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History of Kashmir

The history of Kashmir is intertwined with

the history of the broader Indian
subcontinent and the surrounding regions,
comprising the areas of Central Asia,
South Asia and East Asia. Historically,
Kashmir referred to the Kashmir Valley.[1]
Today, it denotes a larger area that
includes the Indian-administered union
territories of Jammu and Kashmir (which
consists of Jammu and the Kashmir
Valley) and Ladakh, the Pakistan-
administered territories of Azad Kashmir
and Gilgit–Baltistan, and the Chinese-
administered regions of Aksai Chin and
the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

In the first half of the 1st millennium, the

Kashmir region became an important
centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism;
later in the ninth century, Shaivism arose.
Islamization in Kashmir took place during
13th to 15th century and led to the
eventual decline of the Kashmir Shaivism
in Kashmir. However, the achievements of
the previous civilizations were not lost.

In 1339, Shah Mir became the first Muslim

ruler of Kashmir, inaugurating the Shah Mir
dynasty. For the next five centuries,
Muslim monarchs ruled Kashmir, including
the Mughal Empire, who ruled from 1586
until 1751, and the Afghan Durrani Empire,
which ruled from 1747 until 1819. That
year, the Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh,
annexed Kashmir. In 1846, after the Sikh
defeat in the First Anglo-Sikh War, and
upon the purchase of the region from the
British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the
Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, became the
new ruler of Kashmir. The rule of his
descendants, under the paramountcy (or
tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until
1947, when the former princely state
became a disputed territory, now
administered by three countries: India,
Pakistan, and the People's Republic of
China.

Etymology
According to folk etymology, the name
"Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from
the Sanskrit: Ka = water and shimeera =
desiccate).[2] In the Rajatarangini, a history
of Kashmir written by Kalhana in the mid-
12th century, it is stated that the valley of
Kashmir was formerly a lake.[3] According
to Hindu mythology, the lake was drained
by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of
Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap
in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula).[3]
When Kashmir had been drained,
Kashyapa asked Brahmins to settle there.
This is still the local tradition, and in the
existing physical condition of the country,
we may see some ground for the story
which has taken this form.[3] The name of
Kashyapa is by history and tradition
connected with the draining of the lake,
and the chief town or collection of
dwellings in the valley was called
Kashyapa-pura, which has been identified
with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus (apud
Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros
of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44).[3][4] Kashmir is
also believed to be the country meant by
Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.[5] Cashmere is an
archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some
countries it is still spelled this way.

Historiography
Nilmata Purana (complied c. 500–600
CE)[6] contains accounts of Kashmir's early
history. However, being a Puranic source, it
has been argued that it suffers from a
degree of inconsistency and
unreliability.[7][a] Kalhana's Rajatarangini
(River of Kings), all the 8000 Sanskrit
verses of which were completed by 1150
CE, chronicles the history of Kashmir's
dynasties from mythical times to the 12th
century.[8][9] It relies upon traditional
sources like Nilmata Purana, inscriptions,
coins, monuments, and Kalhana's personal
observations borne out of political
experiences of his family.[10][8] Towards
the end of the work mythical explanations
give way to rational and critical analyses
of dramatic events between 11th and 12th
centuries, for which Kalhana is often
credited as India's first historian.[7][8]
During the reign of Muslim kings in
Kashmir, three supplements to
Rajatarangini were written by Jonaraja
(1411–1463 CE), Srivara, and Prajyabhatta
and Suka, which end with Akbar's
conquest of Kashmir in 1586 CE.[11] The
text was translated into Persian by Muslim
scholars such as Nizam Uddin, Farishta,
and Abul Fazl.[12] Baharistan-i-Shahi and
Haidar Mailk's Tarikh-i-Kashmir (completed
in 1621 CE) are the most important texts
on the history of Kashmir during the
Sultanate period. Both the texts were
written in Persian and used Rajatarangini
and Persian histories as their sources.[13]

Early history
This general view of the unexcavated Buddhist stupa
near Baramulla, with two figures standing on the
summit, and another at the base with measuring
scales, was taken by John Burke in 1868. The stupa,
which was later excavated, dates to 500 CE.

Earliest Neolithic sites in the flood plains

of Kashmir valley are dated to c. 3000
BCE. Most important of these sites are the
settlements at Burzahom, which had two
Neolithic and one Megalithic phases. First
phase (c. 2920 BCE) at Burzahom is
marked by mud plastered pit dwellings,
coarse pottery and stone tools. In the
second phase, which lasted till c. 1700
BCE, houses were constructed on ground
level and the dead were buried, sometimes
with domesticated and wild animals.
Hunting and fishing were the primary
modes of subsistence though evidence of
cultivation of wheat, barley, and lentils has
also been found in both the phases.[14][15]
In the megalithic phase, massive circles
were constructed and grey or black
burnish replaced coarse red ware in
pottery.[16] During the later Vedic period, as
kingdoms of the Vedic tribes expanded,
the Uttara–Kurus settled in Kashmir.[17][18]

Kanishka inaugurates Mahayana Buddhism in

Kashmir.
In 326 BCE, Porus asked Abisares, the king
of Kashmir,[b] to aid him against Alexander
the Great in the Battle of Hydaspes. After
Porus lost the battle, Abhisares submitted
to Alexander by sending him treasure and
elephants.[20][21] During the reign of
Ashoka (304–232 BCE), Kashmir became
a part of the Maurya Empire and Buddhism
was introduced in Kashmir. During this
period, many stupas, some shrines
dedicated to Shiva, and the city of
Srinagari (Srinagar) were built.[22] Kanishka
(127–151 CE), an emperor of the Kushan
dynasty, conquered Kashmir and
established the new city of
Kanishkapur.[23] Buddhist tradition holds
that Kanishka held the Fourth Buddhist
council in Kashmir, in which celebrated
scholars such as Ashvagosha, Nagarjuna
and Vasumitra took part.[24] By the fourth
century, Kashmir became a seat of
learning for both Buddhism and Hinduism.
Kashmiri Buddhist missionaries helped
spread Buddhism to Tibet and China and
from the fifth century CE, pilgrims from
these countries started visiting
Kashmir.[25] Kumārajīva (343–413 CE) was
among the renowned Kashmiri scholars
who traveled to China. He influenced the
Chinese emperor Yao Xing and
spearheaded translation of many Sanskrit
works into Chinese at the Chang'an
monastery.[26]

Portable shrine with image of the Buddha, Jammu

and Kashmir, 7-8th century.
Hepthalites (White Huns) under Toramana
crossed over the Hindu Kush mountains
and conquered large parts of western
India including Kashmir.[27] His son
Mihirakula (c. 502–530 CE) led a military
campaign to conquer all of North India. He
was opposed by Baladitya in Magadha and
eventually defeated by Yasodharman in
Malwa. After the defeat, Mihirakula
returned to Kashmir where he led a coup
on the king. He then conquered of
Gandhara where he committed many
atrocities on Buddhists and destroyed their
shrines. Influence of the Huns faded after
Mihirakula's death.[28][29] After seventh
century, significant developments took
place in Kashmiri Hinduism. In the
centuries that followed, Kashmir produced
many poets, philosophers, and artists who
contributed to Sanskrit literature and
Hindu religion.[30] Among notable scholars
of this period was Vasugupta (c. 875–925
CE) who wrote the Shiva Sutras which laid
the foundation for a monistic Shaiva
system called Kashmir Shaivism. Dualistic
interpretation of Shaiva scripture was
defeated by Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025
CE) who wrote many philosophical works
on Kashmir Shaivism.[31] Kashmir
Shaivism was adopted by the common
masses of Kashmir and strongly
influenced Shaivism in Southern India.[32]

Martand Sun Temple Central shrine, dedicated to the

deity Surya. The temple complex was built by the
third ruler of the Karkota dynasty, Lalitaditya
Muktapida, in the 8th century CE. It is one of the
largest temple complex on the Indian Subcontinent.
In the eighth century, the Karkota Empire
established themselves as rulers of
Kashmir.[33] Kashmir grew as an imperial
power under the Karkotas. Chandrapida of
this dynasty was recognized by an imperial
order of the Chinese emperor as the king
of Kashmir. His successor Lalitaditya
Muktapida lead a successful military
campaign against the Tibetans. He then
defeated Yashovarman of Kanyakubja and
subsequently conquered eastern
kingdoms of Magadha, Kamarupa, Gauda,
and Kalinga. Lalitaditya extended his
influence of Malwa and Gujarat and
defeated Arabs at Sindh.[34][35] After his
demise, Kashmir's influence over other
kingdoms declined and the dynasty ended
in c. 855–856 CE.[33] Utpala dynasty
founded by Avantivarman followed the
Kakrotas. His successor Shankaravarman
(885–902 CE) led a successful military
campaign against Gurjaras in
Punjab.[36][33] Political instability in the
10th century made the royal body guards
(Tantrins) very powerful in Kashmir. Under
the Tantrins, civil administration collapsed
and chaos reigned in Kashmir till they were
defeated by Chakravarman.[37] Queen
Didda, who descended from the Hindu
Shahis of Kabul on her mother's side, took
over as the ruler in second half of the 10th
century.[33] After her death in 1003 CE, the
throne passed to Lohara dynasty.[38]
During the 11th century, Mahmud of
Ghazni made two attempts to conquer
Kashmir. However, both his campaigns
failed because he could not siege the
fortress at Lohkot.[39]

Muslim rulers
 

Gateway of enclosure of Zein-ul-ab-ud-din's Tomb, in

Srinagar. 1868. John Burke. Oriental and India Office

Collection. British Library.

Prelude and Kashmir Sultanate

(1346–1580s)

Historian Mohibbul Hasan states that the

oppressive taxation, corruption,
internecine fights and rise of feudal lords
(Damaras) during the unpopular rule of the
Lohara dynasty (1003–1320 CE) paved the
way for foreign invasions of Kashmir.[40]
Suhadeva, last king of the Lohara dynasty,
fled Kashmir after Zulju (Dulacha), a
Turkic–Mongol chief, led a savage raid on
Kashmir.[41][42] Rinchana, a Tibetan
Buddhist refugee in Kashmir, established
himself as the ruler after Zulju.[43][41]
Rinchana's conversion to Islam is a subject
of Kashmiri folklore. He was persuaded to
accept Islam by his minister Shah Mir,
probably for political reasons. Islam had
penetrated into countries outside Kashmir
and in absence of the support from
Hindus, who were in a majority,[44]
Rinchana needed the support of the
Kashmiri Muslims.[43] Shah Mir's coup on
Rinchana's successor secured Muslim rule
and the rule of his dynasty in Kashmir.[44]

In the 14th century, Islam gradually

became the dominant religion in
Kashmir.[45] With the fall of Kashmir, a
premier center of Sanskrit literary
creativity, Sanskrit literature there
disappeared.[46][47]:397–398 Islamic
preacher Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani, who
is traditionally revered by Hindus as Nund
Rishi, combined elements of Kashmir
Shaivism with Sufi mysticism in his
discourses.[48] The Sultans between
1354–1470 CE were tolerant of other
religions with the exception of Sultan
Sikandar (1389–1413 CE). Sultan Sikandar
imposed taxes on non–Muslims, forced
conversions to Islam, and earned the title
But–Shikan for destroying idols.[41] Sultan
Zain-ul-Abidin (c. 1420–1470 CE) invited
artists and craftsmen from Central Asia
and Persia to train local artists in Kashmir.
Under his rule the arts of wood carving,
papier-mâché , shawl and carpet weaving
prospered.[49] For a brief period in the
1470s, states of Jammu, Poonch and
Rajauri which paid tributes to Kashmir
revolted against the Sultan Hajji Khan.
However, they were subjugated by his son
Hasan Khan who took over as ruler in 1472
CE.[49] By the mid 16th century, Hindu
influence in the courts and role of the
Hindu priests had declined as Muslim
missionaries immigrated into Kashmir
from Central Asia and Persia, and Persian
replaced Sanskrit as the official language.
Around the same period, the nobility of
Chaks had become powerful enough to
unseat the Shah Mir dynasty.[49]

Silver sasnu of the Kashmir Sultan Shams al-Din Shah

II (ruled 1537–38). During the Sultanate period, the
Kashmir sultans issued silver and copper coins. The
silver coins were square and followed a weight
standard unique to Kashmir of between 6 and 7 gm.
This coin weighs 6.16 gm.

Mughal general Mirza Muhammad Haidar

Dughlat, a member of ruling family in
Kashgar, invaded Kashmir in c. 1540 CE on
behalf of emperor Humayun.[41][50]
Persecution of Shias, Shafi'is and Sufis
and instigation by Suri kings led to a revolt
which overthrew Dughlat's rule in
Kashmir.[51][50]

Mughals (1580s–1750s)

Kashmir did not witness direct Mughal rule

till the reign of Mughal badshah (emperor)
Akbar the Great, who visited the valley
himself in 1589 CE. Akbar conquered
Kashmir by deceit, and later added it in
1586 to his Afghan province Kabul Subah,
but Shah Jahan carved it out as a separate
subah (imperial top-level province), with
seat at Srinagar. During successive
Mughal emperors many celebrated
gardens, mosques and palaces were
constructed. Religious intolerance and
discriminatory taxation reappeared when
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ascended to
the throne in 1658 CE. After his death, the
influence of the Mughal Empire
declined.[41][50]
In 1700 CE, a servant of a wealthy Kashmir
merchant brought Mo-i Muqqadas (the hair
of the Prophet), a relic of Muhammad, to
the valley. The relic was housed in the
Hazratbal Shrine on the banks of Dal
Lake.[52] Nadir Shah's invasion of India in
1738 CE further weakened Mughal control
over Kashmir.[52]

Sikh rule (1820–1846)

 

Sheikh Imam-ud-din, governor of Kashmir under the

Sikhs, shown along with Ranjur Singh and Dewan
Dina Nath. 1847. (James Duffield Harding)

After four centuries of Muslim rule under

the Mughals, Kashmir fell to the
conquering armies of the Sikhs under
Ranjit Singh of Punjab.[53] As the
Kashmiris had suffered under the Afghans,
they initially welcomed the new Sikh
rulers.[54] However, the Sikh governors
turned out to be hard taskmasters, and
Sikh rule was generally considered
oppressive,[55] protected perhaps by the
remoteness of Kashmir from the capital of
the Sikh Empire in Lahore.[56] The Sikhs
enacted a number of anti-Muslim laws,[56]
which included handing out death
sentences for cow slaughter,[54] closing
down the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, and
banning the azaan, the public Muslim call
to prayer.[56] Kashmir had also now begun
to attract European visitors, several of
whom wrote of the abject poverty of the
vast Muslim peasantry and of the
exorbitant taxes under the Sikhs. High
taxes, according to some contemporary
accounts, had depopulated large tracts of
the countryside, allowing only one-
sixteenth of the cultivable land to be
cultivated.[54] However, after a famine in
1832, the Sikhs reduced the land tax to
half the produce of the land and also
began to offer interest-free loans to
farmers; Kashmir became the second
highest revenue earner for the Sikh empire.
During this time Kashmiri shawls became
known worldwide, attracting many buyers
especially in the west.[56]

Earlier, in 1780, after the death of Ranjit

Deo, the Raja of Jammu, the kingdom of
Jammu (to the south of the Kashmir
valley) was also captured by the Sikhs and
afterwards, until 1846, became a tributary
to the Sikh power.[53] Ranjit Deo's
grandnephew, Gulab Singh, subsequently
sought service at the court of Ranjit Singh,
distinguished himself in later campaigns,
especially the annexation of the Kashmir
valley, and, for his services, was appointed
governor of Jammu in 1820. With the help
of his officer, Zorawar Singh, Gulab Singh
soon captured for the Sikhs the lands of
Ladakh and Baltistan to the east and
north-east, respectively, of Jammu.[53]

Princely State of Kashmir and

Jammu (Dogra Rule, 1846–
1947)

P t it f M h j G l b Si h i 1847 ft
Portrait of Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1847, a year after
signing the Treaty of Amritsar. (Artist: James Duffield
Harding).

In 1845, the First Anglo-Sikh War broke

out, and Gulab Singh "contrived to hold
himself aloof till the battle of Sobraon
(1846), when he appeared as a useful
mediator and the trusted advisor of Sir
Henry Lawrence. Two treaties were
concluded. By the first the State of Lahore
(i.e. West Punjab) handed over to the
British, as equivalent for (rupees)
ten million of indemnity, the hill countries
between Beas and Indus; by the second[57]
the British made over to Gulab Singh for
(Rupees) 7.5 million all the hilly or
mountainous country situated to the east
of Indus and west of Ravi" (i.e. the Vale of
Kashmir).[53] The Treaty of Amritsar freed
Gulab Singh from obligations towards the
Sikhs and made him the Maharajah of
Jammu and Kashmir.[58] The Dogras'
loyalty came in handy to the British during
the revolt of 1857 which challenged British
rule in India. Dogras refused to provide
sanctuary to mutineers, allowed English
women and children to seek asylum in
Kashmir and sent Kashmiri troops to fight
on behalf of the British. British in return
rewarded them by securing the succession
of Dogra rule in Kashmir.[59] Soon after
Gulab Singh's death in 1857,[58] his son,
Ranbir Singh, added the emirates of
Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar to the kingdom.[60]

1909 Map of the Princely State of Kashmir and

Jammu. The names of different regions, important
cities, rivers and mountains are underlined in red.
The Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu
(as it was then called) was constituted
between 1820 and 1858 and was
"somewhat artificial in composition and it
did not develop a fully coherent identity,
partly as a result of its disparate origins
and partly as a result of the autocratic rule
which it experienced on the fringes of
Empire."[61] It combined disparate regions,
religions, and ethnicities: to the east,
Ladakh was ethnically and culturally
Tibetan and its inhabitants practised
Buddhism; to the south, Jammu had a
mixed population of Hindus, Muslims and
Sikhs; in the heavily populated central
Kashmir valley, the population was
overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, however,
there was also a small but influential
Hindu minority, the Kashmiri brahmins or
pandits; to the northeast, sparsely
populated Baltistan had a population
ethnically related to Ladakh, but which
practised Shi'a Islam; to the north, also
sparsely populated, Gilgit Agency, was an
area of diverse, mostly Shi'a groups; and,
to the west, Punch was Muslim, but of
different ethnicity than the Kashmir
valley.[61]

Despite being in a majority the Muslims

were made to suffer severe oppression
under Hindu rule in the form of high taxes,
unpaid forced labor and discriminatory
laws.[62] Many Kashmiri Muslims migrated
from the Valley to Punjab due to famine
and policies of Dogra rulers.[63] The
Muslim peasantry was vast, impoverished
and ruled by a Hindu elite.[64][65]  The
Muslim peasants lacked education,
awareness of rights and were chronically
in debt to landlords and
moneylenders,[64] and did not organize
politically until the 1930s.[65]

1947
Ranbir Singh's grandson Hari Singh, who
had ascended the throne of Kashmir in
1925, was the reigning monarch in 1947 at
the conclusion of British rule of the
subcontinent and the subsequent partition
of the British Indian Empire into the newly
independent Union of India and the
Dominion of Pakistan. An internal revolt
began in the Poonch region against
oppressive taxation by the Maharaja.[66] In
August, Maharaja's forces fired upon
demonstrations in favour of Kashmir
joining Pakistan, burned whole villages
and massacred innocent people.[67] The
Poonch rebels declared an independent
government of "Azad" Kashmir on 24
October.[68] Rulers of Princely States were
encouraged to accede their States to
either Dominion – India or Pakistan, taking
into account factors such as geographical
contiguity and the wishes of their people.
In 1947, Kashmir's population was "77%
Muslim and 20% Hindu".[69] To postpone
making a hurried decision, the Maharaja
signed a standstill agreement with
Pakistan, which ensured continuity of
trade, travel, communication, and similar
services between the two. Such an
agreement was pending with India.[70]
Following huge riots in Jammu, in October
1947, Pashtuns from Pakistan's North-
West Frontier Province recruited by the
Poonch rebels, invaded Kashmir, along
with the Poonch rebels, allegedly incensed
by the atrocities against fellow Muslims in
Poonch and Jammu. The tribesmen
engaged in looting and killing along the
way.[71][72] The ostensible aim of the
guerilla campaign was to frighten Hari
Singh into submission. Instead the
Maharaja appealed to the Government of
India for assistance, and the Governor-
General Lord Mountbatten[c] agreed on the
condition that the ruler accede to India.[69]
Once the Maharaja signed the Instrument
of Accession, Indian soldiers entered
Kashmir and drove the Pakistani-
sponsored irregulars from all but a small
section of the state. India accepted the
accession, regarding it provisional[73] until
such time as the will of the people can be
ascertained. Kashmir leader Sheikh
Abdullah endorsed the accession as ad-
hoc which would be ultimately decided by
the people of the State. He was appointed
the head of the emergency administration
by the Maharaja.[74] The Pakistani
government immediately contested the
accession, suggesting that it was
fraudulent, that the Maharaja acted under
duress and that he had no right to sign an
agreement with India when the standstill
agreement with Pakistan was still in force.
 See also: 1947 Poonch Rebellion, 1947
Jammu massacres, Indo-Pakistani War
of 1947 and The Accession of the
Princely States.

Post-1947
In early 1948, India sought a resolution of
the Kashmir Conflict at the United Nations.
Following the set-up of the United Nations
Commission for India and Pakistan
(UNCIP), the UN Security Council passed
Resolution 47 on 21 April 1948. The UN
mission insisted that the opinion of people
of J&K must be ascertained. The then
Indian Prime Minister is reported to have
himself urged U.N. to poll Kashmir and on
the basis of results Kashmir's accession
will be decided.[75] However, India insisted
that no referendum could occur until all of
the state had been cleared of irregulars.[69]

On 5 January 1949, UNCIP (United Nations

Commission for India and Pakistan)
resolution stated that the question of the
accession of the State of Jammu and
Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be
decided through a free and impartial
plebiscite.[76] As per the 1948[77] and 1949
UNCIP Resolutions, both countries
accepted the principle, that Pakistan
secures the withdrawal of Pakistani
intruders followed by withdrawal of
Pakistani and Indian forces, as a basis for
the formulation of a Truce agreement
whose details are to be arrived in future,
followed by a plebiscite; However, both
countries failed to arrive at a Truce
agreement due to differences in
interpretation of the procedure for and
extent of demilitarisation one of them
being whether the Azad Kashmiri army of
Pakistan is to be disbanded during the
truce stage or the plebiscite stage.[78]

In the last days of 1948, a ceasefire was

agreed under UN auspices; however, since
the plebiscite demanded by the UN was
never conducted, relations between India
and Pakistan soured,[69] and eventually led
to three more wars over Kashmir in 1965,
1971 and 1999. India has control of about
half the area of the former princely state of
Jammu and Kashmir; Pakistan controls a
third of the region, governing it as Gilgit–
Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. According to
Encyclopædia Britannica, "Although there
was a clear Muslim majority in Kashmir
before the 1947 partition and its
economic, cultural, and geographic
contiguity with the Muslim-majority area of
the Punjab (in Pakistan) could be
convincingly demonstrated, the political
developments during and after the
partition resulted in a division of the
region. Pakistan was left with territory that,
although basically Muslim in character,
was thinly populated, relatively
inaccessible, and economically
underdeveloped. The largest Muslim
group, situated in the Valley of Kashmir
and estimated to number more than half
the population of the entire region, lay in
Indian-administered territory, with its
former outlets via the Jhelum valley route
blocked."[79]

Cease-fire line between India and Pakistan after the

1947 conflict
The UN Security Council on 20 January
1948 passed Resolution 39 establishing a
special commission to investigate the
conflict. Subsequent to the commission's
recommendation the Security Council,
ordered in its Resolution 47, passed on 21
April 1948 that the invading Pakistani army
retreat from Jammu & Kashmir and that
the accession of Kashmir to either India or
Pakistan be determined in accordance
with a plebiscite to be supervised by the
UN. In a string of subsequent resolutions
the Security Council took notice of the
continuing failure by India to hold the
plebiscite. However, no punitive action
against India could be taken by the
Security Council because its resolution,
requiring India to hold a Plebiscite, was
non-binding. Moreover, the Pakistani army
never left the part of the Kashmir, they
managed to keep occupied at the end of
the 1947 war. They were required by the
Security Council resolution 47 to remove
all armed personnels from the Azad
Kashmir before holding the plebiscite.[80]

The eastern region of the erstwhile

princely state of Kashmir has also been
beset with a boundary dispute. In the late
19th- and early 20th centuries, although
some boundary agreements were signed
between Great Britain, Afghanistan and
Russia over the northern borders of
Kashmir, China never accepted these
agreements, and the official Chinese
position did not change with the
communist revolution in 1949. By the mid-
1950s the Chinese army had entered the
north-east portion of Ladakh.:[79] "By
1956–57 they had completed a military
road through the Aksai Chin area to
provide better communication between
Xinjiang and western Tibet. India's belated
discovery of this road led to border
clashes between the two countries that
culminated in the Sino-Indian war of
October 1962."[79] China has occupied
Aksai Chin since 1962 and, in addition, an
adjoining region, the Trans-Karakoram
Tract was ceded by Pakistan to China in
1965.

In 1949, the Indian government obliged

Hari Singh to leave Jammu and Kashmir
and yield the government to Sheikh
Abdullah, the leader of a popular political
party, the National Conference Party.[70]
Since then, a bitter enmity has been
developed between India and Pakistan and
three wars have taken place between them
over Kashmir. The growing dispute over
Kashmir and the consistent failure of
democracy[81] also led to the rise of
Kashmir nationalism and militancy in the
state.

Following the disputed elections in 1987,

young disaffected Kashmiris in the Valley
such as the HAJY group – Abdul Hamid
Shaikh, Ashfaq Majid Wani, Javed Ahmed
Mir and Mohammed Yasin Malik – were
recruited by the Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation Front(JKLF) and the popular
insurgency in the Kashmir Valley increased
in momentum from this point on.[82][83] The
year 1989 saw the intensification of
conflict in Jammu and Kashmir as
Mujahadeens from Afghanistan slowly
infiltrated the region following the end of
the Soviet–Afghan War the same year.[84]
Pakistan provided arms and training to
both indigenous and foreign militants in
Kashmir, thus adding fuel to the
smouldering fire of discontent in the
valley.[85][86][87]

In August 2019, the Government of India

repealed the special status accorded to
Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of
the Indian constitution in 2019, and the
Parliament of India passed the Jammu
and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which
contained provisions to dissolve the state
and reorganise it into two union territories
– Jammu and Kashmir in the west and
Ladakh in the east.[88] These changes will
come into effect from 31 October 2019.
Historical demographics of
Kashmir
In the 1901 Census of the British Indian
Empire, the population of the princely state
of Kashmir was 2,905,578. Of these
2,154,695 were Muslims, 689,073 Hindus,
25,828 Sikhs, and 35,047 Buddhists. The
Hindus were found mainly in Jammu,
where they constituted a little less than
50% of the population.[89] In the Kashmir
Valley, the Hindus represented "only 524 in
every 10,000 of the population (i.e. 5.24%),
and in the frontier wazarats of Ladhakh
and Gilgit only 94 out of every 10,000
persons (0.94%)."[89] In the same Census
of 1901, in the Kashmir Valley, the total
population was recorded to be 1,157,394,
of which the Muslim population was
1,083,766, or 93.6% of the population.[89]
These percentages have remained fairly
stable for the last 100 years.[90] In the
1941 Census of British India, Muslims
accounted for 93.6% of the population of
the Kashmir Valley and the Hindus
constituted 4%.[90] In 2003, the percentage
of Muslims in the Kashmir Valley was
95%[91] and those of Hindus 4%; the same
year, in Jammu, the percentage of Hindus
was 67% and those of Muslims 27%.[91]

Among the Muslims of the Kashmir

province within the princely state, four
divisions were recorded: "Shaikhs, Saiyids,
Mughals, and Pathans. The Shaikhs, who
are by far the most numerous, are the
descendants of Hindus, but have retained
none of the caste rules of their forefathers.
They have clan names known as krams
..."[92] It was recorded that these kram
names included "Tantre", "Shaikh", "Bat",
"Mantu", "Ganai", "Dar", "Damar", "Lon", etc.
The Saiyids, it was recorded, "could be
divided into those who follow the
profession of religion and those who have
taken to agriculture and other pursuits.
Their kram name is 'Mir.' While a Saiyid
retains his saintly profession Mir is a
prefix; if he has taken to agriculture, Mir is
an affix to his name."[92] The Mughals who
were not numerous were recorded to have
kram names like "Mir" (a corruption of
"Mirza"), "Beg", "Bandi", "Bach" and
"Ashaye". Finally, it was recorded that the
Pathans "who are more numerous than the
Mughals, ... are found chiefly in the south-
west of the valley, where Pathan colonies
have from time to time been founded. The
most interesting of these colonies is that
of Kuki-Khel Afridis at Dranghaihama, who
retain all the old customs and speak
Pashtu."[92] Among the main tribes of
Muslims in the princely state are the Butts,
Dar, Lone, Jat, Gujjar, Rajput, Sudhan and
Khatri. A small number of Butts, Dar and
Lone use the title Khawaja and the Khatri
use the title Shaikh the Gujjar use the title
of Chaudhary. All these tribes are
indigenous of the princely state which
converted to Islam from Hinduism during
its arrival in region.

Among the Hindus of Jammu province,

who numbered 626,177 (or 90.87% of the
Hindu population of the princely state), the
most important castes recorded in the
census were "Brahmans (186,000), the
Rajputs (167,000), the Khattris (48,000)
and the Thakkars (93,000)."[89]

Gallery
  

Pot, excavated from Burzahom (c. 2700

BCE), depicts horned motifs, which
suggest links with sites like Kot-Diji, in
Sindh.

AM li h l ki f il i K h i
A Muslim shawl making family in Kashmir.
1867. Cashmere shawl manufactory,
chromolith., William Simpson.

Kashmiri home life c. 1890. Photographer

unknown.
  

Muslim papier-mâché ornament painters

in Kashmir. 1895. Photographer: unknown.
  

Three Hindu priests writing religious texts.

1890s, Jammu and Kashmir,
photographer: unknown.
  

Full-length portrait of two Ladakhi men.

1895, Ladakh, unknown photographer.

See also
United Nations Security Council
Resolution 47
Kashmiriyat
Dynasties of Ancient Kashmir
 Sharada Peeth
Buddhism in Kashmir
Harsha of Kashmir
History of Ladakh
List of topics on the land and the people
of "Jammu and Kashmir"
Rajatarangini
History of Azad Kashmir
History of Gilgit–Baltistan

Footnotes

Notes
a. Puranic genealogy are "incomplete
and occasionally inaccurate". The
chronology of events described in
Puranas often do not tally with
historical discoveries of modern era.
b. Formally, "Abisares" was the ruler of
Abhisaras, the people of the Poonch
and Rajouri districts. Historian P. N. K.
Bamzai believes his domain included
Kashmir.[19]
c. Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last
Viceroy of British India, stayed on in
independent India from 1947 to 1948,
 serving as the first Governor-General
of the Union of India.

Citations

1. Christopher Snedden (15 September

2015). Understanding Kashmir and
Kashmiris . Hurst. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-
84904-622-0.
2. Dhar, Somnath (1986), Jammu and
Kashmir folklore , Marwah
Publications, p. 8
3. Holdich, Thomas Hungerford (1911).
"Kashmir"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th
 ed.). Cambridge University Press.
p. 688.
4. Daniélou, Alain (2003) [first published
in French, L'Histoire de l'Inde, Fayard,
1971], A Brief History of India ,
translated by Hurry, Kenneth, Inner
Traditions / Bear & Co, pp. 65–,
ISBN 978-1-59477-794-3
5. Houtsma 1993, p. 792.
6. Kenoyer & Heuston 2005, p. 28.
7. Sharma 2005, p. 74.
8. Singh 2008, p. 13.
9. Sreedharan 2004, p. 330.
10. Sharma 2005, p. 73–4.
11. Sharma 2005, p. 75.
12. Sharma 2005, p. 37.
13. Hasan 1983, p. 47.
14. Singh 2008, pp. 111–3.
15. Kennedy 2000, p. 259.
16. Allchin & Allchin 1982, p. 113.
17. Rapson 1955, p. 118.
18. Sharma 1985, p. 44.
19. Bamzai 1974, p. 68.
20. Heckel 2003, p. 48.
21. Green 1970, p. 403.
22. Sastri 1988, p. 219.
23. Chatterjee 1998, p. 199.
24. Bamzai 1994, pp. 83–4.
25. Pal 1989, p. 51.
26. Singh 2008, pp. 522–3.
27. Singh 2008, p. 480.
28. Grousset 1970, p. 71.
29. Dani 1999, pp. 142–3.
30. Pal 1989, p. 52.
31. Flood 1996, pp. 166–7.
32. Flood 2008, p. 213.
33. Singh 2008, p. 571.
34. Majumdar 1977, pp. 260–3.
35. Wink 1991, pp. 242–5.
36. Majumdar 1977, p. 356.
37. Majumdar 1977, p. 357.
38. Khan 2008, p. 58.
39. Frye 1975, p. 178.
40. Hasan 1959, pp. 32–4.
41. Chadha 2005, p. 38.
42. Hasan 1959, pp. 35–6.
43. Asimov & Bosworth 1998, p. 308.
44. Asimov & Bosworth 1998, p. 309.
45. "Explore the Beauty of Kashmir" .
46. Hanneder, J. (2002). "On "The Death of
Sanskrit" ". Indo-Iranian Journal. 45
(4): 293–310.
doi:10.1023/a:1021366131934 .
47. Pollock, Sheldon (2001). "The Death of
Sanskrit". Comparative Studies in
Society and History. 43 (2): 392–426.
doi:10.1017/s001041750100353x .
48. Bose 2005, pp. 268–9.
49. Asimov & Bosworth 1998, p. 313.
50. Houtsma 1993, p. 793.
51. Hasan 1983, p. 48.
52. Schofield 2010, p. 4.
53. The Imperial Gazetteer of India
(Volume 15), pp. 94–95.
54. Schofield 2010, pp. 5–6.
55. Madan 2008, p. 15.
56. Zutshi 2003, pp. 39–41.
57. Treaty of Amritsar 1846.
58. Schofield 2010, p. 7.
59. Schofield 2010, p. 9.
60. Schofield 2010, p. 11.
61. Bowers, Paul. 2004. "Kashmir."
Research Paper 4/28 Archived 26
March 2009 at the Wayback Machine,
International Affairs and Defence,
 House of Commons Library, United
Kingdom.
62. Kashmir . OUP.
63. Iqbal Singh Sevea (29 June 2012). The
Political Philosophy of Muhammad
Iqbal: Islam and Nationalism in Late
Colonial India . Cambridge University
Press. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-1-139-
53639-4.
64. Bose 2005, pp. 15–17
65. Talbot & Singh 2009, p. 54
66. Prem Nath Bazaz, "The Truth About
Kashmir"
67. Official Records of the United Nations
Security Council, Meeting No:234,
1948, pp.250–1:[1]
68. 1947 Kashmir History
69. Stein 1998, p. 368.
70. Schofield, Victoria. 'Kashmir: The
origins of the dispute', BBC News UK
Edition (16 January 2002) Retrieved
20 May 2005
71. Jamal, Arif (2009), Shadow War: The
Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir ,
Melville House, pp. 52–53, ISBN 978-
1-933633-59-6
72. Pathan Tribal Invasion into Kashmir
73. Govt. of India, White Paper on Jammu
& Kashmir , Delhi 1948, p.77
74. Sheikh Abdullah, Flames of the Chinar,
New Delhi 1993, p.97
75. "NEHRU URGES U.N. TO POLL
KASHMIR; Would Have Supervised
Ballot to Decide Accession – Bomb
Attack by India Reported" . The New
York Times. 3 November 1947.
Retrieved 4 May 2010.
76. UNCIP Resolution, 5 January 1949.
77. UNCIP Resolution, 13 August 1948.
78. UNCIP Resolution, 30 March 1951.
79. "Kashmir." (2007). In Encyclopædia
Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2007,
from Encyclopædia Britannica Online .
80. Resolution 47 (1948).
81. Elections in Kashmir
82. Puri 1993, p. 52.
83. 1989 Insurgency
84. BBC Timeline on Kashmir conflict.
85. Human Rights Watch Report, 1994
86. Pakistan admission over Kashmir
87. See Operation Tupac
88. "Jammu Kashmir Article 370: Govt
revokes Article 370 from Jammu and
Kashmir, bifurcates state into two
Union Territories" . The Times of India.
5 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August
2019.
89. The Imperial Gazetteer of India
(Volume 15), pp. 99–102.
90. Rai 2004, p. 27.
91. BBC. 2003. The Future of Kashmir? In
Depth.
92. Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15.
1908. Oxford University Press, Oxford
 and London. pp. 99–102.

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External links
Baharistan -i Shahi A Chronicle of
Medieval Kashmir translated into
English
 Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet
Resources by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley, USA; Bibliographies
and Web-Bibliographies list
Kashmir Website with Historical
Timeline
Coins of the Kashmir Sultanate (1346–
1586)
(in Arabic) "The Great History of the
Events of Kashmir" from 1821

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