King · All traditions · The Himalaya · Jammu and Kashmir
Maharaja Gulab Singh
The Dogra ruler who acquired Kashmir in 1846, under whom, the Malik family says, Buta Malik found the cave; he is said to have ordered that a Malik of Batakote always be present at the shrine with the Mahant and the Purohits and that the offerings be shared with them, by one account in three equal parts.
Sources: Buta Malik lives (Kashmir Life, 2016); Muslim caretakers of Amarnath dispute tribunal (Hinduism Today, Hindu Press International, 21 August 2004; dispatch Batakoot 25 July 2004); M. M. Munshi, Tirtha of Amreshvara and Who discovered Amarnath? (ikashmir.net, a Kashmiri Pandit site) · see Maharaja Gulab Singh's web