Historical (History) Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir

Historical (History) Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir


1. Maharaja Gulab Singh Ji :- He was the founder of royal Dogra
dynasty and first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and
Kashmir, during the British Raj . Gulab Singh was born in a Hindu
Jamwal Dogra Rajput family. Gulab Singh managed to preserve and
expand his kingdom which was maintained by his successors until
the Pakistani invasion of 1947-48. With the virtue of his ability and
good fortune he pioneered the Royal Dogra dynasty and ruled the
throne for 11 years.
2. Maharaja Hari Singh :- Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of
the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. A Hindu Dogra
Rajput, Hari Singh was born at the palace of Amar Mahal on
September 23, 1895. Hari Singh served as a page of honour to Lord
Curzon in 1903, at the grand Delhi Durbar. Following the death of his
uncle Pratap Singh in 1925, he ascended he throne of the state. He
made primary education compulsory in the State, introduced laws
prohibiting child marriage and opened places of worship to the low
castes.
3. Qureshi Allah Rakha Khan :- He was widely known to the country
as Allah Rakha. Fascinated with the sound and rhythm of the tabla at
mere 12, the determined young boy then ran away from home to
learn Tabla. His regimen of practice and dedication was legendary.
He joined All India Radio Lahore in 1936 and enetered the film
industry in 1943, composing music under AR Qureshi. His sons Fazal
Qureshi, Taufiq Quereshi and most notably Zakir hussain are wellesteemed
Tabla players. Ustad Alla Rakha Khan was awarded the
Padma Shri in 1977 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in
1982.He became known as Pandit Ravi Shankar’s chief accompanist.
He was well famed for his flawless timing, improvisation and
composing. When asked to say a few words at his 80th birthday
celebrations last year, he played the Tabla instead. “This is the
language I know,” he told the audience.
4 . Malika Pukhraj :-Malika Pukhraj was a highly popular Ghazal and
folk singer of Pakistan. From the very start Malika was exposed to a
disciplined and strict regimen and she began training as a three year
old. She was apppointed as a court Singer in Hari Singh’s Durbar and
she stayed there for another nine years. She migrated to Lahore in
1947 and more fame knocked her door. She was later invited to India
and was awarded with the ‘legend of voice’ award. She is extremely
popular for her rendition of Hafeez Jalandhri’s song, Abhi to main
Jawan hu, enjoyed by millions in India as well as Pakistan.
5. Deen Bandhu Sharma :-He was an Indian writer from the State of
Jammu and Kashmir. He is best known for writing the award winning
book, Meel Patthar which is a collection of short stories. The book
also won him the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award. Bandhu
Sharma was also the winner of Jammu and Kashmir for writing in
1975. For many years he was associated with Jammu and Kashmir
radio station for singing shows and plays. Later, he quit that and
started writing short stories in Dogri.
6. Dr. Rafique Anjum :-Dr. Rafique Anjum is a Gojri poet, scholar
and researcher of Jammu and Kashmir. He received state level
award for Excellence in Literature in 2007, and is a member of
General Council of Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and
Languages. A number of his poetic collections both in Urdu and Gojri
languages have earned him accolades across the subcontinent. He
represents the higher echelon of the modern Gojri scholarship.
7. Dr. Karan Singh :-Dr. Karan Singh from Jammu- a king turned
philosopher; a royalty; a poet; a nature lover; a politician–he is a bit of
everything. He was born in France and owned mighty titles that would
take a lifetime to gain. At a minor age of 18, he was appointed as the
Regent of Jammu and Kashmir and from then on he has been
showering his expertise in numerous field. He is a captivating orator
and a world figure on Hinduism, an adept philosopher with knowledge
and deep understanding.
8. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma :-Hailing from Jammu, Pandit
Shivkumar Sharma is a Santoor player. He brought forth an obsucre,
almost unknown instrument ‘Santoor’ to an indispensible level on the
concert platform, single handedly. With his adept conviction he made
the instrument acquire an identity because of him and created a new
genre of instrumnental music. With his timeless compositions for
blockbusters like Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, he made Santoor an
indispensible part of Indian music.
9. K. L. Saigal:-Kundan Lal Saigal was an Indian singer and actor
who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which
was centered in Calcutta during Saigal’s time. His music for the film
Puran bhagat created a sensation throughout India. As a youngster,
Lata Mangeshkar is alleged to have said that she wanted to marry
K.L.Saigal after seeing his performance in Chandidas. His acting
career was redefined in 1935 with his drunken title character in
Devdas, directed by P.C.Barua. In a career of fifteen years, Saigal
acted in 36 feature films– 28 in Hindi, seven in Bengali, and one in
Tamil. He has rendered the creations of poets such as Ghalib, Zauq
and Seemab.
10. Padma Sachdev :-She is the first modern woman poet of Dogri
Language. She has published several poetry collections including
Meri Kavita Mere Geet that has won the Sahitya Akademi Award in
1971. She also recieved Padma Shri in 2001 and the Kabir Samman
for poetry for the year 2007-08.
11. Shamma Jain :-Shamma Jain is an Indian diplomat, currently
serving as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Panama,
Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Earlier she was India’s Ambassador to
Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from 2008 to 2011.
She accomplished her education with a double master’s degree in
Philosophy and Politics from JNU. She began her diplomatic career
with the Indian Foreign Service in 1983.
12. Seema Sehgal :-Seema Sehgal known as the Bulbul-e-Kashmir
has a deep and abiding interest in Urdu Poetry and in Indo-Pak
peace. Seems Sehgal is the only singer in India- or Pakistan- to have
composed and sung an entire concert on the poetry of Allama Iqbal,
‘Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hai’, produced as the first solo album
based on Iqbal’s poetry. She has also composed and sung concerts
of renowned Urdu poets Mir Taqi Mir and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Seema
dedicated her album ‘Sarhad’ to peace between the two countries
and the album was presented by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Seema
Sehgal’s rendering of the poetry of Ali Sardar Jafri, was a national gift
to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Lahore summit of Feb
1999.

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