Kashmir Series
Dogras, The Most Competent Militaries of the Great Games and The Policy Imperatives of Their Legacy
Lithograph of the palace of Maharaja Gulab Singh, on the banks of Tawi River, Jammu in the mid-19th century. Photo courtesy: Hardinge, Charles Stewart/Wikimedia Commons. The history of India’s...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date April 7, 2023
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The billions of dollars worth of my grandfather’s one rupee
My maternal grandfather’s pockets were always full of coins and everyday one of them was mine. It was invested into me everyday with a smile and a tap on my...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date January 11, 2023
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Can the ancient ‘Kashmir to Haridwar’ route be revitalised into a National Educational Route?
I hired a cab to the village of 95-year-old Beli Singh, a former bodyguard of Maharaja Hari Singh and also a former presidential guard during the time of India’s first...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date December 5, 2022
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Ancient Battles at India’s Gateway and and its Constant Reflections in Contemporary Geopolitics
Neglecting a region’s history is akin to waging a covert war against it. Recorded history has often been a mixture of fiction and fantasy, its angle is often defined by...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date November 9, 2022
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Hydro-geology, bowlis and the people we call Dogras
I’m a Dogra – put simply I’m from a land geologically sandwiched between the fertile plains of Indus and the mighty ranges of the North western Himalayas. For thousands of...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date October 23, 2022
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My Discovery of a ‘Victorian Sword’ in a Sleepy Hamlet of Jammu and its Connection to Gilgit’s History
Its monsoons and my ancestral mountains are overflowing with water. Green forests stare glaringly at the cloudy sky as I make my way riding pillion with my father to Rampur-Rasool,...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date September 19, 2022
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Is My Jammu Village Standing on a Civilisational Catchment?
People of the mountains in my region haven’t preserved history in the written form the way the modern world does. But somewhere embedded in the cultural beliefs there are things...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date August 14, 2022
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Small Piece of a Family’s History Could be Missing Chunk in Kashmir’s Puzzle
There was an ancient route from Kashmir to Haridwar traversing through the shivalik ranges of Jammu that brought traders, seekers and invaders to India. Haridwar is a pilgrimage town of...
- Author Venus Upadhayaya
- Date July 23, 2022
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