Prof. Shyam Narayan Lal On 23 September 2025, we mark one hundred years since Maharaja Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir. It was a moment of great historical significance-not only for the region, but for the entire subcontinent-shaping the future of Jammu and Kashmir and leaving a lasting imprint on the making of modern India Born in 1895 at Amar Mahal to Raja Amar Singh and Maharani Bhotiali Chib, he grew up under the care of a mother whose strength and wisdom shaped his character. Inheriting the proud Dogra legacy, he was entrusted with governing one of India’s most diverse and strategic states. In 1925, amid intrigue, divisions, and colonial pressure, he chose reform-advancing justice, education, and social progress. Yet his greatest legacy came two decades later, when his decision to accede to India gave the nation its northern frontier and completed the map of India. This progressive outlook and statesmanlike courage gave him a distinct and enduring place in national history. His role was not confined to the administration of his state; it resonated across India’s unfolding struggle for dignity and sovereignty. With a single, decisive signature on the Instrument of Accession in October 1947, Hari Singh secured Jammu and Kashmir’s place within the Indian Union and gave India the territorial map that we proudly recognize today. That act was far more than a legal formality; it was a moment of historic courage that safeguarded India’s unity, integrity, and sovereignty at its most critical hour. It was Maharaja Hari Singh who transformed the phrase “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari” from a poetic aspiration into a living national reality. A closer and more discerning reading of history reveals dimensions of his life that conventional accounts often neglect. From an early age, Hari Singh displayed an uncommon sense of responsibility toward his people. His administrative acumen came to the fore during the near-famine of 1921-22, when he was entrusted with managing relief efforts. At a time when food shortages threatened widespread devastation, he acted decisively, ensuring supplies and demonstrating compassion in the face of hardship. This episode foreshadowed the ethos that would guide his later reign: governance rooted not in privilege or pomp, but in justice and welfare. His early conduct showed that he was not content to be a mere inheritor of a dynasty; he intended to be a reformer in his own right. When he formally ascended the throne, he declared with striking clarity: “I have no religion; my religion is justice.” For a ruler of a deeply religious society to make such a pronouncement was bold, even revolutionary. It underscored his conviction that the state must rise above sectarian loyalties and govern for the good of all subjects equally, irrespective of faith or community. This principle did not remain a lofty slogan but became the cornerstone of his reforms. That vision of justice found concrete expression in his celebrated Eleven-Point Charter, which laid out an ambitious agenda of modernization. He invested heavily in education, establishing new schools and promoting female education at a time when such initiatives were rare in princely India. He expanded public health services by building hospitals and dispensaries, extending medical care even to remote valleys. Irrigation schemes brought water to arid tracts, increasing agricultural productivity and reducing the vulnerability of cultivators to famine. He reformed forest policy to give local people access to resources that had long been monopolized by elites, and he initiated land transfer measures that weakened feudal structures and empowered small farmers. These were not mere acts of benevolence but structural interventions designed to uplift the marginalized and create a more just society. In many ways, his reforms anticipated the values later embedded in the Indian Constitution: equality before the law, social justice, and state responsibility for welfare. His progressive outlook did not remain confined within his own state. Hari Singh understood that Jammu and Kashmir was part of a larger story-the story of India’s awakening. This awareness was evident when he represented his state at the First Round Table Conference in London in 1930-31. At a time when many princely rulers hesitated to align openly with nationalist aspirations, Hari Singh’s words rang with clarity and conviction: “As Indians, loyal to the land where we derive our birth and infant nurture, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow countrymen for our land’s rightful enjoyment of a position of honour and equality within the British Commonwealth of Nations.” His intervention challenged colonial stereotypes that sought to divide British India from princely India, and it aligned Jammu and Kashmir with the broader current of national struggle. The later years of his reign would test these convictions under circumstances of unprecedented gravity. The 1940s brought with them political ferment, communal polarization, and the approach of Partition. When independence dawned in August 1947, Jammu and Kashmir-geographically vast, culturally diverse, and strategically located-stood at the crossroads of history. Pressures mounted from all sides. Pakistan, intent on annexing the state, unleashed tribal militias in a violent invasion that reached the outskirts of Srinagar. In this moment of peril, Maharaja Hari Singh bore the weight of a decision that would determine not only the fate of his state but the destiny of India itself. On 26 October 1947, he signed the Instrument of Accession, formally integrating Jammu and Kashmir into the Union of India. That act, undertaken amidst invasion and chaos, was not the gesture of a desperate ruler but the decision of a statesman who recognized that his state’s future lay with a democratic, secular India rather than with a Pakistan defined by religious exclusivism. With that signature, he safeguarded his people from disintegration and ensured India’s territorial integrity. It was, in effect, the culmination of his lifelong creed of justice and equality. By acceding to India, he aligned Jammu and Kashmir with a vision of nationhood that transcended sectarian divisions and embraced pluralism. Without that decision, the map of India as we know it today would have been irrevocably altered. To understand the magnitude of his courage, one must recall the precariousness of that moment. Partition had already displaced millions, bloodshed had scarred the land, and the very survival of the subcontinent as a political entity seemed uncertain. In such a climate, Hari Singh’s accession was not only pragmatic but civilizational. It affirmed that Jammu and Kashmir would not be a pawn in the politics of division but a partner in the building of a diverse and democratic India. It was the act that gave concrete meaning to the oft-repeated phrase “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” transforming it into lived national reality. Yet, despite this decisive role, his legacy has been persistently overshadowed by colonial misrepresentations and later political polemics. Too often he has been portrayed as a monarch mired in crisis, his decisions read through the lens of subsequent conflicts rather than in the light of their own historical context. The centenary of his accession offers an invaluable opportunity to correct this imbalance. It is not merely an occasion for homage but a moment for historical recovery. It invites us to move beyond inherited colonial prejudices and politicized interpretations, and to recognize a ruler whose governance reflected a progressive spirit and whose decisions shaped the destiny of modern India. His reforms in education, healthcare, irrigation, and land policy were foundational to the modernization of Jammu and Kashmir. His declaration that “justice” was his guiding creed continues to resonate as a principle of good governance. His words at the Round Table Conference remind us that India’s demand for dignity was voiced not only by nationalist leaders but also by visionary monarchs. As the centenary unfolds, let us remember Maharaja Hari Singh not through the haze of colonial prejudice or partisan debate, but in the clear light of history. He was the prince who guided his people through famine, the monarch who proclaimed justice as his only faith, the reformer who opened the doors of progress, and the statesman who carried India’s voice to the world stage. And above all, he was the leader who, with a single stroke of the pen, secured India’s unity and gave our nation its northern crown. His story is the story of India itself-of courage, vision, and nation-making. To celebrate his centenary is to salute that legacy and bow in gratitude to the Maharaja who helped shape the destiny of our Motherland. (The writer is Senior Consultant, IIM, Jammu)
