Hari Singh

07 June, 2008 12:20:00

Font size:

Hari Singh

Hari Singh was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. He married Maharani Tara Devi (1910-1967), his fourth wife as his first three wives had died young, and had one son, Karan Singh.

Early life

Hari Singh was born on 30 September 1895 at the palace of Amar Mahal, Jammu, the only surviving son of General Raja Sir Amar Singh (14 January 1864-26 March 1909), the younger son of General Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Ranbir Singh and the brother of Lieutenant-General Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Pratap Singh, the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

Education and preparation for the throne

In 1903, Hari Singh served as a Page of Honour to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar. At the age of 13, Hari Singh was dispatched to Mayo College in Ajmer. A year later in 1909, when his father died, the British took a personal interest in his education and appointed Major H.K. Brar as his guardian. After Mayo College the ruler-in-waiting went to the Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehra Dun for military training, imbibing its British upper-crust atmosphere and polishing his English to a high gloss, and by the age of 20 he had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Jammu and Kashmri state forces, which had a solid Hindu majority.

Singh's reign

Following the death of his uncle, Sir Pratap Singh, in 1925, Sir Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir. He made primary education compulsory in the State, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage and threw open places of worship for the low castes.Singh was hostile towards the Indian National Congress, in part because of the close friendship between Kashmiri political activist and socialist Sheikh Abdullah and Nehru. He also opposed the Muslim League and its members' communalist outlook illustrated in their two-nation theory. During the Second World War, from 1944-1946 Sir Hari Singh was a member of the Imperial War Cabinet.In 1947, Singh chose to accede his kingdom to India, although a majority of the kingdom's population was Muslim. Pakistan and India have since fought several wars over possession of the region and of the state. He originally manoeuvered to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan against each other. However, following an incursion by tribesmen from Pakistan in October 1947, Singh appealed to India for its help. He then acceded to India, though there is considerable controversy over exactly at what point.These events triggered the first Indo-Pakistan War. Singh retreated to Jammu and eventually left the state, dying on 26 April 1961 in Bombay after a reign of 35 years, aged 66.In 1951 Singh's rule was terminated by the state government of Indian-administered Kashmir. His son Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh was made 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' ('President of the Province') and Governor of the State in 1964.