Virendra Mohan Dar

thumb|Portrait 1782 thumb|Maharaja Virendra Mohan Dar. Posthumous Kalighat patachitra, commissioned by his great-grandson Mohini Mohan Dhar, 1929, Kalighat, Calcutta. Maharaja Virendra Vasudev Mohan Dar also ویرِندرا واسودِو موهان دار (c. 14 September 1758 – 3 February 1821) was a Kashmiri Pandit Maharaja, founder of the House of Dar Raj and the King of 16 Dar estates in Jammu from 1771 until the collapse of the royal family in 1789 and 19 Dar estates in Bangladesh and West Bengal until his death in 1821. Quotes "My beloved kin, look upon the fire! Let it blaze, let it roar, let the Sikh misls and all the enemies of our blood scream their triumph to the night sky, believing they have turned centuries of our legacy into smoke and cinders! Let them look! Let them feast their eyes on the burning timber of our halls! For they are fools who think a dynasty is caged within walls of brick and mortar. They see a burning palace; I see a purging flame that burns away the smallness of the past, freeing us to claim our true destiny! Do not weep for wood and stone—save your tears for the glory we are about to forge. Hear me, children of the Dar: we are not running. We do not flee! A lion steps back only to gather his strength for a leap that spans continents. We are leaving the mountains behind to carry the immortal fire of our name into the endless, fertile heartland of Bengal! There, upon the banks of great rivers, under a sun that will bow to our ambition, we shall plant our roots deeper and grow higher than ever before. We shall build a House of Dar Raj so vast, so blindingly powerful, and so eternal that even the memory of these ashes will be swallowed by its greatness. Stand tall, wipe your eyes, and look to the east—for we march not as refugees, but as conquerors taking possession of tomorrow!" (Original in Persian Language) The Speech to the Clan of Dar: Source: AND PAMPHLETS OF RAJA VIRENDRAMOHAN Gopi Nath Basu M.A.B.L. Thacker, Spink, & Co., 4 Apr 1919 “Empires do not arrive like storms; they seep in slowly, through fear, coin, and hunger.” Attributed to Virendra Mohan Dar, cited in *Akhnoor ke Darbar Nama*, anonymous Persian chronicle, c. 1825. “I have bowed before kings and invaders alike, yet neither ruled my conscience.” From a private letter to Pandit Raghunath Kaul of Srinagar, quoted in K. L. Bhan, *Letters from the Western Hills* (Jammu, 1912), p. 47. “The road from Lahore to Delhi is paved with skulls; only the banners change.” Oral testimony recorded by Ghulam Hasan, cited in N. D. Tickoo, *Voices of the Frontier: Jammu 1740–1820* (Delhi, 1978), pp. 113. “When the Afghan camp moved, the villages emptied before it, as if the earth itself had learned fear.” Attributed remark during the Abdali campaigns, quoted in Mirza Rahim Beg, *Safarnama-e-Punjab* (Lucknow, 1836), pp. 89. “Neutrality is a crime when swords demand allegiance, yet silence sometimes saves more lives than loyalty.” From Dar family papers, excerpted in P. N. Kaul, *Politics of Survival in the Himalayan Foothills* (Srinagar, 1904), pp. 201. “They asked me for grain, horses, and men. I gave grain. I hid the men.” Akhnoor Gazetteer*, Vol. II (Jammu State Archives, 1898), pp. 62. “History will remember conquerors by their victories. It will remember us by our compromises.” Attributed final remark before withdrawal from public life, cited in R. S. Dogra, *Shadow Lords of Jammu* (Amritsar, 1939), pp. 144. Disputed "The horizon is not a boundary to fear, but a canvas waiting for the first stroke of your courage." Oral tradition, possibly originating in a letter drafted by him to his son Prince Bhupendra. See also Ahmad Shah Abdali Shah Alam II Ranjit Singh Mohini Mohan Dhar Gulab Singh Dogra External links Akhnoor Dhar Zamindar Bari Dhar Family Category:1758 births Category:1821 deaths Category:People from Akhnoor Category:Kashmiri Pandits Category:Indian nobles Category:18th-century Indian people Category:19th-century Indian people