History of Kashmir

A Muslim shawl making family in Kashmir. 1867. Cashmere shawl manufactory, chromolith.,
William Simpson.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 Early history
3 Muslim rule
3.1 Shah Mir Swati (Reigned 1339-
42)
4 The Histories
5 Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu
5.1 British era
5.2 List of Maharajas (1846-1949)
6 1947
7 Post-1947
8 History of Tourism in Kashmir
9 Historical Demographics of Kashmir
10 See also
11 References
12 External links
13 Books & Periodical References
Etymology
General view of Temple and Enclosure of Marttand or the Sun, near Bhawan. Probable date of
temple A.D. 490-555. Probable date of colonnade A.D. 693-729. Photograph of the Surya
Temple at Martand in Jammu & Kashmir taken by John Burke in 1868.
According to legend, Jammu was founded by Raja Jamboolochan in the 14th century BCE.
During one of his hunting campaigns he reached the Tawi River where he saw a goat and a lion
drinking water at the same place. The king was impressed and decided to set up a town after his
name, Jamboo. With the passage of time, the name was corrupted and became "Jammu".
According to folk etymology, the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit:
Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). In the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir written by
Kalhana in mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake.
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). When
Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans 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. 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 Kao-1r6.nupos of Hecataeus (apud
Stephen of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44). Kashmir is also the country
meant by Ptolemy's Kao-ir,~pta.
Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way.
Early history
Further information: Rajatarangini, Kushan Empire, Huna people,  and Buddhism in Kashmir

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
Kashmir was one of the major centre of Sanskrit scholars. According to the Mahabharata,[1] the
Kambojas ruled Kashmir during the epic period with a Republican system of government [2] from
the capital city of Karna-Rajapuram-gatva-Kambojah-nirjitastava.[3][4], shortened to Rajapura,[5]
[6][7][8]
which has been identified with modern Rajauri.[9] Later, the Panchalas are stated to have
established their sway. The name Peer Panjal, which is a part of modern Kashmir, is a witness to
this fact. Panjal is simply a distorted form of the Sanskritic tribal term Panchala. The Muslims
prefixed the word peer to it in memory of Siddha Faqir and the name thereafter is said to have
changed into Peer Panjal.[10] The Mauryan emperor Ashoka is often credited with having founded
the city of Srinagar.
Kashmir was once a Buddhist seat of learning, perhaps with the Sarvāstivādan school
dominating. East and Central Asian Buddhist monks are recorded as having visited the kingdom.
In the late 4th century AD, the famous Kuchanese monk Kumārajīva, born to an Indian noble
family, studied Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He later
becoming a prolific translator who helped take Buddhism to China. His mother Jīva is thought to
have retired to Kashmir. Vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to
Kucha and there instructed Kumārajīva in the Vinayapiṭaka.
Muslim rule

Gateway of enclosure, (once a Hindu temple) of Zein-ul-ab-ud-din's Tomb, in Srinagar.

Probable date A.D. 400 to 500, 1868. John Burke. Oriental and India Office Collection. British
Library.
Shah Mir Swati (Reigned 1339-42)
Shams-ud-Din Shah Mir was a ruler of Kashmir and the founder of the Shah Miri dynasty named
after him. Jonaraja, in his Rajatarangini mentioned him as Sahamera. He came from Swat, the
then (Tribal) territory on the borders of Afghanistan and played a notable role in subsequentive
political history of the valley. Shahmir became the ruler of Kashmir and reigned for three
years.He was the first ruler of Swati dynasty, which had established in 1339.
Shah Mir was succeeded by his eldest son Jamshid, but he was deposed by his brother Ali Sher
probably within few months, who ascended the throne under the name of Alauddin[1].
In the 14th century, Islam gradually became the dominant religion in Kashmir, starting with the
conversion in 1323 of Rincana, the first king of the Sayyid Dynasty from Ladakh. The Muslims
and Hindus of Kashmir lived in relative harmony, since the Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary
Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the Rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits. This led to
a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the
same shrines. The famous sufi saint Bulbul Shah was able to persuade the king of the time
Rinchan Shah from Ladakh to adopt the Islamic way of life, and the foundation of Sufiana
composite culture was laid when Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists were co-existing.
Several Kashmiri rulers, such as Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, were tolerant of all religions in a manner
comparable to Akbar. However, several Muslim rulers of Kashmir were intolerant to other
religions. Sultãn Sikandar Butshikan of Kashmir (AD 1389-1413) and his (former Brahmin)
minister Saif ud-Din are often considered the worst of these. Historians have recorded many of
his atrocities. The Tarikh-i-Firishta records that Sikandar persecuted the Hindus and issued
orders proscribing the residence of any other than Muslims in Kashmir.
The Histories

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 metrical chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, called Rajatarangini, has (erroneousy) been
pronounced by Professor H.I. Wilson to be the only Sanskrit composition yet discovered to
which the appellation "history" can with any propriety be applied. It first became known to the
Muslims when, on Akbar's invasion of Kashmir in 1588, an amalgamated version was presented
to the emperor. A translation into Persian was made at his order. A summary of its contents,
taken from this Persian translation, is given by Abul Fazl in the Ain-i-Akbari. The Rajatarangini
was written by Kalhana in the middle of the 12th century. His work, in eight books, makes use of
earlier writings that are now lost.
The Rajatarangini is the first of a series of four histories that record the annals of Kashmir.
Commencing with a rendition of traditional 'history' of very early times (3102 BCE), the
Rajatarangini comes down to the reign of Sangrama Deva, (c.1006 AD) and Kalhana. The
second work, by Jonaraja, continues the history from where Kalhana left off, and, entering the
Muslim period, gives an account of the reigns down to that of Zain-ul-ab-ad-din, 1412. P. Srivara
carried on the record to the accession of Fah Shah in 1486. The fourth work, called
Rajavalipataka, by Prajnia Bhatta, completes the history to the time of the incorporation of
Kashmir in the dominions of the Mogul emperor Akbar, 1588.
Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu
Main article: Kashmir and Jammu
Sheikh Imam-ud-din along with Ranjur Singh and Dewan Dina Nath. 1847. (James Duffield
Harding) Sheikh Imam-ud-din was the governor of Kashmir under the Sikhs, and fought on the
side of the English in the battle of Multan during the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46).
By the early 19th century, the Kashmir valley had passed from the control of the Durrani Empire
of Afghanistan, and four centuries of Muslim rule under the Mughals and the Afghans, to the
conquering Sikh armies. 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 captured by the Sikhs under Ranjit
Singh of Lahore and afterwards, until 1846, became a tributary to the Sikh power. [11] 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 by the
Sikhs army in 1819, and, for his services, was created Raja of Jammu in 1820. With the help of
his officer, Zorawar Singh, Gulab Singh soon captured Ladakh and Baltistan, regions to the east
and north-east of Jammu.[11]
British era
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) one crore of indemnity, the hill
countries between Beas and Indus; by the second[12] the British made over to Gulab Singh for
(Rupees) 75 lakhs all the hilly or mountainous country situated to the east of Indus and west of
Ravi" (i.e. the Vale of Kashmir).[11] Soon after Gulab Singh's death in 1857, his son, Ranbir
Singh, added the emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar to the kingdom.
Portrait of Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1847, a year after signing the Treaty of Amritsar, when he
became Maharaja by purchasing the territories of Kashmir "to the eastward of the river Indus and
westward of the river Ravi"[13] for 75 lakhs rupees from the British (Artist: James Duffield
Harding).
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."[14] 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.[14] After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which Kashmir sided
with the British, and the subsequent assumption of direct rule by Great Britain, the princely state
of Kashmir came under the paramountcy of the British Crown.
Ranbir Singh's grandson Hari Singh ascended the throne of Kashmir in 1925. The Maharajah
Hari Singh never represented the will of his subjects, creating tension between the Hindu rulers
and the Muslim population of Kashmir. Muslims in Kashmir detested him, as they were heavily
taxed and had grown tired of his insensitivity to their religious concerns. The Dogra rule (the
name of the municipal governments) had excluded Muslims from the civil service and the armed
services. Islamic religious ceremonies were taxed. Historically, Muslims were banned from
organizing politically, which would only be tolerated beginning in the 1930s. In 1931, in
response to a sermon that had tones of opposition to the government, the villages of Jandial,
Makila, and Dana were ransacked and destroyed by the Dogra army, with their inhabitants
burned alive. A legislative assembly, with no real power, was created in January, 1947. It issued
one statement that represented the will of the Muslim people: "After carefully considering the
position, the conference has arrived at the conclusion that accession of the State to Pakistan is
absolutely necessary in view of the geographic, economic, linguistic, cultural and religious
conditions…It is therefore necessary that the State should accede to Pakistan".[citation needed]
This is one of the rare instances that an elected block of the people of Kashmir had been given
the chance to speak. Representing the subjects who elected them, they sought accession with
Muslim Pakistan. Prem Nath Bazaz, founder of the Kashmir Socialist Party in 1943, a reliable
 primary source of history, reiterated that a majority of Kashmiris were against the decision of the
Maharajah in his book, The History of The Struggle of Freedom In Kashmir. He writes, "The
large majority of the population of the State, almost the entire Muslim community and an
appreciable number of non Muslims was totally against the Maharjah declaring accession to
India." This statement, and the decision reached by the legislative assembly are important
because they dispel any belief that the Kashmiris' religious ties with Pakistan did not necessarily
indicate a will to unite. Indeed, the ethnic bond between Kashmir and Pakistan influenced a
majority of the people to seek accession with Pakistan. The Hindu Maharajah would not listen,
and continued to delay his decision about which nation to join.

Muslim papier machéThree Hindu priests

Kashmiri home lifeornament painters inwriting religious texts.Full-length portrait
c.1890. PhotographerKashmir. 1895.1890s, Jammu andof two Ladakhi men.
unknown. Photographer: unknown. Kashmir, photographer:1895, Ladakh,
unknown. unknown
photographer.
List of Maharajas (1846-1949)
Main article: The Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir
 Gulab Singh (1846–1857)
 Ranbir Singh (1857–1885)
 Partab Singh (1885–1925)
 Hari Singh (1925–1949)
1947

The Instrument of Accession to the Union of India signed on 26 October 1947, and accepted the
following day.
Page 2, Instrument of Accession, with signatures of Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and
Kashmir, and Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, Governor-General of India.
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. As parties to the partition process, both countries had agreed that the
rulers of princely states would be given the right to opt for either Pakistan or India or—in special
cases—to remain independent. In 1947, Kashmir's population was "77% Muslim and 20%
Hindu"[15] 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. In October 1947, Pashtuns from
Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province invaded Kashmir. The ostensible aim of the guerilla
campaign was to frighten Hari Singh into submission. "Instead the Maharaja appealed to
Mountbatten[16] for assistance, and the Governor-General agreed on the condition that the ruler
accede to India."[15] 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. The United Nations was then invited to mediate the quarrel. The UN mission insisted that
the opinion of Kashmiris must be ascertained, while India insisted that no referendum could
occur until all of the state had been cleared of irregulars." [15] However, this chain of events is
disputed by Pakistan, which claims that the Indian army entered Kashmir before the Instrument
of Accession was signed.
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.
Indian Prime Minister has himself urged U.N. to poll Kashmir and on the basis of results
Kashmar's accession will be decided[17].
See also: Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, The Accession of the Princely States
Post-1947
Cease-fire line between India and Pakistan after the 1947 conflict
According to the instruments of partition of India, the rulers of princely states were given the
choice to freely accede to either India or Pakistan, or to remain independent. They were,
however, advised to accede to the contiguous dominion, taking into consideration the
geographical and ethnic issues.
In Kashmir, however, the Maharaja hesitated. The Maharaja, fearing pressure from Pakistan
army which entered Kashmir, agreed to join India by signing the Instrument of Accession on 26
October 1947. Kashmir was provisionally accepted into the Indian Union pending a free and
impartial plebiscite. This was spelled out in a letter from the Governor General of India, Lord
Mountbatten, to the Maharaja on 27 October 1947. In the letter, accepting the accession,
Mountbatten made it clear that the State would only be incorporated into the Indian Union after a
reference had been made to the people of Kashmir.
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, [15] 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, the Northern Areas, or historically known as regions of Gilgit and Baltistan; and
Pakistan Administered 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 Vale 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."[18]
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 Plebescite was non-binding, and the
Pakistani army never left the part of the Kashmir they occupied as required by the Security
Council resolution 47. The Government of India holds that the Maharaja signed a document of
accession to India 26 October 1947. Pakistan has disputed whether the Maharaja actually signed
the accession treaty before Indian troops entered Kashmir. Furthermore, Pakistan claims the
Indian government has never produced an original copy of this accession treaty and thus its
validity and legality is disputed. However, India has produced the instrument of accession with
an original copy image on its website. Alan Campbell-Johnson, the press attache to the Viceroy
of India states that "The legality of the accession is beyond doubt."[citation needed]
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 takeover in 1949. By the mid-1950s the Chinese army had entered the north-east
portion of Ladakh.[18] : "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."[18] 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. 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 also lead to the
rise of militancy in the state. 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. [1]
History of Tourism in Kashmir

Maharaja's boat in Munshi Bagh, Srinagar, c. 1860. Photo: Samuel Bourne. The caption states,
'One of the Maharaja's boats such as lent to the Comr or Resident on duty & to others, as myself.
He has several of these each with 20 rowers.
During the 19th century rule, Kashmir was a popular tourist destination due to its climate.
Formerly only 200 passes a year were issued by the government, but now no restriction is placed
on visitors. European sportsmen and travellers, in addition to residents of India, traveled there
freely. The railway to Rawalpindi, and a road thence to Srinagar made access to the valley easier.
 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.[19] 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%)."[19] 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.[19] These percentages have remained fairly stable for the last 100
years.[20] In the 1941 Census of British India, Muslims accounted for 93.6% of the population of
the Kashmir Valley and the Hindus constituted 4%. [20] In 2003, the percentage of Muslims in the
Kashmir Valley was 95%[21] and those of Hindus 4%; the same year, in Jammu, the percentage of
Hindus was 67% and those of Muslims 27%.[21] In the same Census of 1901, four divisions were
recorded among the Muslims of the princely state: Shaikhs, Saiyids, Mughals, and Pathans. The
Shaikhs were the most numerous, with clan names (known as krams) including "Tantre,"
"Shaikh," "Mantu," "Ganai," "Dar," "Damar," "Lon" etc. [19] 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." [19] 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."[19]
The Hindu population of Kashmir Valley in 1901 was recorded to be 60,641. [19] 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)."[19]
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
References
1. ^ MBH 7.4.5.
2. ^ MBH 7/91/39-40.
3. ^ Mahabharata 7.4.5
4. ^ Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the ..., 1953, p
150, Dr H. C Raychaudhuri - India; Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India: (a Study on the Puranic
 Lists of the ..., 1955, p 78, Dr S. B. Chaudhuri; An Analytical Study of Four Nikāyas, 1971, p
311, D. K.Barua - Tipiṭaka.
5. ^ Bhandarkar, R. G. (2001). Asoka. p. 31.
6. ^ Pillai, Madhavan Arjunan (1988). Ancient Indian History. p. 149.
7. ^ Awasthi, A. B. L. (1992). Purana Index. p. 79.
8. ^ Misra, Shivenandan (1976). Ancient Indian Republics: From the Earliest Times to the
6th century A.D. p. 92.
9. ^ Watters. Yuan Chawang. Vol I. p. 284.
10. ^ Ratanlal Joshi. "Kashmir: The Fountainhead of Indian Culture". Official webpage of
the Kashmiri Overseas Association. http://www.koausa.org/Crown/fountain.html. Retrieved
2009-01-13.
11. ^ a b c Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15. 1908. "Kashmir: History." page 94-95.
12. ^ Treaty of Amritsar, March 16, 1846.
13. ^ From the text of the Treaty of Amritsar, signed 16 March 1846.
14. ^ a b Bowers, Paul. 2004. "Kashmir." Research Paper 4/28, International Affairs and
Defence, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom.
15. ^ a b c d Stein, Burton. 1998. A History of India. Oxford University Press. 432 pages. ISBN
0195654463. Page 368.
16. ^ 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.
17. ^ "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.
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?
res=FB0A15FC3B5E17738DDDAA0894D9415B8788F1D3. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
18. ^ a b c Kashmir. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2007, from
Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
19. ^ a b c d e f g h Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15. 1908. Oxford University Press,
Oxford and London. pages 99-102.
20. ^ a b Rai, Mridu. 2004. Hindu Ruler, Muslim Subjects: Islam and the History of Kashmir.
Princeton University Press. 320 pages. ISBN 0691116881. page 37.
21. ^ a b BBC. 2003. The Future of Kashmir? In Depth.
External links
 Proclamation of May 1, 1951 on Jammu & Kashmir Constituent Assembly
 History of The Kashmiri Pandits Race
 Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley, USA; Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list
 History of Kashmir.
Books & Periodical References
 This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a
publication now in the public domain.
1. ^ BBC Timeline on Kashmir conflict.
2. ^ Schofield, Victoria. 'Kashmir: The origins of the dispute', BBC News UK Edition
(January 16, 2002) Retrieved 20 May 2005

India Pakistan & Kashmir

What have been the recent developments in the dispute between India and Pakistan
regarding Kashmir?
After reaching the brink of nuclear war regarding the Kashmir boundary dispute, there has been a
promising momentum toward reaching a peaceful resolution. In January 2004, Indian Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to embark on a
process of normalizing relations between the two countries and resolving the Kashmir problem.
But diplomats and analysts on both sides know that there quick-fix solutions to a dispute which
has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan in the last 50 years.
In fact there has been very little progress and there is a fear that hostilities might resurface,
particularly since there has been a change in leadership in India. This is true even for issues
which have been agreed upon in principle; like the reopening of consulates in Karachi and
Bombay. The Indian government wants peace talks to include all issues, not just the boundary
dispute. They propose friendly exchanges, increased people to people contact and suggestions to
promote trade and commercial links. But President Musharraf has remarked on more than one
occasion that it is not possible to discuss trade and other subjects unless they coincide with
substantive progress on the core issue of Kashmir.
Where is Kashmir?
Kashmir  (Click to see map) is a mountainous region located in the northwest corner of the Indian
subcontinent. It is about the size of Kansas and is dominated by two mountain ranges, the
Himalaya and Karakorums.
What created the conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir?
The problem grew out of the breakup of the English empire in India in 1947 after World War 2.
Despite the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi, two separate countries were created primarily for
religious reasons: India and Pakistan. Pakistan was actually two entirely separate territories on
either side of India.   In reality, many of the remote areas of the subcontinent such as
Kashmir were feudal and had little connection to a national government. These areas were ruled
by monarchs known as Maharajas. India was predominantly Hindu, Pakistan was mostly
Muslim. At the time of the creation of India and Pakistan the status of Kashmir (a predominantly
Muslim area) was left uncertain. Two months after the countries were created, an arrangement
was made between the national government in India and the Maharaja of Kashmir which gave
control to India. War immediately erupted between India and Pakistan. After a U.N.-arranged
ceasefire in July 1949, Pakistan gained one third of Kashmir territory. The remaining territory
was to be under India's control but to have a status of near independence. Despite this
arrangement, India formally annexed Kashmir as a state in 1956 which provoked rioting among
the Muslim population. War has resumed briefly in the region in 1965 and as part of the 1971
war between India and Pakistan over the independence of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan).
The Kashmir controversy is a major reason for the present conflict between India and Pakistan.
The stakes have been raised because both countries are not parties to the nuclear non-
proliferation agreement and have developed a nuclear arsenals. (See Arms Control Summary)
How is the Kashmir situation affected by the current war in Afghanistan?
The Kashmir area is adjacent to Afghanistan and the agitation for Kashmir independence is
sponsored primarily by fundamentalist Muslims in Pakistan and in Kashmir itself. Much of Al-
Queda's terrorist activity has occurred in Kashmir. Because Pakistan claims all of Kashmir
territory, it has covertly supported this activity. Moreover, the U.S. war against the Taliban has
been regarded as a "Jihad" or holy war by Muslim fundamentalists and thus has exacerbated this
already tense border dispute. The existence of a terrorist network in the region has provided a
possible escape path for Al Queda activists in Afghanistan including Bin Laden.

Jammu and Kashmir Assessment - Year 2010

The gains in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) over the past eight years have been dramatic, and were consolidated even
further through 2009. Nevertheless, the spurt of terrorist attacks at the fag end of 2009 and the beginning of the New
Year came as a grim reminder that these successes are far from irreversible. Terrorism related fatalities in the State
have declined continuously since their peak of 4,507 killed in 2001, to the 377 killed in 2009. Nevertheless, a flurry
of attacks in just over a fortnight – the killing of four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Sopore on
December 30, 2009; the fidayeen (suicide squad) attack at Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar on January 6, 2010;
the encounter in Pulwama on January 8, in Thanola on January 10, in Kulgam on January 13; and the attack on the
Sopore Police Station on January 15 – made it abundantly clear that efforts to revive militancy are far from being
given up. Improvements in the security situation were, however, obvious, as fatalities continued to decline, and
remained well below the ‘high intensity’ mark of 1,000 per year, for the third consecutive year.
Comparative Fatalities in J&K, 2001-2009
Year Civilians SF personnel Terrorists Total

2001 1067 590 2850 4507

2002 839 469 1714 3022

2003 658 338 1546 2542

2004 534 325 951 1810

2005 520 216 996 1732

2006 349 168 599 1116

 2007 164 121 492 777

2008 69 90 382 541

2009 55 78 244 377

Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal Database
In its year-end review (released on December 24), the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that, during
2009 (data till November), the number of terrorism-related incidents had dropped by 27 per cent, those of killing of
civilians by 17 per cent and of Security Force (SF) personnel by 19 per cent, compared to the corresponding period
of 2008.
J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda declared, "This year [2009], we have achieved a milestone.
It is for the first time in 20 years that less than 500 violent incidents took place in the State." This was the lowest
level of violence in two decades in J&K, as terror-related incidents, killings of civilians and SF personnel, went
plunged below the 1990 figures. Khoda drew up a scenario which was even more buoyant than the MHA’s, claiming
that, "civilian killings during 2009 went down by over 42 per cent as compared to 2008 while militancy-related
incidents dropped by over 35 per cent." In 2008, according to the J&K Police, there were 708 militancy-related
incidents, while 147 civilians and 85 SF personnel were killed. As many as 235 militants were killed by Police and
SFs during the year. Cross-border infiltration, however, increased in 2009.
Incidents and Civilian and SF Fatalities and in J&K, 2006-
2009
Year Incidents Civilians Police VDCs/SPOs* Paramilitary
killed personnel killed and Armed
killed Forces
personnel
killed

2006 1667 387 49 31 102

2007 1092 164 18 12 92

2008 708 89 10 10 65

2009 460 79 12 14 51
* VDC - Village Defence Committee; SPO - Special Police Officer
Source: J&K Police
There were 29 major incidents (involving three or more fatalities) in 2009. The most significant among these, where
SFs and civilians were attacked, included:
December 30: Militants shot dead four CRPF personnel at Janwari in Sopore area of Baramulla District. The
troopers were part of a road opening party on Sopore-Bandipora road. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( HM) claimed
responsibility for the attack.
September 29: Three CRPF personnel were shot dead and two civilians injured by the terrorists at Sopore Bus Stand
in Baramulla District. The militants opened indiscriminate fire on a group of CRPF personnel at the bus stand
injuring three CRPF personnel and two civilians, including a woman. The CRPF personnel later succumbed to their
injuries.
April 21: Five persons, including a woman and a female child, were killed and seven others were wounded in an
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion under a vehicle at Sangla on the Surankote-Marha road in Poonch
District. The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi claimed responsibility for the blast.
The SFs suffered major setbacks with the killing of Lt. Col. V. R. Chander in Baramulla, on June 30. Three militants
were also killed in the exchange of fire. Similarly, Major Akash Singh and three infiltrating militants were killed in
Poonch sector on September 9. Border Security Force (BSF) Deputy Inspector General (DIG), O.P. Tanwar, died in
an IED blast near the Indo-Pak border on November 16.
These setbacks notwithstanding, 53 self-styled militant ‘commanders'; from different outfits – 22 of the LeT, 23 of
the HM, five from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), one from Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) and one of Al Badr – were
killed by SFs during various anti-militancy operations. HM's deputy chief of operations' in J&K, Shabir Ahmed, was
eliminated on June 5 in Doda. This was followed by the killing of top 'divisional commanders' of JeM, HM and LeT
– Abdula Sattar, Saquib and Yousef Gujjar, in the Poonch, Shopian and Kishtwar Districts, respectively.
The SFs launched continuous counter-insurgency (CI) operations, securing several successes:
November 14: The Army foiled an infiltration bid, killing five militants in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
September 2: Five militants were killed in the Gurez sector of Bandipora District near the Line of Control as Army
foiled a major infiltration attempt, as militants attempted to sneak into the Kashmir valley from Pakistan occupied
Kashmir (PoK).
August 14: Army personnel shot dead four top ranking militants of the HM in an encounter at Kund Forest under
Mahore Police Station in the Reasi District.
August 10: The Army killed four militants in an encounter in the Mahore area of Reasi District
August 2: Four militants and an Army trooper were killed in an encounter in the Bangas Valley of Kupwara District.
The encounter between terrorists and the SFs began on August 1, when troops noticed movement of heavily armed
militants in the Bangas Valley in the Handwara.
March 25: 17 militants and eight soldiers of the Army, including Major Mohit Sharma, were killed in an encounter
between LeT militants and the Army near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara District, when the Army foiled a
major infiltration bid.
Though militants suffered heavily in J&K, and the situation has improved gradually, there was a rise in infiltration
bids by militants in 2009. The MHA’s year-end review (data till November) stated that, during 2009, 473 infiltration
bids were attempted, out of which 367 were foiled. According to infiltration figures compiled by the Multi-Agency
Centre (MAC), the nodal agency for all terrorism-related intelligence under the Union Home Ministry, while 93
terrorists were intercepted and neutralised during the 473 infiltration attempts, and 227 retreated into Pakistan on
being intercepted, 110 terrorists managed to give the border forces a slip. Agencies see the 110 infiltrated terrorists
— with an estimated 70 per cent foreign and 30per cent local component — as a threat not only to J&K but also to
the rest of the country. According to communications ‘chatter’ featuring HM leaders, directions to terrorist cadres
are loud and clear: "Sneak into India fast and do something big."
The J&K DGP put the infiltration-bid figure at 433, up by 91 from 2008. According to J&K Police figures 342
infiltration attempts were made from across the border in 2008, while 2007 and 2006 reported 535 and 573 such
attempts respectively along the LoC and International Border (IB) in J&K. Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, on
January 14, said the infiltration level had increased, with 110 terrorists managing to sneak in, till November, in
2009, as compared to 57 in 2008.
Taking into account the overall improvement in the situation, the Union Government withdrew two Divisions of the
Army (approximately 30,000 troops) from J&K. The announcement was made on December 17 by the Union
Defence Minister, A. K. Antony. Earlier in the month, the Government had announced withdrawal of a 'significant'
number of battalions of the Central Forces from the State in a noteworthy confidence-building measure, following
the initiative to hold 'quiet' dialogue with the separatist groups. However, Antony ruled out revocation of the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from areas where the Armed Forces were deployed for counterinsurgency
operations. "Already the Army, by its own initiative, has withdrawn two Divisions from Jammu and Kashmir. Last
year, it withdrew one Division. This year also it withdrew another Division. So whenever we feel the situation is
improving, we are willing to further reduce the visibility and presence of the Armed Forces," he said. On the
AFSPA, he reiterated the stand taken by the Army Chiefs in the past, that the Armed Forces needed special powers
whenever they were deployed on counter-insurgency duties. Nevertheless, he expressed the Government’s
willingness to discuss changes in these powers: "Without special powers, the Army cannot operate … But, at the
same time, we can have a detailed discussion about making some modification here and there."
Crucially, the lowest number of human rights violation cases was registered in 2009, as compared to the previous
years. DGP Khoda emphasized, "It is for the first time that no custodial death related to militancy was recorded this
year." Troops in J&K also vacated all hospitals and schools because of the improving security situation there.
The Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) election, held in the State in five phases, between April 16 and May
13, was by and large peaceful, with no major militancy-related or violent incident reported. In the first phase
(Jammu-Poonch Parliamentary constituency), the polling percentage was approximately 49 per cent; the second
phase (Udhampur-Doda) saw a voter turnout at 45.3 per cent. The third phase (Anantnag) had a voter turnout of 26
per cent, nearly 11 per cent higher than the 2004 Parliamentary polls. The fourth phase (Srinagar) saw the lowest
voter turnout, at a mere 24 per cent, though this was also substantially higher than in the 2004 election, when only
18.6 per cent electors cast their votes. In the fifth phase, voting was held in Baramulla and Leh, and the voting
percentage was 40 and 60 respectively.
Despite improvements in the situation, however, there are significant residual risks. Intelligence agencies have
warned of possible attempts to take advantage of the skeletal deployment of forces in the Valley in view of the shift
of the Durbar (seat of Government) to Jammu. Nearly 700 terrorists are believed to be holed up in the Valley, of
which half are foreigners. Some of these are expected to attempt to adopt the modus operandi that manifested itself
in the January 6 Lal Chowk attack, using small arms and grenades to inflict initial damage, before hunkering down
for a protracted standoff. Significantly, intelligence sources indicate that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
has set up dedicated communication towers at Tum, Nikral, Samani and Zaffarwal in Pakistan occupied Kashmir
(PoK) to provide assistance to terrorists operating in the Poonch, Rajauri, Naushera and Kathua regions,
respectively, of J&K. However, Army Chief General Kapoor has claimed that current troop levels in the State were
sufficient to take care of the existing volume of infiltration and the estimated presence of terrorists in the State.
Underlining residual threats, a MAC assessment notes that there are 42 terror-training camps directed against India
operating in Pakistan and PoK. Of these, 34 are ‘active’ and eight are ‘holding’ camps. Pakistan/Northern Areas and
PoK have 17 ‘active'’ and four ‘holding or dormant’ camps each, says the MAC assessment, based on inputs from
various security agencies. According to intelligence sources, "It is estimated that around 2,200 militants are housed
in these camps. After 26/11, many of these camps emptied out or relocated. Some are back to their original status
now, while new ones have also come up." Further, sources in the Defence Ministry revealed that some 300 militants
were currently waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) in PoK, for an opportunity to infiltrate into India
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, on October 14, 2009, stated in Srinagar, that the Centre would start a
dialogue process with "every shade of political opinion" in J&K for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, but that this
would be a "quiet dialogue" and "quiet diplomacy", away from the media glare, till a political solution to the
problem is arrived at. He said the Centre would hold talks with mainstream political parties like the National
Conference, People's Democratic Party, Congress and other smaller parties, and also "other groups", which are not
organized or are referred to as extremists. However, the Home Minister declined to answer a specific question as to
whether a formal invitation would be extended to separatist groups such as the All Parties Hurriyat Conference
(APHC).
In a major setback to the dialogue process between the Centre and separatists in the State, however, unidentified
gunmen shot at and critically injured Fazal Haq Qureshi – a senior leader of the faction of the All Parties Hurriyat
Conference (APHC) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq – outside his house in the Soura locality of capital Srinagar, on
December 4, 2009. A member of the decision-making Executive Committee of the Hurriyat Conference, Qureshi
had played a key role in facilitating talks between the HM and the Government, following a cease-fire announced by
that group in July 2000. He was also part of the Hurriyat delegation that held talks with then-Deputy Prime Minister
L. K. Advani in 2004. Al-Nasireen, a joint front of the LeT and HM, claimed responsibility for the attack on
Qureshi.
There have already been eight infiltration bids and two ceasefire violations in 2010, so far, and Union Defence
Minister A. K. Antony, on January 13, warned, "The incidents of the first week of January in the Valley are
indicative of the shape of things to come." The abrupt conflagrations around the Amarnath land controversy in July-
August 2008, and recurrent, though localized, efforts to provoke mass disturbances in the Valley, a sustained
separatist rhetoric, and cumulative evidence of Pakistan’s unchanged intent and strategy, despite a tactical
downward calibration of terrorism, indicate clearly that militancy in J&K is certainly down, but it is far from out.