Dogra Rule: A Curse or a Boon for Kashmiri Muslims? A Scholarly Analysis

Dogra Rule: A Curse or a Boon for Kashmiri Muslims? A Scholarly Analysis

The Dogra rule (1846–1947) in Jammu and Kashmir remains one of the most contested periods in Kashmiri history. While proponents credit it with administrative reforms and infrastructure development, critics highlight the economic, religious, and social oppression endured by Kashmiri Muslims. This study presents a balanced analysis of both perspectives, supported by historical records, eyewitness accounts, and colonial-era documentation.

1. Genesis of Dogra Rule: Kashmir Sold Like Property

The Treaty of Amritsar (1846) was a defining moment in Kashmiri history. Following the Anglo-Sikh War, the British, seeking a loyal buffer state, sold Kashmir to Maharaja Gulab Singh for 7.5 million Nanakshahi rupees.

The treaty’s text explicitly transferred not only land but also the people and livestock of Kashmir:

“The British government transfers and makes over, for ever, in independent possession, to Maharaja Gulab Singh and the heirs male of his body all the hilly or mountainous country… together with all the inhabitants thereof.”
(Treaty of Amritsar, 1846)

 

This sale reduced Kashmiris to subjects of a feudal regime with no say in their governance. British travelers and officials, such as Sir Walter R. Lawrence (The Valley of Kashmir, 1895), describe how Kashmiris viewed the Dogra rule:

“Sold like cattle, the people of Kashmir became slaves in their own land.”

 

This sense of alienation and betrayal set the stage for one of the most exploitative feudal systems in South Asian history.

2. Economic Exploitation: The Forced Labor (Begar) System

One of the most infamous aspects of Dogra rule was the begar (forced labor) system, which disproportionately affected Kashmiri Muslims.

a) Forced Unpaid Labor in Agriculture and Public Works

• Kashmiri peasants were forced to work on the Maharaja’s lands without pay.
• The construction of major roads, such as the Jhelum Valley Cart Road (1890s), was largely completed through forced labor.
• Francis Younghusband (1909) describes the inhuman conditions of begar in Kashmir:

“It was common to see Kashmiri men, bent double under loads heavier than themselves, whipped and beaten if they collapsed under the weight.”

 

b) Forced Labor in the Pashmina Industry

• Kashmir’s famous shawl industry, once a source of prosperity, became a site of severe exploitation.
• Shawl weavers worked in suffocating rooms for 16-hour shifts, receiving meager wages despite producing high-value exports.
• Many weavers, desperate to escape their condition, amputated their own fingers to avoid forced labor (**G.M.D. Sufi, Kashir: A History of Kashmir).

Even British officials recognized the brutality of the Dogra taxation system. According to Walter R. Lawrence (1895):

“The peasant was taxed so heavily that when famine came, he had nothing left to eat. His fields, his cattle, even his children—everything belonged to the state.”

 

This led to periodic famines and mass starvation, as Kashmir’s Muslim peasantry remained trapped in a cycle of debt and forced labor.

3. Religious Discrimination: Destruction of Mosques & Marginalization

The Dogra rulers institutionalized religious discrimination, favoring Hindus while restricting Kashmiri Muslims’ religious and civil liberties.

a) Demolition and Misuse of Mosques

• Jama Masjid Srinagar, a historic center of Islamic scholarship, was forcibly closed for 20 years under Dogra rule.
• The Shahi Hamdan Mosque was converted into a stable for horses by Maharaja Ranbir Singh.
• The Khanqah-e-Moula was used for storing grain.

b) Ban on Cow Slaughter & Religious Persecution

• In 1887, Maharaja Pratap Singh introduced the Cow Slaughter Ban, punishable by life imprisonment, disproportionately targeting Muslims.
• Kashmiri Muslims faced barriers to holding high administrative positions, while Hindu elites controlled the government.
• According to P.N.K. Bamzai (Culture and Political History of Kashmir, 1994):

“The state exercised control over religious activities of Muslims, limiting their freedom to construct new mosques while allowing temples to flourish.”

 

This systematic suppression of Islamic identity fueled resentment and laid the groundwork for political resistance.

4. Sexual Exploitation: State-Sanctioned Prostitution

Economic hardship and desperation forced many Kashmiri Muslim women into prostitution.

• The 1890 British Gazetteer reports that state-regulated prostitution was widespread in Srinagar.
• M.J. Akbar, in Kashmir: Behind the Vale, states:

“The destitution of Muslim families was so extreme that some women, to escape starvation, ended up in the brothels of Srinagar.”

 

• This exploitation was not only ignored but tacitly supported by Dogra officials, who used these establishments for their own entertainment and financial gain.

5. The 1931 Massacre: The Breaking Point

Decades of oppression led to mass political awakening among Kashmiri Muslims. The breaking point came on July 13, 1931, when protests against Dogra rule resulted in state-sponsored violence.

• Dogra forces opened fire on unarmed protestors outside the Central Jail in Srinagar, killing 22 Kashmiri Muslims.
• The protesters were demanding the release of Abdul Qadeer Khan, a revolutionary who criticized Dogra atrocities in a fiery speech.

This incident is widely regarded as the birth of modern political consciousness in Kashmir. As recorded in Prem Nath Bazaz’s The History of Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir:

“July 13, 1931, was the day when fear disappeared and the masses rose to challenge the injustice meted out to them for nearly a century.”

 

The massacre was commemorated annually as Martyrs’ Day (Youm-e-Shuhada) until recent political shifts in 2019.

• The Glancy Commission Report (1932) confirmed systematic discrimination against Kashmiri Muslims.
• This massacre led to the formation of the Muslim Conference (later National Conference) under Sheikh Abdullah, marking the beginning of organized resistance.

“For the first time, Kashmir’s Muslims began to see themselves as a political force.” (Glancy Report, 1932)

 

6. Social Upliftment or Strategic Placation? Dogra Reforms in the Late Period

While earlier decades were characterized by repression, the 1930s and 40s saw selective reforms, often under British pressure and in response to rising Muslim political consciousness.

a) The Glancy Commission (1932)

• Established by the Maharaja to examine Muslim grievances after the 1931 massacre.
• Recommended the reservation of jobs for Muslims and greater access to education, but implementation was slow and superficial.

b) Formation of the Muslim Conference (1932)

• Led by Sheikh Abdullah, this movement gave a voice to Kashmiri Muslims, but also created tensions with the Maharaja’s administration.
• The Dogras attempted to co-opt Muslim elites but failed to address systemic issues of feudal oppression and discrimination.

Even these so-called reforms were seen by many scholars as cosmetic attempts to preserve the monarchy, not genuine social upliftment.

7. Education and Representation: A Glaring Disparity

• Literacy rates among Kashmiri Muslims remained abysmally low throughout Dogra rule due to lack of access and institutional bias.
• As late as 1941, less than 5% of Kashmiri Muslim women were literate, while educational institutions favored Pandits and Dogra elites.
• In the Maharaja’s administration, out of 226 senior posts, only 14 were held by Muslims (1941 Census).

As Basharat Peer notes in Curfewed Night:

“The state treated its Muslim majority like a conquered people—deprived of dignity, education, and voice.”

 

8. Conclusion: A Period of Suffering for Kashmiri Muslims

While the Dogra rule brought some modernization, including legal reforms (Ranbir Penal Code) and infrastructure development, these benefits were largely for the elite classes. For Kashmiri Muslims, especially peasants, it was a period of extreme suffering, marked by:

• Forced labor (begar) and economic exploitation
• Religious discrimination and mosque demolitions
• Systematic marginalization in education and government
• Sexual exploitation of impoverished Muslim women
• State-sponsored massacres and political suppression

The suffering under Dogra rule eventually triggered the political movements of the 1930s and 1940s, leading to the events of 1947 and Kashmir’s changing political landscape.

Thus, for Kashmiri Muslims, the Dogra era was more of a curse than a boon.

Key References

1. Lawrence, W.R. The Valley of Kashmir (1895)
2. Sufi, G.M.D. Kashir: A History of Kashmir (1949)
3. Akbar, M.J. Kashmir: Behind the Vale (1991)
4. Bazaz, P.N.K. The History of Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir (1954)
5. Bamzai, P.N.K. Culture and Political History of Kashmir (1994)
6. Younghusband, F. Kashmir (1909)
7. British Government Records: Treaty of Amritsar (1846), Gazetteer of Kashmir (1890)
8. Peer, Basharat. Curfewed Night (2008)