Kashmiri Pandits at the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Dr C K Atal  

(A scientist by profession, Dr. Atal is a well known collector and connoisseur of art)

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, although himself an a galaxy of talent, irrespective of class, creed or religion. Among his council of ministers, he had great faith in Fakir Aziz-ud-Din, a Muslim and Raja Dina Nath Madan, a Kashmiri Pandit. In his army he had French generals. notably Allard, Ventura and Avitabile, a German (Steinbach) and an American (Gardener, locally called Gordona Sahib) The military accounts were entrusted to two Kashmiri Pandit brothers, Dewan Ajudhya Prasad, Paymaster at Lahore, and Dewant Lachman Prasad, Paymaster at Peshawar. After Ranjit Singh's demise the Kashmiri Pandits continued to hold sway in spite of the chaos and the war of succession amongst the Sikhs Later on, during the time of the British, they again managed to hold as much influence as they had during the time of Ranjit Singh.

One reason wny Kashmiri Pandits were regarded with as much favour by the British as they had been with Ranjit Singh might have been that they were not Sikhs and had a different background. The characteristic pastime of the Kashmiris at that time at the Lahore court was a vigorous workout on horseback, accompanying the army for all expenditure purposes and at times disbursing out large sums of money to buy the loyalty of hostile Pathan tribes of the North-West Frontier Province. Unlike the Sikhs, Kashmiri Brahmins were not rural or agrarian, but cosmopolitan. They were literate, educated in Sanskrit, Persian, French and English. The importance of Kashmiri Brahmins in Punjab lay in their high positions and wealth. This they had achieved under the Sikhs and consolidated under the British. By 1857 both Awadh (Lucknow) and Punjab had come under the direct rule of the Government of India. The developments that followed the events of 1857 favoured the Kashmiri Pandits in high positions in both the provinces because Kashmiri Pandits managed to retain their strategic position and local connections. Another reason why they were indispensable to Ranjit Singh was the fact that they, being linguists, could act as interpreters to the Maharaja and the visiting dignitaries, French ambassadors.

The most notable of the Kashmiri Pandits were Dewan Ganga Ram, Raja Dina Nath Madan, Pandit Daya Ram, (who administered Ramgarhia country and Jhang), Pandit Hari Ram (father of Shankar Nath, Honorary Magistrate of Lahore), Pandit Gopi Nath, Pandit Ram Kishen, Pandit Ganga Bishen and Pandit Lachman Prasad.

Pandit Kishan Das and immigrant Kashmiri Pandits of Punjab

Pandit Kishan Das never worked in the Punjab court but the whole sequence of events started from here. He was a Kashmiri Brahmin from the Chattabal Mohalla of Srinagar and belonged to the family called Swamin Gautam, claiming to be descendants of famous sage Gautma who was born around 620 BC, on the lower Ganges. In 1326, Shamshudin established Muslim rule in Kashmir. Then Sikandar, called Iconoclast (butshikan) came to the throne and the Hindu Pandits started facing difficulties in preserving their religion and lives. They studied Persian as a sort of compromise and continued to live in tolerable security. Then came the regime of Ahmad Shah Abdali who conquered Kashmir in 1752. It was then that the Pandits started fleeing to the plains of Punjab and other parts of India. Pandit Kishan Das was one of them. As he was a good scholar, he obtained a position under the Delhi Emperors and remained there till his death. His son, Ganga Ram was born at Rampur, near Benaras

Ganga Ram Raina (Later Dewan Ganga Ram)

Pandit Ganga Ram was the son of Pandit Kishan Das who had walked down from the Rainawari area of Kashmir to Benaras following the establishment of the Afghan regime in Kashmir. He was the fountain-head contributing to the collection of talented Kashmiri Pandits at the court of Ranjit Singh.

Ganga Ram had joined the court of Mahadji Scindia towards the end of the 18th century when the ruler of Gwalior was engaged in extending the boundaries of his domain. Due to his loyalty and honesty, Ganga Ram distinguished himself and was entrusted with many important political affairs. The Maharaja had recruited French officers to train his military, a procedure foreshadowing that to be undertaken later by Ranjit Singh. Under General Perron, who was a military advisor to Mahadji Sindia, was one Colonel Louis Burquien, and the Colonel was so impressed with Ganga Ram, that he entrusted him with many political assignments including the collection of tribute and drawing up treaties with allied states around Gwalior.

When Daulat Rao, grand nephew of the Mahadji Scindia, began to campaign against the British, Ganga Ram left the Maratha service and purchased a house for 1100 rupees in Sita Ram Bazaar of Old Delhi. Later in 1803, Burquien was defeated by the British under Lord Lake in the battle fought in the Patparganj area of Delhi, which at that time was a dense forest on the outskirts of East Delhi, It was then that Ganga Ram went back to Sitaram Bazaar in Delhi, and made it his home for the next 10 years.

In 1809, when the British General David Ochterlony was negotiating the Treaty of Lahore, formalizing the relations between the British Government and the Phulkian cis Satluj states, Ganga Ram's assistance was of great value to the General.

Four years later when Maharaja Ranjit Singh was looking for talented people to run the political affairs of his state, he heard of Ganga Ram through Bhai Lal Singh and Sardar Himmat Singh Jallawasia. So in, March 1813, Ganga Ram left Sita Ram Bazaar on the invitation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and joined him at Lahore. On his arrival at the court of the Maharaja, Ganga Ram presented the Maharaja with a pitcher of Ganga water. The Maharaja made arrangements for the stay of Ganga Ram at the Kashmiri Mohalla in the walled city of Lahore. The Maharaja entrusted him with his (Maharaja's own) seal to be used in his capacity as head of the military office. He was also made the paymaster of the irregular forces of various chiefs under the patronage of the Maharaja. One Bhawani Das had held this post earlier. These events are recorded in the "ZafarNama '', a history book written by Dewan Amar Nath Madan, son of Raja Dina Nath Madan. This book deals with the events during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This was the first reference book on Ranjit Singh's history during his rapid rise to power. The British at that time used to consult it as a reference book.

About this time, or a little earlier, Hyder Ali in Mysore, Mahadji Sindia in Gwalior and Jaswant Rao Holkar had all realised the necessity of transforming the traditional military technology in order to survive or at least to stave off the British. Only Ranjit Singh was able to make effective use of this knowledge, although this advice was given to him by Holkar.

Ganga Ram obtained considerable power and position, when he impressed the Maharaja by his sheer ability, diligence and knowledge. He was made the Governor of Gujarat District in 1821 for a few years. During this period he developed the Akbari system of accounting which was further improved by one Brahmin Ralia Ram. Dewan Ganga Ram died five years later in 1826.

Ganga Ram later brought with him to the Laore court a number of highly intelligent Kashmiri Pandits, notably three young men Dina Nath, Ajudhya Prasad (adopted son of Dewan Ganga Ram) and Lachman Prasad Thullal (later on Thulal Atal) (real brother of Ajudhya Prasad) who had earlier been trained by him at Sita Ram Bazaar in the art of political diplomacy as well as proficiency in handling military accounts. They were also multilingual, which at that time was a rare quality at all the courts and which allowed them to be interpreters between the Maharaja and the important visiting European and other dignitaries.

(Reprinted from Koshur Samachar, December 2009.)

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Courtesy:  Dr C K Atal and May 2016 Koshur Samachar