Editing Gilgit Agency (section)

=== After 1700s ===
{{Princely states topics}}

During the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]], Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (Dogra) helped the British Empire against the Sikhs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|author=Christopher Snedden|page=67}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title= The Jammu Fox: A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir, 1792-1857|author=Bawa, Satinder Singh  |page=263}}</ref> After the defeat of the Sikh Empire, The [[Treaty of Lahore]] (1846) and the [[Treaty of Amritsar (1846)]] were signed. Under Article IV of The [[Treaty of Lahore]], signed between the Maharaja [[Duleep Singh]] and the British Empire, the Sikhs ceded the territories between the rivers Beas and Indus as war indemnity.

<blockquote>IV. The British Government having demanded from the Lahore State, as indemnification for the expenses of the war, in addition to the cession of territory described in Article 3, payment of one and half crore of Rupees, and the Lahore Government being unable to pay the whole of this sum at this time, or to give security satisfactory to the British Government for its eventual payment, the Maharajah cedes to the Honourable Company, in perpetual sovereignty, as equivalent for one crore of Rupees, all his forts, territories, rights and interests in the hill countries, which are situated between the Rivers Beas and Indus, including the Provinces of Cashmere and Hazarah.</blockquote>

In the north, these territories included [[Gilgit]] (the present [[Gilgit District]]), Astore (the present [[Astore District]]) and [[Chilas]] (presently a tehsil of the [[Diamir District]]).{{sfnp|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2003|p=20}} By 1860, the three areas were constituted as a Gilgit ''wazarat'' (district), and the princely states of [[Hunza (princely state)|Hunza]] and [[Nagar (princely state)|Nagar]] to the northeast accepted the suzerainty of the Maharaja [[Ranbir Singh (Maharaja)|Ranbir Singh]].{{sfnp|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2003|p=11}}

The Treaty of Amritsar did not constrain the Maharaja from establishing relationships with external powers, and he is said to have had dealings with Russia, Afghanistan, China and Turkestan. The British watched these developments with concern, especially in the light of Russian expansion in the north.{{sfnp|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2003|p=12}}