstha. He also edited the Dogri literary periodical Nami Chetna of the Sanstha. In 1970, on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee Celebration of Dogri Sanstha, he edited the RAJAT JAYANTI GRANTH in which research oriented articles on Dogra life, art, culture, literature and history were put together.

In 1970, he retired as a professor in the J&K State Education Department. From 1970 to 1975 he has been a Senior Fellow of Dogri in the University of Jammu.[citation needed]

From 1977 to 1985, as Chief Editor in J&K Cultural Academy he edited the ‘Dogri – Dogri Dictionary′.[citation needed]

He died on 8 March 2009, in Jemmu.

Books

Dharti Da Rin

Badnami Di Chhan (1976)

Talkhiyan

Kalamkaar Charan Singh

Naman Gran- Dogri Play (with co-authors Dinu Bhai Pant and Ram Kumar Abrol)

Bawa Jitto

Jhakdian Kiran

Duggar De Lok Nayak

Translations

Six Upanishads

Bhartrharis’s NEETI SHATAK

Shudraka’s Mricchakatikam (1989)

Four short plays of BHASA

Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali, Balidan, Malini and Dakghar

Mahatama Gandhi’s autobiography –My experiments with Truth

Vinoda Bhave’s Gita Pravachan

C.Rajagopalachari’s Ramayana

Dharamveer Bharati’s Andha Yug

Gorki’s Lower Depths

Honors & Awards

2001—59th Sahitya Akademi Fellowship-highest literary honour conferred by the Government of India for his contribution to Dogri Language.

1990—Padma Shri Award, India’s fourth highest civilian honour for Literature & Education.

1994—D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) from University of Jammu.

1977—Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection – Badnami Di Chaan.

1991—State Akademi Award for the collection of Dogri gazals – TALKHIYAN.

1989—Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 1989 for the Dogri Translation of the Sanskrit Drama, Mrichakatika as Mitti Di Gaddi.

1981—State Academy Award for his Dogri prose work – Duggar De Lok Nayak.

Parmanand Almast

Book Description

Parmanand Almast is essentially poet of love. He was well versed in various aspects of life, though he did not receive formal education. One finds the influence of Arabic and Persian in his writings.

Almast treated love both as an ideal and as a way of life. The fusion of his love for God, man, and his country enriches his poetry. Whereas patriotism is indicative of his political awareness, and love of God is indicative of his deep religious faith, his humanism signifies his faith borne out the fusion of Hindu and Islamic cultures. Almast as a poet transcends narrow views of life to develop a comprehensive humanistic world-view.

About the Author

Om Goswami, the author of this monograph, has written a large number of stories in both Dogri and Hindi. He has also edited a sizable number of books and journals in these languages. In the present monograph, the writer throws light on Almast’s philosophy of life, his poetic creativity and his integration with the Indian thought.

Dinu Bhai Pant

Charitanya Basotra

The great British writer, C.S. Lewis had this to say about the importance of literature:
“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.”
Now, the same holds true for a disillusioned Dogra’s life as well. A dogra goes out, perhaps to a national capital. Sees various people in a melting pot of various cultures and does not know to which part or place or shape or form or colour or language he belongs to. This alienness, which Marx called “disillusionment with the self” is perhaps the worst outcome of the consumerist boom of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Now, how do we do something about this? The simple answer would be, to resort back to what literature is, as Goethe, the national poet of Germany put it:
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
This is precisely why I decided to write this article. And I decided to write it on a man who is a giant in the literary tradition of the Dogras – Dinu Bhai Pant.

Birth & Career

Dinu Bhai Pant was born on the day of Baisakhi (11th May) 1917 in the village Painthal, to a family of humble means. This Village is situated near Katra in the foot hills of the Trikuta Hills. He completed a part of his education there and then went on to Reasi to get a degree . There at Reasi, his education was cut-short due to the untimely demise of his mother.
In 1937-38 he completed his higher education from Ranbir High School. In 1939 and 1941 he passed the “Bhushan” and “Prabhakar” Exams respectively.
In the beginning he composed witty and humorous poems. Not many knew at that time that in these satirical poems were present the seeds of an undeveloped genius. As the Voice of Dogras notes, he had inherited the satirical trait from the environment of wit and repartee prevalent in his village.
As his poetic prowess developed and fame reached even greater heights, he had the painful realisation that the number of educated people who would come to listen to the literary creations in Jammu did not exceed fifty or a hundred. And from then on, he started experimenting with the mother tongue of the masses – Dogri. As a result of this, Pant wrote his famous long poem ‘Shehr Pahlo Pahl Gaye’ in 1943. This was followed by ‘Chache Duni Chand Da Behah’.
In 1944 the Dogri language got a fillip with setting up of the Dogri Sanstha, a literary and cultural organization of which Pant was one of was founding members like Prof Ram Nath Shastri, D C Prashant, B P Sathe, N D Misra, Sansar Chand Baru and few others. The Sanstha while working for Dogri, also made endeavors for cultural rejuvenation. Earlier, in 1942, as a part and parcel of the nationwide Hindi rejuvenation movement, he had founded the Hindi Sahitya Mandal. He was also associated with Dogra Mandal.
Gutlun’s instant popularity set a chain reaction in Dogri poetry with a host of new poets writing in this language, bridging the cultural gap between the ruralite and the urbanite. Nawan Gran was the play, Pant wrote jointly with Prof Ram Nath Sahstri and R K Abrol. The tragic-drama, Sarpanch, written by him has frequently been played within and outside the State. Based as it is on folklore, it is the story of a village headman who makes supreme sacrifice for justice and honour.
Ayodhya in Dogri won him the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985. In Ayodhya the author has adopted a very daring and unconventional way in dealing with the character of Kakae who was always depicted as villain in the Ramayana.
Throughout his life, he struggled ideologically and practically against tyranny and injustice. That is why in his popular poetry, he always supported the common man. In his play ‘Sarpanch’, Data Ranu who sacrifices his life in order to support the right cause, has been made the central character.
When a radio station at Jammu was setup in 1947, Pant worked for sometimes as a staff artist and later, as a casual script writer. In 1948, he was appointed the publicity officer in the Rehabilitation Department, which played a useful role in the rehabilitation of hundreds of thousands of refugees. He was made a Panchayat organiser in 1950. The state government promoted him to become an officer in the senior cadre of the state. He retired in 1978 as Deputy Provincial Rehabilitation Officer.
Dinu Bhai Pant died of a heart attack in 1992.

Legacy

Harbhans Singh notes that “In 1943, when Dinu Bhai Pant composed Sheher pehlo pehl under the genre of gitlu, the tickle or titillation, there was no forum for the poem to be published. The irrepressible poet would visit various neighborhoods of Jammu and recite his poem to all those who cared to listen. And, listen they did! It was that single poem that released the pent-up creativity of the Dogri-speaking people.
Those who study history of languages might be baffled by the fact that even though Dogri finds mention in Amir Khusro’s Masnawi Nuh Siphir, and subsequently, all through history there have been eminent people from the Jammu and Kangra region, who sporadically wrote in Dogri, yet it could never develop into a throbbing literary scene. Also, during the rule of Maharaja Ranbir Singh in the 19th century, it was the court language along with Persian. The literature, as we know it, came to be created only after the bold efforts of Dinu Bhai Pant.”

Works

Dinu Bhai Pant wrote countless poems, plays and essays. Some of them are:
– Guntlu
– Mangu dee Chhabeel
– Veer Gulab
– Dadi Te Maa
– Nama Graan
– Sarpanch
– Ayodhya
– Pratibha
Revolution and breaking away from convention and conservatism is something that lies embedded in Pant’s Poetry. In his poem, Guntlu, the verses he weaves like, “living in this slavery is worse than death” or “arise o farmer! wake up from your reverie o peasant”, direct the minds of the reader to revolt against the inequalities and exploitation of the common populace latent in the society of his times.
His verses in Guntlu that go like this, say the same thing:
Chohre Pehre Sihre par Kadke
kunda Saab salami Da
[your days and nights
Are spent in bowing down to your masters]
or
Jisne Kadein Buaal nee Khadya
dhrig dhrig us javani da
marne kola bhi manda loko
jeena iss gulaami da
[listen to me,
You are someone who has never
Tasted the vigour of youth
Worse than death
Is the life of enslavement
Which you lead]
These poems gained so much popularity, not just by the educated but the illiterate classes as well, that they were on everybody’s tongues. In his poems, ‘Sheher Pehlo pehl gaye’ and ‘Chacha Dhuni Chand da Vyah’ he put forth the disillusionment that a village lad faces upon going to the cities as well as the illiteracy prevalent in his times. The poem ‘Lund Leader’ epitomises the poetic fervour latent in Pant’s poems of this time:
Mandir Masjid kadein jammiye nee dikhee jinne
sandhya namaj ik akkhar nee sikkhee jinne
Majhabi katabei da nee, na tak nee baakha jinne
unne chuttein – chuuchde dee pai dee dhamaldharee
[those who have neither seen mosque or temple,
Those who know niether the a of the evening prayer
Nor the z of the dawn’s call,
Those who know not even the names
Of religious scriptures,
They are the ones who rule the roost].
In pant’s poetry, one finds a fervent aggression directed against the forces of feudalism prevalent in the Dogra society of that time. For example, in one of his poems he says:
lok meehne maarde dogrein daa raj ae
dogrein daa haal manda jurda nee saag ae.
[taunts abound that the dogras rule us all
But look at the irony in a poor dogras life
A life that doesn’t even beget two square meals
A day.]
In his poem ‘Veer Gulab’, Pant talks about the bravery, gallantry and valour that characterises the common Dogra’s psyche. He does this through beautiful, imaginative metaphors and personifications, bringing out Gulab Singh from the after-world right in front of the eyes of the reader. He writes thus:
Dogrein te ghode dorde jandde
bariyan de tht trorde jande.
Veer gulab dee vakhree toli
pralay de doot kherde holi.
[the horses of the Dogras keep on marching,
Enemies they go on destroying.
Gulab the Gallant’s men are different
When they go marching
The angels
Start playing with the colours
Of doom.]
In his 4th major work, ‘Dadi te Maa’, Pant masterfully expresses a simplistic narrative by weaving it into the contours of a simple language, which the common folk speak. It is a poem about the common folk, in a language of the common folk, by someone of the common folk. The same etchings are found embedded in another poem – ‘Kehdee Basant te Kohdi Basant’.
Kehdee Basant te kohdee basant
dukkhe da anntt na bukhe da anntt
[which spring and whose spring,
Neither is there an end to hunger
Nor does there seem an end to this
sorrow.]
In Pant’s poetry lies seeds of a revolution. A social revolution. A revolution against stasis and a revolution towards dynamism, towards change, towards growth. He is perhaps the greatest Dogri poet because he talks about the problems which the people faced. In that sense, Dinu Bhai Pant is the poeple’s poet. In that sense, Dinu Bhai Pant, is perhaps, the greatest Dogri poet there has ever been.

Padma Sachdev

Padma Sachdev (17 April 1940 – 4 August 2021) was an Indian poet and novelist. She was the first modern woman poet of the Dogri language. She also wrote in Hindi. She published several poetry collections, including Meri Kavita Mere Geet (My Poems, My Songs), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971. She also received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2001, and the Kabir Samman for poetry for the year 2007-08 given by Government of Madhya Pradesh, Saraswati Samman for the year 2015, Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2019.

Personal Life & Death

Sachdev was born in a Baru Brahmin Family in Purmandal, Jammu on 17 April 1940. She was the eldest of three children of a Sanskrit scholar, professor Jai Dev Badu, who was later killed during the partition of India in 1947. She first married Vedpal Deep and later married singer Surinder Singh of the musical duo “Singh Bandhu” in 1966. She and Surinder Singh first lived in New Delhi, but later shifted to Mumbai. She died on 4 August 2021 in Mumbai at the age of 81, leaving behind husband Surinder Singh and their daughter Meeta Sachdev.

Career

Sachdev worked in All India Radio, Jammu as an announcer since 1961. Here she met Surinder Singh, Hindustani vocalist of the Singh Bandhu musical duo, who was a duty officer at the time. In the following years, she also worked with All India Radio, Mumbai.

Sachdev won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her anthology Meri Kavita Mere Geet (transl. my poem my song) in 1969. Writing in the preface of the work, Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar noted “After reading Padma’s poems I felt I should throw my pen away – for what Padma writes is true poetry.” Her autobiography Boond Bawadi is considered a classic. Her book In Bin (transl. without them) addressed the under appreciated role played by domestic helps in Indian households.

She wrote the lyrics of the song ‘Mera chhota sa ghar baar’ from the 1973 Hindi film by Ved Rahi “Prem Parbat” which had music by Jaidev. Thereafter, she wrote the lyrics of two songs of the 1978 Hindi film “Aankhin Dekhi”, which had music by J.P. Kaushik including the famous duet “Sona re, tujhe kaise miloo” sung by Mohd Rafi and Sulakshana Pandit. She also wrote the lyrics along with Yogesh for the 1979 Hindi film “Saahas”, which had music by Ameen Sangeet.

Works

Meri Kavita Mere Geet (1969)

Tavi Te Chanhan (Rivers Tawi and Chenab, 1976)

Nheriyan Galiyan (Dark Lanes, 1982)

Pota Pota Nimbal (Fingertipful Cloudless Sky, 1987)

Uttar Vahini (1992)

Tainthian (1997)

Amrai (Hindi Interviews)

Diwankhana (Interviews)

Chith Chete (Memoirs)

Awards

Dinu Bhai Pant Life Time Achievement Award, 2017 by D.B. Pant Memorial Trust, Jammu, J&K

Krutitava Smagra Samman, 2015 by Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, West Bengal

Saraswati Samman, 2015 for her autobiography “Chitt-Chete” in Dogri language

Padma Shri Award. 2001

Sahitya Akademi Award 1971

Kabir Samman for poetry. 2007-08

Bibliography

Naushin. Kitabghar, 1995.

Main Kahti Hun Ankhin Dekhi (Travelogue). Bharatiya Gyanpith, 1995.

*Bhatko nahin Dhananjay. Bharatiya Gyanpith, 1999. ISBN 8126301309.

Amrai. Rajkamal Prakashan, 2000. ISBN 8171787649.

Jammu Jo Kabhi Sahara Tha (Novel). Bharatiya Jnanpith, 2003. ISBN 8126308869.

Phira kyā huā?, with Jnaneśvara, and Partha Senagupta. National Book Trust, 2007. ISBN 8123750420.

Brigadier Ghansara Singh Archives

Brigadier Ghansara Singh, who was Governor of Gilgit at the time of partition of the country in August 1947, exposed here [Srinagar] to-day [January 9] in detail British collusion with Pakistan in capturing Gilgit. Ghansara Singh was appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government to take over charge of Gilgit from the British Government to which Gilgit had been leased by Kashmir for 60 years. After termination of British rule in India the Brigadier flew to Gilgit on July 31, 1947 but was taken prisoner in a mutiny jointly sponsored by British officers and some Muslim officers. Eleven months later he was sent to Pakistan from where he was sent to India in exchange of prisoners after another three months. Brigadier Ghansara Singh, who is 79 and leads a very active life in Jammu, fully supported the view expressed in the book “Slender was the Thread” by Lt.-Gen. Sen that what happened in Gilgit in 1947 prior to and during the tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir strengthened the inference that British officers were involved in Pakistan’s plan and that the loss of Gilgit was the result of “piratical action.” Giving first hand details of the still untold story of that piratical action in Gilgit, Brigadier Ghansara Singh told Pressmen here to-day he was appointed Governor of Gilgit just about a month before partition.

Bana Singh

Captain Bana Singh PVC (born 6 January 1949) is an Indian soldier and a recipient of the nation’s highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra. As a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army, he led the team that wrested control of the highest peak on the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir from Pakistani forces as part of Operation Rajiv. Following his success, India renamed the peak (previously designated as Quaid Post by the Pakistanis) to Bana Post in his honour.

Early Life

Singh was born in Sikh family in Kadyal, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir on 6 January 1949. His father was a farmer and his uncles were soldiers in the Indian Army.

He enlisted in the Indian Army on 6 January 1969,and began service with the 8th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry. He was trained at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg and at another school at Sonamarg. He was promoted to the rank of Naib Subedar from Havildar on 16 October 1985, less than two years before he would lead the successful team of Operation Rajiv.

Operation Rajiv

In 1987, the strategically important Siachen area had been infiltrated by the Pakistani forces. The Pakistanis had captured an important position, which they called “Quaid post” (from Quaid-e-Azam, the title of Muhammad Ali Jinnah). The post was located at a height of 6500 metres on the highest peak in the Siachen Glacier area (the peak was later renamed to “Bana Top” by the Indians, in honour of Bana Singh). From this feature the Pakistanis could snipe at Indian army positions since the height gave a clear view of the entire Saltoro range and Siachen glacier. The enemy post was virtually an impregnable glacier fortress with ice walls, 457 metres high, on either side.

On 18 April 1987, the Pakistanis from Quaid Post fired on the Indian troops at Point Sonam (6,400 m), killing two soldiers. The Indian Army then decided to evict the Pakistanis from the Post. Naib Subedar Bana Singh was posted in Siachen on 20 April 1987, as part of the 8th JAK LI regiment, which was given the task of capturing the Quaid Post. On 29 May, a JAK LI patrol led by Second lieutenant Rajiv Pande made at an unsuccessful attempt of capturing the post, resulting in deaths of 10 Indian soldiers. After a month of preparation, the Indian Army launched a fresh operation to capture the post. This operation, called “Operation Rajiv” in honour of 2/Lt Rajiv Pande, was headed by Major Varinder Singh.

Starting on 23 June 1987, Major Varinder Singh’s task force launched multiple attacks to capture the post. After initial failures, the 5-member team led by Nb Sub Bana Singh successfully captured the Quaid post on 26 June 1987. Nb Sub Bana Singh and his fellow soldiers, including Chuni Lal, climbed the steep 457 m high wall of ice. The team approached the Quaid Post from an unexpected direction, using a longer and more difficult approach than the other teams. There was a blizzard, resulting in poor visibility, which gave cover to the Indian soldiers. After reaching the top, Nb Sub Bana Singh found that there was a single Pakistani bunker. He lobbed a grenade into the bunker and closed the door, killing those inside. The two sides also got involved in a hand-to-hand combat, in which the Indian soldiers bayoneted some of the Pakistani soldiers outside the bunker. A few Pakistani soldiers jumped off the peak. Later, the Indians found six dead bodies of Pakistani soldiers.

On 26 January 1988, Nb Sub Bana Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest wartime gallantry medal in India for his bravery during Operation Rajiv.[13] The peak which he captured was renamed Bana Top in his honour. At the time of the Kargil War, he was the only PVC awardee who was still serving in the Army.

Param Vir Chakra Citation & Other Medals

Naib Subedar Bana Singh volunteered to be a member of a task force constituted in June 1987 to clear an intrusion by an adversary in the Siachen Glacier area at an altitude of 21,000 feet. The post was virtually an impregnable glacier fortress with ice walls, 1500 feet high, on both sides. Naib Subedar Bana Singh led his men through an extremely difficult and hazardous route. He inspired them by his indomitable courage and leadership. The brave Naib Subedar and his men crawled and closed in on the adversary. Moving from trench to trench, lobbing hand grenades and charging with the bayonet, he cleared the post of all intruders.

Nb Subedar Bana Singh displayed the most conspicuous gallantry and leadership under the most adverse conditions.

After Retirement

Nb Sub Bana Singh was promoted Subedar on 1 December 1992, with promotion to Subedar Major on 20 October 1996. He was given the honorary rank of Captain at his retirement. Hony Capt Bana Singh retired from service on 31 October 2000. The Jammu & Kashmir Government gave him a pension of ₹ 166 per month. Bana Singh protested against the low amount, pointing out that the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh provided a monthly pension above ₹ 10,000 to the Param Vir Chakra awardees. In October 2006, the Punjab Government led by Captain Amarinder Singh announced a cash award of ₹ 1,000,000 for him. The cheque was presented to Bana Singh by Amarinder’s successor Parkash Singh Badal in March 2007. The Punjab Government also offered him ₹ 2,500,000, a monthly allowance of ₹ 15,000 and a 25-acre plot, if he moved to Punjab. However, he refused the offer, saying that he is a resident of J&K. The J&K Government named a stadium in the Ranbir Singh Pora area of Jammu after him, and sanctioned an amount of Rs 5,000,000 for its development in 2010. However, in 2013, The Tribune reported that the funds had not been released, and the Bana Singh Memorial Stadium was in a poor shape.

Bana Singh’s son Rajinder Singh joined the Indian Army in 2008, at the age of 18.

Rajinder Singh

Brigadier Rajinder Singh Jamwal, MVC (14 June 1899 – 26/27 October 1947), also remembered as the Saviour of Kashmir, was an officer in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces. He briefly served as the Chief of Staff of State Forces and died fighting during the First Kashmir War. Rajinder Singh and his small contingent of about 200 men successfully delayed the advance of a much larger force of Pakistani tribal raiders near Uri for several days, during which the Maharaja of Kashmir acceded to India and the Indian forces air-lifted for the defence of Kashmir.

On 30 December 1949, he was posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra, independent India’s second highest military decoration. He was the first Indian to receive the honour.

Early Life

Rajinder Singh was born on 14 June 1899 in Bagoona village (now Rajinderpura, Samba district) in a military Dogra family. His ancestor General Baj Singh had died serving under Maharaja Gulab Singh. His grandfather Hamir Singh and father Subedar Lakha Singh were both war veterans. Rajinder Singh was brought up by an uncle, Lt. Colonel Govind Singh, since he was a small child. Singh passed out from Prince of Wales College (now GGM Science College) in Jammu in 1921.

Military Career

Rajinder Singh was commissioned on 14 June 1921, in to the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces as a Second Lieutenant. On 25 September 1947, he took over charge as Chief of Army Staff of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces from Major General H. L. Scott.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948

In September 1947, Pakistan started making preparations for raids into Kashmir, with the aim of capturing Srinagar. On the night of October 21/22, a large number of Pakistani regulars and tribal irregulars gathered near Muzzafarabad.[6] They were successful in instigating the Muslim soldiers of the 4th J&K Battalion of Maharaja Hari Singh’s army that was based in the town. The Muslim soldiers rebelled, killing Wazir-e-wazarat Duni Chand Mehta & Col.Narain Singh Sambyal in charge and all the other all Dogra soldiers at the base. This left the 180 km route to Srinagar unguarded, however instead of moving on towards Srinagar, the raiders from Pakistan raided Muzaffarabad. News of the raid only reached the Maharaja the next day. On 22 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh gave his Chief of Army Staff, Brigadier Rajinder Singh, the order to defend the state until Indian troops arrived, that he should fight till death in doing so, “save the state till the last man and the last bullet”. Karan Singh was present in the room when Hari Singh gave Brigadier Rajinder Singh the command and remembers the incident, “Brigadier Rajinder Singh was given the order by my father and he just saluted and walked away.”

With 150-260[a] men and officers from Badami Bagh cantonment and nearby establishments, equipped with out-dated weapons (though some accounts add that the Brigadier had two 3-inch mortars and MMGs) and using private vehicles, Brigadier Rajinder left Sringar at 6:30 pm and reached Uri at 2 am on 23 October 1947. Brigadier Rajinder Singh moved on with a small platoon, and after fighting raiders in Garhi, he soon realized that his force was greatly outnumbered against the raiders who also had superior weapons.

On 23 October, Hari Singh sent a command to Brigadier Rajinder Singh through Captain Jwala Singh, “Brigadier Rajinder Singh is commanded to hold the enemy at Uri at all costs and to the last man. Reinforcement is sent with Capt Jwala Singh…”. On the night of 23 October Captain Jwala Singh arrived with a small number of reinforcements, consisting of one platoon, one section of MMG; two guns and one section of 3-inch Mortars (two tubes) and Brigadier Rajinder Singh responded by giving first hand situation of front to Maharaja Hari Singh by telephone on 23 October from Baramulla. Brigadier Rajinder Singh ordered the destruction of Uri bridge on 24 October with a 25 pound charge by Subedar Major (Hon. Capt.) Barita Ram Sharma to slow down the raiders. However Rajinder Singh’s men had to fall further back to Mahura for another defensive position, reaching Mahura at 10 pm. The defense at Mahura held when the enemy decided to resume the attack on the morning of 25 October. Rajinder Singh, also ordered men to blow up the bridges upstream but before the bridges could be destroyed, some raiders had already crossed over. Rajinder Singh once again ordered his men to fall back, moving them to Rampur near Boniyar, where defensive positions were created throughout the night. On the morning of the 26th the enemy launched another attack. The defence held effectively again, and the raiders movement was again halted. At dusk Brigadier Singh ordered a withdrawal towards Seri close to Baramulla. At 1 am on 27 October the retreating vehicles were attacked at Diwan Mandir, Boniyar and the convoy halted. The Brigadier’s driver was soon killed so the Brigadier drove himself; however soon after he was also mortally wounded. The Brigadier ordered his men to continue ahead with the planned defensive strategy, and leave him where he was. Nothing more was heard of Brigadier Rajinder Singh. His men continued the fight until the next day, but nearly all were killed soon after. However the delay the Brigadier and his men caused the raiders, a delay of nearly 4 days, was enough for diplomatic decisions to be taken and for the Indian Army to arrive.

Maha Vir Chakra

On 30 December 1949, for his act of gallantry in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajinder Singh was posthumously awarded India’s first Maha Vir Chakra. His wife, Ram Dei, received the medal from Army Chief Field Marshall K.M. Cariappa. The citation reads:

Immediately after the partition of the Indian Sub continent in 1947, thousands of raiders assisted by Pakistani regulars invaded the State of Jammu & Kashmir all along its border. The Jammu & Kashmir State Forces, stretched along a 550-mile long border deployed in penn-packets with limited arms, ammunition and supplies, without road communications, and heavily-outnumbered, fought tenaciously holding on to their positions. Kohla-Domel garrison fell to the invaders on 22 October 1947. The fate of the Valley as of the whole State hung precariously on a slender thread.

Brigadier Rajender Singh, Chief of Military Staff, took over the command of a relief column and proceeded to check the raiders. Another column with all available troops (nearly 100) was despatched on 23 Oct 1947 to join Brigadier Rajender Singh with orders from Maharaja Hari Singh, C-in-C as follows:- “Brigadier Rajender Singh is commanded to hold the enemy at Uri at all costs and to the last man. Reinforcement is sent with Capt Jwala Singh …….”

Brigadier Rajender Singh and his band of soldiers carried out the orders of the Maharaja to the letter and spirit. Fighting bravely for every inch of land, they delayed enemy advance by two crucial days during which important decisions were taken. The Indian Army joined the fight and the J&K State was thus saved for India by Brigadier Rajender Singh. He made the supreme sacrifice of his life on 26 October 1947 valiantly fighting the Pakistani raiders in Uri-Rampur sector.

Legacy

For his valiant rearguard last-stand actions, Brigadier Rajinder Singh is remembered as the “Saviour of Kashmir”. V.P. Menon, an Indian civil servant, had said of Brigadier Rajinder.

“He and his colleagues will live in history like gallant Leonidas and his 300 men who held the Persian invaders at Thermopylae. It was but appropriate that when the Maha Vira Chakra decoration was instituted the first award should have been given (posthumously) to this heroic soldier.”

Brigadier Rajinder’s native hometown of Bagoona has been renamed as Rajinderpura. A park in Bagoona, Samba and Canal head Jammu have been named after Singh, called the “Brigadier Rajinder Singh Memorial Park” and Jammu city has paid tribute by renaming shopping road/street “Rajinder Bazar” in his honor. Both Brigadier Rajinder’s birthday, 14 June, and day of martyrdom, 26 October, are celebrated. Locals honour Rajinder Singh’s birth anniversary every year in his hometown. On 26 October 2018, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army paid tributes at ‘Brigadier Rajinder Singh Chowk’ in Jammu. University of Jammu has an auditorium named after the Brigadier, while two schools in Samba district are also named after the Brigadier.

Sainik Samachar reported that on 24 October 2018 a bust of Brigadier Rajindra Singh, presented by his family, was unveiled at the Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar. Also at Badami Bagh Cantonment is the Rajindra Villa, now the Signal Regiment Officers’ Mess.[36] The entrance of the cantonment is also named after Rajinder Singh. Sainik Samachar also reported that the family visited Boniyar to pay homage at the Memorial where Brigadier Rajindra Singh died fighting.[36] Over the years there have been calls to posthumously honour the Brigadier with India’s highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra. In 1999, at the Rajinder Singh Pura Memorial, George Fernandes, the then Minister of Defence, had said “I am in agreement that he should have been given PVC”.

Somnath Sharma

Major Somnath Sharma, PVC (31 January 1923 – 3 November 1947), was an officer of the Indian Army, and the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India’s highest military decoration, which he was awarded posthumously.[2]

Sharma was commissioned into the 8th Battalion, 19th Hyderabad Regiment, in 1942.[3] He served in Burma during the Arakan Campaign of World War II, for which he was mentioned in despatches. Fighting in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948, Somnath Sharma was killed in action on 3 November 1947 while repulsing Pakistani infiltrators near Srinagar Airport. For his gallantry and sacrifice during the Battle of Badgam, he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra.

Early Life & Education

Sharma was born into a Dogra Brahmin family on 31 January 1923 at Dadh, Kangra, Punjab (present day Himachal Pradesh). His father, Amar Nath Sharma, was a military officer.[a][5] Several of his siblings served in the military.[1][b] His younger brother, Vishwa Nath Sharma, would later become the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army. Somnath Sharma completed his schooling at Sherwood College, Nainital, before enrolling at the Prince of Wales Royal Military College in Dehradun. He later studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[citation needed] During his childhood, Somnath was influenced by the teachings of Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, taught to him by his grandfather.

Military Career

On 22 February 1942, upon his graduation from the Royal Military College, Sharma was commissioned into the 9th Battalion, 19th34Hyderabad Regiment, of the British Indian Army (later to become the Indian Army’s 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment). During World War II, he saw action against the Japanese in Burma during the Arakan Campaign. At that time he served under the command of Colonel K. S. Thimmayya, who would later rise to the rank of general and become Chief of the Army Staff from 1957 to 1961. Sharma was mentioned in despatches for his actions during the fighting of the Arakan Campaign. The award was gazetted in January 1946.

Throughout his military career, Sharma was influenced by his uncle Captain K. D. Vasudeva’s gallantry in action. Vasudeva also served with the 8th Battalion, participating in the Malayan Campaign during which he died aiding hundreds of soldiers under his command to survive from the Japanese offensive.

Zorawar Singh

Zorawar Singh (1784–12 December 1841) was a military general of the Dogra Rajput ruler, Gulab Singh of Jammu. He served as the governor (wazir-e-wazarat) of Kishtwar and extended the territories of the kingdom by conquering Ladakh and Baltistan.[5] He also boldly attempted the conquest of Western Tibet (Ngari Khorsum) but was killed in battle of To-yo during the Dogra-Tibetan war. In reference to his legacy of conquests in the Himalaya Mountains including Ladakh, Tibet, Baltistan and Skardu as General and Wazir, Zorowar Singh has been referred to as the “Napoleon of India” and “Conqueror of Ladakh”.

Early Life & Career

He was born in September 1784 in a Kahluria Hindu Rajput family in the princely state of Kahlur (Bilaspur) state, in present-day Himachal Pradesh. His family migrated to the Jammu region where, on coming of age, Zorawar took up service under Raja Jaswant Singh of Marmathi (modern Doda district). Zorawar Singh was employed by the ambitious Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu and was placed under the commandant of the Reasi fort (Bhimgarh fort). While delivering a routine message to the Gulab Singh, Zorawar told him of the financial waste occurring in the fort administration and boldly presented his own scheme to effect savings. Gulab Singh was impressed by Zorawar’s sincerity and appointed him commandant of Reasi.[citation needed]

Zorawar Singh fulfilled his task and his grateful ruler made him commissariat officer of all forts north of Jammu. He was later made governor of Kishtwar and was given the title of Wazir (minister).

Even though it was a newly conquered region Zorawar had no trouble in keeping the peace; many of the local Rajputs were recruited into his army. In 1835 the nearby region of Paddar was taken from Chamba (now in Himachal Pradesh) in the course of a battle. Paddar later became known for its sapphire mines. But this was a mere sideshow to General Zorawar Singh’s more famous expeditions, on which he had already embarked in the previous year.

Ladakh Campaigns

To the east of Kishtwar and Kashmir are the snow-clad mountains of the upper Himalayas — the rivers of Zanskar Gorge, Suru River, and Drass rise from these snows, and flow across the plateau of Ladakh into the Indus River. Several petty principalities in this region were tributary to the Gyalpo of Ladakh (King). In 1834 one of these, the Raja of Timbus, sought Zorawar’s help against the Gyalpo. Meanwhile, the Rajput general had been burning to distinguish himself by expanding the territory of Raja Gulab Singh — also at that time, according to the Gulabnama, Kishtwar went through a drought that caused a loss of revenue and forced Zorawar to extract money through war.

The Rajputs of Jammu and Himachal have traditionally excelled in mountain fighting; therefore Zorawar had no trouble in crossing the mountain ranges and entering Ladakh through the source of the Suru River where his 5000 men defeated an army of local Botis. After moving to Kargil and subduing the landlords along the way Zorawar received the submission of the Ladakhis — however Tsepal Namgyal, the Gyalpo (ruler), sent his general Banko Kahlon by a roundabout route to cut off Zorawar’s communications. The astute general doubled back to Kartse, where he sheltered his troops through the winter. In the spring of 1835 he defeated the large Ladakhi army of Banko Kahlon and marched his victorious troops towards Leh. The Gyalpo now agreed to pay 50,000 rupees as war-indemnity and 20,000 rupees as an annual tribute.

Alarmed at the gains of the Dogras, the governor of Kashmir, Mehan Singh, incited the Ladakhi chieftains to rebel but Zorawar quickly marched back to the Himalayan valleys and subdued the rebels, now forcing the Raja of Zanskar to also pay a separate tribute to Jammu. But in 1836 Mehan Singh, who was in correspondence with the Lahore durbar, this time instigated the Gyalpo to revolt — Zorawar force-marched his army in ten days to surprise the Ladakhis and forced them to submit. He now built a fort outside Leh and placed there a garrison of 300 men under Dalel Singh — the Gyalpo was deposed to an estate and a Ladakhi general, Ngorub Stanzin, was made King. But the latter did not prove to be loyal hence the Gyalpo was restored to his throne in 1838.

Baltistan Campaign

To the northwest of Ladakh, and to the north of Kashmir, lies the region of Baltistan. Muhammad Shah, the son of the ruler of Skardu, Raja Ahmad Shah, fled to Leh and sought the aid of the Gyalpo and Zorawar against his father. But some of the Ladakhi nobles allowed Ahmad Shah to imprison his son and sought his aid in a general rebellion against the Dogras. After defeating the Ladakhi rebels Zorawar invaded Baltistan in the winter of 1839/40 (Petech, Kingdom of ladakh, p. 144, Datta, Ladakh, p. 122 etc. etc.), adding a large contingent of Ladakhis to his army.

The advance brigade of 5,000 under Nidhan Singh lost its way in the cold and snow and was surrounded by the enemy; many soldiers perished from the cold. Then Mehta Basti Ram, a prominent Rajput from Kishtwar, established contact with the main force. On their arrival the Botis of Skardu were defeated and forced to flee. They were chased to the fort of Skardu which was invested by Zorawar for a few days. One night the Dogras scaled the steep mountain behind the fort and after some fighting captured the small fort on its crest. From this position the next day they began firing down at the main fort and forced the Raja to surrender. Zorawar built a fort on the banks of the Indus where he placed a contingent of his soldiers.

After placing Muhammad Shah on the throne for an annual tribute of 7000 rupees, a Dogra contingent under Wazir Lakhpat advanced westwards, conquered the fort of Astor and took its Darad Raja prisoner. However this Raja was tributary to Mehan Singh, the governor of Kashmir, who was alarmed at the Dogra conquests since they only expanded the kingdom of Gulab Singh while not bringing any benefit to the Lahore durbar. His complaint at Lahore was forwarded to Raja Gulab Singh at Jammu and he ordered the Darad Raja to be released.

Tibet Expedition

One column under the Ladakhi prince, Nono Sungnam, followed the course of the Indus River to its source. Another column of 300 men, under Ghulam Khan, marched along the mountains leading up to the Kailas Range and thus south of the Indus. Zorawar himself led 3,000 men along the plateau region where the vast and picturesque Pangong Lake is located. Sweeping all resistance before them, the three columns passed the Lake Manasarovar and converged at Gartok, defeating the small Tibetan force stationed there. The enemy commander fled to Taklakot but Zorawar stormed that fort on 6 September 1841. Envoys from Tibet now came to him as did agents of the Maharaja of Nepal, whose kingdom was only fifteen miles from Taklakot.

General Zorawar Singh (seated left) with the Gyalpo (King) and Gyalmo (Queen) of Ladakh. Following his conquest the King of Ladakh agreed to pay 50,000 rupees war indemnity and 20,000 rupees tribute per annum in 1835. Circa 19th century depiction.
The fall of Taklakot finds mention in the report of the Chinese Imperial Resident, Meng Pao, at Lhasa:

On my arrival at Taklakot a force of only about 1,000 local troops could be mustered, which was divided and stationed as guards at different posts. A guard post was quickly established at a strategic pass near Taklakot to stop the invaders, but these local troops were not brave enough to fight off the Shen-Pa (Dogras) and fled at the approach of the invaders. The distance between Central Tibet and Taklakot is several thousand li…because of the cowardice of the local troops; our forces had to withdraw to the foot of the Tsa Mountain near the Mayum Pass. Reinforcements are essential in order to withstand these violent and unruly invaders.

Zorawar and his men now went on pilgrimage to Mansarovar and Mount Kailash. He had extended his communication and supply line over 450 miles of inhospitable terrain by building small forts and pickets along the way. The fort Chi-T’ang was built near Taklakot, where Mehta Basti Ram was put in command of 500 men, with 8 or 9 cannon. With the onset of winter all the passes were blocked and roads snowed in. The supplies for the Dogra army over such a long distance failed despite Zorawar’s meticulous preparations.

As the intense cold, coupled with the rain, snow and lightning continued for weeks upon weeks, many of the soldiers lost their fingers and toes to frostbite. Others starved to death, while some burnt the wooden stock of their muskets to warm themselves. The Tibetans and their Chinese allies regrouped and advanced to give battle, bypassing the Dogra fort of Chi-T’ang. Zorawar and his men met them at the Battle of To-yo on 12 December 1841—-in the early exchange of fire the Rajput general was wounded in his right shoulder but he grabbed a sword in his left hand. The Tibetan horsemen then charged the Dogra position and one of them thrust his lance in Zorawar Singh’s chest.

Ghulam Nabi Azad

Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician who served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha between 2014 and 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. On 26 September 2022, Azad announced his own political party as Democratic Progressive Azad Party. He is the chief patron cum founder of Democratic Progressive Azad Party.

Azad served as Minister of Health and Family Welfare. He has served as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the Manmohan Singh government until 27 October 2005, when he was appointed as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. On 26 August 2022, Azad resigned from Indian National Congress and mulled creating a new party at the national level.

He also led the party successfully in the 2002 Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. He was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, in 2022 by the Indian Government in the field of Public Affairs.

Early Life

Ghulam Nabi Azad was born in a village named Soti of Gandoh tehsil (Bhalessa) in the formerly princely state of Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district. His parents were Rahamatullah Batt and Basa Begum. He attended the local school in his village. Later for higher studies he moved to Jammu and received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from G.G.M. Science College. Furthermore, he also received a Master’s in Zoology degree from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar in 1972.

Political Career

Azad started his career soon after working as the secretary for the Block Congress Committee in Bhalessa in 1973. Two years later, he was nominated as the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Youth Congress. In 1980, he was appointed as the President of the All-India Youth Congress.

After being elected to the Seventh Lok Sabha from Maharashtra’s Washim (Lok Sabha constituency) in 1980, Azad entered into the Central government as Deputy Minister in charge of Law, Justice and Company Affairs Ministry in 1982.

Subsequently, he was elected to the Eighth Lok Sabha in 1984 and was a member (1990 – 1996) from Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha. During Rao’s government, Azad took charge of Parliamentary Affairs and Civil Aviation ministries. He was subsequently elected to Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir during the term of 30 November 1996 to 29 November 2002 and 30 November 2002 to 29 November 2008, but resigned on 29 April 2006 as he became Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 2 November 2005.

The People’s Democratic Party, a coalition partner of the Indian National Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, withdrew its support for Azad’s government, and rather than attempt to sustain his government by requesting a vote of confidence, Azad resigned on 7 July 2008, and later left office on 11 July 2008.

Union government

In the second United Progressive Alliance Government, led by Manmohan Singh, Azad was sworn in as the Health Minister of India. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for the fourth and fifth terms from Jammu and Kashmir during the term of 30 November 1996 to 29 November 2002. He vowed to expand the National Rural Health Mission, which has mobilized half a million health workers, all across India, and later his ministry also launched a National Urban Health Mission, to serve the slum dwelling urban poor.

He has suggested a late marriage age of between 25 and 30 for population control, and has said that lack of electricity & thereby absence of TV entertainment in rural areas will cause people to produce more children.

Leader of Opposition

In June 2014, after the National Democratic Alliance won a majority in the Lok Sabha and formed the Union government, Azad was appointed as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, where Congress still held the majority.

In 2015, Azad got re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir, despite the PDP-BJP alliance holding a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Resignation from INC

In August 2022, Azad resigned from the post of chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress campaign committee hours after his appointment. Sonia Gandhi accepted the resignation from Azad. On 26 August 2022, he resigned from all positions including primary membership of the party. In his resignation letter, he cited destruction of consultative process by Rahul Gandhi as a reason.

Democratic Azad Party

On 4 September 2022, Azad announced the formation of a new political party after resigning from Congress. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir will decide the name and the flag for the new party.

On 26 September 2022, Azad announced the name of his new party as Democratic Azad Party. The flag of the Democratic Azad Party has three colours: mustard, white, and blue.

Personal Life

Azad married Shameem Dev Azad, a well known Kashmiri singer, in 1980, and they have a son Saddam Nabi Azad and a daughter Sofiya Nabi Azad.

Rahul Sharma

Rahul Sharma (born 25 September 1972) is an Indian music director and Indian classical santoor player. The santoor is a folk instrument.

Early Life

Rahul Sharma was born in Mumbai to the Dogra family of Santoor player Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Manorama, from a family steeped in the tradition of Jammu and Kashmir. His grandfather, Uma Dutt Sharma, was a santoor player. Married to his sweetheart Barkha Sharma in 2009. The couple have a son named Abhinav born on 17 June 2014.

Career

Rahul started playing the harmonium at an early age. Learning the santoor at age 13, he wasn’t completely sure of pursuing music until he turned 17. After studying economics at Mumbai’s Mithibai College, Rahul Sharma began performing with his father. He started accompanying him in concerts in 1996, at the age of 24.

At the age of 22, Sharma was signed by Peter Gabriel to perform at WOMAD and at the Darbar festival.

Having learnt from his father Shivkumar Sharma, Rahul has taken the santoor into world music with various collaborations, including Namaste India.

Rahul and American saxophonist Kenny G’s album reached #2 on Billboard world charts and #4 on Board Smooth jazz charts.

Rahul also collaborated with Grammy-winning electronica group Deep Forest, founded by Eric Miquet on 10 tracks which combined Indian folk and santoor with electronica.

Rahul has also experimented by taking the santoor into the rock genre with his album The Rebel.

Rahul Sharma has been awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

He has released several CDs, some solo and some with his father. He has collaborated with international musicians such as pianist Richard Clayderman and keyboardist Kersi Lord. The Confluence (2002) has mostly Indian titles, six of which were composed by Rahul himself. He provided the music for the Hindi feature film Mujhse Dosti Karoge, for which he received the award in the “Best Debut – Music Director” category at the 2002 ZEE Bollywood Music Awards. Time Traveler, which has been described as New Age, was released on 10 March 2006. Amitabh Bachchan is the singer of Rahul’s latest composition titled ‘ Jai Hanuman’ from Kunal Kohli’s web series Ramyug on MX player Feat – Ustad Zakir Hussain.

He also collaborated with such musicians as Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, Mickey Hart, George Harrison, Yo Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Pharoah Sanders, and the Kodo Drummers.

During the Royal visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton, Rahul Sharma and his wife had played various songs by The Beatles, including “Norwegian Wood”, “O Sweet Lord” and “Let It Be”.

In 2019, he and his father along with Yogesh Samsi had performed at the Barbican Centre.

Rahul Sharma has more than 60 Albums to his credit.

Awards & Accolades

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (2011)

MTV IMMIES Best Instrumental Album – ZEN 2001

Ustad Zakir Hussain

Ustad Zakir Hussain (born 9 March 1951) is an Indian tabla player, composer, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He is the eldest son of tabla player Alla Rakha.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2023, by the Government of India. He was also awarded the Govt of India’s Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990, Fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya in 2018. In 1999, he was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists and musicians.

Early Life & Education

Zakir Hussain Allaraka Qureshi was born on 9 March 1951 in Mumbai (officially known then as Bombay), India. He attended St. Michael’s High School in Mahim, and graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Career

Hussain played on George Harrison’s 1973 album Living in the Material World and John Handy’s 1973 album Hard Work. He also performed on Van Morrison’s 1979 album Into the Music and Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1983 album Powerlight.

Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, who had known Hussain since the 1960s, invited him to create the special album Planet Drum, featuring drummers from different parts of the world. Featured along with Hussain, from India, was Vikku Vinayakram, with whom Hussain had collaborated in Shakti. The first Planet Drum album, released in 1991 on the Rykodisc label, went on to earn the 1992 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, the first Grammy ever awarded in this category. The Global Drum Project album and tour brought Mickey Hart, Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo together again in a reunion sparked by the 15th anniversary of the Planet Drum album. The album Global Drum Project won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 51st Grammy Awards Ceremony held on 8 February 2009.

Hussain composed, performed and acted as Indian music advisor for the Malayalam film Vanaprastham, a 1999 Cannes Film Festival entry which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI Fest) in 1999, and won awards at 2000 Istanbul International Film Festival (Turkey), 2000 Mumbai International Film Festival (India), and 2000 National Film Awards (India). He has composed soundtracks for several movies, most notably In Custody and The Mystic Masseur by Ismail Merchant, and has played tabla on the soundtracks of Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha, and other films. He starred in several films specifically showcasing his musical performance both solo and with different bands, including the 1998 documentary Zakir and His Friends and the documentary The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum (2003 Sumantra Ghosal). Hussain co-starred as Inder Lal in the 1983 Merchant Ivory film Heat and Dust, for which he was an associate music director.

Hussain is a founding member of Bill Laswell’s world music supergroup Tabla Beat Science.

In 2016, Hussain was amongst many musicians invited by President Obama to the International Jazz Day 2016 All-Star Global Concert at the White House.

Haridas Vhatkar has been making Hussain’s tablas for more than 18 years. Haridas said he learned how to make tabla so he could specially make them for Hussain.

Hussain has stated that he does not play at private gatherings, corporate events, or weddings; he believes music should not be heard at events where folks come to socialize, drink or enjoy a meal (music should be the sole purpose of the event).

Book

Nasreen Munni Kabir compiled 15 interview sessions (each lasting about 2 hours) from 2016 to 2017 into the book Zakir Hussain: A Life in Music, which was published in 2018.[1] This book takes the reader through Hussain’s life from his youth, his years of intense training, and growth as a musician.

Personal Life

Hussain married Antonia Minnecola, a Kathak dancer and teacher, who is also his manager. They have two daughters, Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi. Anisa graduated from UCLA and is trying her hand in video production and film making. Isabella is studying dance in Manhattan.

Hussain has two brothers: Taufiq Qureshi, a percussionist and Fazal Qureshi, also a tabla player. Their brother Munawar died at a young age when he was attacked by a rabid dog. His eldest sister Bilquis died before Hussain was born. Another sister, Razia, died due to complications during a cataract surgery, just a few hours before their father’s death in 2000. He has another sister named Khurshid.

He was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the Humanities Council at Princeton University, where he resided for the 2005–2006 semester as full professor in the music department.[18] He was also a visiting professor at Stanford University.[19] In May 2022, he was conferred the honorary Doctor of Law (LLD) degree for his contribution to the field of music by Mumbai University.

Registration for Dogra Samaj

Prem Nath Dogra

Prem Nath Dogra (24 October 1884 – 21 March 1972), also known as Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, was a leader from Jammu and Kashmir who worked for total integration of the state with India. He is commonly referred to as Sher e Duggar. He was instrumental in forming the Jammu Praja Parishad party in 1947 along with Balraj Madhok and opposed the policies of Sheikh Abdullah. He was later elected the president of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1955 for a brief period. He dedicated himself to the service of downtrodden poor and proletariat part of society.

Early Life

Prem Nath Dogra was born on October 24, 1884, in Smailpur village, Jammu, as the only child of Pandit Anant Ram to a Dogra Brahmin family. He spent early life in Lahore for studies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1908.

Jammu Praja Parishad

As president of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Parishad in 1949, Dogra was arrested along with hundreds of members of the party for demanding only the Indian flag remain official. He was arrested again on November 26, 1952, during a demonstration against the hoisting of both the state and Indian flag in Jammu. The arrest and further developments led to the Praja Parishad agitation spreading to other parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Alla Rakha

Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), mononymously known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialised in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and was largely responsible for introducing Tabla to the western audience.

Personal Life & Education

Allarakha Khan Qureshi was born on 29 April 1919 in Ghagwal, a village in the Jammu Province of the princely kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir under British Raj; today located in the Samba District of the union territory of the same name in India. His mother tongue was Dogri and his family were Muslim Dogras, although most of the Dogra clan around them were Hindus.[1] Growing up on a farm, Ustad Allarakha was always in awe of music, praising the traveling musicians he would occasionally have the opportunity to witness. His father, at that time, looked down upon singing or learning to play a musical instrument as a profession for his boy, due to family’s origins as Dogras of Jammu.

At the age of 12, Ustad Alla Rakha ran away from home to stay with his uncle in the nearby Gurdaspur city to pursue his passion for music. Finding little chances for grooming and appreciation, the determined young lad ran away from home, began his training in tabla with Mian Kader Baksh of the Punjab gharana of tabla players. Mian Kadir Bakhsh, who had no sons, formally adopted Alla Rakha and called him the next head of the Punjab gharana of tabla players.

He also took vocal training in classical music and Raag Vidya under Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana. His regimen of practice and dedication were legendary: hours upon hours of hard, disciplined practice, that would later pay off. In 1943, he started working for Bombay film industry, also known as Bollywood these days, and composed music for nearly two dozen films of Hindi and Punjabi languages.

He was married to his cousin Bavi Begum and their marriage produced three sons, Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi and Taufiq Qureshi; two daughters, Khurshid Aulia née Qureshi and Razia; and nine grandchildren. They all survived him except Razia; it was the news of her death the day before that is thought to have caused his fatal heart attack.

Allah Rakha had a third daughter named Roohi Bano who was born in Pakistan and achieved a “legendary” status in television and film acting.

Career

Ustad Allarakha Qureshi began his career as an accompanist in Lahore and then as an All India Radio, Delhi staffer in 1936 but later moved to Bombay in 1940, playing the station’s first ever tabla solo and elevating the instrument’s position in the process. Soon after, he also started composing music Hindi films under the name A. R. Qureshi. He composed for a total of 23 films between 1943 and 1964.

Flyer for an October 1967 concert by Shankar and Rakha (left), held four months after their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival
However, he still played as an accompanist, for soloists like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Allauddin Khan, Vilayat Khan, Vasant Rai, Ali Akbar Khan, and Ravi Shankar. The venerable master achieved world renown as Shankar’s chief accompanist during his apex in the 1960s, delighting audiences in the West with his percussive wizardry, not only as an uncanny accompanist with flawless timing and sensitivity but also as a soloist where he was a master of improvisation, a prolific composer and an electric showman.

The partnership was particularly successful, and his legendary and spellbinding performances with Shankar at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969 served to introduce classical Indian music to general Western audiences.

Global Influence

Alla Rakha popularised the art of tabla, playing across the globe, elevating the status and respect of this instrument. “Abbaji” (as he was affectionately known by his disciples) also bridged the gap between Carnatic music and Hindustani music by playing with both renowned Carnatic musicians and other Hindustani stalwarts. Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha duo represented India at several international music festivals.

Leading American percussionists in rock n’ roll, such as the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart, admired him and studied his technique, benefiting greatly even from single meetings. Hart, a published authority on percussion in world music, said: “Allah Rakha is the Einstein, the Picasso; he is the highest form of rhythmic development on this planet.” Rakha also collaborated with jazz drummer Buddy Rich on their 1968 album Rich à la Rakha.

Alla Rakha’s partnership with Ravi Shankar began in the early 1950s. He was part of the ensemble accompanying Ravi Shankar during George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh shows, held in New York City in August 1971. The success of the live album and concert film from this event presented Indian classical music to a wide audience in the West. He also collaborated and shared the stage with many leading figures in Indian music like sitar player Vilayat Khan and sarod player Ali Akbar Khan.

Awards & Recognition

Alla Rakha was awarded the Padma Shri in 1977 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1982. He was also featured in a Google doodle on 29 April 2014, on the occasion of his 95th birthday.

Death & Legacy

Ustad Allarakha Qureshi died on 3 February 2000 at his Simla House residence on Nepean Sea Road following a heart attack, which he suffered on learning of the death of his daughter, Razia, the previous evening during cataract surgery.[2][1]

In his obituary, The New York Times called him “the most important tabla drummer of his generation”. The newspaper further stated that Alla Rakha was given the title Ustad or master musician and teacher of the art of tabla playing. Alla Rakha… “used his skill to invigorate every musician who shared the stage with him.”

The Then-Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee also issued a formal statement regretting the loss in his death.

Shivkumar Sharma

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia under the collaborative name Shiv–Hari and composed music for such hit Indian films as Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), and Lamhe (1991).

Sharma was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986 and the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan (India’s fourth and third highest civilian awards) in 1991 and 2001.

Early Life

Sharma was born on 13 January 1938, in Jammu in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India. His father Uma Dutt Sharma was a vocalist and a tabla player. His father started teaching him vocals and tabla, when he was just five. His father saw an opportunity to introduce him to the santoor, a hammered dulcimer, which was a folk instrument that traced its origins to ancient Persia, but was played in Kashmir. He saw the styles that integrated Sufi notes with traditional Kashmiri folk music and had his son play the instrument that was then new to Indian classical music. Sharma started learning santoor at the age of thirteen and gave his first public performance in Mumbai in 1955.

Career

Starting his career playing the santoor with his father, Sharma is credited with introducing the santoor as a popular Indian classical music instrument. He recorded his first solo album in 1960. Sharma took the santoor as an Indian classical musical instrument playing at various music venues. He collaborated with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain and with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia on many of his performances as well as on his albums. In 1967, he teamed up with Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967), which turned out to be one of Indian classical music’s greatest hits.

Sharma composed the background music for one of the scenes in V. Shantaram’s film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955) where Gopi Krishna performed a Kathak dance piece. Further, he composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Chaurasia, starting with Silsila (1981). They came to be known as the Shiv–Hari music duo. Some of the movies they composed music for were musical hits, such as Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), and Darr (1993). Sharma also played tabla including in the popular song “Mo Se Chhal Kiye Jaaye” sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the 1965 film Guide, on the insistence of music director S. D. Burman. However, Sharma’s focus remained on classic music rather than film songs; he said, “Classical music is not for entertainment. It is to take you on a meditative journey, ye toh mehsoos karne ki cheez hai (This has to be experienced).”

Sharma was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akadeemi Award in 1986, the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 1991, and the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award in 2001.

Personal Life

Sharma married Manorama[6][15] and had one son. His son Rahul, who started learning at the age of 13, is also a santoor player and they performed together since 1996. In a 1999 interview, Sharma stated that he chose Rahul as his shishya, because he thought he had the “gift of God”.

Sharma died on 10 May 2022 from a cardiac arrest. He was 84 years old. He had kidney failure for the last few months and went through regular dialysis. He received a state funeral at Pawan Hans Juhu aerodrome, Mumbai, on 11 May 2022.

Kundan Lal Saigal

Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centred in Calcutta (Kolkata) during Saigal’s time, but is currently centred in Bombay (Mumbai). Saigal’s unique voice quality which was a mixture of baritone and soft tenor was the benchmark for most of the singers who followed him. In fact it remains the gold standard even today shining through very early and practically primitive recording technology.

Early Life

Saigal was born on 11 April 1904 in Jammu to a Punjabi family. His father, Amarchand Saigal was a tehsildar at the court of the Maharaja Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, while his mother, Kesarbai Saigal, was a deeply religious Hindu lady who was very fond of music. She used to take her young son to religious functions where bhajan, kirtan, and shabad were sung in traditional styles based on classical Indian music.[5] Saigal was the fourth-born child of five, following two elder brothers and an elder sister, and preceding a younger brother. His formal schooling was brief and uneventful. As a child, he occasionally played the Sitar in the Ramlila of Jammu. He was the first cousin of famous character actors, Chaman Puri, Madan Puri and Amrish Puri.

Saigal dropped out of school and started earning money by working as a railway timekeeper. Later, he worked as a typewriter salesman for the Remington Typewriter Company, in Simla (now Shimla) which allowed him to tour several parts of India. His travels brought him to Lahore, where he became friends with Mehrchand Jain (who later went on to start the Assam Soap Factory in Shillong) at the Anarkali Bazaar. Mehrchand and Kundan remained friends when they both moved to Calcutta and had many a mehfil-e-mushaira. In those days Saigal was a budding singer and Mehrchand encouraged him to pursue his talent. Saigal often remarked that he was what he was because of Mehrchand’s encouragement and early support. He also briefly worked as a hotel manager. Meanwhile, his passion for singing continued and became more intense with the passage of time.

Career at New Theatres

In the early 1930s, classical musician and music director Harishchandra Bali brought K.L. Saigal to Calcutta and introduced him to R. C. Boral. R.C. Boral took an instant liking to his talents. Saigal was hired by B. N. Sircar’s Calcutta-based film studio New Theatres on a contract of Rs. 200 per month. There he came into contact with contemporaries like Pankaj Mullick, K. C. Dey and Pahari Sanyal.

Meanwhile, Indian Gramophone Company had released Saigal’s record containing a couple of Punjabi songs, composed by Harishchandra Bali. In this way, Bali became Saigal’s first music director. The first film in which Saigal had a role was the film Mohabbat Ke Ansu, followed by Subah Ka Sitara and Zinda Lash, all released in 1932. However, these films did not do very well. Saigal used the name Saigal Kashmiri for his first three films and used his own name Kundan Lal Saigal (K. L. Saigal) from Yahudi Ki Ladki (1933). In 1933, four bhajans sung by Saigal for the film Puran Bhagat created a sensation throughout India. Other films that followed were Yahudi Ki Ladki, Chandidas, Rooplekha and Karwan-E-Hayat. As a youngster, Lata Mangeshkar is alleged to have said that she wanted to marry K.L. Saigal after seeing his performance in Chandidas (1934). In 1935, Saigal played the role that would come to define his acting career: that of the drunken title character in Devdas, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel of the same name and directed by P.C. Barua. His songs in the film Devdas (1935), “Balam Aaye Baso Moray Man Mein” and “Dukh Ke Ab Din Beetat Naahi”, became popular throughout the country.

Saigal picked up Bengali very well and acted in seven Bengali films, produced by New Theatres. Rabindranath Tagore first heard Saigal before giving consent for the first time to a non-Bengali singing his songs. Saigal endeared himself to the whole of Bengal through his 30 Bengali songs.

Saigal’s association with New Theatres continued to bear fruit in the successful films Didi (Bengali), President (Hindi) in 1937, Desher Mati (Bengali), Dharti Mata (Hindi) in 1938, Saathi (Bengali), Street Singer (Hindi) in 1938, Dushman (1939), Jiban Maran (1939) and Zindagi in 1940, with Saigal in the lead. There are a number of songs of this era which form the rich heritage of film music in India. Also, in Street Singer, Saigal rendered the song “Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye” live in front of the camera, even though playback was becoming the preferred method of singing songs in films.

Move to Bombay & Death

In December 1941, Saigal moved to Bombay to work with Ranjit Movietone. Here he acted and sang in a number of successful films. Bhakta Surdas (1942) and Tansen (1943) were hits during this period. The latter film is still remembered for Saigal’s performance of the song “Diya Jalao” in Raga Deepak; in the same movie, he also sang “Sapta Suran,” “Tin .. Gaa-o Saba Guni Jan” and “Room Jhoom Room Jhoom Chaal tihari”. In 1944, he returned to New Theatres to complete My Sister. This film contained the songs “Do Naina Matware” and “Ae Katib-e-Taqdeer Mujhe Itna Bata De”.

By this time, alcohol had become a predominant factor in Saigal’s life. His dependence on alcohol had begun affecting his work and his health. It was said that he could only record a song after being fortified with liquor. He survived ten years of drinking; however, his alcoholism was too advanced for even a single attempt at abstinence, and Saigal died in his ancestral city of Jullundur (now Jalandhar) on 18 January 1947, at the age of 42. However, before his death, he was able to churn out three more hits under the baton of Naushad Ali for the film Shahjehan (1946). These are “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani”, “Ae Dil-e-Beqaraar Jhoom” and “Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya”. Parwana (1947) was his last film, released after his death, in which he sang under the baton of Khawaja Khurshid Anwar. The four songs which Saigal sang in Parwana are: “Toot gaye sab sapne mere”, “Mohabbat mein kabhi aisi bhi haalat”, “Jeene ka dhang sikhaae ja”, and “Kahin ulajh na jaana”. Saigal was survived by his wife Asha Rani (whom he married in 1935); three children, a son and two daughters: Madan Mohan, Nina (born 1937) and Bina (born 1941); and an adopted child, his late elder brother’s daughter, Durgesh Nandani, whom he adopted when he was still single.

In a career of fifteen years, Saigal acted in 36 feature films – 28 in Hindi, seven in Bengali, and one in Tamil. In addition, he acted in a short comedy Hindi film, Dulari Bibi (three reels), released in 1933. In 1955, B.N. Sircar released a documentary film based on the life of K.L. Saigal, Amar Saigal. In the film, G. Mungheri performed the title role of Saigal. The film contained 19 songs lifted from Saigal’s films. In all, Saigal rendered 185 songs which includes 142 film songs and 43 non-film songs. Of the film songs, there are 110 in Hindi, 30 in Bengali and two in Tamil. There are 37 non-film songs in Hindi, and two each in Bengali, Pashto, Punjabi and Persian. His non-film songs comprise bhajans, ghazals and hori. He has rendered the creations of poets such as Ghalib, Zauq, and Seemab.

Saigal’s distinctive singing was revered and idolised by the first generation of post-independence Hindi Film playback singers, including Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh have even gone on record in an interview that they consider Kundan Lal Saigal to be their musical Guru.

Ved Rahi

Ved Rahi is one of film director from India born in June 1933 Along with being a film director, he is also a dialogue writer, screenplay writer and author. His debut movie as a director was dara (1971). He was born in Jammu in a noted family of Saraf. He has worked in Jammu and Kashmir state information department as editor of YOJANA— a monthly magazine. He has an association with a radio station in Jammu. Later he started writing stories and poems and shifted to Mumbai in later years of his life. He was also the member of film writer association in the film censor board and the Hon. General Secretary.

Other movies directed by him are Nadaniyan (1984) and Veer Sarkar (2001). Veer Sarkar is a bio-epic film based on the life of Indian revolutionary Vinayak Damodar Savakar. He has produced a movie named Kali Ghata (1980) and wrote dialogues for film Bezubaan (1982). In Charas (1976) and Paraya Dhan (1971) he worked as a story writer. Beside these movies other movies by him are Be-imaan (1972) and Darar (1971) Apart from Bollywood, he has also worked in Marathi film industry and Indian television industry for the channel Doordarshan. His novel Lal Ded was based on the life of Kashmir saint poet of the same name—Lal Ded.

The book was written in Dogri language. Soch— his other novel, is based on his wide range of his experience in literature culture and filmdom. He has written many short stories, poetry, and proses too. He is one of the renowned Dogri writer. His book Battotar is the collection of Dogri poetry. He is the profalic writer in his mother tongue Dogri. His books contain morals and values which are basic to human life. His novel Andhi Surang and stories Kaun mera kaun mar jaayega are based on Kashmir. His main agenda was to display the innocence of youth who at times are mislead by Jhadis on the name of religion.

His other book Cross firing is based on human relations in times of militancy, where killing and caring are two sides of the sane coin. The book portrays faith in human values. He was awarded State writer award in Dogri language by the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah. He was winner of covetous, Shahitya Akademi Award whichwas honored with the Sahitya Academy award and Maharastra Gaurav Award. He was also facilitated with Mahapandit Rahul Sanskritayan award. This award is given for research in Hindi and travelogues.

Ramanand Sagar

Ramanand Sagar (29 December 1917 – 12 December 2005) was a director of Hindi films . He became very famous because of the very popular serials Ramayana (TV serial) and Krishna (TV serial) on Doordarshan.

Biography

Ramanand Sagar was born in a wealthy family on 29 December 1917 at Asal Guru near Lahore . He did not get the love of his parents as he was adopted by his maternal grandmother. Earlier his name was Chandramouli but Nani changed his name to Ramanand. At the age of 16, his prose poem was selected to be published in the magazine of Pratap College, Srinagar. Young Ramanand protested against taking dowry due to which he was thrown out of the house.

With this his life struggle started. He worked as a truck cleaner and peon to continue his studies. He worked during the day and studied at night. Being meritorious, he received a gold medal from Punjab University [Pakistan] and was awarded the title of Munshi Fazal for his proficiency in the Persian language. Sagar then became a journalist and soon rose to the position of news editor in a newspaper. Along with this, his writing work also continued.

He came to India in 1947 at the time of partition. At that time he had only five annas as property. In India, he joined the film sector and formed his own production company Sagar Arts in 1950, whose first film was Guest . In the year 1985, he entered the small screen world. Ramayana, the most popular serial produced by him, created his image as an ideal person in the hearts of people. People started considering Ramanand Sagar ji as an incarnation of Tulsi ji. Sk.

Writing

He wrote 22 short stories, three large short stories, two serial stories and two plays. He wrote these under the names of his takhallus Chopra, Bedi and Kashmiri but later he became Ramanand Sagar forever with Sagar takhallus. Later he also wrote scripts for many films and television serials.

Directing & Producing

He directed and produced a few films and several television programs and serials. Famous TV serials made by him include Vikram Aur Betal, Dada-Dadi Ki Kahaniyan, Ramayana, Krishna (TV serial), Alif Laila and Jai Ganga Maiya, etc., very popular serials.

Mukesh Rishi

Mukesh Rishi (born 19 April 1956) is an Indian actor and film producer who works primarily in Hindi and Telugu films. He has also appeared in Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi and Tamil films. He got his first break in Hindi in 1988 and has since, established himself as a leading character actor.

He started his career in films as a villain. He joins a list of non-Telugu speaking actors, such as Amrish Puri, Puneet Issar, Paresh Rawal, Sharat Saxena, Pradeep Rawat, Narendra Jha, Rahul Dev, Mukul Dev, Sonu Sood, Ashutosh Rana, Sachin Khedekar, Boman Irani, and Sayaji Shinde who have successfully established themselves in Telugu movies.

Early Life

Rishi was born in Jammu. After his graduation from Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh, and working for two years in Mumbai, Rishi went to work in Fiji where he met his future-wife of Fijian-Indian descent. Her family ran a traditional departmental store. He has a lucrative investment portfolio including warehouse investements.

After marriage, they went to New Zealand, where Mukesh started his career as a model. However, he could hardly find time for modelling due to a busy work schedule and was dissatisfied with his modelling assignments. After seven years, he returned to Mumbai, India and enrolled in Roshan Taneja’s acting school.

Om Prakash

Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor.[1] He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well known character actor of Hindi Cinema. His most well-known movies are Namak Halaal (1982), Gopi (1970), Hulchul (1971) and Sharaabi (1984).

He also produced Jahanaara starring Bharat Bhushan, Shashikala, Prithviraj Kapoor and Mala Sinha in the title role of Jahanaara.

Om Prakash played the leading man in films like Dus Lakh, Annadata, Charandas and Sadhu aur Shaitan. His pivotal roles in the films Dil Daulat Duniya, Gopi, Apna Desh, Chupke Chupke, Julie, Joroo Ka Ghulam, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, Pyar Kiye Jaa, Padosan and Buddha Mil Gaya are considered to be among his best along with Daddu in Namak Halaal and De Silva in Zanjeer. His roles in Sharaabi, Bharosa, Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Mere Hamdam Mere Dost, Loafer and Dil Tera Diwana were also appreciated.

He is known for his roles in comedy films. One of his best performances in his later years were Naukar Biwi Ka, Sharaabi (1984) and Chameli Ki Shaadi, where he played a role that was pivotal in the movie. His role in Gopi with Dilip Kumar is considered best in terms of acting. Critics still think he gave better performance in tragic scenes in front of Dilip Kumar. Once Dilip Kumar revealed the fact, “I was only afraid once in my acting career and it was during Gopi when Om Prakashji’s performance overshadowed mine”.

Early Life & Education

He was fascinated by theatre, music and films. He started taking lessons in classical music when he was just twelve and was recognised as a master in no time.

Career

He joined All India Radio in 1937 on a monthly salary of Rs 25. He was known as “Fateh Din”, a radio personality and his programmes made him popular all over Punjab.

He was regaling people at a wedding one day when the well-known filmmaker Dalsukh Pancholi spotted him and asked to see him in his Lahore office. Pancholi gave Prakash his first break as an actor in the film Daasi. He was paid only Rs 80, but the film earned him the kind of recognition that would give him a means of livelihood for a lifetime. It was his first major role; he had played a bit role in Sharif Badmash, a silent film. He followed his good work in Daasi and with Pancholi’s Dhamki and Aayee Bahar.

Soon after the Partition he came to Delhi and then to Bombay (now Mumbai). Baldev Raj Chopra noticed his talent when he was a film journalist and critic; he urged Prakash to carry on with his acting career. He was sure Om Prakash had the talent to prove himself a versatile actor. The actor had to struggle initially. He got his first break as a villain in a film called Lakhpati. It won him acclaim and got him roles in films like Lahore, Char Din and Raat Ki Rani. It was during this phase in his career that he did Azaad with Dilip Kumar,Mera Naam Joker with Raj Kapoor and Miss Mary, Bahar, Pehli Jhalak, Asha and Man-Mauji with Kishore Kumar followed by Howrah Bridge with Ashok Kumar and then Tere Ghar Ke Samne with Dev Anand. He was noted for his performance in both films in spite of the presence of powerful star personas like Kishore Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and Dev Anand. He had developed a style of his own, a style which was going to take him places and earn him a big name in the world of film entertainment for the next forty years.

Om Prakash soon became a household name. He was good in almost every character he played. He was the comedian, the family man burdened with problems, the accountant, the alcoholic fallen on bad days because of the evil designs of the villain, the nagged husband, the old man in love, the wily politician and the big brother with a heart of gold. He played an assortment of characters with the same ease and had some of the best directors vying for him every time they had a role which they felt only he could play. His role in Gopi is still remembered, some analysts believe he has overshadowed Dilip Saab.

Om Prakash was a versatile actor with 307 films to his credit. One can never forget his comic performances in Howrah Bridge, Dus Lakh (he won his first major award for this performance), Pyar Kiye Jaa, Padosan, Sadhu Aur Shaitaan, Dil Daulat Duniya, Chupke Chupke, Namak Halaal, Gol Maal and Chameli Ki Shaadi. His performance as Dilip Kumar’s elder brother in Gopi gave his career new impetus. He proved that he could play mature roles with equal ease and depth: Films such as Chacha Zindabad, Khandan, Haryali Aur Raasta, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Pati Patni, Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare, Mere Hamdam Mere Dost, Annadata, Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati, Doli, Chirag, Amar Prem, Aankh Micholi, Ek Hasina Do Diwane, Anuraag, Zanjeer, Sagina, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, Loafer, Roti, Julie, Khushboo, Lawaaris, Bandish, Sharaabi and Chameli Ki Shaadi.

Om Prakash had a special rapport with Amitabh Bachchan and both worked in many successful films from Zanjeer to Sharaabi.

Prakash produced many films including Sanjog (1961), Jahan Ara (1964) and Gateway of India (1957).

Parvez Rasool

Parvez Ghulam Rasool Zargar (born 13 February 1989) is an Indian cricketer who plays as an all-rounder for Jammu and Kashmir. A right-hand batsman and offbreak bowler, Rasool is the captain of the Jammu and Kashmir team and a regular member of India A. He was bought for ₹95 lakh (US$120,000) by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2014 IPL auction. Rasool was the second cricketer after Mithun Manhas from Jammu and Kashmir to have played in The IPL and the first from the state to play for the Indian National Team in ODI’s and T20I’s. He played only 1 T20I and 1 ODI in his international career.

Rasool received his maiden call-up for the national team in 2013 for the Zimbabwe tour. Rasool finally represented the national team against Bangladesh on 15 June 2014 at Mirpur. Parveez Rasool got his first chance to play his maiden T20 against England in 2017 where he dismissed Eoin Morgan and got his first T20 International wicket and his bowling figures were 1/32 in 4 overs.

Early Life

Rasool is from Bijbehara, in Anantnag district of Kashmir, India. He was coached by Abdul Qayoom, a former first class cricketer for Jammu and Kashmir before playing for Jammu and Kashmir.Rasool’s father, Ghulam Rasool, and brother, Asif Rasool, have also played competitive cricket.

Domestic Career

In the 2012–13 Ranji season, Rasool scored 594 runs from 7 matches at an average of 54 including two centuries, and took 33 wickets at an average of 18 with three five-wicket hauls. His impressive performance was rewarded as he was included in the India A squad to play the warm-up one-day match against England on 6 January 2013. With this, he became the first cricketer from the Kashmir Valley to be picked for India ‘A’.

In February 2013, Rasool wreaked havoc in his three spells as he took 7 wickets which helped Board President’s XI bowl out the visiting Australian side for a modest 241 and scored winning 36* runs. His seven scalps included top-order batsmen such as regular Test opener Ed Cowan, stand-in captain and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and future Australian cricket captain Steve Smith.

In February 2013, Rasool became first cricketer from Jammu & Kashmir to bag an IPL contract, signing up with the Pune Warriors for the 2013 season. He made his IPL debut on 9 May 2013 against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Pune. He got the wicket of Jacques Kallis and finished with figures of 1/23 off 4 overs in that match. He played his next IPL match against the Mumbai Indians on 11 May in which he scored 4 not out and bowled one over conceding five runs.

In 2013–14 Ranji Trophy, Rasool scored 663 runs with two centuries and three half-centuries at an average of 51 and took 27 wickets with two 5 wicket hauls in 9 matches. Under Rasool’s captaincy, Jammu and Kashmir made it to the quarterfinals that season for the first time since 2000.

He was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad at the 2014 IPL auction for ₹95 lakh (US$120,000). He played 3 matches in IPL 2014. In his first match of 2014 IPL he took the wicket of Yuvraj Singh and bowled his spell nicely to likes of Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers, restricting them to concede minimum runs.

He was awarded with Lala Amarnath award for best all-rounder in domestic circuit after his performance in the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season.

During the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy, he scored 629 runs in 9 matches that included 7 half centuries highest being 92 and took 38 wickets with 3 five wicket hauls, placing him 5th in highest wicket takers of the season.

In November 2017, he took his tenth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, bowling for Jammu and Kashmir against Kerala in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy. He was the leading wicket-taker for Jammu and Kashmir in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 28 dismissals in six matches.

In July 2018, he was named in the squad for India Red for the 2018–19 Duleep Trophy. He was the leading wicket-taker for India Red in the tournament, with eleven dismissals in two matches.

On 3 October 2018, Parvez Rasool became first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to play 100 List-A Matches. The current Jammu and Kashmir captain, is first cricketer from State to play 100 List-A matches. He reached to milestone in Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Rajasthan. In 100 matches he has taken 115 wickets and has scored 2366 runs.

He was the leading run-scorer for Jammu & Kashmir in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy, with 684 runs in nine matches. He was also the leading wicket-taker for the team, with 35 dismissals.[19] During the match against Services at Palam in Elite Group C, Rasool became only the fourth Indian cricketer to score a hundred and take eight wickets in an innings of a first-class match, with career-best figures of 8/85, and scoring 115.

International Career

Rasool got his maiden call-up for the national team in 2013 for the Zimbabwe tour. He became the second cricketer after Vivek Razdan from Jammu and Kashmir to get selected for the national side, but did not play any game on that tour.

Rasool finally represented India against Bangladesh in June 2014 at Mirpur where he picked up two wickets for 60 in 10 overs. His next inclusion in the side came in January 2017 for the T20I series at home against England after two regular spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were rested. Parveez represented India against England in January 2017 at Kanpur where he picked up one wicket for 1 in 4 overs. He also scored 5 runs with the bat.

Bandeep Singh

Bandeep Singh (born 9 September 1989) is an Indian first-class cricketer who plays for Jammu & Kashmir. In October 2015, he broke the record of Yusuf Pathan and Shakti Singh for the fastest 50 in the Ranji Trophy. He hit the half-century in 15 balls while the earlier record was in 18 balls.

Shubham Khajuria

Shubham Khajuria (born 13 September 1995) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Jammu and Kashmir cricket team. He is a right-handed opening batsman. He played for the India Under-19 cricket team in 2013, becoming only the second cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to do so. In 2023 , he played in great Manchester cricket league for Westhoughton cricket club as their pro scoring 745 runs in 11 league & cup games which included four centuries and two half centuries with an average of 93.13 including a double hundred (212) in his first match and a 37 ball 100 as well breaking the club record.

Career

Khajuria made his first-class debut for Jammu and Kashmir against Maharashtra in November 2011 at the age of 16. He batted at No. 4 in that match and scored 34 and 13. However, he could not cement his place in the team until 2014.

In the first match of 2014–15 Ranji Trophy against Mumbai, Khajuria scored 107 in the first innings, his maiden first-class century, and 78 in the second innings. Jammu and Kashmir went on to win the match by four wickets and Khajuria was awarded man of the match.

In 2018, Khajuria spent time in England, playing in the Ribblesdale League based in the North-West of the country. Khajuria signed as club professional for Oswaldtwistle Immanuel Church Cricket Club, impressing with the bat and making significant contributions with the ball also. Khajuria helped the club secure its first ever league title, scoring 1502 league and cup runs. Khajuria also broke the club record for the most runs by a player for the club, when he made 229 (not out) in a league match. Khajuria stated that this time in England helped him develop his game with respect to playing in very different conditions compared to his native India.

He was the leading run-scorer for Jammu & Kashmir in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 236 runs in nine matches.

Ajay Sharma

Ajay Kumar Sharma (born 3 April 1964) is an Indian former cricketer. Sharma was a prolific run-maker in first-class cricket, mainly for Delhi, scoring over 10,000 runs at the high average of 67.46.

Domestic Career

In the Ranji Trophy, Sharma scored a record 31 centuries[2] and his batting average of approximately 80 in this competition is second only to Vijay Merchant. In the 1996–97 season, he became only the third player to score over 1000 runs in a Ranji Trophy season. He played in six Ranji Trophy finals for Delhi scoring centuries in four of them, but only twice ended up on the winning side (1985–86 and 1991–92). Sharma also regularly represented North Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

International Career

Despite his domestic scoring record, Sharma only played one Test match for India – against the West Indies in January 1988. He played 31 One Day Internationals for India from 1988 to 1993.

In December 1988, he scored back-to-back fifties against New Zealand, but he did not reach those heights again except for a 59 not out (his highest ODI score) against Zimbabwe in March 1993. He finished with 424 runs at a batting average of 20.19. Sharma also took 15 wickets using his left-arm spin with a best of 3/41 against Australia in October 1989.

Life Ban

In 2000, aged 36, his career ended when he received a life ban from cricket after he was implicated in a match-fixing scandal.

In September 2014, Sharma was cleared from all charges related to match-fixing by Delhi district court and has asked the BCCI to allow him to take part in the board’s activities and those of its associates.

He retired from active cricket and is now invested in running multiple franchises of laundry and dry-cleaning brand UClean in Delhi NCR and Punjab.

Ian Dev Singh

Ian Dev Singh is an Indian cricketer who plays predominantly as a batsman. He was captain of Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy in 2013-14.

Early Life

Ian Dev Singh was born in Gandhinagar, Jammu and named after Ian Botham and Kapil Dev, his father’s two favourite cricketers. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering degree at D. Y. Patil University in Navi Mumbai while simultaneously playing Ranji Trophy cricket, occasionally necessitating flying in to sit an exam directly between Jammu and Kashmir fixtures.

Career

Jammu and Kashmir’s cricketing infrastructure remains somewhat underdeveloped, and Dev Singh developed as a cricketer by playing club cricket in Mumbai. He noted in 2012 that, the competition even at the club level [in Mumbai] is very tough whereas back in our state, we get limited opportunities. We rarely get solid preparation before the Ranji season commences.

Another major influence on the development of his game was former India captain Bishan Bedi, coach of Jammu and Kashmir between 2011 and 2014. With Bedi’s guidance helping him overhaul his mental approach to batting, Dev Singh scored 406 runs at 67.66 in first-class matches in 2011–12, and earned selection for North Zone in the Dileep Trophy. For his part, Bedi described Dev Singh as ‘a very good shorter version batsman and a brilliant fielder’ who was ‘definitely ready for a break’, either in the form of an international call-up or an IPL contract. As of 2017, however, such honours have eluded him.

Mithun Manhas

Mithun Manhas (born 12 October 1979) is an Indian first-class cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he also bowls right-arm offbreak and can keepwicket. He was the first ever player from Jammu and Kashmir to play in IPL.

Indian Premier League

Manhas played in the Indian Premier League representing the Delhi Daredevils. In the fourth season of IPL, he was contracted for US$260,000 by Pune Warriors. In the seventh season of the Indian Premier League, he was contracted by the Chennai Super Kings.

Domestic Career

Manhas was the captain of the Delhi side for most of the new millennium. He was at the helm when Delhi ended their championship drought in 2007–08, although Gambhir led the side in the semi-final and final. He scored 921 runs in that first-class season at 57.56.

In September 2015, Manhas joined Jammu and Kashmir cricket team for 2015–16 Ranji Trophy season.

Coaching Career

In February 2017, Manhas was appointed assistant coach of Indian Premier League side Kings XI Punjab.

In October 2017, Manhas was announced as the batting consultant of the Bangladesh Under-19 team. He was their batting consultant till 2019.

Manhas was hired by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as their assistant coach for the 2019 IPL.

In 2022, Manhas was appointed assistant coach of Indian Premier League side Gujarat Titans.

Dhirendra Brahmachari

Dhirendra Brahmachari (12 February 1924 – 9 June 1994), born Dhirendra Choudhary in village Basaith Chanpura, Madhubani, Bihar, was a yoga teacher of Yogi Bhajan who taught Kundalini Yoga in the West and founded 3HO. Dhirendra Brahmachari was also yoga mentor of Indira Gandhi –The former prime minister of India[2] He ran ashrams in Bhondsi (Gurugram in Delhi NCR), Jammu, Katra and Mantalai (near Sudhmahadev in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir) and wrote books on yoga.

Biography

He was born in a Maithil brahmin family. He later got Inspired by reading the Bhagavad Gita, he left home at the age of thirteen and went to Varanasi. His guru was Maharshi Kartikeya whose ashram was at Gopal-Khera, about twelve miles from Lucknow. Dhirendra Brahmachari studied yoga and associated subjects there. In the 1960s he was invited to travel to the U.S.S.R. as a hatha yoga expert to train Soviet cosmonauts. Jawaharlal Nehru later invited him to teach yoga to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, to improve her health. He is said to have guided Mrs. Gandhi’s vision and ideas. He became influential politically in 1975–77 when Mrs Gandhi dissolved Parliament, declared a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties.

In the late 1970s, Dhirendra Brahmachari promoted the benefits of yoga in a weekly program called “Yogabhyaas” which was broadcast on Doordarshan, the state-owned television network. He introduced yoga as a subject of study in Delhi administered schools, a considerable innovation.

He was the owner of Vishwayatan Yogashram in the centre of Delhi, now known as the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga. He also owned campuses in Jammu, Katra and Mantalai, plots of land he had received through his Indira Gandhi clout. Known as “the Flying Swami”, he not only helped her form decisions and make appointments, but he also executed some of her orders.

He wrote books on yoga in Hindi and English including ‘Yogic Sukshma Vyayama’ and ‘Yogasana Vijnana’.[citation needed] His ashram at Mantalai is spread over 1008 kanals of land with private airstrips, hangar, a zoo and a seven storey building in gandhi nagar, Jammu.[citation needed]

Nowadays there are three known successors of Dhirendra Brahmachari yoga tradition: Bal Mukund Singh from India, Reinhard Gammenthaler from Switzerland and Rainer Neyer from Austria.

Death

Dhirendra Brahmachari died in a plane crash, along with his pilot, when they hit a pine tree on June 9, 1994, while landing at his religious retreat and yoga school in Mantalai.

Mulk Raj Saraf

Lala Mulk Raj Saraf (8 April 1894 – 21 February 1989) was an Indian journalist and writer, with over seventy years of a distinguished career in journalism and social service. With several firsts to his name, he is most renowned for overcoming all odds to lay the foundation of journalism in J&K, setting up the first printing press, and publishing the region’s first newspaper, Ranbir. For his pioneering efforts in enabling a free press in J&K, he is known as the “Father of Journalism in Jammu and Kashmir”. A freedom fighter, social reformer, and much loved public figure, he was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976. Saraf established the JDGD Saraf Trust for promoting conscientious journalism in 1985. The Trust has emerged as a highly prestigious institution in the realm of journalism. It has played a crucial role in encouraging the growth of a healthy press by periodically venerating the veterans and decorating the youngsters for their distinctive achievements in the line.

He was born on 8 April 1894 in the Samba district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to Dayanand Saraf and Jamuna Devi and graduated from the Government Gandhi Memorial Science College Jammu. He started his career as a sub-editor at the nationalist daily Bande Mataram based in Punjab, worked there for a while, and returned to Jammu in 1924 to start J&K’s first newspaper Ranbir, and Rattan, one of the most successful children’s magazines of the pre-independence era with subscribers from India and what is now, Pakistan.

Saraf wrote several articles and was the author of books such as Meri Pakistan Yatra, Insaniyat Abhi Zinda Hai and Nagooh-e-Ranvir. Meri Pakistan Yatra, which detailed his reminiscences of his trip to Pakistan was selected as the Book of the Year by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in 1980. His autobiographical work was published in 1967 under the title, Fifty years as a journalist. Saraf was the author of the first biography published in Dogri language, ‘Sher-e-Duggar Lala Hans Raj Mahajan Jeevan Katha’, who was born in hamirpur sidhar j&k, which was released in 1968. He was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1976.

Mulk Raj Saraf died on 21 February 1989, at the age of 94, in Mumbai at the residence of his son, Ved Rahi, a known Bollywood film personality and the director of the film, Veer Savarkar.

Subhash Shastri

Subhash Shastri is a world renowned Indian astrologer and astrology critic. It is possible to solve all the problems like marriage problem, husband wife problem, love problems of life by using Indian astrology properly.

Biography

Indian astrologer Subhash Shastri is a devotee of Ganesha. They not only provide solutions to singles problems, in fact, they have solutions to all kinds of problems, whether it is big or small, and also business problems, family problems, husband wife problem solution, love and love marriage problems. Get Solutions, Lost Love Problems, One Sided Love Problems Solution and much more.

Awards

Golden Glory Award 2022
The Best Celebrity Astrologer Award
“Best Astrologer in India” Award in March 2021

Paramahamsa Nithyananda Swami

Nithyananda (born Arunachalam Rajasekaran; 1 January 1978), known among followers as Nithyananda Paramashivam or Paramahamsa Nithyananda, is an Indian Hindu guru, “godman”, and cult leader. He is the founder of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, a trust that owns temples, gurukulas, and ashrams in many countries.

Following the charges of rape and abduction filed in Indian courts, he fled India and has remained in hiding since 2019. He is subject of a court-issued non-bailable warrant relating to the allegations.

In 2020, he announced the founding of his own self-proclaimed island nation called Kailaasa.

Early life

Nithyananda was born Arunachalam Rajasekaran in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, to father Arunachalam and mother Lokanayaki. He belongs to the Saiva Vellala community. Sources conflict as to his birth date – a 2003 United States visa gave a date of 13 March 1977, while a sworn affidavit in a 2010 Karnataka High Court case mentioned 1 January 1978.

He was first noticed at the age of three by Yogiraj Yogananda Puri. He claims to have had powerful spiritual experiences from age 12 and to have experienced full enlightenment at 22.

In 2002 (age 24), he began his public life under the name Nithyananda. He says that this name was given to him by Mahavatar Babaji in a mystical experience during his monastic wandering days in the Himalayas. In 2003, he started his ashram Dhyanapeetam in Bidadi near Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Recognition

Nithyananda was formerly a chairman of Florida-based Hindu University of America. In 2012, Nithyananda was recognized as one of the “100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People” by Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit magazine. Also in 2012, Nithyananda was appointed the 293rd pontiff of Madurai Adheenam. In February 2013, the title of Mahamandaleshwar was conferred on Nithyananda in a closed ceremony by the Panchayati Mahanirvani Akhara.

Conferred as Mahamandaleshwar at Kumbh Mela 2013
Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, a religious organisation founded by Nithyananda, hosts cultural events in United States as well as India. They hold two Guinness World Records: one for the largest rope yoga class, and one for the largest pole yoga (mallakhamba) class.

Teachings

Nithyananda has given discourses on various scriptures like Brahma Sutras, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Shiva Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

Claims of paranormal abilities

Nithyananda has made several pseudoscientific claims, including that he delayed the sunrise for 40 minutes, that he could make cattle speak in Tamil and Sanskrit, and that he could disprove the correctness of the mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc2.

He has claimed to have discovered over 400 siddhis, or paranormal abilities, expressible by humans and alleges having initiated his disciples into 60 such powers including kundalini and third-eye awakening. He has since asserted he would open the third eye, for anyone, free of charge by 2021, claiming that the person would be able to see through smog and walls. Disciples of Nithyananda claim that he gave initiations through “third eye” to a class of 82 blind children, thus curing them of blindness. Skeptic Narendra Nayak challenged Nithyananda to prove his claims.[40]

Nithyananda has also claimed that he and his followers were able to perform activities like extrasensory perception, materialisation, body scanning, increasing height and remote viewing, and that they had the ability to find lost objects.

Controversies

In 2010, Sun TV telecast video recordings that claimed to show Nithyananda and an actress Ranjitha (who was one of his followers) in a bedroom. The story became viral among news media in Tamil Nadu. Nithyananda and Ranjitha claimed the video to be fabricated and accused Sun TV of extortion. A forensic sciences laboratory in Bengaluru confirmed that the video appeared to be that of Nithyananda and Ranjitha. Sun TV and other media channels since then were subject to various lawsuits. Ranjitha filed a complaint with High Court of Karnataka against news channels. Channels were ordered to apologize to Ranjitha for violating the complainant’s privacy and dignity.

In 2010, a United States citizen who was a disciple of Nithyananda accused him of raping her in the US and in India repeatedly over the course of five years. She filed a complaint with the police department of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who did not commence any formal investigation. She also filed a complaint with the Karnataka Police in India. On 19 February 2018, the Third Additional District and Sessions Court in Ramanagara ordered the framing of charges against Nithyananda and five others in relation to the case. Criminal revision petitions by the accused were dismissed in the Karnataka High Court on 16 May 2018. An appeal against the High Court decision in the Supreme Court of India, in which all of the accused pleaded not guilty (except for one who was absent from court), was dismissed on 1 June 2018, following which charges were framed in the Ramanagara court on 4 June. In August 2022, the Third Additional District and Sessions Court in Ramanagara issued a non-bailable warrant against Nithyananda following multiple orders to appear in court.

In 2019, a couple from Tamil Nadu approached the High Court of Gujarat claiming that three of their four children were taken to Nithyananda’s ashram in Ahmedabad from Bangalore without their knowledge; the couple sought return of their children to their custody. A first information report (FIR) for alleged abduction was filed by the Gujarat Police in relation to the case on 17 November 2019. In affidavits filed in the Gujarat High Court from various locations in the Americas, two of the missing children, who were by that time adults, rejected their father’s claim that they have been detained forcibly. In a joint live video statement, the two girls further claimed that their father had plotted the abduction controversy after his name cropped up in an embezzlement case.

Nithyananda was the subject of the 2022 Discovery+ series “My Daughter Joined a Cult”, streamed internationally.

Flight from India

On 20 November 2019, the Gujarat Police issued a statement that Nithyananda fled India after choosing not to appear at several court hearings. Some senior police officials did not discount the possibility that he was still in India. He subsequently approached the United Nations complaining about persecution and sought recognition for his new country Kailaasa. Nithyananda also claimed attempts at mob lynching and assassination as reasons he was forced to withdraw himself from Indian society.

The Gujarat Police alleged that he could be shuffling between Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago, while news reports said that he may have gone to Ecuador because the country does not have an extradition treaty with India. The same month, the Embassy of Ecuador said that it “categorically denies the statement wherever published that Nithyananda was given asylum by Ecuador or has been helped by the Government of Ecuador in purchasing any land or island in South America”, but has confirmed Nithyananda had reached Ecuador after he left India, then left soon after his request for international personal protection (refuge) was denied.

Girdhari Lal Dogra

Girdhari Lal (17 July 1915 – 27 November 1987) was an Indian politician from Jammu and Kashmir, belonging to the National Conference and later the Indian National Congress. He was a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, and served as Finance minister of the state for 26 years. He was also a member of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian Parliament), elected from the Jammu–Poonch constituencey and the Udhampur constituency. He was known as “The People’s man”.

Early Life

Dogra was born in Bhaiya Village, Kathua District in Jammu and Kashmir. He started his education from Govt. Primary School Gurah Mundian, in a village near Bhaiya. After completing 5th from the primary school he got admission in Govt. Middle School Hiranagar where he studied up to class 8th. Thereafter, he joined Govt. High School Samba where he completed matriculation. He did his graduation from Hindu College Amritsar and later at Law College, Lahore. He joined Indian National Congress and was elected as General Secretary of the Student’s Union of Hindu College, Amritsar.

Career

He came to Jammu after completing law and joined as a junior advocate to Lala Dina Nath Mahajan, a renowned Lawyer. He also became an editor of a weekly newspaper “Kidasn” which was published from Jammu. In 1942 he joined National Conference and started taking active part in J&K politics. He along with Moti Ram Baigra of Udhampur started the movement against Begari system being perpetuated by the Raja of Chenani which forced him to abolish it. This was his first pro-poor political activity as a social service.

In 1952, he was nominated to J&K Constituent Assembly from Hiranagar Constituency. He was elected from Hiranagar as MLA in 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1975. and Udhampur respectively. He was known to be a staunch Nehruvian. Dogra never lost an election and presented 26 budgets as the then finance minister. He also won the parliamentary elections twice, first from Jammu-Poonch Constituency in 1980 for 7th Lok Sabha, and later from Udhampur- Kathua Constituency in 1984. He was also offered the post of Lok Sabha speaker by Indira Gandhi but he did not take up the offer. Dogra was a freedom fighter who later became a prominent political figure in the state. He was associated with the National Conference until it merged with the All India Congress Committee in 1964.

Karan Singh

Yuvraj Karan Singh PMSP (born 9 March 1931) is an Indian politician and philosopher. He is the son of the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh. He was the prince regent of Jammu and Kashmir until 1952. From 1952 to 1965 he was the Sadr-i-Riyasat (President) of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Republic of India. He is the chairperson trustee of the Dharmarth Trust of Jammu and Kashmir which maintains 175 temples in north India and works in other areas such as historical preservation.

Singh was a member of India’s Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, representing the national capital territory of Delhi. He is a senior member of the Indian National Congress party who served successively as President (Sadr-i-Riyasat) and Governor of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a life trustee and president of India International Center. He was elected chancellor of Banaras Hindu University for three terms until 2018 when he was succeeded by Giridhar Malaviya. He has been a prospective presidential candidate over the years.

Early and personal life

Karan Singh was born at the Martinez Hotel, Cannes, France, into the Dogra dynasty. He was the only son of Sir Hari Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. His mother, Maharani Tara Devi, who was the fourth wife of his father, was the daughter of a landowning Katoch Rajput family and came from (Vijaypur near Bilaspur) in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.[dubious – discuss][citation needed]

Singh was educated at Doon School, Dehra Dun, a boarding school, which represented a departure from the usual practise of princes being educated by tutors at home. The school was very elite, but it nevertheless meant that Karan Singh shared the classroom (though not the hostel) with boys from non-royal backgrounds, and received a standard education. Unusually for the scion of an Indian royal family, he then enrolled in a college for a graduate degree, receiving first a B.A. degree from Jammu and Kashmir University, Srinagar, and subsequently an M.A. degree in Political Science and a PhD degree from University of Delhi.

In 1950, the 19-year-old Karan Singh was married to 13-year-old Yasho Rajya Lakshmi, granddaughter of Mohan Shumsher Rana, Maharajah of Nepal, belonging to the Rana dynasty of Nepal. Her father, General Maharajkumar Sharada Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, was a son of Mohan Shumsher. The match, arranged by their families in the usual Indian way, was entirely harmonious and lasted all their lives. The couple had three children:

Yuvraj Vikramaditya Singh, elder son and crown prince; married Chitrangada Scindia, the daughter of Madhavrao Scindia of Gwalior, in 1987.
Ajatshatru Singh, second son; took to politics, was elected to the state assembly from the Nagrota constituency and became a minister in the state government. His wife is the daughter of an army officer.
Jyotsna Singh, only daughter, married to Dhirendra Singh Chauhan, from a Chauhan family belonging to Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh.

Political Career

In 1949, at age of eighteen, Singh was appointed as the Prince Regent of Jammu and Kashmir state after his father stepped down as the ruler, following the state’s accession to India. From that point, he served successively as regent, the Sadr-i-Riyasat, and the first governor of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1965 to 1967.

On August 8, 1953 as the President (Sadr-i-Riyasat) of Jammu and Kashmir, Karan Singh backed a coup d’etat against the elected Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah, allegedly for harboring independent ambitions for Kashmir, which led to the imprisonment of Abdullah for eleven years following the Kashmir Conspiracy Case.

In 1967, he resigned as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and became the youngest-ever member of the Union Cabinet, holding the portfolios of Tourism and Civil Aviation between 1967 and 1973. Two years later, he voluntarily surrendered his privy purse, which he had been entitled to since the death of his father in 1961. He placed the entire sum into a charitable trust named after his parents.

In the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India promulgated in 1971, the Government of India, of which Karan Singh was a Union cabinet minister, abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration (privy purses). During the conclusion of the Cold War, he was India’s ambassador to the USA. Singh received the Padma Vibhushan in 2005.

In 1971, he was sent as an envoy to the Eastern Bloc nations to explain India’s position with regard to East Pakistan, then engaged in civil war with West Pakistan.[24] He attempted to resign following an aircraft crash in 1973, but the resignation was not accepted. The same year, he became the Minister for Health and Family planning, serving in this post until 1977.

Following the Emergency, Karan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha from Udhampur in 1977 on a Congress ticket [the party had not split into Congress(I) and Congress(U) factions till then], and became Minister of Education and Culture in 1979 in Charan Singh’s cabinet, representing Congress(U), which had split from Indira’s Congress. Notably, Charan Singh became Prime Minister after the fall of Janata Party government headed by Morarji Desai. And Charan Singh himself resigned without facing Parliament even for a day as he was not sure of having a confidence motion passed in his favour. Karan Singh contested the 1980 Lok Sabha election on a Congress(U) ticket and won. In 1989–1990, he served as Indian Ambassador to the US, and this experience became the subject of a book he wrote, “Brief Sojourn”.

From 1967 to 1984, Karan Singh was a member of the Lok Sabha. In 1984, he contested the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Jammu but lost the election. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 30 November 1996 to 12 August 1999, representing National Conference, a Muslim dominated party active in Jammu and Kashmir. Later, he was a Rajya Sabha member from 28 January 2000 to 27 January 2018 representing INC. He is known for switching his loyalties from one political party to another quite frequently. He has served as Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, Jammu and Kashmir University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and NIIT University.

Hari Singh

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

Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. In 1923, following his uncle’s death, Singh became the new Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. After Indian Independence in 1947, Singh wanted Jammu and Kashmir to remain as an independent kingdom. He was required to accede to the Dominion of India to get the support of Indian troops against an invasion by tribal armed men and the Pakistan Army into his state.

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.

Singh was also a controversial ruler, who faced an agitation in Kashmir in 1931, a rebellion in Poonch in 1947 and for his alleged complicity in 1947 Jammu massacres.

Early life

Hari Singh was born on September 1895 at the palace of Amar Mahal, Jammu. He was the only surviving son of Raja Amar Singh, the brother of Maharaja Pratap Singh, then the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the Maharaja had no issue, Hari Singh was heir presumptive to the throne of Jammu and Kashmir.

In 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of honor to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar. At the age of 13, 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, appointing 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]

He was appointed the commander-in-chief of the State Forces in 1915 by Maharaja Pratap Singh.

Reign

Following the death of his uncle Pratap Singh on 23 September 1925, Hari Singh served as the second Prime Minister (1925-1926) of Jammu and Kashmir. Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir in February 1926 under British intervention, who overruled Pratap Singh’s choice of an adopted son, Raja Jagat Dev Singh of Poonch.

Hari Singh’s coronation from February 22 to February 28, 1926 was divided into two separate ceremonies – the first few days for the religious ceremonies and official programme in the latter part was set aside for hosting the European attendees. After becoming the ruler, Hari Singh conducted free elections and formed the Praja Sabha Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to rule with laws implemented under Ranbir Penal Code (R.P.C) which Praja Sabha decreed. In April 1932, as per recommendations of the Glancy Commission, the Praja Sabha was established, made up of 75 members – 12 government officials, 16 state councillors, 14 nominated, and 33 elected (21 Muslims, 10 Hindus and 2 Sikhs). By September 1934 the elected members started making laws under the Praja Sabha which made Jammu and Kashmir a forerunner state for other Princely Indian States. In September 7, 1939 Maharaja Hari Singh and his law and Revenue Minister, Justice Sir Lal Gopal Mukherjee, a former judge of the Allahabad high court (1926-1934) who had served the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1935 to 1940, produced a written constitution for Jammu and Kashmir which was the “pioneer” in the annals of Asia’s constitutional history; despite the fact that it was anything but a people-friendly “Magna Carta” for the state. He made primary education compulsory in the state, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage, and opened places of worship to low caste subjects.
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 should join an “All India Federation” and pleaded for equal status for Indians in the British Commonwealth of Nations. 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.

Partition and accession

In 1947, after India gained independence from British rule, Jammu and Kashmir could have joined India, joined Pakistan, or remained independent.[citation needed] Singh originally maneuvered to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan. Him being an unpopular ruler led to mass anxiety among his Muslim that the Maharaja would accede to India. This led to an armed uprising in Poonch against the Maharaja in the spring of 1947. In retaliation, extremist Hindus and Sikhs in the background of the Partition of India entered the kingdom from Punjab, and along with the state forces, massacred and expelled the Muslims of Jammu in what later came to be known as the 1947 Jammu massacres. Pashtun tribe members from Pakistan then invaded Kashmir and defeated Singh’s forces. Hari Singh appealed to India for help.[14] Although the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was ready to send troops, the Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten, advised the Maharaja to accede to India before India could send its troops. Hence, considering the emergency, 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. These events triggered the first Indo-Pakistan War.

Pressure from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel eventually compelled 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. Karan Singh was appointed ‘Sadr-e-Riyasat’ (‘Head of State’) in 1952 and Governor of the State in 1964. Abdullah would later be dismissed from his position as prime minister of Kashmir and jailed by Karan Singh.

Sir Pratap Singh

Sir Pratap Singh GCSI GCIE GBE (18 July 1848 – 23 September 1925) was the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, and head of the Jamwal Rajput clan.
He was succeeded as Maharaja by his nephew, Hari Singh, in 1925.

Succession

Jammu and Kashmir was a self-governing salute state, outside British India, but in a subsidiary alliance with it.

In the years before 1885, the British Governor-General of India was represented in Kashmir by an Officer-on-Special-Duty, who had only limited functions. The Government of British India made many attempts in the days of Ranbir Singh to raise the status of this Officer to that of a fully-fledged Political Resident. It was concerned that having no Resident gave the Maharaja a free hand in his dealings with states outside India, in particular Russia. However, these were successfully resisted.

In 1882, and again in 1884, Ranbir Singh asked the British to nominate his younger son, Amar Singh, as his successor, stating that Amar was wiser than his brothers Pratap and Ram Singh. However, the Governor-General, Lord Ripon, decided that Pratap Singh would succeed his father, and that a Resident would be appointed. Ranbir died on 12 September 1885, and the next day the Officer-on-Special Duty, Oliver St John, announced that Pratap was recognized as ruler and that at the same time he was himself promoted to Resident. Pratap appealed to the new Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, against this promotion, which he said would lower his own status. Dufferin rejected the appeal, while assuring Pratap that as Resident St John would not interfere improperly with his administration and would offer friendly advice. Ultimately, Pratap accepted what had happened.

Pratap Singh’s reign

In 1887, an early action of Pratap Singh’s State Government was to implement the first land settlement, with the rights of the farmers being clearly defined, and the state’s demand fixed for ten years. In Kashmir, peasants were forced to engage in “Begar”, an objectionable form of forced labour. As part of veth, the peasants and low-caste people were forced to supply water to the ruler’s family; construct buildings, roads, and dams; and carry dead and wounded soldiers. It was abolished by the Maharaja. In 1894, the Maharaja granted full propriety rights over wastelands in favour of Dogra Rajputs on moderate terms including absolute exemption from Begar.

In 1889, the British deposed Pratap Singh as ruler, accusing him of misgovernment, disloyal dealings with the Russian Empire, and a plot to murder his brothers and the British Resident. However, this was contrary to the Treaty of Amritsar of 1846, and the outcome of it was that Pratap was reinstated, but a new ruling council was forced on him, which included his brother Amar Singh working under the supervision of the British Resident.
The Jhelum at Baramulla in the 1880s

In 1889, a major step of improvement was taken when the Jhelum Valley Cart Road, from Kohala to Baramulla, “the most wonderful mountain road in the world”, was completed, and a new Kohala Bridge the next year. In 1897 this road was extended to Srinagar. During the reign of Pratap Singh, many other new roads were built in the state, including those from Srinagar to Gilgit in Baltistan and Leh in Ladakh. The impact on the lives of the people of the state was enormous, as before Pratap Singh’s time there had not been a single wheeled conveyance which could travel from one place to another, not even a hand-cart. Consequently, the Jhelum River was important for transportation. By the time the reign of Pratap came to a close, motor cars had become a major means of travel.

Besides construction of roads, several efforts were made to link the Kashmir Valley with the Indian railway system, but progress was slow, owing to the high costs. Projects to build forty-six miles of light railway from Jammu to Srinagar, and a seventy-nine-mile long mono-steel-cableway from Jammu to Doru Shahabad, did not come to fruition. However, in 1890 the Jammu–Sialkot line was built from Jammu to Sialkot in the Punjab Province of British India, becoming the first railway in Jammu and Kashmir.
Maharaja Pratap Singh, about 1890

In 1894, widespread vaccination was introduced to prevent smallpox, which before that had taken a heavy toll of life in the valley. Modern water works were also established at Jammu and Srinagar. The Church Missionary Society, which had been set up in Kashmir in the time of Maharaja Ranbir Singh, also contributed much to the promotion of public health and education. It opened its own schools and hospitals in the valley and ran them on modern lines.

In 1898, Pratap allowed for the construction of the Shri Pratap Singh Museum in Srinagar. By 1912 practically every tehsil and district was settled either for the first time or in revision. The share of the state was fixed at 30 per cent of the gross produce, and the revenue was to be collected in cash. The land settlement gave much needed security to the cultivators and became responsible for their increasing prosperity. The revenues of the state also increased, as a result.

A model agricultural farm was set up at Srinagar for the spread of knowledge about the scientific methods of cultivation. Establishment of the Department of Agriculture and the introduction of Cooperative Societies were the other measures taken up to further improve the lot of the cultivators. By 1929, the number of Cooperative Credit Societies in the state alone rose to about 1100 with a membership of 27,500.

Till the accession of Pratap Singh, practically nothing had been done to exploit the forests of Jammu and Kashmir on scientific lines. In 1891, the subsidiary princely state established the Forest Department which soon began to give a very good account of itself. Its surplus revenue for the first year was about a quarter million of rupees. The same rose to about two million for the year 1921–22 and to a record figure of about five million for the year 1929–30.

Efforts were made to popularise education. In pursuance of the suggestions made in the report of 1916, many changes were made in the system of education. A number of new schools for both boys and girls were also opened. The imparting of education in the primary schools was made free. Several measures were taken for the education of the poor populace of the Muslim community. Grants were provided for the training of unqualified teachers at the Training College and schools at Lahore.

One degree college at each capital, that is, Prince of Wales College, Jammu, established in 1907, Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, established in 1905, the Amar Singh Technical Institute, Srinagar (1914), and the Sri Pratap Technical School, Jammu (1924), were maintained to meet the demands for higher education. By 1938, Sri Pratap College, with 1187 students on its rolls, was the second largest college affiliated to the University of the Punjab.

Modern hospitals for both males and females were also established at Srinagar and Jammu. In other towns and important villages, medical dispensaries under the charge of qualified doctors were opened. These establishments went a long way in improving the health of the people.

A great spill channel was constructed in 1904 to divert the flood waters of the Jhelum River. It was followed by the construction of smaller channels and several irrigation canals in both the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. The longest and most important of these was the Ranbir Canal in Jammu with a total length of 251 miles including that of its tributaries. It was fully completed in 1911 at the cost of Rs. 3,536,714. This Canal also helped in propelling the turbines of the Jammu hydro-electric installation. Besides, 250 tanks were constructed in the Kandi areas of Jammu with a view to removing the great distress of the residents of these arid tracks. The power obtained from the hydro-electric works established at Mohara in 1907 was used not only for lighting and industrial purposes but also for dredging operations which were carried out in the Jhelum below Baramulla to remove silt and boulders.

Besides, agriculture, sericulture, viticulture and horticulture were given great encouragement, and these made much progress going onto become flourishing state industries. A silk factory set up at Srinagar attained the distinction of being “the largest of its kind in the world”. To feed it with the best quality of cocoons, worms were imported from Italy and France.

A beginning was made in local self-government by establishing municipalities at Jammu, Srinagar, Sopore and Baramulla. These organisations did a lot towards improving the local sanitary conditions. From 1919 the State Forest Department undertook to supply firewood to the city people at fixed rates to alleviate the fuel crisis of the Srinagar residents. Many oppressive taxes, including the Muslims Marriage Tax, were abolished. Certain State Monopolies such as the shawl industry were also done away with.
Pratap with the Prince of Wales, 1922

The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was granted new imperial honours as a result of the meritorious services of Dogra soldiers during the First World War. In 1921 he was also upgraded to a permanent and hereditary 21-gun salute, from a 19-gun salute.

In 1922, another great highway, the Banihal Cart Road, which connected Srinagar, the summer capital, with Jammu, the winter capital of the state, was completed and opened.

Pratap Singh left no surviving children of his own when he died during a stay at Mirpur on 23 September 1925, and he was succeeded by his nephew Hari Singh, son of Raja Amar Singh.

Ranbir Singh

Ranbir Singh GCIE (August 1830 – 12 September 1885) was Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir from 1856 until his death in 1885.

Ranbir Singh was the third son of Gulab Singh, the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Ranbir Singh ascended the throne in 1856 after Gulab Singh’s abdication due to his poor health. Unlike European women and children, Indian mutineers were not allowed to take refuge in his state. He also sent his troops to help the British to besiege Delhi. He was subsequently rewarded for his behaviour during the mutiny. He went on to annex Gilgit which had previously witnessed a rebellion against the state. The princely states of Hunza and Nagar started paying tributes to Jammu and Kashmir during his reign. He also established a modern judicial system. Civil and criminal laws were compiled into the Ranbir Penal Code during his reign. Ranbir Singh was a scholar of Sanskrit and Persian languages and had many books translated.

Early life

Ranbir Singh was born at Ramgarh, Jammu and Kashmir in August 1830. He was the third son of Maharaja Gulab Singh. His mother Rakwal Maharani was the first wife of Gulab Singh. Ranbir Singh was adopted by Raja Suchet Singh, his childless uncle, and inherited all his jagirs upon his death in 1844.

Reign

Ranbir Singh’s father Maharaja Gulab Singh suffered from edema. With his health deteriorating, he decided to abdicate in early 1856. Subsequently, Ranbir Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir on 20 February 1856. Gulab Singh was appointed governor of Kashmir.

Sepoy Mutiny

In 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny, an uprising against the British rule broke mainly in present-day Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Under the leadership of Ranbir and Gulab Singh, the state allied with the British. They sent money to the British troops stationed at Punjab. The mutineers were not allowed to take asylum in the state, which bordered the then British India. British women and children took refuge in the Kashmir valley. After the death of Gulab Singh, Ranbir Singh sent a battalion of Jammu and Kashmiri soldiers to help the British to besiege Delhi. He was subsequently rewarded for his loyalty to the British. The Treaty of Amritsar was amended in 1860 and a new provision was inserted which allowed a Dogra ruler to adopt a child from a collateral branch of the family. Previously, according to the treaty, the state would have been annexed by the British if a ruler did not have a natural heir. He was also rewarded with the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1862. His gun salute was increased from 19 to 21 guns.

Annexation of Gilgit

During the final years of Gulab Singh’s reign, a rebellion in Gilgit caused heavy casualties to the Dogra troops. In 1860, Ranbir Singh sent his army under the leadership of Colonel Devi Singh Narania, Colonel Bijai Singh and General Hoshiara Singh to Gilgit. They successfully recaptured Gilgit. By the end of 1870, the states of Hunza and Nagar started paying tributes to Jammu and Kashmir. In return, they received an annual subsidy.

Reforms

Ranbir Singh established a modern judicial system. Civil and criminal laws were written and consolidated into the Ranbir Penal Code which were followed in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir. Now it has been removed as the Parliament of India has passed the bill to scrap provisions of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution on 5 August 2019. The judicial system was handed over to the executive officers. Separate prisons were built for political prisoners. Ranbir Singh organized two durbars in a day in which he heard petitions.

Ranbir Singh founded separate departments for foreign affairs, home affairs, civil affairs and army. He founded a silk factory in the state. He also promoted its trade. The shawl industry flourished during his reign which provided employment and a minimum income to his subjects.

Opposition to a Resident

As per the Treaty of Amritsar, there was no provision for the appointment of a Resident in the state. With the appointment of an Officer-on-Special-Duty in 1851, the idea of appointing a Resident started dominating amongst the British government. In 1873, The Lord Northbrook, the then Governor-General of India wrote to Ranbir Singh about a proposal to appoint a British Resident in Kashmir. However, Singh rejected such a proposal. He submitted a memorandum and reminded the services of Gulab Singh to the British. He also reminded the British that unlike most of the monarchs of princely states, he refused to take any jagir as a gift in lieu of his services during the Sepoy Mutiny.
Memorial shrines at Jammu for Gulab Singh and Ranbir Singh, about 1910

In 1882, Ranbir Singh wrote to the British government and requested them to nominate his younger son Amar Singh as his successor. He felt that Amar Singh was more wise than his siblings – Pratap Singh and Ram Singh. On 12 September 1885, Ranbir Singh died. Governor-general The Lord Ripon announced that Pratap Singh would succeed him. In return, Pratap Singh yielded to the British demand of appointing a Resident.

Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal

Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in the First Anglo-Sikh War. During the war, Gulab Singh stayed aloof which helped the British victory,[3] and even became prime minister of the Sikh Empire for the final 38 days of conflict. The Treaty of Amritsar (1846) formalised the sale by the British to Gulab Singh for 7,500,000 Nanakshahee Rupees of all the lands in Kashmir that were ceded to them by the Sikhs by the Treaty of Lahore.

Early life

Gulab Singh was born on 17 October 1792 in a Hindu Dogra Rajput family. His father was Kishore Singh Jamwal. He joined the army of Ranjit Singh in 1809 and was sufficiently successful to earn a jagir worth 12,000 rupees and also 90 horses.

In 1808, following the Battle of Jammu, the kingdom was annexed by Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh appointed a governor to administer the newly conquered area which was expanded in 1819 with the annexation of Kashmir by a Sikh force. In 1820, in appreciation of services rendered by his family and Gulab Singh in particular, Ranjit Singh bestowed the Jammu region as a hereditary fief upon Kishore Singh. Apart from their sterling services, the family’s intimate association with the region commended Kishore Singh’s candidature to the Lahore court.

In 1821, Gulab Singh captured conquered Rajouri from Aghar Khan and Kishtwar from Raja Tegh Mohammad Singh (alias Saifullah Khan). That same year, Gulab Singh took part in the Sikh conquest of Dera Ghazi Khan. He also captured and executed his own clansman, Mian Dido Jamwal, who had been leading a rebellion against the Sikhs.

Raja of Jammu

Kishore Singh died in 1822 and Gulab Singh was confirmed as Raja of Jammu by his suzerain, Ranjit Singh.[1] Shortly afterward, Gulab Singh secured a formal declaration of renunciation from his kinsman, the deposed Raja Jit Singh.

As Raja (Governor-General/Chief) of Jammu, Gulab Singh was one of the most powerful chiefs of the Sikh Empire. Under the Imperial and Feudal Army arrangement, he was entitled to keep a personal army of 3 Infantry Regiments, 15 Light Artillery Guns and 40 Garrison Guns.

In 1824 Gulab Singh captured the fort of Samartah, near the holy Mansar Lake. In 1827 he accompanied the Sikh Commander-in-Chief Hari Singh Nalwa, who fought and defeated a horde of Afghan rebels led by Sayyid Ahmed at the Battle of Shaidu. Between 1831 and 1839 Ranjit Singh bestowed on Gulab Singh the jagir of the salt mines in northern Punjab,[1] and the nearby Punjabi towns like Bhera, Jhelum, Rohtas, and Gujrat.

1837 Poonch Revolt In 1837, after the death of Hari Singh Nalwa in the Battle of Jamrud, the Muslim tribes of Sudhan, Tanolis, Karrals, Dhunds, Sattis and Maldayal rose in revolt in Hazara and Poonch. The insurgency of Poonch was led by Shams Khan, a Chief of the Sudhan tribe[9][10] and former confidential follower of Raja Dhyan Singh.[10] Thus the betrayal of Shams Khan Sudhan against the regime was taken personally and Gulab Singh was given the task of crushing the rebellion. After defeating the insurgents in Hazara and Murree hills, Gulab Singh stayed at Kahuta for some time and promoted disunion among the insurgents. Then his forces were sent to crush the insurgents. Eventually, Shams Khan Sudhan and his nephew Raj Wali Khan were betrayed and their heads were cut off during their sleep while the lieutenants were captured, flayed alive and put to death with cruelty. The contemporary British commentators state that the local population suffered immensely.

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