The Mangrals ruled Kotli state for many centuries until they were defeated by the army of the Sikh leader Ranjit Singh (referred to locally by the derogoratory name 'Kaala Kaana' i.e. the black faced 'boz-eye' - a reference to his dark complexion and the fact that he had only one eye) following three bloody battles. The Mangrals led by Raja Shah Sawar Khan defeated the Sikh forces in the first two battles (1812 and 1814) though at very high cost in loss of life. Following these two battles the Sikh army returned in 1815 with 30,000 soldiers and a final battle ensued. Having lost many fighters the Mangrals agreed to a compromise with the forces of Ranjit Singh. The Mangrals agreed to give up control of the City (which was then actually based in Baraali near to modern day Kotli) which was handed to Ranjit Singh. The rural areas remained in the control of various Mangral families as jagirs from Jammu and they continued to be the landowners and collectors of tax revenues until 1962 Following the Pakistani Land Reform Acts whereby the ownership of the land was transferred to the tenant farmers without compensation to the landowners.
The Panjab Hill States were merged by Ranjit Singh into the state of Jammu which was passed into the control of Kishore Singh the father of Gulab Singh and a distant relative of Jit Singh the Raja of Jammu. Gulab Singh had joined the army of Ranjit Singh in 1812 and had risen through the ranks and found favour with Ranjit Singh. The granting of Jammu was a reward for the services of Gulab Singh and family.
The 27 years of Sikh rule followed by the 100 years of Dogra rule were a period considered to be the biggest calamity ever to befall the people of Kashmir. Although the majority of the population was muslim many mosques were closed, cow slaughter was prohibited and an immense tax burden was placed on the people. Ranjit Singh even taxed the poor people something which had never happened before under muslim rule. Muslim's were denied access to basic education, were banned from carrying arms and were not admitted to the armed services. The result was mass emigration of Kashmiri's to the muslim areas of the Punjab where they were granted refuge, education and employment in military service.
Kotli was populated by Sikhs imported by Ranjit Singh from the Punjab. In particular, they set up in Kotli Sikh Blacksmith's workshops which supplied the Sikh army with weaponary. Alas, these weapons were not only used in warfare but were also used to terrorise and subdue the civilian population of Kashmir. As reported to the Viceroy Lord Reading following a visit by muslim scholars to Srinagar in 1921:
Military was sent for and most inhumane treatment was meted out to the poor, helpless, unarmed, peace-loving labourers who were assaulted with spears, lances and other implements of warfare[5]
Following the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 the Sikh Empire went into rapid decline. Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his eldest son Kharak Singh who was in power for only a few months before being removed from power and replaced by his son Nau Nihal Singh. Kharak Singh the eldest legitimate son of Ranjit Singh was imprisoned by the Sikhs and suffered a painful death through slow torturing. Whilst returing from the funeral of his father, Nau Nihal Singh was injured when the archway of a wall was made to collapse on him. He was rushed away to a tent unconscious but suffering from relatively mild injuries. When the tent was later opened, Nau Nihal Singh lay there with his head crushed in probably having been smashed in by a rock. The collapse of the building is believed to have been orchestrated by non other than the Dogra brothers Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh. Nau Nihal Singh was replaced by another son of Ranjit Singh, namely Sher Singh. Sher Singh was himself killed only two years later in 1841 as he reached for a new shotgun held by his cousin Ajit Singh Sandhawalia, who pulled the trigger. Sher Singh only had time to utter the words "what treachery" before Ajit Singh removed his head with a single blow from his sword.
During the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1846), Gulab Singh betrayed the Sikhs and sided with the British. In return for his treachery towards his own people he was awarded Kashmir by the British in 1846 as a fiefdom for eternity for the paltry sum of 7.5m Rupees.
Gulab Singh ruled Kashmir with immense cruelty and was famously resisted by the Mangrals of Kotli, the Gakhar of Mirpur, the Jarral of Rajouri and the Chib of Bhimber.
However, having double crossed their own people the Dogra's were not averse to also double crossing the British. Having seen the erosion of Sikh power they colluded with the Russian's in a plan to invade India. On discovering this the British replaced Pratap Singh (the Grandson of Gulab Singh) with his brother Amar Singh who in turn was succeeded by his own son Hari Singh. There the line of Dogra rulers would end as the heir apparent Karan Singh never took the throne. Karan Singh's own legitimacy was the subject of much speculation. As Tariq Ali writes:
"On the French Riviera, Tara Devi, the fourth wife of the dissolute and infertile Maharaja Hari Singh – he had shunted aside the first three for failing to produce any children – gave birth to a boy, Karan Singh. In the Srinagar bazaar every second person claimed to be the father of the heir-apparent. Five days of lavish entertainment and feasting marked the infant heir’s arrival in Srinagar. A few weeks later, public agitation broke out, punctuated by lampoons concerning the Maharaja’s lack of sexual prowess, among other things."[6]
Under the Dogra rule the people of Kashmir were reduced to a state of slavery. The muslims whilst comprising 96% of the population had a literacy rate of only 0.8%.
The wretched state of the people was summed up in a 1921 poem by the Great Kashmiri Poet Allama Iqbal:
"In the bitter chill of winter shivers his naked body, whose skill wraps the rich in royal shawls."
Regardless of the true parentage of Karan Singh, the Yuvraj (young Prince) would never sit on the royal throne of Kashmir. Instead, salvation finally came in 1947 when the brave people of Kashmir led by the likes of General Raja Sakhi Daler Khan, Raja Colonel Mahmood and Raja Saif Ali Khan (to name but a few) soundly defeated and expelled the Dogra's and liberated a large part of Kashmir which is now Azad Kashmir. In recognition for his services Raja Saki Daler Khan was named Fat-e-Kotli by the War Council.