page_title: Dogra dynasty
section_title: The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
hierarchical_section_title: Dogra dynasty / The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
caption_attribution_description: English: Sir Hari Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.
context_page_description: The Dogra dynasty was a Dogra Hindu dynasty that formed the royal house of Jammu and Kashmir.
  The founder of the dynasty, Gulab Singh, was an influential noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore, while his brother Dhian Singh served as the prime minister of the Sikh empire. Appointed by Ranjit Singh as the hereditary Raja of the Jammu principality, Gulab Singh established his supremacy over all the hill states surrounding the Kashmir Valley. After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, under the terms of the Treaty of Lahore, 1846, the British Indian government acquired Kashmir from the Sikh Empire and transferred it to Gulab Singh, recognising him as an independent Maharaja. Thus Jammu and Kashmir was established as one of the largest princely states in British India, receiving a 21-gun salute for its Maharaja in 1921. It was ruled by Gulab Singh and his descendants till 1947.
  The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was Hari Singh, who contributed troops to the British war effort in World War II and served on Churchill's Imperial War Cabinet.
context_section_description: The last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir 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. Hari Singh was as a member of Churchill's British War Cabinet in WWII, and supplied troops for the Allies.
  Singh's reign saw the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the newly independent Indian Union in 1947. He originally manoeuvered to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan against each other. There was an armed movement against the Maharaja's rule especially in the Poonch district of Jammu, when his troops were unable to control these fighters and his troops retreated to Jammu, in October 1947, Singh appealed to India for its help. He acceded to India, though there is considerable controversy over exactly at what point, and whether or not his accession included the sovereignty of the state.
  In June 1952, Singh's rule was terminated by the state government of Indian-administered Kashmir. His son Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh too abdicated and was elected Sadr-e-Riyasat ('President of the Province') and Governor of the State in 1964.
caption: Maharaja Hari Singh, the last monarch from the Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir.
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