Jasrota kingdom[1] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1064–1815 | |||||||||||||||
 Detail of Jasrota from a map of the various Hill States of the Punjab Hills region, copied in 1852. Parts of its borders has not been fully demarcated on the map. | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Jasrota (1064s–1815) Lakhenpur (1350-1623) | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Takri script Dogri Kangri Chambeali Urdu | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Hereditary monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Raja | |||||||||||||||
• 1054–1098 | Karan Dev (first) | ||||||||||||||
• 1805-1820 | Randhir Singh (last) | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Established | 1064 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1815 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Jasrota kingdom in the Himalayan foothills of India was founded in 1064 A.D at south-easternJammu between theRavi and theUjh rivers which ended in 1815. The remainants of Jasrota kingdom exists as ruined forts, restored temples, water bodies and canals inHiranagar tehsil,Narowal tehsil,Nagri tehsil,Kathua tehsil, Marheen tehsil, Dinga Amb tehsil, Ramkot tehsil,Mahanpur tehsil,Billawar tehsil.
Jasrota was one of ten states founded by members of theJammu ruling family. They were alltributaries to theRaja ofJammu. It was probably the first of those to be established, although its origin is disputed. Jasrota Fort in theSivalik Hills of theWestern Himalayas, was the capital of theJasrotiaRajputs. It was founded by Jas Dev, a ruler ofthe Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir, who gave it to his brother, Karan. While thefortified town is now derelict, there remains an active village bearing the same name on its outskirts. Jasrota is inKathua district and it is just 16 km fromKathua city. Some sources say that Raja Jas Dev of Jammu (c. 1020–1053) give to his brother, Karan Dev. Others say that Karan Dev was a son of Bhujdev, a ruler of Jammu, and that the state came into existence in either the 12th or early 13th century, when Karan Dev's military prowess enabled him to win over thejagirdars and landlords of the area; in this latter interpretation, Karan Dev was Jas Dev's nephew. There is agreement that Karan Dev was the founder of the ruling Jasrotia family.[2][3]
The first written record of Jasrota is probably that found in theMa'asir-ul-Umara.[4] The state was bifurcated following a dispute between the twin sons of Kailesh Dev, who had been ruling in 1320. Pratap Dev and Sangram Dev both sought to succeed their father but it was impossible to prove which brother was the older. Eventually, the rulers of neighbouring hill states negotiated a settlement, leading the lands being divided and Sangram becoming the first ruler of the new state ofLakhanpur in 1350 and his descendants were called lakhanpuria rajputs.[5]
In 1594–94, the then ruler of Jasrota, Bhivu Dev,[a] used his army to ally in a rebellion involving some other hill states against theMughal EmperorAkbar the Great. The revolt is referred to in theMa'asir-ul-Umara andAkbarnama but the history of Jasrota in the following years, up until the arrival ofSikh forces in the region, is obscure. It appears to have taken little part in the various regional upheavals of the 17th and 18th centuries and the recorded genealogy of the ruling family is incomplete.[4][6]
Ajab or Ajib Dev was ruler of Jasrota between 1790 and 1800. He arranged the construction ofJasmergarh Fort (near to the present-day town ofHiranagar, then on the border of his territories) in order better to protect Jasrota from Sikh incursions.[7]
The last member of the Dev dynasty to rule Jasrota independently was Randhir Singh,[b] who reigned from 1805 to 1820 and had to acknowledgeRanjit Singh, the founder of theSikh Empire, as his superior. Although Randhir Singh's brother, Bhuri Singh, was nominally recognised as his successor, Ranjit Singh annexed the territory in 1815 and bothNurpur kingdom and Jasrota were governed by Sikh Governor.[8] In 1834 Jasrota was converted into a jagir that was gifted to Hira Singh, a son ofDhian Singh, the Dogra Prime Minister ofLahore, who was also a nephew ofGulab Singh.[2][3]
It was Hira Singh who built the present fort at Jasrota, although its foundations date from around the 12th or 13th century and had been developed as a fortified town by Dev rulers thereafter with "palatial buildings, Baradaris, shrines, water tanks etc." Hira Singh was mostly an absent ruler but he aspired to develop Jasrota in the image of Jammu, with which it shared a similar topography. He went some way towards achieving this, and named many of its places and structures after those of Jammu, but the fort was razed by theSikh Khalsa Army in 1845 and abandoned thereafter.[9] The descendants of the Jasrotia family migrated to Khanpur, near toNagrota.[10]
Following theFirst Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846) and theTreaty of Amritsar (1846), Gulab Singh was proclaimed theMaharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, acquiring all the lands between theRavi River and theIndus.[11]: 51–52 Jasrota became part of his empire and got established as one of the five districts of theJammu province.[12] Between 1921 and 1931, the headquarters of the district was shifted toKathua, and the district came to be called theKathua district.[13][14]
Hira Singh resurrected a connection with art for which Jasrota had previously had some renown. In building palaces of architectural splendour within the fort walls, he brought in painters to ornately decorate them.[15] Jasrota had been particularly associated with theDogra school of painting during the reigns of Bhupal Dev, Sukh Dev and Dhruv Dev, which began in the late 17th century and ended in 1735. Charak and Billawari say that "The great miniature tradition in the hills owes much to Jasrota", noting in particular the patronage of the family of the painterNainsukh by Raja Balwant Singh and also the ongoing attendance at the royal court at Jammu, where Jasrota rulers sometimes served asdiwans and would have been influence by its culture.[16]
The palace of the Jasrotias still exists, although the fortified town is derelict and only an eponymous village exists on its outskirts.[9] It is situated on the banks of theUjh River, around 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Jammu, inJammu and Kashmir.[2] It now forms a part of theJasrota Wildlife Sanctuary. Jasrotia Rajputs meet there annually to commemorate their history and organise ayajna for a temple that exists inside the palace.[17] Two temples stood within the walls. One of these has now been decorated in theLingam style and is dedicated toShiva.[18]
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