Sansar Chand Katoch portrait The Gorkha invasion of Kangra in 1805–06 is a fairly well-known episode in the history of the western Himalayan states. The campaign, that eventually brought Raja Sansar Chand's ambitions to a halt and led to his decline, has been discussed in multiple historical accounts. Yet, while going through some older writings on the history of Nepal, I came across an account that seems to suggest that the confrontation between the Katochs and the Gorkhas was not a one-off; it was one of the multiple confrontations that had occurred, arising from a variety of reasons. The account appears in Ludwig F. Stiller's The Rise of the House of Gorkha: A Study in the Unification of Nepal, 1768–1816 (1973) , which draws upon Francis Buchanan-Hamilton's earlier An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal (1819) . The story begins not with the Gorkhas, but with Sansar Chand's growing influence in the region. Hamilton wrote that after the demise of Dharma Prakash, who had d...
A lot of loose talk is put out about the cruelty of the Dogra rule in Kashmir valley, especially on the economic front. However, the picture is myopic to say the least, given how the Dogras, post their control of Kashmir valley, actually did several important changes to the Valley economy, leading it towards modernization on par with the rest of the country, and even ahead of it in several areas. While it may be a point of contention that several of these reforms were put forth under the pressure of the Britishers, the progenitors can never be disputed. One such set of considerations pertains to the revival of the Kashmir economy under the Dogra rule, which is often brushed under the carpet. I will just point out three areas of reforms that the Dogras undertook to highlight how their rule was in fact beneficial to the Kashmir valley, and the normal narrative of oppression is not as straightforward as it seems. Controlling Famines At the time of accession, Kashmir was a ...