Janak Singh

Janak Singh was born in the village of Khaira in the Kangra district, in the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh in India in 1872 where he completed his primary education by 1884.{{sfn|Katoch|2025|pp=247}} {{Cite book |last=Śarmā |first=Baṃśī Rāma |title=Gods of Himachal Pradesh |last2=(Simla India) |first2=Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies |publisher=Indus Pub. Co. in association with Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies, H.P. University, Shimla |year=2007 |isbn=978-81-7387-209-9 |location=New Delhi |pages=105 |language=English}} {{Cite book|title=A Kashmir Knight and the last 50 years of the princely state of J&K|first=Lt. Gen Ghanshyam Singh|last=Katoch|publisher=Sabre & Quill|year=2025|isbn=9789348152374}}

He began as Naib-Tehsildar in Ramnagar on June 11, 1901, and was commissioned as a Major in the Department of Army Administration & Quartermaster General (DAA & QMG) at the Jammu and Kashmir Army Headquarters the following year. In 1905, he came into contact with Raja Amar Singh, influencing his subsequent postings. By 1912, he had served as Wazir Wazarat in Kathua, Kishtwar, and Gilgit. From 1915 to 1917, he was appointed Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, Raja Hari Singh, holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.{{sfn|Katoch|2025|pp=247,248}}

From 1917 to 1920, Janak Singh commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Kashmir Rifles in Gilgit, followed by leadership of the 3rd Kashmir Rifles at Satwari Cantonment. Between 1921 and 1925, he served as Revenue and Foreign Minister. After 1925, he held multiple ministerial portfolios, including Army, Public Works, Law, and Revenue, reflecting his significant role in the administration of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1947, during a critical period leading up to the state’s accession to India, he briefly served as Prime Minister.{{sfn|Katoch|2025|pp=254}}

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Singh was army minister in the government of Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir during 1929–1931.{{sfn|Singh|2010|pp=149, 163}} He also served as the revenue minister.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} On 11 August 1947 he was brought out of retirement to be the prime minister at a turbulent time on the eve of the independence of India and Pakistan.Robert. G. Wirsing. India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir Dispute.On Regional conflict and its Resolution. P.33. St Martins Press, New York, 1998 This is deemed to be a temporary appointment while the Maharaja searched for a more permanent replacement.{{sfn|Das Gupta|1968|pp=87–88}}{{sfn|Jha|1996|p=44}}{{sfn|Singh|2010|p=215}}

He steered the Standstill Agreement that Kashmir wanted to sign with India and Pakistan.Looking Back: The Autobiography of Mehr Chand Mahajan Former Chief Justice of India. Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1963, p. 125 & 267 The agreement was not signed by India, and before further deliberations were done Pakistan-assisted raiders had marched into Kashmir state. Janak Singh was replaced by Mehr Chand Mahajan on 15 October 1947.{{Cite book |last=Bajwa |first=K. S |title=Jammu and Kashmir War, 1947-1948 : Political and Military Perspective |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2003 |isbn=978-81-241-0923-6 |location=New Delhi |pages=77 |language=English}} On 13 September 1947 Maharaja Hari Singh requested the loan of the services of Lt. Col. Kashmir Singh Katoch (son of Janak Singh) to act as the military adviser to the Maharaja. This request was granted by the Indian government.{{sfn|Singh|2010|p=215}}{{efn|Lt. Col. Kashmir Singh Katoch was the eldest of the three sons of Janak Singh.}}

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Singh had won a Military Cross with a unit of the Frontier Force Rifles during World War II in action in Italy. He ultimately retired as a Lt. General in the Indian Army. The other two sons also served in the Indian Army, one in the 5 Gorkha Rifles, Brigadier Devendra Singh Katoch, AVSM, and the youngest, Lt. Colonel Rajendra Singh Katoch, followed his father into the J&K State forces, where he was commissioned into the J&K Bodyguard Cavalry.{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Brigadier Samir |title=Nothing But! : Book Three: What Price Freedom |publisher=Partridge Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=9781482816266 |pages=30 |language=en}}

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• {{citation |last=Das Gupta |first=Jyoti Bhusan |title=Jammu and Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpTpCAAAQBAJ |date=1968 |publisher=Springer |ISBN=978-94-011-9231-6}}
• {{citation |last=Jha |first=Prem Shankar |authorlink=Prem Shankar Jha |title=Kashmir, 1947: Rival Versions of History |url=https://archive.org/details/kashmir1947rival00jhap |via=archive.org |url-access=registration |year=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |ISBN=978-0-19-563766-3}}
• {{citation |last=Singh |first=K. Brahma |title=History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1820-1956: The State Force Background |publisher=Lancer International |ISBN=978-81-7062-091-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psTeAAAAMAAJ |year=1990}}
• {{citation |last=Singh |first=K. Brahma |title=History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1820-1956: The State Force Background |publisher=brahmasingh.co.nf |year=2010 |origyear=first published Lancer International 1990 |ISBN=978-81-7062-091-4 |url=http://www.brahmasingh.co.nf/books/history%20of%20jammu%20and%20kashmir%20rifles.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306195332/http://www.brahmasingh.co.nf/books/history%20of%20jammu%20and%20kashmir%20rifles.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}

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{{Succession box

| before = Ram Chandra Kak

| title = Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir

| years = 1947 (August–October)

| after = Mehr Chand Mahajan

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Category:1872 births

Category:1972 deaths

Category:Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)

Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire

Category:People from Kangra district

Category:People of the 1947 Kashmir conflict