Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal 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.
14 Facts About Gulab Singh
2.
Gulab Singh joined the army of Ranjit Singh in 1809 and was sufficiently successful to earn a jagir worth 12,000 rupees and 90 horses.
3.
Ranjit Gulab Singh appointed a governor to administer the newly conquered area which was expanded in 1819 with the annexation of Kashmir by a Sikh force.
4.
In 1821, Gulab Singh captured conquered Rajouri from Aghar Khan and Kishtwar from Raja Tegh Mohammad Singh.
5.
That same year, Gulab Singh took part in the Sikh conquest of Dera Ghazi Khan.
6.
Gulab Singh captured and executed his own clansman, Mian Dido Jamwal, who had been leading a rebellion against the Sikhs.
7.
Kishore Singh died in 1822 and Gulab Singh was confirmed as Raja of Jammu by his suzerain, Ranjit Singh.
8.
Shortly afterward, Gulab Singh secured a formal declaration of renunciation from his kinsman, the deposed Raja Jit Singh.
9.
In 1824 Gulab Singh captured the fort of Samartah, near the holy Mansar Lake.
10.
However, in 1840, during the funeral procession of his father Maharaja Kharak Singh, Nau Nihal Singh together with Udham Singh, son of Gulab Singh, died when an old brick gate collapsed on them.
11.
In 1844 the Lahore court commanded an invasion of Jammu to extract money from Gulab Singh, reputed to be the richest Raja north of the Sutlej River as he had taken most of the Lahore treasury.
12.
However, the Gulab Singh agreed to negotiate on his behalf with the Lahore court.
13.
Maharaja Gulab Singh died on 30 June 1857 and was succeeded by his son, Ranbir Singh.
14.
Diwan Kirpa Ram, the "Maharajah's private secretary and the son of Dewan Jwala Sahai, the Maharajah's Prime Minister", of the Diwans of Eminabad family, wrote the first biography of Gulab Singh titled Gulabnama in the 19th century in Persian.