Dogra Rule in J&K History: Important Facts & MCQs for JKSSB

J&K History questions in JKSSB papers cluster around one century: the Dogra period, 1846–1947. It's a manageable stretch — four rulers, a handful of treaties, and the political events of the 1930s–40s — and it rewards a clean timeline more than deep reading.

Before 1846: the rise of Gulab Singh

Gulab Singh, a Dogra noble serving Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was made Raja of Jammu in 1822 at Akhnoor. His general Zorawar Singh brought Ladakh (from 1834) and Baltistan under Dogra control, before dying on an expedition into Tibet in 1841.

1846: the two treaties

• Treaty of Lahore (9 March 1846) — after the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Sikh state ceded Kashmir to the British
• Treaty of Amritsar (16 March 1846) — the British transferred Kashmir to Gulab Singh for 75 lakh rupees (Nanakshahi), often called the 'Sale of Kashmir'

The four Dogra Maharajas

• Gulab Singh (1846–1856) — founder; handed power to his son and died in 1857
• Ranbir Singh (1856–1885) — Ranbir Penal Code; completed the Raghunath Temple (1860)
• Pratap Singh (1885–1925) — British Resident appointed (1885); powers curtailed by a State Council (1889)
• Hari Singh (1925–1947) — the last ruling Maharaja

Hari Singh's reign: the most examined

• 1927 — State Subject notification, the basis of later residency rules
• 13 July 1931 — firing outside Srinagar Central Jail during the trial of Abdul Qadeer killed 22 people (long observed as Martyrs' Day)
• 1931 — Glancy Commission set up to examine grievances
• 1932 — Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah founded the Muslim Conference
• 1934 — Praja Sabha (legislative assembly) established
• 1939 — Muslim Conference renamed National Conference
• 1946 — Quit Kashmir movement launched

October 1947

Tribal raiders invaded on 22 October, and Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947. His son Karan Singh became Regent in 1949 and later Sadr-i-Riyasat and then Governor.