Sacred Corners of the Indian Triangle

If we imagine the Indian peninsula as a giant traingle, then its three corners would be Kashmir to the North-West, Arunachal Pradesh to the North-East and the Southern Cap as the third corner. Historically the Hindus of India have imparted great importance to these three corners as if these were “the sacred corners of India”. Indians have tried throughout the ages to keep these three sacred corners as independent territories. The Muslim conquerors of India (both Delhi kings and Mughals) mainly concentrated on the Northern plains. Mughals did annex Kashmir but the other two corners remained out of reach for them. Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled from 1658 to 1707) led military expeditions in the South and in the North-East and brought (temporarily) huge tracts under his control but at that time the Mahrattas had established a barrier in the Central-India against any expansion to the Southern most tip. Let us examine this “sacred corners theory” in a little detail.

North-Western Corner

Kashmir During the Sikh and British Period

Kashmir was taken over from the Afghans by the Sikhs in 1819 under the leadership of Ranjit Singh. Things were arranged such that the governorship of Kashmir was granted by the Ranjit Singh to the hindu raja of Jammu, the Gulab Singh (not a sikh). When the Sikh army was finally defeated by the British in 1849 (Second Anglo-Sikh war), Gulab Singh remained neutral and gained the goodwill of the British East India Company. In return, he was granted the state of Kashmir for a modest sum. It was probably not an individual act of Gulab Singh. This sacred corner of India had to be secured alongwith its two other corners. Throughout the British period, Kashmir enjoyed a special status. Europeans could only visit Kashmir during summer and could not even stay in the old city of Srinagar at night.

1948 Kashmir War

After the partition of India, the British gave a choice to all the princely states (around 560 in number) to join either India or Pakistan. Kashmir was the most prominent of these princely states. The leader of India National Congress Party was Jawaher Lal Nehru, who belonged to a Kashmiri family. His wife (mother of Indira Gandhi) also belonged to Kashmir. Naturally, they had more commitment and exerted much more efforts to annex Kashmir than did Pakistan. By invading Kashmir first in October 1947 with irregulars, Pakistan scared the MahaRaja of Kashmir and put him in a state of panic. In panic, he signed the instrument of accession to India. Then by air lifting regular army troops (unlike Pakistan's tribal fighters who were civilians and can’t even be called as irregular troops) to Kashmir, they succeeded in occupying the Jammu and Kashmir valley. It would seem that Pakistan played the role that India wanted it to play. However, Pakistan still held control over the Gilgit, Skardu, Baltistan and Hunza-Nagar when the cease-fire was announced on January 1^st 1949. These areas are not part of the Kashmir valley itself but were under the control or suzerainty of the Kashmir state.

1962 Sino-Indian War

In this war, two sacred corners of the Indian triangle were concerned, the North-East and the North- West. From the accounts of the war, it is clear that Indian political leadership of that time, the Prime Minister Nehru did not want confrontation with China. Despite Indian reverses and losses on the ground, the Air Force was not engaged in order not to escalate the conflict. Obviously India did not want to gamble on its two sacred corners simultaneously.

1965 India-Pakistan War

1965 was the year when India abolished the office of the Prime Minister of Kashmir and instead established the office of Chief Minister of Kashmir. It was a breach of the status quo between the two countries over Kashmir. Pakistan, on the other hand, still has the offices of Prime Minister and President of Kashmir (Pakistan-held part). That same year (1965), Pakistan launched Operation Gibralter into Kashmir with its light units of Special Forces. India responded by attacking Lahore with its heavy armoured units and artillery. This sudden and strong strike across the International Border blunted the Pakistani offensives elsewhere and resulted in a zero-sum effort.

1984 Siachen Conflict and 1999 India-Pakistan Conflict in Kargil

Once again India proved that it is sensitive to its sacred corners and reacting to an issue of issuing visas to the mountaineering teams in the snow-clad mountains of Siachen in the unmarked border area, it sent its regular army to the area in1984. Pakistan, though unprepared, had to respond to the Indian advance and had to deploy its own troops on the roof of the world. This might also be linked to the strong alliance of India to the Soviet Union in the Cold War era. To divert Pakistan's military resources from the war in Afghanistan, India opened a new theatre in the mountains of Siachen, helping its ally, the Soviet Union.

The Kargil conflict in 1999 also drew a strong response from India. India sent its regular army units and used its air force to good extent whereas Pakistan could not provide air cover to its irregular troops for the fear of escalating the conflict into a full-scale war.

North-Eastern Corner

Like the Southern tip, the North-Eastern India remained mostly out of reach of the Muslim rulers of India. This area was kingdom of Ahoms (Hindu Kings). Military expeditions were made by several daring Generals (from bases in Bengal) like Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji in 13^th century and later on by Mir Jumla in 1662 in the reign of King Aurangzeb Alamgir. With the Bengal as base, Mughal army made its way into the Brahmaputra valley and succeeded in advancing to the capital Garhgaon but the hot and humid climate of the area soon told upon the health of the soldiers and hundreds perished there of diseases. It is interesting to note the Mir Jumla was a connoisseur of diamonds and this expedition may had something to do with treasure-hunting in that remote part of India. During the British period, the tribes of North-Eastern region remained practically independent like the tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan. Whether the British did not want to annex the North-Western and North-Eastern regions (Kashmir and the current Arunachal -Pradesh) or it was part of an agreement with an ethnic/religious group of India is not known. However it is known that some Kashmiri Pundits like Mohan Lal acted as strategic counselors to the British East India Company [1].

1971 India-Pakistan War

In the aftermath of the 1971 India-Pakistan war, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Prior to this war, India had accused Pakistan of supporting the separatist movements in the NEFA (North-Eastern Frontier Agency, later named as Arunachal Pradesh) and Assam. It was a sacred corner of India and something serious had to be done, so India evicted Pakistan out of the area altogether. It is interesting to note that earlier invasion and expeditions of Muslims into the North-eastern corner of India (the Brahmaputra valley) were also made from their bases in Bengal.

Southern Corner of India

The Hindu kingdoms of the South remained practically independent for the most of history. The Delhi Kings and Mughal dynasty mostly remained limited to the Northern and Central India. During the British colonial period, the Travancore state in the Southern tip remained a princely state in alliance with the British. Before Haider Ali (died 1782) came to power in Mysore state around 1762, it was also a Hindu state of the South. With the take over of Sultan Tipu (son of Haider Ali, ruler from 1782 to 1799) in Mysore, the Travancore state concluded an alliance with the British East India Company amid growing concerns of security and survival. When Sultan Tipu invaded Travancore in 1789, the British declared war on him. After the defeat and death of Sultan Tipu in 1799, Mysore state was returned to its Hindu ruling family. These states remained independent (under British protection) and joined the Indian Union after the partition of India in 1947.

The troubles again rose in the South with the Tamil rebels of Sri Lanka. India undertook a painstaking effort to settle the issue and it was this conflict that took the life of Rajiv Gandhi, the son of Indira Gandhi in 1991. After the peace settlement in Sri Lanka, this corner of India has remained peaceful.

[1] Life of the Amir Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul by Mohan Lal, Knight of the Persian Order of the Lion and Sun, 1846.