Hari Singh

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Maharaja Hari Singh GCSI GCIE GCVO

(September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was
the last ruling Maharaja of the princely
state of Jammu and Kashmir in India.
 Hari Singh

Hari Singh in 1931

Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Reign 23 September 1925 —
June 1949

Predecessor Pratap Singh

Successor Karan Singh (Prince

Regent)

Born 23 September 1895

Jammu, Jammu and
Kashmir, British India
 (present-day Jammu
and Kashmir, India)

Died 26 April 1961 (aged

65)
Bombay, Maharashtra,
India (present-day
Mumbai)

Spouse Maharani Tara Devi

(4th Wife)

Issue Karan Singh

House Dogra

Father Raja Amar Singh

Mother Rani Bhotiali Chib

Religion Hinduism[1]

Early life
Hari Singh in 1920

Hari Singh was born on 23 September

1895 at the palace of Amar Mahal,
Jammu, the only surviving son of Raja
Amar Singh Jamwal,[2] the brother of
Maharaja Pratap Singh, the then
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. Since
the Maharaja had no issue, Hari Singh
was heir to the throne of Jammu and
Kashmir.
In 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of
honour to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi
Durbar. At the age of thirteen, he was
sent to the Mayo College in Ajmer. A year
later, in 1909, his father died, and the
British took a keen interest in his
education and appointed Major H. K. Brar
as his guardian. After Mayo College, Hari
Singh went to the British-run Imperial
Cadet Corps at Dehra Dun for military
training.

Maharaja Pratap Singh appointed him as

the commander-in-chief of the State
Forces in 1915.[3]

Personal life
The "youthful escapades" of Hari Singh
included paying £300,000 for blackmail
by a prostitute in Paris in 1921. That
issue had resulted in a court case in
London in 1924 during which the India
Office tried to keep his name out of
proceedings by arranging for him to be
referred to as "Mr A."[3]

Singh was known as a lavish spender of

money. The funeral of his uncle and
former ruler Partap Singh is believed to
have expended much gold and jewellery
in the funeral pyre.[4]

Hari Singh's married life is dark. He

married four times as his first wives
failed to produce heirs. Each of them
died within a few years of childlessness
allowing Hari Singh to immediately take a
new bride. His last wife, Tara Devi Sahiba
of Kangra, produced a son.[4]

Reign

Detail of the Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh as printed

on the Civil List of his government

Following the death of his uncle Pratap

Singh in 1925, Hari Singh ascended the
throne of Jammu and Kashmir. He made
primary education compulsory in the
state, introduced laws prohibiting child
marriage, and opened places of worship
to the low castes.[5]

The Seal of Maharaja Hari Singh had a

Crown at the top. A katar or ceremonial
dagger sat below the crown. Two
soldiers held flags. An image of the sun
was between them, that symbolised his
Rajput lineage from Lord Surya, the
Hindu Sun God.

Hari Singh was believed to have been

hostile towards the Indian National
Congress, in part because of the close
friendship between Kashmiri political
activist and socialist Sheikh Abdullah
and the Congress leader Jawaharlal
Nehru. He also opposed the Muslim
League and its members' communalist
outlook, as represented by their two-
nation theory.

Partition and accession

The last Maharaja of Kashmir

In 1947, after India gained independence

from British rule, Jammu and Kashmir
could have joined India, joined Pakistan,
or remained independent. Hari Singh
originally manoeuvred to maintain his
independence by playing off India and
Pakistan. There was a widespread belief
that rulers of the princely states, in
deciding to accede to India or Pakistan,
should respect the wishes of the
population, but few rulers took any steps
to consult on such decisions. Jammu
and Kashmir was a Muslim majority
state, however Hari Singh, being a Hindu
wanted Kashmir to be a part of India. On
this, Pashtun Tribesman from Pakistan
invaded Kashmir and defeated Hari
Singh's forces. Hari Singh appealed to
India for help.[6] Although the Indian
Prime Minister Nehru was ready to send
troops, the Governor-General of India,
Lord Mountbatten of Burma, advised the
Maharaja to accede to India before India
could send its troops. Hence, considering
the emergency situation, the Maharaja
signed an unconditional and irrevocable
Instrument of Accession to the Dominion
of India.[7]

Hari Singh 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.[8][9]
These events triggered the first Indo-
Pakistan War.

Pressure from Nehru and Sardar Patel

eventually compelled Hari Singh to
appoint his son and heir, Yuvraj (crown
prince) Karan Singh, as Regent of Jammu
and Kashmir in 1949, although he
remained titular Maharaja of the state
until 1952, when the monarchy was
abolished. 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 Jawaharlal Nehru
and Abdullah.[10] Karan Singh was
appointed 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' ('Head of
State') in 1952 and Governor of the State
in 1964.[10] Abdullah would later be
dismissed from his position as prime
minister of Kashmir and jailed by Karan
Singh, son of Hari Singh.[11]

Hari Singh spent his final days in

Bombay. He died on 26 April 1961. As
per his will, his ashes were brought to
Jammu and spread all over Jammu and
Kashmir and immersed in the Tawi River
at Jammu.[12]

Family
He was married four times. With his
fourth wife, Maharani Tara Devi (1910–
1967), he had one son, Yuvraj (crown
prince) Karan Singh.[13]

Spouses
1. Dharampur Rani Sri Lal Kunverba
Sahiba; married at Rajkot 7 May
1913, died during pregnancy in
1915. No child.
2. Rani Sahiba; married at Chamba 8
November 1915, died 31 January
1920. No child.
3. Maharani Dhanvant Kunveri Baiji
Sahiba (1910–19?); married at
Dharampur 30 April 1923. No child.
4. Maharani Tara Devi Sahiba of
Kangra,(1910–1967); married 1928,
separated 1950, one son:
 Issue: Yuvraj (crown prince), i.e., heir-
apparent Karan Singh (born 9 March
1931)

Honours

Titles of Maharaga Hari Singh and Yuvraj Karan

Singh on the first page of his Civil List of 1945

(ribbon bar, as it would look today;

incomplete)
Delhi Durbar Medal-1903
Delhi Durbar Medal-1911
Prince of Wales Visit Medal-1922
Knight Grand Commander of the Order
of the Indian Empire (GCIE)-1929
(KCIE-1918)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
of Italy-1930
Knight Grand Commander of the Order
of the Star of India (GCSI)-1933
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal-
1935
King George VI Coronation Medal-1937
Hon. LL.D from Punjab University-1938
Grand Officer of the Legion d'Honneur-
1938
1939-1945 Star-1945
Africa Star-1945
War Medal 1939-1945-1945
India Service Medal-1945
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal
Victorian Order (GCVO)-1946 (KCVO-
1922)
Indian Independence Medal-1947
 Hari Singh
Dogra dynasty
Born: 23 September 1895  Died: 26

Regnal titles

Preceded by
Pratap Singh Maharaja of Jammu
S
(as Maharaja of and Kashmir
Jammu and 1925–1952
Kashmir)

References
1. Mridu Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim
Subjects 2004.
2. General Sir Raja Amar Singh Jamwal:
14 January 1865 – 26 March 1909
3. Snedden, Christopher (2015).
Understanding Kashmir and
Kashmiris . Oxford University Press.
p. 128. ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7.
4. Kashmir’s Last Maharaja , Kashmir
Life, 2 May 2011.
5. Anand, Ragubhir Lal (1 February
2014). IS God DEAD????? . Partridge
Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-48281-
823-9.
6. Maharaja Hari Singh's Letter to
Mountbatten
7. Ramachandra., Guha, (1 January
2008). India after Gandhi : the history
of the world's largest democracy .
 Harper Perennial. ISBN 0060958588.
OCLC 474262656 .
8. Justice A. S. Anand, The Constitution
of Jammu & Kashmir (5th edition,
2006), page 67
9. Kashmir, Research Paper 04/28 by
Paul Bowers, House of Commons
Library, United Kingdom. Archived
28 July 2004 at the Wayback
Machine, page 46, 30 March 2004
10. Ramachandra., Guha, (1 January
2008). India after Gandhi : the history
of the world's largest democracy .
Harper Perennial. p. 92.
ISBN 0060958588.
OCLC 474262656 .
11. Ramachandra., Guha, (1 January
2008). India after Gandhi : the history
of the world's largest democracy .
Harper Perennial. p. 262.
ISBN 0060958588.
OCLC 474262656 .
12. Dynasty clash in Kashmir: Hari
Singh's grandson Ajatshatru
challenges Abdullahs , The
Economic Times, 14 March 2013.
13. Mufti, Kashmir in Sickness and in
Health 2013, p. 157.

Bibliography
Rai, Mridu (2004), Hindu Rulers, Muslim
Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History
 of Kashmir, C. Hurst & Co,
ISBN 1850656614
Mufti, Gulzar (2013), Kashmir in
Sickness and in Health , Partridge
Publishing India, ISBN 978-1-4828-
0998-5

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Hari Singh.

Proclamation of 1 May 1951 on

Jammu & Kashmir Constituent
Assembly by Yuvraj (Crown Prince)
Karan Singh (Son of Maharajah Hari
Singh) from the Official website of
Government of Jammu and Kashmir,
India
Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet
Resources by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley, USA; University of
California at Berkeley Library
Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies
list
V Sundaram. "Salutations to Guruji
Golwalkar – IV" . Archived from the
original on 4 December 2008. The role
of Shri Guruji Golwalkar
(Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh – RSS)
 Nehru, Abdullah betrayed Maharaja
Hari Singh

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