Gilgit rebellion of 1947

01A lease handed back

Gilgit had been leased by the Maharaja to the British in 1935. On 1 August 1947 the lease ended and the agency returned to Jammu and Kashmir, with Brigadier Ghansara Singh as governor. The local force, the Gilgit Scouts, was still commanded by Major William Brown, a British officer. When the tribal invasion of the valley began in October and the Maharaja acceded to India on 26 October, Brown and a group of Muslim officers moved. On the night of 31 October the Scouts surrounded the governor’s house, and he surrendered next morning.

02Bunji and after

The 6th Jammu and Kashmir Infantry at Bunji, on the Indus, had mixed companies. Its Muslim soldiers joined the rising, and the Sikh company was attacked and broke out towards Skardu with heavy loss. A provisional council was formed in Gilgit, but within days the leaders asked Pakistan to take over, and on 16 November its political agent, Sardar Mohammad Alam, arrived. Brown was later decorated by Pakistan. From Gilgit the rebels moved on Skardu, which was besieged from February 1948.