Paramountcy and the prince of Jammu and Kashmir- Anglo-Dogra Relations on the eve of partition of India

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Cabinet Mission Plan, the partition of the Indian subcontinent had become an undeniable reality. Despite its best effort, the Plan Union was dropped in the run up to partition. The division of India to satisfy the demand of a separate Muslim country was twisting and turning the Imperial policies regarding disengagement. Meanwhile, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir became a zone of political upturn, soon after the beginning of the second world war. The Maharaja of the State was picked up by the war cabinet of Winston Churchill to send the State forces into the overseas service and not yield the geo-strategic territory to the Russian coercion. Further, the visits of the Viceroy of India and other leaders to the State right before partition brought the territory into the centre of the tactical planning among Britain, India and Pakistan. The paper looks into several delicate threads maintained by the British paramount power with Maharaja Hari Singh during these years.