MEDIVAL HISTORY OF JAMMU

In mid 8th century, the Dhar dynasty was weakened by facing several attacks from neighbouring regi ons of Poonch, Kashmir and outside invasions. The weakening of this dynasty led to the emergence of a stronger dynasty known as Dev Dynasty.

Dev Dynasty (840-1798 AD)

Vajar Dhar's successor Suraj Dev established the Dev dynasty in 840 AD. He was a powerful ruler and an able administrator. He ruled till 912 AD, after which his successor Bhuj Dev ascended the throne.

He was succeeded by Avtar Dev in 982 AD. He defeated Mahmud of Ghazni with the combined strength of all Jammu hill chiefs.

 As Jammu was on the route of the invaders who came from Central and West Asia, it faced several attacks during this period. But the rulers of Dev dynasty defended their territories bravely.

However, Avatar Dev could not win the second attack by Mahmud of Ghazni and was defeated in the Battle of Peshawar in 1001 AD.

Important Rulers of Dev Dynasty

🟢Jas Dev (1030-1053 AD): He founded the Jasrota town.

🔴Sangram Dev (1053-1094 AD) :He defeated the King of Kashmir (Ananta) at Bilawar.

🟠Jasakara (Chakara) Dev (1094-1164 AD) He was succeeded by Sangaram Dev in 1094 AD. 

🟢Brij (Bijay) Dev (1164-1215AD) He fought against Prithvi Raj Chauhan in the Battle of Tarain. He also founded Bajpur (Vijaypur).

🟤 Narsing Dev (1215 AD-1258 AD) :He was the son of Brij Dev and killed Prithvi Raj's brother Khande Rao in the Battle of Tarain.

Arjan Dev (1258-1313 AD): He succeeded Narsing Dev.

🟪Jodh Dev (1313-1361 AD) :He was the contemporary of Feroz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi. .

🔴 Mal Dev (1361-1400 AD) He resisted Timur's invasion strongly. He worked for the welfare of his people and established Jammu as the Dogra capital. His tenure was prosperous and regarded as a golden period.

⚫Hamir Dev (1400-1423AD): He was the contemporary of Mohammad Tughlaq of Delhi and Ali Shah of Kashmir.

🟢Ajab Dev (1423-1454 AD): He extended the Jammu kingdom upto Gujarat in west and established friendly relations with the rulers of Kashmir.

🟠Bairam Dev (1454-1489 AD) :He devised a way to eliminate Kokhar Chief Jasrath from Jammu by establishing friendly relations with Bahlol Lodi of Lodi dynasty in Delhi.Many sufi saints came to Jammu during this regn like sayyid  Qutub Alam  of Sabazwar and Jogi Garib Das 

🟣Goghar Dev (1500-1530) During his reign,

Delhi was captured by Babur who founded the

Mughal empire in 1526. Goghar Dev

established friendly relations with Babur and earned the title of Isa Khan from him.

 🟢Kapur Dev (1530-1571) He divided the

kingdom into Bahu and Jammu. Dev rulers remained allies of Mughals till 1703.

⚫Jag Dev (1571-1590) He was killed in a conspiracy by his half brother Lal Dev.

🟠Samhal Dev (1590-1594) He ruled for a very short period.

🟣Sangram Dev (1594-1626) He was the favourite of Jahangir and accompanied him on various expeditions.

🟡Bhupat Dev (1626-1656) He was a contemporary of Mughal ruler Shah Jahan.

🟢Hari Dev (1656-1692) He was a contemporary of Aurangzeb.

🔴Gaje Singh (1692-1703) Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru visited Jammu during his rule.

🟡Dhruv Dev (1703-1733) He gave shelter to Sikh warrior Banda Bahadur and helped him to rise against Mughals. He consolidated his empire and became an independent ruler.

🟤Maharaja Ranjit Dev (1733-1782)  :He was the next independent ruler after Dhruv Dev. He conquered almost all the 22 hill regions. He extended his reign from Punjab in the west till Shivalik in the East. In Rajdarshini, his reign is as Dar-ul-Aman (Abode of Peace). He was also a social reformer and imposed ban on sati and female infanticide. Eminent Dogri Poet Pandit Dev Dutt was his court poet. described

After his death in 1782, the power and of Jammu gradually declined due to weak successors. During this period,  Sukarchakiya Misl, which was one of the 12 Sikh Misls in Punjab started its attack on the Jammu region.

➡️Braj Raj Dev (1782-1787) :Ranjit Dev's son Braj Raj succeeded him, but he was a weak ruler. Maha Singh of Sukarchakiya Misl attacked Jammu in which Braj Raj was killed. His General Mian Mota managed to save the kingdom by placing Braj Raj's son, Sampuran Dev on throne.

🔴Sampuran Dev was just one year old at that time. He ruled upto 1798 and died. After him, the throne of Jammu passed onto Jit Singh who was the son of Dalel Singh (Ranjit Dev's younger son).

🟤 In 1798, during the rule of Jit Singh, the Dev Dynasty finally came to an end and Jammu went into the hands of Sikh rule.