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
Raja Sansar Chand Katoch and his son Anirudh Chand Worshipping at the Gauri Shankar Temple in Sujanpur Tira (from Eva-Seitz Collection) Kangra was one of the most important and largest hill state in Northern India, and held the distinction of perhaps having one of the oldest continuous dynastic lineage without break. The original claim of the Katoch clan of Kangra has been that they were the original rulers of the ancient Trigarta, which extended into Punjab to include the Jalandhar Doab. Moreover, the clan claims to have participated all the way back into the Mahabharata war on the side of the Kauravas. While the Mahabharata clan may be difficult to verify, the antiquity has certainly been unquestionable. Archaeological field reports by Alexander Cunningham among other sources clearly find reference to an ancient kingdom of that extent, with remains of coins having been found in and around the Jalandhar Doab among other remains and excavations, that have been documented in archae