Tosa Maidan

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Tosa Maidan (तोसा मैदान) is a tourist destination and a hill station in the Khag area of the Budgam district in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Variants

The route

According to M. A. Stein, the Tosa Maidan route starts from the Drang village (going out from the Kashmir valley). After crossing the Tosa Maidain meadow, it ascends gently to an elevation of 13,000 ft at the top of Pir Panjal range. "The ascent is so gradual and easy that... the construction of cart-roud would so far meet with little difficulty."[1] There are several streams originating at the top of the range at this locale, all of which join to form the Sukhnag river.[2]

At the top of the Pir Panjal range, there are a number of passes leading to the Poonch Valley. The most often used pass is called Chinamarg Gali, once known as the Tosa Maidan pass,[3] near the Daman Sar lake.[4][5] It provides a steep descent into the Loran Valley, passing by the village of Sultanpathri.[6] At the southwest is another pass called Pathri ki Gali, near the Pam Sar lake (which is also the source of the main stream feeding the Sukhnag river).[7][8] This provides a gentler descent into another branch of the Loran Valley, which meets up with the first route near the village of Loran. Both the branches of Loran streams feed the Mandi River.[9]

To the north of Chinamrag Gali is another pass Jamianwali Gali, which descends into the Gagri Valley. This pass provides a longer route to Poonch.

History

The name also marks the historic Tosa Maidan route into the Kashmir Valley from the Poonch Valley. In fact, the original name of Tosa Maidan appears to have been "Tosa Marg".[10] Mahmud of Ghazni and the Sikh monarch Ranjit Singh attempted to invade the Kashmir Valley via this route following the Battle of Shopian[11][12]

The Tosa Maidan route into the Kashmir Valley was of high importance during the Lohara dynasty of Srinagar (1003–1320 CE), as is evident from its repeated mention in the last two Books of Kalhana's Rajatarangini. [13] The ruling house of the Lohara state, based in the Loran valley, took over the reins of Kashmir after the death of its king Kshemagupta, who had married a Lohara princess. Samgramaraja was the first full-fledged ruler of the dynasty. During his rule, Mahmud of Ghazni attempted to invade Kashmir via the Tosa Maidan route, once in 1003 and another time in 1021. In both the instances, he was blocked by the Lohara fort (Loharkot) that guarded the route. Mahmud was unable to conquer the fort itself. In the second instance, he also suffered a disruption of communications due to a heavy snowfall. Historian Mohibbul Hasan states that this was the first serious reverse suffered by Mahmud in India.[14]

M. A. Stein states that, even before the time of Lohara dynasty, the route must have been quite important. It provided the shortest route between Srinagar and Poonch as well as access to the western Punjab areas between the Jhelum and Indus rivers, which were under the control of Kashmir until medieval times. The route was also the "easiest and safest route in that direction", since it provided easy ascent from the Kashir Valley and was well-guarded by the Loharkot fort.[15] Al Beruni stated that brisk trade was carried out along this route.[16]

The importance of the route declined after the Mughal rule, during which the Pir Panjal Pass was developed as an Imperial Road, and the Afghan Durrani rule, during which the Jhelum Valley cart-road was developed.[17] Even so, Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire attempted two invasion Kashmir via the Tosa Maidan route in 1814 and 1819. The first time, his army was divided into two forces, one attacking the Pir Panjal Pass and the other the Tosa Maidan meadow. At the meadow, Ranjit Singh was blocked by the Durrani defences. He also suffered difficulty of maintaining supplies and was forced to retreat.[18] Later in 1819, all the Sikh forces were concentrated on Tosa Maidan and conquered the Durrani forces.[19]

तोशा मैदान

तोशा मैदान या तोसा मैदान भारत के जम्मू और कश्मीर राज्य के बडगाम ज़िले में स्थित एक नगर व पर्यटक स्थल है। इसका भूतपूर्व नाम तोशा मर्ग (Tosha Marg) था। यह कश्मीर घाटी और पुंछ घाटी के बीच स्थित है और इनमें आवागमन के मार्ग में स्थित है।

References

  1. ↑ Stein, M. A (1899), Memoir on Maps Illustrating Ancient Geography of Kashmir, Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, p. 80.
  2. ↑ Ahmad, Shabir; Alam, Akhtar; Ahmad, Bashir; Bhat, M.I.; Sultan Bhat, M. (2015). "Geomorphic evidence of unrecognized Balapur fault segment in the southwest Kashmir basin of northwest Himalayas". Geomorphology. 250. p. 170, figure 13. Bibcode:2015Geomo.250..159A
  3. ↑ Mason, Major Kenneth (1929), Routes in the Western Himalaya, Kashmir, Etc., Volume I (PDF), Surveyor General of India,p.33
  4. ↑ Ahmad, Shabir; Alam, Akhtar; Ahmad, Bashir; Bhat, M.I.; Sultan Bhat, M. (2015). "Geomorphic evidence of unrecognized Balapur fault segment in the southwest Kashmir basin of northwest Himalayas". Geomorphology. 250. p. 170, figure 13. Bibcode:2015Geomo.250..159A. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.09.006.
  5. ↑ Chinamarg and Danam Sar, mapcarta.com
  6. ↑ De Bourbel, Le Marquis (1897), Routes in Jammu and Kashmir, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co. pp. 114–115.
  7. ↑ Ahmad, Shabir; Alam, Akhtar; Ahmad, Bashir; Bhat, M.I.; Sultan Bhat, M. (2015). "Geomorphic evidence of unrecognized Balapur fault segment in the southwest Kashmir basin of northwest Himalayas". Geomorphology. 250. p. 170, figure 13. Bibcode:2015Geomo.250..159A. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.09.006.
  8. ↑ Pathri ki Gali and Pam Sar, mapcarta.com
  9. ↑ Stein (1899), pp. 80–81.
  10. ↑ Begley, Wayne Edison, ed. (1990), The Shah Jahan nama of 'Inayat Khan: An abridged history of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, compiled by his royal librarian, Oxford University Press, pp. 127–128, ISBN 978-0-19-562489-2:
  11. ↑ Nalwa, Vanit (2009), Hari Singh Nalwa - Champion of the Khalsaji, New Delhi: Manohar Books, ISBN 978-81-7304-785-5,p.45
  12. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (1991). The History of the Sikhs Volume 5. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 128. ISBN 9788121505154.
  13. ↑ Stein (1899), pp. 79–80.
  14. ↑ Hasan, Mohibbul (1959), Kashmir under the Sultans, Aakar Books, ISBN 978-81-87879-49-7
  15. ↑ Stein (1899), p. 80.
  16. ↑ Ganjoo, S.K (1998), Kashmir: History and Politics, New Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers, pp. 65–66.
  17. ↑ Hasan, Kashmir under the Sultans (1959), p. 24. Stein (1899), pp. 66–67.
  18. ↑ Stein (1899), p. 81.
  19. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (1991), History of the Sikhs: The Sikh lion of Lahore, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1799-1839, Munshiram Manoharlal, pp. 128–129

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