A prominent characteristic of any historical nation is that it preserves its glorious heritage icons with great care and respect. The heritage can have various manifestations like structures, forts, palaces, bridges, parks, statues and monuments etc. These represent the collective creativity of the nation as a whole although these are attributed historically to some prominent personality, ruler, military commander or public figure. However, these are subject to wear and tear owing to vagaries of weather and eccentricity of human nature. These monuments are the speaking history of their times. The visuals are always more impressive than the details printed and compiled in the shape of history.
Dogra dynasty ruled over the J&K State for one hundred years, viz 1846 to 1947. The rule of the Dogras is very significant and peculiar in many ways and has to be distinguished from other princely states of pre-independence India. It was Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of the Dogra ruling dynasty of Jammu who gave the shape of a formal state to a geographical entity called Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to his advent, Jammu was partly a hilly region and partly plain with local satraps controlling chunks of territory. Kashmir comprised the valley and the Ghakkar lands downstream where Jhelum enters its exit gorge. Ladakh was Maharaja Gulab Singh, a military commander of great intrepidity and valour, who welded the three regions into a kingdom with extensive borders from Tibet to Ravi River. The State of Jammu and Kashmir came into existence in 1846 only. The three component geographical regions were divergent in all respects but it was the statesmanship of the Dogra rulers that a state with unique and divergent features was ruled with a brand of statesmanship the like of which we rarely come across in the annals of the history of the sub-continent.
During the one century of their rule, the Dogra royalty was fortunate not to have been forced into rivalry with any neighbouring country and not being dragged into any armed conflict. It was perhaps because of the suzerainty of the British Raj over all of these princely states. Within their capacity, taste and need, the Dogra rulers left behind specimens of heritage which embody the history of the people they ruled over, their art, culture, society, aspirations, tastes and vision. These are discernible in their manifestations, forts, palaces, bridges, bowlis, parks, roads, temples, shrines etc.
Jammu was head-quarter of the kingdom. Here they had selected Mubarak Mandi as the royal complex. Likewise in Srinagar they had selected Sher Garhi the summer royal complex. Mubarak Mandi royal complex was much bigger and more imposing than Sher Garhi, whose foundation was actually laid by the Afghan Governor Sher Khan. Mubarak Mandi complex is replete with history and memories of historical events connected with the Dogra rulers of the State. The royal palace, the audience hall, the coronation complex, the private complex, the temple complex, the central park, the fountains, the frescos, the museum and all other appendages, now in a state of disuse and hence threatened by dilapidation, deserve to be given tongue to speak of their history and glory of olden days. Mubarak Mandi complex is not only the priceless heritage of the people of Jammu, it is their source of pride, of creativity, of valor and chivalry.
Some years back, the State Government and Jammu civil society took up the question of conserving and preserving this monumental heritage of the Dogra rule. Considerable interest was shown on preserving the heritage site and the complex. Though the State Government agreed to provide funds for large scale reconstruction and preservation of Mubarak Mandi complex but the entire scheme got entangled in petty red-tape bottlenecks and did not move with the speed expected by the people. Although the Archaeological Survey of India, the premier organization in the country handling preservation of monuments and heritages was also bracketed with the task, but owing to lack of coordination among the functionaries, no substantial progress was made. In the meeting of the District Development Board of Jammu district held last month under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, the matter came up for discussion and the CM issued instructions to the Divisional Commissioner of Jammu to submit an Action Plan for Mubarak Mandi. The Divisional Commissioner after conducting thorough study of the project has submitted the Action Plan which, as we understand, is very thoughtful and actionable. The Action Plan suggests discarding all other agencies connected with preservation of the heritage and entrusting it to the ASI, the only qualified agency which has the requisite infrastructure to deliver the goods. The Action Plan demonstrates the vision of this historical complex as tourist destination once approach roads are widened and the entire complex is restored to its original status. We would like to commend the Divisional Commissioner for a very visionary Action Plan and more especially for recommending that the project should be entrusted to only one agency namely the ASI.
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