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Gulab Singh and the Battle of Jammu 1809

The year was 1808. The place, Jammu. Raja Jaid Singh was placed on the throne of Jammu to be its king, supported by the presence of Mian Mota Singh, the all-powerful kingmaker of Jammu. In this period of madness in the province of Jammu, one hoped that Jammu would witness a semblance of balance and stability being created. Jammu had been in a free fall following the death of Raja Brijraj Dev. Sampuran Singh, the successor, succumbed to smallpox, leading to the situation that a new successor had to be found desperately. In the scramble, the name of Jaid Singh came forward, and with Mian Mota Singh’s support, Jaid Singh ascended the throne. Raja Brijraj Dev of Jammu ( painting with San Diego Museum of Art) Contributing to the constant madness in Jammu were the Khalsa forces who would raid Jammu and pillage it constantly, devoiding it of its wealth. The 1783 pillage of Jammu remained afresh in the minds of the people and the aristocrats alike - for two months, one witnessed not a single
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The Bengali Ancestry of Suket and Mandi's Sen rulers

Raja Shamsher Sen of Mandi and Raja Ranjit Sen of Suket


Suket and Mandi were two states that were relatively recent in their formation like Kullu. Interestingly, the Sen rulers of Suket and subsequently Mandi is traced back to a Chandrabansi lineage, linking them to the Pandava clans that ruled around Indraprastha.

While it may be difficult to postulate accurately that bit of ancestry, it is interesting to note how the ancestry moves subsequently into Bengal. It is here that our attention is drawn, captured in the history of the region and the connections with Bengal.

Khemraj, who was the last ruler of Delhi, had been replaced by his Wazir. He retires towards Vanga desha, or present day Bengal and set up the Gaudiya Sena dynasty of eastern Bengal. The capital of these Sena rulers was in Lakshmanpuri, along the river Ganga. An important ruler was the last one, Lakshman Sena, which was brought to an end by the invading Muhammad Khilji in 1206 AD, despite having expanded it into present day Assam and Odisha. What happens next, as per the bansaabali is quite a read.

Lakshman Sena's son, Rup Sena, moves towards Northwest India. He settled in Rupar near Ambala (present day Ropar), but got attacked by the Khiljis again. In the process, three sons to Rup Sena - Bir Sen, Giri Sen and Hamir Sen - escape into the hills.

Bir Sen later brought the feuding Ranas and Thakurs of Suket under his rule to create the Sen dynasty of Suket. Giri Sen did the same in Keonthal in Shimla district of today to set up the Keonthal Sen dynasty. Hamir Sen entered Kishtwar in the Chenab valley, and set up the Kishtwar Sen dynasty near Jammu.

While this legend, as B R Beotra in his 'Gazetteer of the Suket State' may have felt exaggerated to an extent, it certainly is in the realm of possibility. Alexander Cunningham ascribed an earlier date of the 8th century AD. His assessment, with which Beotra too agreed to an extent, noted the entry of a cadet of the Sena dynasty of Bengal named Vir Sen, which he believed happened earlier. However it is interesting that the link exists, and may be possible because there is evidence to suggest the same with other dynasties too. A Kannauj offshoot of The Palas of Bengal has been linked with the establishment of the rolling dynasty of Kullu. What it certainly demonstrates is that the route and the certainly known by that time, and they too were contemporaries of the Sena dynasty. Therefore, the claim is certainly meritorious to an extent. Of course, it requires greater postulation on part of historians.

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