Zorawar Singh Kahluria

Who was Zorawar Singh Kahluria?

Zorawar Singh Kahluria was born in a village of Kahlur State in modern Himachal Pradesh, India. In reference to his legacy of conquests in the Himalayas including Ladakh, Tibet, Baltistan and Iskardu as General and Wazir, he has been refereed to by historians as "Conqueror of Ladakh" and the "Napoleon of India".

He was born to in a Hindu Dogra Rajput family of Kahluria clan, they migrated to the Jammu region where, on coming of age, Zorawar took up service under Raja Jaswant Singhhindu raj of Marmathi. In 1817 he joined the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, as the state of Doda had become part of the Sikh Empire after a campaign against its Afghan rulers. Zorawar Singh was employed by the ambitious Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu and was placed under the commandant of the Reasi fort. While delivering a routine message to the Maharaja, Zorawar told him of the financial waste occurring in the fort administration and boldly presented his own scheme to effect savings.

Gulab Singh was impressed by Zorawar’s sincerity and appointed him commandant of Reasi. As promised, the Rajput youth fulfilled his task and his grateful ruler made him commissariat officer of all forts north of Jammu. He was later made governor of Kishtwar and was given the title of Wazir. Like Kashmir, the Kingdom of Kishtwar was formed by a river valley —-the kingdom's ancient name was Kashtavat and it remained under Hindu rulers until the 17th Century when Raja Gairat Singh converted to Islam and received the title of Raja Sa’adat Yar Khan from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.