Jamwal

Jamwal is a suryavanshi Rajput clan in Jammu and Kashmir that claims solar origin by direct descent from Sri Rama Chandra. Jamwal traditions state that their ancestor, Raja Agnigarba, came to Ayodhya and founded a small state on the banks of River Tawi. A few generations later, Raja Jambu Lochin founded the city and state of Jammu. In Rajputana their closest cousins are Kachwaha Rajputs of Jaipur.

The Dogra Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir belong to this clan. Minhas or Manhas and Thakial Rajputs are also an offshoot of this clan. It is said that one Raja Malan Hans took up agriculture and left the throne to his younger brother, Raja Suraj Hans. Since that time Rajputs who took up agriculture are styled Minhas, whereas the name 'Jamwal' is confined to the royal branch.

History

Ancient history

The history of the Jamwals dates back to the Ramayana period. They trace their ancestry to the Ikshvaku (Solar) Dynasty of Northern India (the same clan in which Lord Rama was born; therefore, he is the 'kuldevta' – family deity – of the Dogras). A Raghuvanshi descendant, 'Agnigarba', who was living as a recluse, came to Nagarkote (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh), in the Shivalik hills. When the Raja of Kangra came to know about this person's ancestry, he offered him the hand of his daughter and a part of kingdom. At the time, the river Ravi was then the boundary of Nagarkote. Agnigarba crossed it and captured some villages in the Kathua area and declared himself as sovereign king.

After his death, his son Bayusharva (1530–1500 BC) married the princess of Parole (Kathua), Erwan, who died young. The Raja founded a city after her which is still found near Parole, though now a small village, and at the 'Samadhi' of the queen, a 'Mela' (fair) is held at every 'Baisakhi' (13th or 14th of April) every year. Bayusharva extended the boundaries up to the river Ujh. Bayusharva's great grandson, Bahulochan, was enthroned after his death. He migrated from Erwan and built his fort on the banks of river Tawi. When Bahulochan died in a bloody battle with Chadaras, the Raja of Sialkot (Shayalkot) and his younger brother Jambulochan (1320–1290 BC) ascended the throne. In those days the area beyond Tawi (the present city of Jammu) was used for hunting. Tradition has it that one day Jambulochan came to this area and while he was sitting behind a bush to ambush some bird or animal, he saw a lion (a tiger in some accounts) and a goat drinking water from the same pond. This peaceful coexistence encouraged him to found the city of Jammu, which some say is named after him. One of his descendants, Raja Shaktikaran (1200–1177 BC) introduced the Dogri script. Another of his descendants, Jasdev, founded the city of Jasrota on the bank of river Ujh, and another Raja, Karan Dev, built a fort on the banks of the river Basantar.

In the early centuries of the first millennium the area came under the sway of the Indo-Greeks, with their capital at Sakala (Sialkot).

British India

Among the enlightened rulers of Jammu was Raja Ranjit Dev, (1728–1780) who introduced certain social reforms such as a ban on 'Sati' (immolation of the wife on the pyre of the husband) and female infanticide. Later, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the state became part of the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab region. Ranjit Singh rendered this state to his general, Maharaja Gulab Singh, who belonged to the Jamwal Rajput clan that ruled Jammu. He extended the boundaries of Jammu to western Tibet with the help of General Zorawar Singh, who has been referred to by British historians as the 'Napoleon of India'. Dogra rule extended beyond the Jammu region and the Kashmir Valley to the Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh and the Emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar. After the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, Jammu again became an independent Rajput kingdom under Maharaja Gulab Singh, as per the treaties signed between the British and the Sikhs. Pratap Singh, enthroned in 1855, saw the construction of Banihal Cart Road (B.C. Road) mainly to facilitate telegraph services.

Modern history

The last ruler of J&K was Maharaja Hari Singh, who ascended the throne in 1925. He made primary education compulsory in the state, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage and threw open places of worship for the low castes. His reign saw the accession of Jammu & Kashmir to the newly independent Indian Union in 1947. Although he originally manoeuvred to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan against each other, Maharaja Hari Singh, the last king of the Rajput kingdom of Jammu & Kashmir, ceded his kingdom to the Indian Union in 1947. This was after Pakistan's founder and Governor-General, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, frustrated by his failure to merge his kingdom into Pakistan, incited armed Pashtuns from the neighbouring North West Frontier Province to invade the kingdom in an attempt to seize it. This invasion by Pakistani tribals and the consequent accession to India sparked the First Indo-Pakistan War. In 1951 Maharaja Hari Singh's rule was terminated by the assembly and his son Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh was made 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' ('President of the Province') and Governor of the State in 1964.

Notable Jamwals

*Brig Rajinder Singh, MVC was BGS of J&K state forces in 1947, and is renowned as the "saviour of Kashmir". An auditorium in Jammu university is also named after him.