Living a sedate and peaceful life in a far flung outpost in the inner Himalayas, the Kashmiris were catapulted into the nineteenth century British India as a fallout from the Anglo-Russian rivalry.
The change-over in 1846 from Sikh to Dogra rule under the suzerainty of the British, resulted in a socio-economic upheaval, particularly after 1889 when the British, after deposing the Maharaja, assumed the administration of the State through the Resident. They were responsible for the drastic overhaul of the administrative machine, opening of the valley with a cart road linking Srinagar to Rawalpindi, extension of postal and telegraph services, land revenue settlement, grant of tenancy rights to the cultivators, spread of modern education, provision of medical and sanitary services and so on, all in one go. By 1925 Kashmir had acquired a modern look in all aspects. Such a quick change from medieval to modern in a short span of time, is a phenomenon of rare occurrence in the history of societies. The book gives all the details and modus operandi of this socio-economic transformation. As such its study will, it is hoped, prove useful and educative to all those interested in the change brought about by the bureaucratic measures in a static society. |
