Mehta Basti Ram

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Mehta Basti Ram

Zorawar Fort Ladakh, where Basti Ram was

the first

Qiladar

(commandant)

Governor of Leh

In office

1847–1861

Preceded by

Succeeded by

(son)

Personal details

Born

Early 19th century

, Jammu, Sikh

Empire

Died

Late 19th century

, Jammu and

Kashmir,

Spouse

Unknown

Children

Mehta Mangal

(great-

granddaughter),

(great-grandson)

Occupation

Military officer, Governor

Military service

Allegiance

Rank

Colonel

Unit

Battles/wars

Mehta Basti Ram

was a

officer and commander of the Fateh Shibji

battalion under Raja

(later Maharaja of

). Basti Ram later served as the governor (

thanadar

) of

between 1847 and 1861.

Basti Ram joined the service of Raja Gulab Singh in

1821 and became an officer under General

during his conquest of

Ladakh between 1834 and 1841. After holding positions such as the governor of

(briefly) and thanadar of

, he became the

Leh under Maharaja Gulab Singh.

Life

[

]

In 1821, when

, the Raja of Jammu under the

, conquered

, Basti Ram joined his service and was soon under General

At a rank of Colonel, he led Zorawar Singh's

Jangi Fauj

, later

reorganised and renamed as the Fateh Shibji force

from 1834 to 1841.

Fateh Shibji went on to become the 4th Battalion of the

(it retains the historic name Fateh Shibji).

Major General

wrote in 2002 that Basti Ram was a "tactician par excellence" and

that he "should be a role model for Indian battalion commanders".

Zorawar fort in

Ladakh. Basti Ram was

the first

Qiladar

(commandant).

Dogra conquest of Ladakh

[

]

Basti Ram was one of the main officers of

's force and played a crucial

role at multiple locations in the unification of

which started in 1834.

He led an attack that resulted in the capture of the Fort of Sod/Soth (in

) and subsequently the

Gyalpo

The assault included crossing the

on inflated goatskins.

During the conquest of Baltistan, which

started during the end of 1840, he found a way to cross a river that had

caused Zorawar's army to halt for over a month in the cold and snow.

For

this innovation, Zorawar Singh gifted Basti Ram Rs. 500 and a pair of gold

bangles.

Basti Ram was also present during the capture of

After Zorawar Singh's forces captured Western Tibet, Basti Ram was appointed

the governor of

(

Soon afterwards, the Tibetans launched a

counterattack during winter. Zorawar Singh was killed on 12 December 1941 and

his army was defeated.

The men stationed at Taklakot fled to the British

province of

Basti Ram escaped to

where the British

commissioner gave him shelter.

By the autumn of 1846, Basti Ram was

appointed the

thanadar

and "one of the confidential servants of

Maharaja Gulab Sing.

Basti Ram provided one of the earliest written accounts of the Dogra conquest

of Ladakh and beyond, twelve years after the events. While the original

version was lost,

had re-written Basti Ram's account

based on a dictation by Basti Ram himself.

notes

that Basti Ram may have exaggerated the enemy numbers at certain

locations.

Governor of Leh

[

]

Basti Ram was appointed the thanadar of Leh between 1847 and 1861.

At the time there were

four thanadars for Ladakh, in Zanskar, Kargil, Dras and Nubra.

All the thanadars had

military and civil authority in their districts and were accountable directly to the

Maharaja.

estimated that Basti Ram's income would have been a

"respectable" Rs.18,000 annually, (roughly £1,800 a year).

Lieutenant Colonel

, who passed through Ladakh in 1862, noted that Basti Ram had retired to his home in

Kishtawar on account of old age, and a successor had not yet been appointed by the

Maharaja".

Instead, Torrens met the

Kahlon

of Leh, the "nominal governor", who got little respect from the Sikhs

[Dogras].

Family

[

]

Basti Ram was born in the Mehta family from

. His grandfather had been in charge of military affairs under the

last Kishtwar ruler Mohammad Teg Singh.

Basti Ram's son

succeeded him as Governor of Ladakh.

Basti Ram's great-granddaughter was

, who went on to become the first woman member of parliament from

Jammu and Kashmir. Krishna Mehta had been married to Duni Chand Mehta who was appointed as the

wazir-e-wazarat

. In October 1947, Duni Chand was killed by

and Krishna Mehta was taken

prisoner and eventually repatriated by Pakistan. Krishna Mehta's brother Om Mehta served as a

for

Home Affairs in

's government in 1976. Another younger brother Ved Mehta was at one time the president of

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Jammu.

References

[

]

Notes

Also referred to as 8 Shibji Paltan later reorganised into the 7 Shibji.

writes that this

operation deserves to be "a classic" in "military history books".

Also spelt

Kahlon

Old Tibetan title signifying Prime Minister.

Cunningham notes that "the term is also applied to the

chief men of all the districts."

Citations

, p.

, p. 120.

, p. 52.

, p. 52, 117.

, p. 144.

Bansal, Bobby Singh (2015-12-01).

Remnants of the Sikh Empire: Historical Sikh Monuments in India & Pakistan

. Hay

House, Inc.

, p. 335.

, p. 65.

, p. 347–349.

, p. 88.

, p. 349.

, p. 349–350.

, p. 351.

, p. 352.

, p. 353.

, p. 332.

, p. 355.

, p. 246.

, p. 261.

, p. 273–274.

, p. 274.

, p. 171–172.

, p. 277.

, p. 172.

Nayyar, Sanjeev (2016).

eSamskriti

. Retrieved

2021-01-05

Chohan, Amar Singh (1983).

. Atlantic Publishers and

Distributors, New Delhi. pp.

200–

201.

krishnamehta.net

. Retrieved

2020-12-29

Kashmir Times

. 28 April 2015

. Retrieved

2020-12-29

Bibliography

(1926).

. In

Thomas, Frederick William (ed.).

Antiquities of Indian Tibet

. Vol. 2: The Chronicles of Ladakh and Minor

Chronicles. New Delhi: S. Chand & Co. (published 1972).

– via archive.org.

(2002). "9—Colonel Basti Ram: Tactician Par Excellence".

. New Delhi: Lancer Publishers.

(1862).

. London: Saunders, Otley's, and

Co.

(1913).

Thirty Years in Kashmir

. London:

(1854).

. London: