{"product_id":"a-modern-history-of-jammu-and-kashmir-volume-one-the-troubled-years-of-maharaja-hari-singh-1925-1949-9789354474842","title":"A Modern History of Jammu and Kashmir, Volume One the Troubled Years of Maharaja Hari Singh (1925-1949)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe modern history of Jammu and Kashmir is often focused mainly on the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKashmir valley, leaving out the other regions that make up the bulk of the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eerstwhile Princely State. A similar limitation marks most discussions of the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erule of the fourth-generation Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHari Singh. After his inheritance of the throne in 1925, Hari Singh introduced\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea number of progressive reforms-among them, programmes for girl\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeducation, opening temple doors for Dalits and abolishing the exploitative\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebegar system of labour. However, contemporary historians look past these\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ereforms and focus only on the issue of the accession of the State to India.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt a time when the entire subcontinent was reeling from the shock and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eviolence of Partition, the Maharaja had to decide which dominion-India or\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePakistan-the State would join. How was he to choose where to put his trust, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eespecially after Pakistan-backed Pashtun tribals invaded the State and India\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erefused to offer military help? Was any decision possible that would appease\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eall-the Muslim majority of Kashmir, the Hindu majority of Jammu and the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuddhist majority of Ladakh?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThose tumultuous times took a toll on Hari Singh during the final years of his\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ereign. Accession to India was not as easy as he had hoped, and pressurised by\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNehru and Sardar Patel, the Maharaja was forced to choose exile in 1949 and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003espent the rest of his days in Bombay.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHarbans Singh's A Modern History of Jammu and Kashmir, Volume One: The Troubled\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYears of Maharaja Hari Singh (1925-1949) offers a more rounded history of the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eState than most available scholarship. The first volume in a trilogy, this book\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eoffers a strong and nuanced defence of the last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand is a valuable document in understanding its evolving history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Speaking Tiger Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/20\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9789354474842\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 426\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.18lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.95d","brand":"Harbans Singh","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52507612086453,"sku":"9789354474842","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_0d47cf11-23bf-4fac-8670-c095bec2ddd5.jpg?v=1778566126","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/a-modern-history-of-jammu-and-kashmir-volume-one-the-troubled-years-of-maharaja-hari-singh-1925-1949-9789354474842","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}