1947 Banking in Jammu, Kashmir

(Kashmir Rechords Exclusive)

A pre-partition era chequebook of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Muzaffarabad, (Kashmir) Branch was recently making the rounds on social media! That prompted Kashmir Rechords to make an attempt on   the status of banking in Jammu and Kashmir before 1947.

The inputs gathered from different sources reveal that banking history of Jammu and Kashmir before 1947 is intertwined with the region’s political and economic landscape. Before the partition, the banking in the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir was relatively underdeveloped compared to other parts of British India due to various socio-economic factors.

However, there were some prominent banking institutions operating in Jammu and Kashmir before 1947. One of the notable banks was the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, established on October 1, 1938 and still exists with hundreds of branches across India. Initially, J&K Bank started as a Semi-State-owned bank with the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh as its major shareholder, having paid the capital of Rupees Five Lakh.

The Bank was founded under letters patent issued by the Maharaja in the presence of Maharaja of Parmar Rajputs, who was invited as an investor to become the Founding Director and another shareholder of the Bank. The bank commenced banking business on July 4, 1939, and was considered the first of its nature and composition as a state-owned bank in the country.

At the time of the partition, Jammu and Kashmir Bank had 10 branches in the entire undivided Princely State. However, after the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947–1948 and  as the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir got  divided, two  of the J&K  Bank  branches of Muzaffarabad and Mirpur fell to the other side of the Line of Control along with cash and other assets.

Imperial Bank of India, Kashmir

Apart from J&K Bank, another notable Bank in Kashmir that existed before 1947, was the Imperial Bank of India, Srinagar Branch. This Bank was   established on January 27, 1921, by merging three Presidency Banks into a single banking entity. Its Srinagar, Kashmir Branch was making a flourishing business  even in 1947.

According to Saba Qizilbash of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, her Dalhousie-born maternal grandfather, Wajid Ali Khan was running an Optical Business in Srinagar before the partition and was also operating an account with Srinagar Branch of the Imperial Bank of India till October 1947.  Saba is in possession of a very prized October 1947-year chequebook of her grandfather and treats it as a Medal of Honour. The Chequebook has both used and unused leaves.

National Bank of Lahore in Srinagar, Jammu

In addition to J&K Bank and Imperial Bank of India, National Bank of Lahore had also opened its two branches in the Princely State at Jammu and Srinagar. Records suggest that Traders Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce had also its branches in undivided Jammu and Kashmir. All these Banks had also closed down their branches in J&K by 1947.

Note: Esteemed Readers are welcome to provide their inputs/ comments/further information on the Subject so that the write-up can be updated.