Jammu: history
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Jammu of 1880
Sunny Dua,Jammu Of 1880 "Daily Excelsior" 31/7/2016
“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” ?
Edmund Burke
This adage has today become more or less relevant because of the fact that there’s nothing that we have left to be known as ‘History’. Out on a rampage to demolish and destroy our past, we in Jammu and Kashmir State are virtually heading towards an era where we will be soon made to repeat history as said by Burke.
Nevertheless, there still is a ray of hope in the form of some human beings whose hearts beat for this state and its lost treasure. Some private as well as government collections of art pieces, literature and pictures while are enough to take anyone down the memory lane and abreast him/her with Jammu and Kashmir State, a 1880-90 Jammu map on a piece of cloth dated AD 1880-90 and belonging to company period, Punjab, Circa housed in National Museum of India at Delhi has a lot to tell about Jammu of yesteryears.
Today when finding a solution to complex traffic, administrative and housing issues besides water scarcity; way back in 1880 Jammu City located on the bank of river Tawi had one of the finest systems of governance in place leaving little or virtually no scope for any inconvenience while dealing with such complexities. Still important was that people were living in such a composite culture that their cultural, regional or religious diversities never became any hurdle in their prosperity. And strangely this all could be found in this map of 1880.
This painted piece of cloth pasted on paper, 128X208 cm is a revenue map, an engineering drawing and a piece of art – all drawn together. The map depicts geographical features of City of Temples, its slopes, River Tawi, green forest cover, water bodies, roads, streams and all government as well as private buildings of importance thereby suggesting that the city was well located, well nurtured and very well governed to the utmost convenience and satisfaction of its subjects.
The multicoloured map also depicts localities of different traders, a well laid down sewerage system, water reservoirs and canals, bungalows and Havelis of rich and famous, pilgrim centres, army and civil areas, cantonments besides Dhakis (Slopes) and beautifully painted stairs leading to temples and Maharaja’s palaces. A visit to the Museum is must for the simple reason that one is sure to know how Jammu city existed and how much self-reliant it was during that era.
The water reservoirs which today stand converted into parks or parking spaces have not only been painted as well maintained but well laid out and evenly distributed in the city and its peripheries to cater to the needs of city people and its environment besides augmenting ground water or serving the purpose of feeding domestic animals. Ghrats (Water Mils), cleanly visible Dewan Mandir; the entrance of which is still intact on ground zero could be very well located on the map. Shop lines scattered in the city reveal how the planners were concerned about conveniences of people.
Like any medieval period map, this too is not to the scale but the map or fine piece of art definitely portrays original character of Jammu city wherein its history, structure of society, religious thrust, economy and political set up, strategic positions, important personalities besides various civic amenities have been artistically drawn and coloured.
Very important structures like Pentagonal Government Mandi, long row of shops, the Urdu Bazar, other commercial key-positions like bazaar ‘Maga’, Kanak Mandi, Mandi of firewood and timber, Purani or Old Mandi, ‘Chhapekhana’ or the printing shops, ‘Mishtri Khana’ or the market of mechanics, ‘sarain’ or the inn of Vedanti Shah have all found a place in the map which has also been labelled in Urdu.
Though, a few aged persons would be able to connect people of Jammu and Kashmir to that Jammu of 1880 through this very important map, yet for majority of next generation boys and girls this could be nothing but a piece of art. It is said that a picture says a thousand words and this perhaps holds true for this map which is housed in National Museum and has houses and bungalows of Jammu’s elite marked and drawn in most beautiful manner. The owners of Havelis like Virji, Miyan Jagat Singh, Badri Nath, Miyan Manjit Singh, Sardar Itar Singh, Pandit Ram Kiran, Raja Moti Singh, Mahate Sultani, Dhaki Gomtiwale etc have all been drawn and labelled in the map showing how important these people were and how they, irrespective of their caste or religion contributed in the society.
This map takes one to the 19th century Jammu wherein one could gather details about well developed trade and market system. ‘Bari Pandita’ or the enclosure of Brahmins, Mohalla of ‘Chudian’ or the ward of sweepers, locality of ‘Jogian’ again reveals that Jammu had a strong caste-based society but despite that the importance of people and societies was as important as any other. Saying that it was a well knit society wouldn’t be wrong.
It was believed that Jammu was a Hindu dominated city yet the shrine of Jay Sheikh Jahar Auliya, tomb of Miyan Sahib, Mosque, Madarsa and cemetery, the Kabristan all existed here and have also been depicted in the map which shows religions coexistence. Most interestingly, the city that remains choked with traffic had a wonderfully developed transport system and well laid network of roads and lanes. The cable bridge on river Tawi was not only centre of attraction but its brickwork and cables were not less than London Bridge which was later demolished for no reasons.
Interestingly the defence structures like Kotwali for civilian security, Maheshi Darwaza for cantonment and artillery, cantonment and artillery of Begum, cantonment of Dhyan Singh, the Prime Minister of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and Dhohal Khana or the Drum House were all there and find a mention in the map which again states that Jammu city was fortified and remained prepared for any invasion. The date of this map is believed to be sometime in between 1860 to 1870.
The massive bridge on river Tawi was named “Khata Gallat”, as per the map. A small rivulet has been marked in Urdu as “Yeh Nehar Bagh Bhulami Ko Jaati Hai’ (This river goes to Ghulami Bagh) on the map. This again signifies that water reservoirs and ponds named as Talab Rani or Talab Khatikan besides rivers and streams were very much a part of Jammu city that helped people harvest water for meeting their needs.
The map says that one of the reservoirs is attributed to Rani of Jhansi and the other to Wazir Sahib Lajiyo. People like Miyan Sahib owned private ponds for bathing his elephant. It is also said that Rani of Jhansi had also visited Jammu which is evident from the fact that the map marks a temple and a water reservoir constructed by her, obviously, in memory of her visit to the place. Rani Jhansi, it is believed had visited Jammu around 1850 seeking support for her mission against British rule.
Royal mansions like Kothi Sarkari, Royal Palace, the Mahal Sarkari and Treasury, the Toshakhana are other buildings of significance have also been marked and drawn in colours to enable one to detect the places of importance right on the map itself. Believed to be a map drawn for the reference of Maharaja, the flawless piece of art is worth a watch and if possible a copy of same must also be brought to Jammu for people’s viewing.
The map mentions that “Dhyan Singh, the Prime Minister of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is known to have shifted from Lahore to Jammu after 1849, when with his help British power was able to capture Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s part of Punjab. After Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death Dhyan Singh had betrayed all his three successors. Obviously the cantonment of Dhyan Singh, mentioned in the map, could have come into existence only after he had settled in Jammu”.
Now that this map is open for viewing, the opportunity must be seized for the reason that those who will choose to forget the past will miss out on its fullest potential. There are valuable lessons to be learned from it. However, those who will desire to ask the right questions about their past will most likely be prepared to live life to the fullest in the present.
Jammu of the fifties
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Veteran) , Jammu of the fifties "Daily Excelsior" 13/9/2015
My relationship with Jammu goes back almost 60 years. What can humans remember from the time they are aged all of three years. My family and friends laugh at my ability to recall details of my days when I was a mere infant but there is nothing I can do about that because pictures of the past are stuck firmly in the mind. Of Jammu, there are just too many.
There was no railway from Pathankot to Jammu then, in 1955-56. My earliest memory is of the journey from the Army transit camp at Pathankot with my parents, cuddled in my mother’s warm lap and seated at the back of an Army 7 ton vehicle. It was raining and the water in the numerous nalas was overflowing. Jammu was a sparsely populated city but we were headed to one of the satellite military locations at Damana where my father was being posted as Brigade Major (BM) with the famous Brigadier (later Lt Gen) Harbaksh Singh (of 1965 fame). Damana was located with the Ranbir Singh Pura canal next to it. Our house was virtually on the canal; a mud baked, thatched house with no power but a huge compound. My elder brother was admitted to the Presentation Convent. It was the best school and all fauji children studied there; admission was guaranteed. I was too small and perhaps too unintelligent to be given a chance at education. So I whiled away my time in my own world. The RS Pura canal was our home’s refrigerator because its water was ice cool at most times. My mother would put milk bottles, vegetables and even butter in a plastic cover and then place it in a jute sack (probably a sand bag) and have Inder Singh, my father’s loyal World War II buddy, tether the sack to a stump on the bank and immerse the sack into the water. The more ingenuous was my father’s technique of cooling his beer bottles,in a sack with a stone attached to it because cool water would flow at the bottom of the current in the canal. Once in a while the canal would be shut down for maintenance I suppose and those were bad days in our house because our provisions were not cool enough and my father’s weekend beer with his headquarters mates was incomplete.
How did children get transported to school in those days? The Army was poor in funds so there were no school buses authorized. The kids from Damana used to go by ‘tanga’ (the horse drawn little buggy that the new generation knows nothing about). I am not even sure what the distance was but there were about 10 kids in my brother’s tanga and Ram Singh the tanga man would tie them up because they all fell asleep while going and coming to/fro. Between Damana and Jammu was a huge khud and the tanga had to negotiate the down slope very carefully. I have tried searching for that khud or depressed road today but never succeeded. Even once in three months outings in Jammu were by tanga, with my parents. A very famous Kwality restaurant existed somewhere near Jewel theatre, I think. I recall that the best ice cream served anywhere in India could be found at Jammu Kwality; a particular ice cream called ‘My Fair Lady” was a hit with kids and adults.
The iron bridge over the Tawi River was perhaps the only connection between the segments of the city. Pedestrians were not permitted on the bridge and had to walk on a most dangerous pedestrian walkway on both sides and the path was barely 12 inches or so. I was mortally scared of this walk and clung to my mother as I saw the water of the Tawi swirling below.
It was hot as hell at Damana and there was no power. We did not even have a petromax but for my father’s homework (BMs are very busy people) there was a battery powered light; the battery was recharged every two days. We sat in the compound cooled by the evening ‘chhirkao’, or sprinkling of water on the parched earth; all seating was on ‘sarkandamundhas’. At night we had cobras that fought with each other on the tarpaulin ceiling beneath the ‘chhappar’ of the roof of our four room hut. One day a cobra fell into the room where I slept with my parents. I was petrified by snakes, then.
In 1957, my father’s tenure as Brigade Major was over but luckily his unit First Garhwalis, moved to Jammu. We had our shortest move ever, from Damana to Jammu. The GOC of the Division I learnt much later was first Maj Gen PP Kumaramangalam and then Maj Gen SHFHJ Manekshaw. I never knew that the Tiger Div was such a high profile one which produced two successive Chiefs and later a third in Gen Krishna Rao. We were now staying somewhere near the Tawi bridge and the river flowed about a kilometer away from the house. We were in luxury as the house had cement walls and asbestos roof. Evenings were spent on shikar with my father who would walk us a distance and shoot ‘Tilyar’, a delectable table bird. Shikar was not banned then and all good faujis had BSA 12 bore guns. Once in a while a picnic was organized by the unit. The most common spot was the Akhnoor bridge; the same iron bridge which was the objective of the Pakistani armour in 1965. I have been able to discover the exact spot of these picnics during visits to Akhnur in the recent past.
The Army had many sports competitions in those days and for us children there was no better occasion for entertainment and to munch some nice Army snacks besides sipping ice cold Vimto and Orangeade made by Army units. No television, no video games and no internet, we did more roaming around in the open air. In a particular event, the Division athletics (probably at the stadium of the Tiger Division), I got away from my mother’s gaze and decided to take a walk. No time and space restricted my mind so I walked and walked, past parked vehicles and troops. I was told later that I was missing for over two hours by the time I was found and restored to my mother.
Jammu being close to the border has always been vulnerable to espionage activities. I was exposed to the needs of security very early in life because every evening the night password would be conveyed by the Havaldar Major to Inder Singh in whispers and then to my father in whispers again, lest some Pakistani spy gets to know it. It fascinated me that they all spoke in hushed tones at this particular time in the evening. So I also joined in conveying things in whispers. That was the beginning of my security training.
My first ever trip to Kashmir was also undertaken at this time, probably in a JKSRTC bus and it met with an accident enroute, nothing too serious though. I distinctly remember the dripping roof of the Jawahar tunnel. Adoos was the favorite for the most delectable cold coffee and my parents could not get enough of Suffering Moses.
When it was pack up time in 1959, after almost four continuous years in the City of Temples, none of us were happy to leave. Jammu had grown on us and we had grown used to Jammu. Ram Singh’s ‘tanga’, Kwality’s ice creams, Presentation Convent’s annual days, Division sports of the Tiger Division, the RS Pura Canal (our ever present refrigerator), long journeys by bus and back of Army trucks; all this is a maze of memories which gives Jammu a special place in my heart and the head.
Bloodbath at Mirpur
C P Gupta , Bloodbath at Mirpur "Daily Excelsior" 5/3/2017
What a terrible and heart rending scene it was! which the author witnessed at the age of sixteen, when Pakistan with its fully armed Battalion, like a hungry wolf, pounced upon the innocent and unarmed population of Mirpur city now in P.O.K. when out of the total population of 25,000 souls including men, women and children of tender ages, more than 18,000 persons were brutally killed in three days Carnage on 25, 26th and 27th November, 1947.
The only fault of the people of Mirpur, was that they had unitedly vowed to protect Mirpur their birth land, from the Pakistani raiders even at the cost of their own lives.
The trouble started when on 26th October, 1947 the Maharaja Hari Singh the then Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State ,signed the Instrument of Accession after which the State of Jammu and Kashmir became an integral part of India. This could not be digested by the Pakistan Government. They planned a nefarious design in connivance with the Pathans. This led to a secret agreement between Pakistan Government and Pathan mercenaries according to which if Mirpur city was forcibly occupied, the captured women would be taken by the Pathans and the immovable land of Mirpur and movable property viz gold, cash etc. would be the share of Pakistan Government. This was named as Zan and Zar Agreement.
Before conducting the army attack, the Pakistan Government in the first week of November 1947 managed in secret manner, to send a bag of Pamphlets written in Urdu language, in the city of Mirpur , in which it was written that Pakistan Government would assign a special status to Mirpur in Pakistan Government if the citizens of Mirpur amicably surrender themselves and allow the Pakistan army to occupy the territory of Mirpur without any hindrance. The literate and the elderly persons of the city met in the evening and decided out rightly to reject the proposal of the Pakistan Government and the refusal was conveyed through the shower of bullets from each defense picket of the city. This brought a terrible attack on Mirpur from the enemy.
The small and ill equipped state Police force stationed at that time at Mirpur was fully assisted by the young civil population of the city. At the midnight of November 24, 1947, under a thick cover of artillery shelling and bursting of grenades which are normally used during an openly declared war, the Pakistan army launched a major attack on the southern side of the city, which was spiritedly resisted by the depleting garrison force for six hours. Although the pickets held tough resistance, the enemy came in wave after wave and after six hours of ceaseless fighting, the defense line of the city was run over by seven pathans. Alarmed by the most critical situation, the Flying Death Squads of the city engaged themselves madly in hand to hand fight with the infiltrators and killed all the seven pathans at the cost of life of many young men of the Mirpur community. Though the people of Mirpur displayed tremendous grit and tenacity but the end seemed gloomy and dreadful because that operation brought the city stock of ammunition to nearly zero level. Further, due to the irony of fate, the old modeled wireless set installed in the police camp at Mirpur suddenly developed some technical defect and went out of order which led to disruption in radio link with the State Police Headquarters at Jammu and Government of India. Despite war like situation created by Pakistan, the Government of India due to political rivalry between the then Prime Minister of India and the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir State, did not send army though at that time the Indian army was stationed at Jhanghar which was at a distance of only 20 miles from Mirpur.
In that critical situation, the State Administration headed by Wazir Wazarat of Mirpur decided clandestinely to retreat to Jammu leaving behind the hapless civil population of the city to face the wrath of the marauders . In fact, at that time it was the moral duty of the State Administration to ask the citizens of Mirpur to vacate the city and march towards Jammu under their protection but contrary to it, the Wazir Wazarat and his Police Officers galloped their horses and left the city in the wee hours on November 25, even leaving behind their own wounded soldiers who were crying in pain of their wounds in the Police Line Hospital. This coward departure of the State Administration from Mirpur city, gave a jubilant signal to the enemy. At that time, the whole population of the city of Mirpur felt themselves as hanging breathlessly in between the tight jaws of the enemy which was very eager to swallow the flesh and even the bones of the people of Mirpur who had refused out rightly to give shelter to the Pakistani soldiers in the city of Mirpur.
Immediately after the departure of the State Administration from the city a fully armed Battalion of the Pakistan army assisted by Pathan raiders entered the city from all the sides at the stroke of 8.30 A.M. and by creating terrible sounds from the war instruments, pushed the city population into one corner of the city. The terrified men, women and children in utter chaos and confusion in the midst of heavy firing from all the sides and in choking atmosphere due to smoke coming out of the burning houses of the city, scattered and marched in caravan in different directions without knowing where they were going. They were intercepted by the enemy at various places and like hungry wolves they unleashed terror and brutal savagery which made the whole area an open grave yard of dead bodies and many uncounted seriously wounded uncared persons were battling for life in the whirl pool of their own blood. By the time of sunset, the whole area from Mirpur city to a hill-foot was fully covered with dead bodies and critically injured persons. Ultimately, in the depleting evening, the Nature by force had to display a signal through the darkness that the grave yard was full and no more entry of any dead body was possible. That brought the temporary stay in the day atrocity.
This was not the end of the misery of the people of Mirpur. At night of the same day an ill-fated group of about 2,000 captured persons was brought at a place known as “Kas Guma” a colony of retired Muslim soldiers. The enemy encircled the captives and asked them to surrender all the cash and jewellery which they had with them. Thereafter, the male persons were asked to remove their clothes and lie down in a row. They were tortured brutally and killed in batches during the whole night. The women and girls were taken to unknown places by the Pathans as per their “Zen and Zar “Agreement with the Pakistan Government. Next day, the enemy drove another group of about 2000 persons and brought them at a village known as “Thathal”. They also met the same brutal treatment as at “Kas Guma”during the day. Finally there was a massacre at Alibeg where, about 5,000 captives were huddled up in an old deserted and unhygienic ruined Gurdwara building. In the beginning about 50 to 100 young men were daily taken on pick and choose basis to kill them in the open fields. Besides, on average basis about 15 to 20 aged captives died every day due to severe cold weather condition, starvation, illness and mental shock.
On December 1, a young Muslim Attorney named Mohammad Ibrahim being very soft in tongue and well known to many Hindu Officers of Mirpur, visited the Alibeg prison and showed his lip sympathy to the intelligentsia who were brought there as captives and also shed his crocodile tears on their pitiable condition and assured them that he would do his best to talk with the concerned authorities of the Government of Pakistan to get them employed in the factories on daily wage basis till they were at Alibeg camp as captives. He distributed Muslim caps and mufflers to some of them as a token of friendship, but those gestures were in fact subtle signals and indications to the Pakistani soldiers to kill those persons first. The next morning, the enemy soldiers drove a group of educated people of the prison on the pretext that they would be taken back in the evening with earning after utilizing their services in the factories during the day. Those wearing caps and mufflers proudly occupied the front line to get priority in getting job in the factories but they never came back as they all were slaughtered on the bank of Jhelum canal.
In the mid January, 1948 a team of ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross) arrived there and took charge of the camp and supplied the needed food and medicines to the captives. On March 18, they managed to get the captives liberated in exchange of the same number of Muslims who were in India and willing to go to Pakistan. The liberated captives, at that time, were not more than about 1600 as the rest were either killed/died or kidnapped. The liberated persons were mostly aged and even unable to walk. They reached Amritsar where they were given a tearful and touching reception by their relatives and the general public.
In the memory of Mirpur Martyrs of 1947, a Shaheedi Samark has been constructed by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir at a conspicuous place in front of the main entry gate of the Government Medical College at Mahespura Chowk Bakshinagar Jammu. The Jammu Development Authority dedicated the said Samark to Mirpur Community which was unveiled by Miss Sushma Choudhary I.A.S. the then Financial Commissioner on 25th November, 1998.The said Samark is also the starting point of “Mirpur Road” which was named so, on the same day viz 25th November, 1998 to pay tributes to the martyrs of Mirpur, under the patronage of late S. Harsajan Singh who at that time, was the Chairman of the Legislative Council of the Jammu and Kashmir State.
On 25th November every year, thousands of Mirpuris residing in Jammu city and its peripheral colonies, march in Prabhat Pheries coming from different Sectors of Jammu city and all assemble at the said MIRPUR SHAHEEDI SMARAK to pay jointly, the rich tributes to the Martyrs of Mirpur who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their mother land as a result of which the Jammu and Kashmir State remained an integral part of India.
(The author is retired Deputy Secretary J&K Govt)
