The way Maharaja Gulab Singh stood his ground and defended his kingdom from encroachment by the British is astonishing. BTW, he is never given credit for foiling the British, or limiting the various landowner abuses that were rampant in Jammu and Kashmir before him.
Using `Kashmiri rights' and `Kashmiri problems' was the favourite British way of pressuring Maharaja Gulab Singh. But Gulab Singh, despite his weakness compared to the British, managed to hold them off, thanks to his prodigious diplomatic skill. Helping him was Rajakak Dhar.
Again, the combination of the Dogra king and the KP minister seems to have worked very well. Rajakak Dhar understood the British game beautifully and used `counter-protests' to curtail British games. No wonder, then, KPs are hated by enemy diplomats. They know all the games. :)
