RAMAYANA NOT A WORK OF FICTION

RAMAYANA NOT A WORK OF FICTION




New research carried out by anthropological scientists from the Estonian Biocentre and the University of Delhi claims that events of the mythological epic Ramayana occurred in reality thousands of years ago.

Hyderabad: New research carried out by anthropological scientists from the Estonian Biocentre and the University of Delhi claims that events of the mythological epic Ramayana occurred in reality thousands of years ago. Scientists say that results of their genetic studies, with existing data, show genetic signatures of tribal groups featured in the Ramayana such as the Gonds, Kols and Bhils. Gonds are a prominent group in Adilabad district of Telangana.

Researchers claimed that populations in the Indian subcontinent can trace their ancestors to more than 60,000 years back. Scientists say that this is proof of the authenticity and actual occurrence of the events described in Ramayana, which would have occurred more than 12,000 years ago. The Gonds, Kols and Bhils are believed to be the ancient tribal groups of the region and have found mention in the Ramayana. Authenticity of the mythological text has been questioned several times. While there have been voices proclaiming the authenticity of the Ramayana, research to prove it has increased in recent times.

Dr Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao, professor of anthropology, University of Delhi, and one of the authors of the study, said, “Definitely, the events described in Ramayana occurred in real. Our research has showed close genetic affinity of these tribes to other ethnic groups. We have shown that there is continuity in the populations groups living here. Other researchers are working to prove other angles of this.”


The study was carried out by Estonian Biocentre researcher Gyaneshwar Chaubey, Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas, Dr Saroj Bala and Dr Raghavendra Rao. The Bhil, Kol and Gond are three major Indian tribes that have been widely acknowledged in the epic Ramayana, particularly in the chapters Ayodhyakanda, Aranyakanda and Kishkindhakanda. Gonds are prominently found in Adilabad district and other states and number about 40 lakh.

The research study says since these tribes are inhabitants of the country since the Stone Age, their genetic affinity to existing populations show the authenticity of the Ramayana.

Researchers said these tribal groups form a closed cluster with Dravidian groups, known as inhabitants of South India.


http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150618/nation-current-affairs/article/ramayana-real-say-experts



RAMAYANA NOT A WORK OF FICTION

10/26/2015 PLOS ONE: Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic Ramayana
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0127655 1/8
Correction
24 Jul 201 5: The PLOS ONE Staff (201 5) Correction: Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic Ramayana.
PLoS ONE 1 0(7): e01 34200. doi: 1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 34200 | View correction
Abstract

Kol, Bhil and Gond are some of the ancient tribal populations known from the Ramayana, one of the Great epics of India. Though there have been studies about their affinity based on classical and haploid genetic markers, the molecular insights of their
relationship with other tribal and caste populations of extant India is expected to give more clarity about the the question of continuity vs. discontinuity. 

In this study, we scanned >97,000 of single nucleotide polymorphisms among three major ancient tribes mentioned in Ramayana, namely Bhil, Kol and Gond. 

The results obtained were then compared at inter and intra population levels with neighboring and other world populations. 

Using various statistical methods, our analysis suggested that the genetic architecture of these tribes (Kol and Gond) was largely similar to their surrounding tribal and caste populations, while Bhil showed closer affinity with Dravidian and Austroasiatic (Munda) speaking tribes. 

The haplotype based analysis revealed a massive amount of genome sharing among Bhil, Kol, Gond and with other ethnic groups of South Asian descent. 

On the basis of genetic component sharing among different populations, we anticipate their primary founding over the indigenous Ancestral South Indian (ASI) component has prevailed in the genepool over the last several thousand years.

Citation: Chaubey G, Kadian A, Bala S, Rao VR (201 5) Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic
Ramayana. PLoS ONE 1 0(6): e01 27655. doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655
Academic Editor: Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, INDIA
Received: September 7, 201 4; Accepted: April 1 7, 201 5; Published: June 1 0, 201 5
Copyright: © 201 5 Chaubey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author
and source are credited
Data Availability: Data have been deposited to Figshare: http://dx.doi.org/1 0.6084/m9.figshare.1 391 920. The data are also
available at the data repository of the Estonian Biocentre: www.ebc.ee/free_data.
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. GC is supported by Center of Excellence of Estonian
Biocentre and Institutional Grant IUT24­1 .
Competing interests: Co­author Dr. Gyaneshwer Chaubey is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. This does not alter the
authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Introduction
Knowledge about the past comes through different disciplines where researchers look at history through different lenses. And in many cases, these interdisciplinary studies land on the same conclusions [1 ,2]. 

However, in case of India, investigations from
different disciplines have historically been highly contrasting [3,4]. 

India, also known as a ‘land of spiritual heritage’, has a deep history of civilisation, which is embedded in to multiple oral, traditional and written records. Much of this knowledge is rooted in oldest scriptures, the Vedas, which are four in number, namely Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. 

Then, there are Puranas, Upanishads, Brahmanas and Aranyakas, of which Vedas are said to be the precursors [5]. 

There is no consensus among historians regarding the date of compilation of the Vedas as well as the historical dates for the various Puranas, Upanishads and epics [6–1 0]. 

A comperative analysis of such mythological sources may provide a concencus about the structuring of the ancient societies and rituals. 

More recently, some scholars have provided strong evidence about the chronology of these events hinting at a deep ­rooted civilization, developing indigenously for over several thousand years [8,11 –1 5].

Our survey on mythological sources has revealed detailed information about the ancient Indian society structure as well as relations of different tribal and caste groups and their rituals [1 0,11 ,1 6–1 8]. 

In many of these literary sources, names of various castes and tribal groups have been mentioned, including those of several surviving tribal groups (e.g. Bhil or Bheel, Kol, Gond, Savara, Oraon,
Kirata, Ahirs, Nagas etc) [1 7–23]. It is already evident that during the Ramayana era, Indian society was well ­stratified [1 6,1 7,21 ,23–26]. 

The Bhil, Kol and Gond are three major Indian tribes that have been widely acknowledged in the epic Ramayana, particularly in the portions known as the Ayodhyakanda, Aranyakanda and Kishkindhakanda [1 9,20,22–27]. 

It should be emphasised here that, Gond and Bhil are the top two tribal populations of modern India in terms of population size [28].

The Bhils are primarily from Central India and speak the Bhil language [28]. They have significant presence in states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan as well as in the northeastern state of Tripura. 

Bhils are further divided into a number of endogamous territorial divisions, which in turn have a number of clans and lineages [22]. 

The Kol tribe in Uttar Pradesh is found mainly in the districts of Mirzapur, Varanasi, Banda and Allahabad [28]. It is the largest tribe found in the state

Published: June 1 0, 201 5 DOI: 1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655
Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic
Ramayana
Gyaneshwer Chaubey , Anurag Kadian, Saroj Bala, Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao
10/26/2015 PLOS ONE: Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic Ramayana
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0127655 2/8
Uttar Pradesh. 

They are said to have migrated from Central India some five centuries ago [28]. The Kol are further divided into a number of exogamous clans, such as the Rojaboria, Rautia, Thakuria, Monasi, Chero and Barawire. 

The Gond people are spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha), Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana [28]. With over four million people, they are the largest tribe in Central India. They speak the Gondi language, which is related to present Dravidian
language family [28,29].

More than 25 years of genetic research on Indian tribal and caste populations involving classical markers to mtDNA/Y chromosome
and more recently autosomes, have indicated complex demographic history of the subcontinent [3,30–39]. 

Alongwith debate over initial peopling of the subcontinent, the major hot topic now shifted towards the population expansion and admixture during and after Neolithic times [37–40]. 

However, large number of individuals as well as genetic markers are required to reach any firm
conclusions. Thus, the strict endogamy and social structure make South Asia much more complex, unlike to Europe, where genetic
analysis of a population can predict the genetic structure of immediate neighbor with some confidence. 

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of in­depth genetic studies focussing on the genetic structure of the populations of India
[35,37,40–48], but none of them have related specific tribal populations mentioned in the traditional literatures.

Therefore, in the present study, we make an attempt to evaluate two schools of thought emerging from the current scenario. 

The first school suggests that the tribal people are the aboriginal inhabitants, while the later migrants, i.e., the Dravidians followed by the Aryans have pushed them back in to small pockets in South India [49–52]. 

According to this school, the caste system was
established by the aforementioned later migrants [11 ,50,52,53]. 

The alternative hypothesis advocates that all the caste and tribal populations of India have Paleolithic roots and share a common origin [3,1 5,33,54–60]. 

The differentiation observed in modern
South Asian populations is mainly derived by strict endogamy, long term isolation and several evolutionary forces. 

More specifically, relying on each other, first, we seek to investigate the continuity vs. discontinuity of the genetic thread connecting the different
populations of India. 

Second, keeping in mind the pivotal information extracted from Ramayana, we look specifically into the question: whether and to what extent the three major tribes (Bhil, Kol and Gond) share their genetic ancestry among them as well as with other contemporary caste and tribal populations?

Material and Methods
This study was performed using control samples collected, genotyped and published for various population studies conducted in the last few years (S1 Table) [37–39,46,61 –63]. 

All the ethical guideline have been followed. The tribal and caste populations grouped according to their language group. 

We grouped populations in to “Transitional” who have known information of language change in recent time [64,65]. A check for closely related individuals was carried out within each population study by calculating average identity by state (IBS) scores for all pairs of individuals [66]. 

We used PLINK 1 .07 [66] in order to filter our dataset to include only SNPs on the 22 autosomal chromosomes with minor allele frequency >1 % and genotyping success >99%.

As background linkage disequilibrium (LD) can affect both PCA [67] and ADMIXTURE [68], we thinned the dataset by removing one SNP of any pair, in strong LD r2>0.4, in a window of 200 SNPs (sliding the window by 25 SNPs at a time).

We performed PC analysis using smartpca programme (with default settings) of the EIGENSOFT package [67] in order to capture genetic variability described by the first 5 components. The fraction of the total variation described by a PC is the ratio of its
eigenvalue to the sum of all eigenvalues. 

In the final settings, we ran Admixture with a random seed number generator on the LDpruned dataset twenty­five times at K = 2 to K = 1 2. Since the top values of the resulting log­likelihood scores were stable (virtually identical) within the runs of each K from K = 2 to K = 1 0, we can claim that convergence at global maximum was achieved. Thus,
we omitted runs at K = 11 to K = 1 2 from further analysis.

Mean pairwise differences between different population groups were computed using Fst distance measure by following the methods as described by Cockerham and Weir [69], Phylip [70] and MEGA [71 ] were used to construct the tree. The Plink software
[66] was used to calculate the genetic diversity and to find the 25 nearest­neighbours for the Bhil, Kol and Gond individuals. 

To investigate the derived allele sharing of Bhil, Kol and Gond with the Eurasian populations, we computed f3 statistics [37], taking African as an outgroup. 

For haplotype­based analysis (fineSTRUCTURE) [72], we made two different runs—first by taking all the
Eurasian populations and second exclusively on the Central Asian, Pakistani and Indian populations. 

For the fine STRUCTURE analysis, first samples were phased with Beagle 3.3.2 [73]. A coancestry matrix was constructed using ChromoPainter [72],
fineSTRUCTURE was used to perform an MCMC iteration using 1 0000000 burning runtime and 1 0000 MCMC samples. 

A tree was built using fineSTRUCTURE with the default settings. All these information are plotted for the Bhil, Kol and Gond as a recipient of
number of chunks from one another as well as from other ethnic group.

Results and Discussion
We combined hundreds of thousands of autosomal markers generated from different studies (S1 Table) [37–39,46,61 –63] and specifically looked into the population structure of Indian groups mentioned in classical literature. 

To find out the population clustering, we first ran the Fst (population differentiation) algorithm [69] and drew a tree [70,71 ], rooting out the African populations (S1 Fig). 

All the Indian populations, except the present Tibeto­Burman speaking populations, are well separated from other continental populations and form a major cluster comprising present populations speaking Indo­European, Dravidian and Austroasiatic (Munda) languages (S1 Fig). 

The Pakistani populations are scattered in different clusters, where few of them (Sindhi, Pathan and Burusho) cluster loosely with Indians; Hazaras show an affinity toward Central Asians, and Balochi, Brahui and Makrani confirm an intermediate position because of shared recent African ancestry and gene flow [38,74,75]. 

The Bhil, Kol and Gond showed a closer affinity among them as well as with the extent Indo­European, Transitional and Munda speaking populations (Fig 1 a and S1 Fig).

10/26/2015 PLOS ONE: Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic Ramayana
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Fig 1.
a) Regionwise population differentiation (Fst) analysis of Bhil, Kol Gond with the Indian and other regional populations 

b) PCA (Principle Component Analysis) of Eurasian populations showing the placement of Bhil, Kol and Gond populations over the South Asian cline; the mean value of populationwise clustering of Bhil, Kol and Gond is zoomed­in inset figure. IE­ IndoEuropean, DRA­ Dravidian 

c) Individualwise ancestry proportion analysis inferred from ADMIXTURE representing ten
ancestral populations of the world (K = 1 0).
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.g001

To get more deeper insight, we have used PCA (principle component analysis)[67] and ADMIXTURE [68], analysis using the same parameters as in our previous studies [38,39,45]. 

These analyses strengthened the inferences drawn from the Fst analysis. The PCA on Eurasians placed Indian populations between East and West Eurasia (Fig 2a). 

The cline of Indian subcontinent ranges
from Pakistani populations (closer to West Eurasians) to Indian Munda groups (closer to East Eurasians). Departing from its geographical position, Bhil was clustering together with Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribe populations of Uttar Pradesh
(Harijan), Andhra Pradesh (Kamsali) and Karnataka (North Kannadi) states. Kol is joined with the neighbouring populations alongwith the Indian­cline, while Gond was deflating away from the Indian cline by uniting with the Munda speakers (Fig 1 b).

Further, we assessed the proportion of individual­wise ancestry drawn from a given number of inferred populations (K) using a maximum ­likelihood based approach implemented in ADMIXTURE.

Fig 2.
a) The number of chunks donated at inter and intra populations level for the Bhil, Kol and Gond with respect to the Indian, Central Asian and the Pakistani populations. b) Plot of 25 nearest neighbors of Bhil, Kol and Gond individuals. The match
population individuals are colored in grey.
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.g002
Consistent with previous observations [37,38], the South Asian populations’ genome are mainly made­up of two major components, which are distributed across the length and breadth of the subcontinent (Fig 1 c). 

Alongn with these two major components, there are
four minor componets over the periphery of the subcontinent—the European and the Middle eastern components can be seen in Pakistani and northwest Indian populations, whilest the East/Southeast Asian components are present in nearby Munda and TibetoBurman speakers.

(Fig 1 c). The geographical distribution of the dark green component (ASI or Ancestral South Indian­ unique to the subcontinent) was largely limited to the Indian subcontinent, and can be seen among all the populations of the subcontinent albeit in variable amount, whereas the second major component (light green: ANI or Ancestral North Indian (now ANE­ Ancestral North Eurasian [76])) was shared with Central Asia, the Caucasus, Middle East and Europe (Fig 1 c). 

The geographical origin of light green component (ANI or ANE) is so far unclear and more research is needed from unsampled area as well as from ancient DNA; however, the time of spread of this component from its origin place (either of any; the Caucasus, Near East, Indus Valley, or Central Asia) has happened more than 1 2.5 thousand years before [38], which is significantly earlier than the purported expansion of Dravidians and Aryans languages from outside the subcontinent. 

Notably, the Andaman Islanders are not the only population carrying the ASI component exclusively, as was suggested before [37]. 

Austroasiatic speakers (more precisely, the South Munda) of the subcontinent also seem to possess the ASI component in near unadulterated form (Fig 1 c). 

More research with complete genome analysis would be required to clear the geographic center of the ANE component; however, it is evident from the present
analysis that the dark green component (ASI) can be considered as a connecting thread for all the Indian populations (Fig 1 c).

Taken together, these results support the second hypothesis suggesting that all Indians, irrespective of their caste or tribal affiliations, share a common genetic ancestry, which is undoubtedly founded over the indigenous ASI component.

Our second question revolved around the three tribal populations mentioned in the ancient epic, their genome composition and affiliation with the surrounding caste and tribal populations. Based on information from Ramayana, we have considered these tribal populations to be ancient inhabitants of India, surviving from the times of the Stone Age [1 9,23]. 

If we assume that their genome carry the signature of peopling of ancient time, the assessment of their genomes and comparison with modern populations would test the scenario of continuity vs. discontinuity of prehistoric heritage. 

In case of continuity, we should see largely similar genome composition among contemporary caste and tribal populations of modern India. On the other hand, in case of discontinuity, these tribal populations should show a unique genome composition or they should emerge as an outliers in our cluster based analysis.

Our extended analysis on Fst, PCA and ADMIXTURE showed similar genome composition of these tribal populations, carrying both the ANE and ASI components (Fig 1 a–1 c, Table 1 and S1 Fig). We also calculated the genetic diversity of these populations with their neighbours (Table 2). 

The diversity of Kol, Bhil and Gond didn’t show any significant deviation from their neighbouring extent
Indo­European, Dravidian and Munda speaking groups.

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Table 1. The ANE and ASI admixture proportions of Bhil, Kol and Gond with respect to other South Asian groups.
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.t001
Table 2. The genetic diversity calculations of Bhil, Kol and Gond with respect to other South Asian groups.
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.t002

The shared drift statistics analysis (f3) suggested that most of the derived alleles of Bhil, Kol and Gond are overwhelmingly shared with Indian caste and tribal populations (S2 Fig). 

Gond, Dravidian tribes and Austroasiatic (Munda) groups shared the highest derived allele with Bhils. 

Indo­European castes, Gond and Dravidian tribes were closest with Kol. 

Whereas, Munda, transitional and Dravidian tribal groups shared the peak derived alleles with Gonds.

The haplotype based fineSTRUCTURE [72] analysis showed that the studied populations (Bhil, Kol and Gond) received nearly all of their chunks from the Indian closeby populations (Fig 2a and S3 Fig). 

Leaving out the number of chunks coming from the same population, chunk donors for Bhil and Kol were coming from all the major Indian ethnic groups, while for the Gond, Indian Transitional and Munda groups were the major chunk donors. 

More specifically the haplotype based sharing analysis is in congruent with the f3 statistics. The fineSTRUCTURE clustering analysis revealed 37 clusters when we have included Iranian,
Central Asian, Pakistani, Indian and Cambodian populations (S4 Fig). 

Most of the Indian populations unite in Indian specific clusters except Kashmiri Pandits and few Gujarati individuals who fell together with the Sindhi and Pathan individuals in Pakistani specific clade. 

Our targeted populations are dispersed in various clades. All the Bhil individuals form a tight cluster with the individuals mainly from Dravidian caste, few Indo­European and Transitional individuals. 

Most of the Kol and Gond individuals show a higher
level of variation by falling in to distinct clusters. To make an individual­wise comparison, we plotted top twenty five closest neighbours of studied populations (Fig 2b). 

It was expected that any population members would be closest to themselves and thereafter to members of other populations, which was also pertinent in the present study. Consistent with the above observations drawn from Fst, PCA, ADMIXTURE, f3 statistics and fineSTRUCTURE, there is no signature of large scale population replacement in the Indian subcontinent.

In conclusion, our high resolution analysis portraying the three ancient tribal populations, strongly rejects any incoming genetic signal of large scale recent (during the post­Neolithic) migration either of the present Dravidian or the Indo­European speaking populations to the subcontinent. 

We also concluded that the Indian populations preserve strong genetic signatures in support of a
common ancestry. The studied tribal populations do share large number of genome among theselves as well as from o caste and tribal populations. 

Notebly, the placement of various populations along the Indian cline is not solely governed by the geography, but also by the caste­tribe interaction and various other selectional forces. 

These patterns point to a complex demographic history of the subcontinent which has been shaped in­situ by admixture events at different time scale, as well as by intricate geographical heterogeneity and long term effect of several evolutionary forces.

Supporting Information
S1 Fig. Neighbour Joining (NJ) tree world populations inferred from Fst distances of genomewide data.
In the inset, the heatmap showing the inter and intra regional genetic affinity of the three tribal populations under investigation.

doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.s001
(TIF)
S2 Fig. The plot of shared drift obtained by the f3 = (Yoruba; Bhil/Kol/Gond, X).
The f3 values are plotted on Y axis against the X­ targeted populations on X axis. C_Asia­ Central Asia, IN_IE_Caste­ Indian IndoEuropean Caste, IN_IE_Tribe—Indian Indo­European Tribe, IN_DRA_Caste­ Indian Dravidian Caste, IN_DRA_Tribe—Indian
Dravidian Tribe, IN_AA­ Indian Austroasiatic (Munda).
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.s002
(TIF)
S3 Fig. Co­ancestry matrix plotted from fineSTRUTCURE analysis, showing the chunks donated by other Eurasian populations to the Bhil, Kol and
Gond populations.
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.s003
(TIF)
S4 Fig. Placement of Kol, Bhil and Gond individuals over the 37 clades obtained from the fineSTRUCTURE analysis.
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.s004
(TIF)
S1 Table. The details of the populations (number of individuals and number of SNPs, used in the present study.
doi:1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 27655.s005
(XLSX)
10/26/2015 PLOS ONE: Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic Ramayana
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Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: GC. Performed the experiments: GC AK SB VRR. Analyzed the data: GC. Contributed
reagents/materials/analysis tools: AK SB VRR. Wrote the paper: GC AK SB VRR.
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Correction
24 Jul 201 5: The PLOS ONE Staff (201 5) Correction: Genetic Affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond Mentioned in Epic Ramayana.
PLoS ONE 1 0(7): e01 34200. doi: 1 0.1 371 /journal.pone.01 34200 | View correction

Abstract
Kol, Bhil and Gond are some of the ancient tribal populations known from the Ramayana, one of the Great epics of India. 

Though there have been studies about their affinity based on classical and haploid genetic markers, the molecular insights of their relationship with other tribal and caste populations of extant India is expected to give more clarity about the the question of continuity vs. discontinuity. 

In this study, we scanned >97,000 of single nucleotide polymorphisms among three major ancient tribes mentioned in Ramayana, namely Bhil, Kol and Gond. 

The results obtained were then compared at inter and intra population levels with neighboring and other world populations. 

Using various statistical methods, our analysis suggested that the genetic architecture of these tribes (Kol and Gond) was largely similar to their surrounding tribal and caste populations, while Bhil showed closer affinity with Dravidian and Austroasiatic (Munda) speaking tribes. 

The haplotype based analysis revealed a massive amount of genome sharing among Bhil, Kol, Gond and with other ethnic groups of South Asian descent. 

On the basis of genetic component sharing among different populations, we anticipate their primary founding over the indigenous Ancestral South Indian (ASI) component has prevailed in the genepool over the last several thousand years.

Letter by Maharaja Hari Singh to Lord Mountbatten

Letter by Maharaja Hari Singh to Governor General of India, Lord MountbattenBy Danvir Singh
Issue: Book Excerpt: Kashmir\'s Death Trap | Date : 22 Oct , 2015

Appendix – A

Dated: 26 October 1947

My dear Lord Mountbatten,

I have to inform your Excellency that a grave emergency has arisen in my State and request immediate assistance of your Government.

As your Excellency is aware the State of Jammu and Kashmir has not acceded to the Dominion of India or to Pakistan. Geographically my State is contiguous to both the Dominions. It has vital economical and cultural links with both of them. Besides my State has a common boundary with the Soviet Republic and China. In their external relations the Dominions of India and Pakistan cannot ignore this fact.

I wanted to take time to decide to which Dominion I should accede, or whether it is not in the best interests of both the Dominions and my State to stand independent, of course with friendly and cordial relations with both.

I accordingly approached the Dominions of India and Pakistan to enter into Standstill Agreement with my State. The Pakistan Government accepted this Agreement. The Dominion of India desired further discussions with representatives of my Government. I could not arrange this in view of the developments indicated below. In fact the Pakistan Government are operating Post and Telegraph system inside the State.

Though we have got a Standstill Agreement with the Pakistan Government that Government permitted steady and increasing strangulation of supplies like food, salt and petrol to my State.

Afridis, soldiers in plain clothes, and desperadoes with modern weapons have been allowed to in filter into the State at first in Poonch and then in Sialkot and finally in mass area adjoining Hazara District on the Ramkot side. The result has been that the limited number of troops at the disposal of the State had to be dispersed and thus had to face the enemy at the several points simultaneously, that it has become difficult to stop the wanton destruction of life and property and looting. The Mahura powerhouse which supplies the electric current to the whole of Srinagar has been burnt. The number of women who have been kidnapped and raped makes my heart bleed. The wild forces thus let loose on the State are marching on with the aim of capturing Srinagar, the summer Capital of my Government, as first step to over-running the whole State.

The mass infiltration of tribesmen drawn from distant areas of the North-West Frontier coming regularly in motor trucks using Mansehra-Muzaffarabad Road and fully armed with up-to-date weapons cannot possibly be done without the knowledge of the Provisional Government of the North-West Frontier Province and the Government of Pakistan. In spite of repeated requests made by my Government no attempt has been made to check these raiders or stop them from coming into my State. The Pakistan Radio even put out a story that a Provisional Government had been set up in Kashmir. The people of my State both the Muslims and non-Muslims generally have taken no part at all.
With the conditions obtaining at present in my State and the great emergency of the situation as it exists, I have no option but to ask for help from the Indian Dominion. Naturally they cannot send the help asked for by me without my State acceding to the Dominion of India. I have accordingly decided to do so and I attach the Instrument of Accession for acceptance by your Government. The other alternative is to leave my State and my people to free-booters. On this basis no civilized Government can exist or be maintained. This alternative I will never allow to happen as long as I am Ruler of the State and I have life to defend my country.

I am also to inform your Excellency’s Government that it is my intention at once to set up an interim Government and ask Sheikh Abdullah to carry the responsibilities in this emergency with my Prime Minister.

If my State has to be saved immediate assistance must be available at Srinagar. Mr. Menon is fully aware of the situation and he will explain to you, if further explanation is needed.

In haste and with kind regards,

The Palace, Jammu

Your sincerely,

26th October, 1947

Hari Singh
© Copyright 2015 Indian Defence Review

The Original Himalayan Blunder: How India Lost Gilgit-Baltistan

The Original Himalayan Blunder: How India Lost Gilgit-BaltistanSanjay Dixit @Sanjay_Dixit
Commentary | 10-10-2015




The original Himalayan Blunder was with regard to the Gilgit Agency and the Wazarat, which many don’t even remember. Gilgit-Baltistan, as we know it today comprised Gilgit Agency and Gilgit Wazarat back in 1947.

A lot has been written about the Himalayan Blunder committed by India in 1962. Even more has been written about the blunders committed in the prosecution of the Kashmir War of 1947, notably thereference to the United Nations by Jawaharlal Nehru at a time India was gaining momentum in the war. Poonch had been secured. Enemy forces had been chased away from the outskirts of Leh and Kargil had been won back. The Poonch-Uri road had been secured. India only needed a last push to capture Skardu back and take Muzaffarabad and Mirpur.

History would also tell you that Jammu and Kashmir was also the only princely state which was not under the charge of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Kashmir was a separate Ministry under the Government of India and was directly under the charge of Prime Minister Nehru.

I would not labour the oft repeated events that pre-dated the accession of Kashmir to India.

I begin at the point of accession.


Field Marshal Manek Shaw

There is a fine account by Late Field Marshal Manek Shaw who was then the Director of Military Operations in the Army HQ in the rank of a Colonel. General Sir Roy Bucher, the C-in-C of the Indian Army sent him to accompany VP Menon who was flying to Srinagar to get the Instrument of Accession signed.

The Kabaili tribals were hardly 10-12 kms away from the Srinagar airfield. They came back on 25th Oct, and it is worth recalling in Manek Shaw’s own words what happened the next morning in a meeting of the Cabinet Defence Committee:

“At the morning meeting he handed over the (Accession) thing. Mountbatten turned around and said, ‘come on Manekji (He called me Manekji instead of Manekshaw), what is the military situation?’ I gave him the military situation, and told him that unless we flew in troops immediately, we would have lost Srinagar, because going by road would take days, and once the tribesmen got to the airport and Srinagar, we couldn’t fly troops in. Everything was ready at the airport.

As usual Nehru talked about the United Nations, Russia, Africa, God almighty, everybody, until Sardar Patel lost his temper. He said, ‘Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away’. He (Nehru) said,’ Of course, I want Kashmir (emphasis in original). Then he (Patel) said ‘Please give your orders’. And before he could say anything Sardar Patel turned to me and said, ‘You have got your orders’.

I walked out, and we started flying in troops at about 11 o’clock or 12 o’clock. I think it was the Sikh regiment under Ranjit Rai that was the first lot to be flown in. And then we continued flying troops in. That is all I know about what happened. Then all the fighting took place. I became a brigadier, and became director of military operations and also if you will see the first signal to be signed ordering the cease-fire on 1 January (1949) had been signed by Colonel Manekshaw on behalf of C-in-C India, General Sir Roy Bucher. That must be lying in the Military Operations Directorate.”

One more event of great momentous consequence had already taken place.

Maharaja’s forces broadly comprised 50 per cent Muslims and 50 per cent Hindus. Manek Shaw records that the Muslim elements of Maharaja’s forces had revolted.

This position was known both to the Army and the political leadership. However, they got so busy looking after Srinagar that they forgot completely about both the Gilgit Agency and the Wazarat.

A bit of background may be called for at this point.

The princely State of Kashmir and Jammu (as opposed to J&K of today), had five main regions – Jammuwith Jammu as HQ, Kashmir with Srinagar as HQ, Ladakh with Leh as summer HQ, and Skardu as winter HQ, Gilgit Wazarat with Astore as HQ, and Gilgit Agency on a 60 year lease to the British from 1935.

Gilgit Agency comprised Chilas, Gilgit, Yasin, Ghizr, Iskoman, Humza and Nagar valley. All areas east of Bunji were in the Wazarat which was directly administered. As the Great Game was unfolding in Central Asia, and Britain was getting more and more obsessed with the threat of Communist Soviet Union, they thought it fit to administer this part of Maharaja’s State directly and accordingly took it on lease in 1935.

As the Indian Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament on 13 July 1947 and the date of transfer of power to India and Pakistan was set to 15 August, Mountbatten decided to let go of the Gilgit Agency lease.

On the 1st of August, administration of Gilgit passed back into the hands of Maharaja, a responsibility he was simply not up to discharging. He had a British Chief of Army Staff, Major General Scott. Scott had just two battalions around Gilgit. A battalion of Gilgit Scouts which was a British force and another battalion of 6, Kashmir infantry stationed around 50 kms away at Bunji on the eastern bank of Indus in the Wazarat area.

Gilgit Scouts was a 100 per cent Muslim force. It had one HQ Company stationed in Gilgit and ten platoons contributed by the various Rajas. 6th Kashmir infantry at Bunjion the left bank of Indus had 2 Dogra and Sikh companies and one Muslim company. General Scott sought a British officer to command the Gilgit Scouts as the force was 100 per cent Muslim and a Hindu might find it difficult to command it, and for obvious reasons, a Muslim could not be trusted in the situation that prevailed.

So Scott marshaled his resources and got a British Captain who was then posted in Chitral, and also accepted his recommendation to have another British officer working under him at Chilas.

The biggest advantage that Pakistan had over India in Kashmir was that there was not a single road or rail route that connected India with J&K. Srinagar was accessed from Rawalpindi, through Murrie and Muzaffarabad (The road to Muzaffarabad bye-passes Murrie today).

Poonch road was through the town of Gujrat after crossing the Chenab at Wazirabad. Even the road to Jammu was Amritsar-Sialkot-Jammu. Jammu had a light railway too. It ran from Wazirabad Junction on the main Lahore-Rawalpindi line through Sialkot to Jammu. Gilgit and Skardu were both accessed through Rawalpindi-Abbottabad road which crossed into Gilgit agency at the 4200 metre Babusar pass and joined the Indus at Chilas.

If the Babusar pass was closed due to snow, then there was the alternative route along the Indus valley which is the present alignment of the Karakoram valley.

From Chilas, the road went through Bunji upto the place where GilgitRiver joins the Indus, from where Indus upstream goes further north until it hits the Karakoram Range and turns south south-east near Sassi.

It went on to Skardu, from where another road along Indus, Shingo and Suru valleys joins up with Kargil. The other route took off from the Gilgit-Indus confluence and went up to Shandur pass in the West from where it crossed into Chitral, a Muslim princely State.

The river Hunza meets the Gilgit River at Gilgit. The road along Hunza valley led to the vassal States of Hunza and Nagar. The present Karakoram Highway is along this alignment going further into Chinese Turkestan over the Khunjerab pass.

The Gilgit-Indus confluence has the unique geographical feature of three of the greatest ranges – Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindukush meeting at one place.

The route from Jammu to Gilgit and Skardu via Srinagar was open only during summers as it was not possible to cross the Pir Panjal during winters. Also, going to Gilgit Wazarat’s capital Astore involved crossing the rivers Sind and Kishanganga, before going up to the Burzil Pass through Mini Margh.


Map of Jammu and Kashmir

Even the flights in small turbo prop planes had to first go to Peshawar from Srinagar before refueling and taking the route up along the Indus valley.

It is here that the big blunder took place.

Major William Alexander Brown, the commander of the Gilgit Scouts had one singular merit, not unlike many other Englishmen. He kept a diary. This was later published as his memoirs.

A look through the memoirs reveals his mindset. Right from day one of his taking over as Commander at Gilgit, he had a political agenda. When the lease of Gilgit Agency was prematurely terminated by Mountbatten and Maharaja formally resumed his territory, Major Brown was inducted as an officer of the Kashmir and Jammu Army.

Brigadier Ghansara Singh of the Maharaja’s Army was sent in as the Governor. Brown derides him as incompetent and lazy. Brown’s memoirs cannot be taken at their face value as he was always scheming against the Maharaja.

In early September, he had decided to support Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan. He has mentioned in his diary that he had his mind made up that in case Maharaja decided to accede to India, he would be with his Muslim soldiers and would mount a mutiny.

Brigadier Ghansara Singh did not size up the situation well. The 6th Kashmir Infantry based at Bunji had 3 battalions, one of which was a Muslim battalion. Everyone knew how Muslim battalions had deserted the Kashmir forces in the various mutinies which occurred from Poonch to Muzaffarabad to Baramula. Gilgit Scouts had an unconventional formation of an HQ company and ten platoons. These were widely distributed at Gupis, Chilas and Gilgit.

After the accession had been achieved and Indian troops had taken control, Gilgit should have been immediately secured through an air bridge as was Srinagar.

Had Gilgit been secured, every other garrison in Gilgit Baltistan would have become safe including Skardu and Ladakh Agency. This blunder was committed as much by the Kashmir Army, as by the Indian Army and India’s political leadership.

Gilgit had a small air strip which could have taken small aircrafts, but Skardu had a fairly long airstrip. An airlift of the size which occurred in Srinagar was militarily not possible, but induction of Indian Army and its commanders was an urgent imperative.

As things transpired later on, Major Brown led the mutiny of Gilgit Scouts as he had intended to, right from September onwards. The Kashmiri Governor, Brigadier Ghansara Singh was arrested by Major Brown. The Muslim company of 6th Kashmir Infantry also mutinied, as they had already been compromised by Major Brown.

The remainder of the 6th Kashmir Infantry were chased away from Bunji, Pakistan flag was unfurled at Gilgit and the way was opened for the whole of Gilgit and a major part of Baltistan to be taken by Pakistan.

Major Brown directed the entire operations into Gilgit-Baltistan until he was relieved in January 1948. After the fall of Gilgit, every man in Kashmir knew that Skardu would be the next target.

Gen. Thimayya is on record that he considered Skardu to be the last frontier in the battle to save Ladakh. Yet, no airlift occurred till the Kashmir Forces in Skardu under that great soldier Sher Jung Thapa had been besieged in February by Gilgit Scouts and Chitral Bodyguards.

This failure to resupply and relieve the garrisons at Gilgit and Skardu immediately after the airlift of Srinagar were great military blunders, besides political ones.

A sagacious Army commander, which General Sir Roy Bucher probably was, should have proceeded to defend Skardu and Gilgit through an air bridge. We are, however, not sure how much of his heart he had in this war.

Pakistanis similarly blame General Sir Douglas Gracey, the Pakistan Commander-in-Chief. It was a great error of judgment on part of Maharaja to entrust his forces to English officers, and to place trust in Muslim companies and battalions when they were deserting everywhere.


The hero of Skadru Lieutenant Colonel Sher Jung Thapa

The saga of rape and murder of Indians in Bunji and Skardu need to be retold to all the Indians today so that they would know how Pakistan forces fight, and how misplaced their sense of fair play is when it comes to Pakistan, whether with their forces or their public.

Narendra Modi and Doval have sized up the situation correctly. I am sure that if it had been Modi and Doval in 1972, they would not have let the advantage of having 90,000 POWs melt away without wresting away some major part of Pakistan, or without breaking up Pakistan. A War Crime Tribunal would have broken up Pakistan at that time.

My two bits about the present situation is that this great Ummah feeling has completely disappeared from Gilgit-Baltistan today. Shias and Ismailis are persecuted, and Sunnis are being increasingly seen as a colonizing force.

We need not have any illusions about the population in these parts, but it is certain that the way to conquer Kashmir is not through Muzaffarabad, but through Khapalu and Skardu. This is true not only in territorial terms, but also in terms of minds of people.

http://indiafacts.co.in/the-original-himalayan-blunder-how-india-lost-gilgit-baltistan/