The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and northeastern Pakistan. Their historical homeland is known as Duggar. Dogra Rajputs ruled Jammu from the 19th century, when Gulab Singh was made a hereditary Raja of Jammu by Ranjit Singh, whilst his brother Dhian Singh was the empire's prime minister of Punjab, until October 1947. Through the Treaty of Amritsar (1846), they acquired Kashmir as well. The Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army primarily consists of Dogras from the Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu region. Etymology The term Dogra is thought to derive from Durgara, the name of a kingdom mentioned in an eleventh century copper-plate inscription in Chamba. The inscription mentions the Raja of Chamba facing an attack by Kiras aided by the Lord of Durgara (durgāreśwara). In medieval times the term Durgara is believed to have turned into Duggar, eventually transforming to 'Dogra'. Kalhana's Rajatarangini makes no mention of a kingdom by any of these names, but the kingdoms could have been referred to by their capital cities (such as Vallapura, modern Billawar, or Babbapura, modern Babor). In modern times, the term Dogra has become an ethnic identity, referring to all who speak the Dogri language, irrespective of their religion. History Omachanda Handa believes that the Durgara people were originally migrants from Rajasthan. The allusion to durg (fort) in their name indicates that they may have remained a warrior people, eventually founding powerful kingdoms between Chenab and Ravi, and possibly dominating up to the Sutluj river. According to archaeologist M. A. Stein, there were some eleven Dogra states in the region, all of them eventually absorbed into the Jammu state, which emerged as the most powerful. Prior to the rise of Jammu, Babbapura (Babor) is believed to have been the chief state of Dogras. Lying 45 km east of Jammu, Babor contains the ruins of six magnificent temples representing a "thriving artistic activity". The Rajatarangini mentions Raja Vajradhara of Babbapura vowing allegiance to Bhikshachara of Kashmir in 1120 AD, along with the chiefs of neighbouring kingdoms. Jammu Dogras The Jammu Dogras traditionally inhabited the area between the slopes of the Shivalik range of mountains and the sacred Surinsar Lake and Mansar Lake, but later spread over whole of