Gulab Singh

Gulab Singh distinguished himself in the service of the Sikhs and was made raja of Jammu in 1820, which was the beginning of the Dogra dynasty. He expanded to the north, annexing the Ladakh and Baltistan areas.

…Kashmir to the Hindu chief Gulab Singh of Jammu, who had changed sides at precisely the right moment. Thus were sown the seeds of a chronic political problem for the subcontinent. (See Battle of Fīrōz Shah; Sikh Wars.)

…the First Sikh War, Raja Gulab Singh, the Dogra ruler of Jammu, was created maharaja (ruling prince) of an extensive but somewhat ill-defined Himalayan kingdom “to the eastward of the River Indus and westward of the River Ravi.” The creation of this princely state helped the British safeguard their northern…