History Of Kashmir
Kashmir contains a valley whose beauty has been
acclaimed by many and stretches out to about 7,200 square kilometres
(2,800 square miles) at an elevation of 1,675 metres (5,500 feet). A
Mughal ruler, Jehangir, who built the famed Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir,
made the statement, "If heaven be on this earth, it must be here." It
has a very ancient history, and it was for a long time one of the
centres of Hindu philosophical, literary and religious culture, a
tradition still maintained by the depleted native Hindu population.
Kashmiri literature, sculpture, music, dance, painting and architecture
have had a profound influence in Asia.
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Once a seat of the Dogra Rajput dynasty, Jammu came
under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the early 19-th century and
became a part of the Sikh Kingdom. The Rajputs were however able to
re-establish their control over Jammu under the command of Maharaja
Gulab Singh. With the help of General Zorawar Singh, Gulab Singh
established the Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir which extended beyond the
Jammu region and the Kashmir Valley to the Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom of
Ladakh and the Emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar. The rule of Dogras
over Jammu and Kashmir came to an end in 1947 when Maharaja Hari Singh
signed the Instrument of Accession making the princely state a part of
the Union of India.
Jammu and Kashmir lies at the heart of a bitter
territorial dispute between India, Pakistan and the People's Republic of
China. India has fought three wars with Pakistan in 1947, 1965 and 1999
and one with China over Kashmir. India, which considers the entire
state as its sovereign territory, has control of about half the area of
Jammu and Kashmir. The territory under its control enjoys special
provisions under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. India's claim
to the entire state is disputed by Pakistan, which controls a third of
Kashmir. Aksai Chin, an arid region in the east, and the Trans-Karakoram
Tract are claimed by India but administered by China. The Government of
Pakistan classifies Jammu and Kashmir as "Indian Occupied Kashmir".
Since the 1990s, the state has long been hit by the
confrontation between militant separatists and Indian Armed Forces,
which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. The Indian army
maintains a significant deployment of troops to maintain law and order.
Etymology
The name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the
Sanskrit: Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). According to Hindu
mythology, Sage Kashyapa drained a lake to produce the land now known as
Kashmir.
In the Rajatarangini, a history of
Kashmir written in the 12th century, it is stated that the valley of
Kashmir was formerly a lake. This 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.
Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir.
Early history
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 Sarvastivadan 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 Kumarajiva, born
to an Indian noble family, studied Dirghagama and Madhyagama in Kashmir
under Bandhudatta. He later becoming a prolific translator who helped
take Buddhism to China. His mother Jiva is thought to have retired to
Kashmir. Vimalak?a, a Sarvastivadan Buddhist monk, travelled from
Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumarajiva in the Vinayapi?aka.
Princely J&K
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Ranjit Singh and
his Sikh forces rose to power in the Punjab region. One of his generals,
Maharaja Gulab Singh, a member of the Jamwal clan of Rajputs, united
the various principalities of Jammu province under the suzerainty of the
Lahore court. His subordinate, General Zorawar Singh (of the Kahluria
Rajput clan), conquered Ladakh and Baltistan.
After the death of Ranjit Singh, the Kingdom of
Lahore suffered from internal conflict and relations with the Raja of
Jammu soured to such an extent that the Punjabi army invaded the Dogra
country in 1845. Raja Gulab Singh therefore did not aid the corrupt
Lahore durbar in its war with the English.
The First Sikh War, which was waged between the HEIC
and the successors of Ranjit Singh in 1845-46, resulted in victory for
the British. A war indemnity of 1.5 million sterling was demanded by the
British as one of the ceasefire conditions. This vast amount of cash
was not immediately at the disposal of the Lahore durbar, and they ceded
the entire hill country between the Beas and Indus rivers in lieu
thereof.
Gulab Singh, as the practically independent ruler of
most of these hilly areas was recognized as Maharaja by the British
plenipotentiaries in the Treaty of Amritsar (16th March 1846). By this
treaty, the British gained several ends: they received cash to the
extent of Rs.750,000/-; they created a border buffer state; and were
relieved of the expense and responsibility of administering a
mountainous frontier.
Modern History
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. When the
temperature in Srinagar rises at the beginning of June, the residents
would migrate to Gulmarg, which was a fashionable hillstation during
British rule. This great influx of visitors resulted in a corresponding
diminution of game for the sportsmen. Special game preservation rules
have been introduced, and nullahs are let out for stated periods with a
restriction on the number of head to be shot.
Jammu and Kashmir, was a principality lying between
the two new independent nations: India and Pakistan, independent
dominions within the British Commonwealth of Nations which were formed
by the partition of the former British India colony in August 1947.
(British King George VI was the head of state of both India and
Pakistan, but was represented in each of the new dominions by a
Governor-General: Lord Mountbatten in India and Muhammed Ali Jinnah in
Pakistan.) A total of 565 princely states formed 40% of India's land
area and held more than 100 million people. Each prince had to decide
which of the two new nations to join: Hindu-majority India or
Muslim-majority Pakistan (which then also included East Pakistan, now
Bangladesh). The strategic value of Kashmir meant it was important for
both countries to have it join their side. The ruler of Jammu and
Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, could not decide which country to join and
in addition, he nursed fond hopes of remaining the princely ruler of
Kashmir, as an independent nation. He was Hindu, while his subjects were
predominantly Muslim. To avoid the decision, he signed a "standstill"
agreement with Pakistan, which ensured continuity of trade, travel,
communication, and similar services between the two. India did not sign a
similar agreement.
Indian postal services began listing Kashmir as
Indian territory, causing alarm in Pakistan. In October 1947, Pashtuns
from Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province invaded Kashmir in support
of a rebellion agaist the Maharaja which had erupted in the restive
Poonch district. The invasion caused widespread looting in the state.
Troubled by the increasing deterioration in law and order situation, and
by earlier raids, culminating in the invasion of the tribesmen,
followed later by Pakistani rangers, Maharaja Hari Singh, requested
armed assistance and assylum from India. India refused to send its
troops unless Kashmir officially joined the Union of India. The
incumbent Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten also favoured Kashmir's
accession to the Republic of India, to which the Maharaja always agreed.
"The Instrument of Accession was signed by the Hari Singh on October
26, 1947 extending India's jurisdiction over external affairs, defence
and communications. 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.
The next day, Indian troops were airlifted into Srinagar. Regular Indian
forces then entered Kashmir and pushed back the invading forces. Prime
Minister Nehru (himself of Kashmiri lineage) of India then took the
situation to the United Nations Security Council and a ceasefire was
implemented. The ceasefire line gave Pakistan control of about one-third
of Kashmir and India the remaining.
Post-1947
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.
The situation considered by the UN Security Council,
which established a special commission was described in UNSC Resolution
39, passed on 20 January 1948. Subsequent to the recommendation of the
commission, the Security Council ordered in its resolution #47, passed
on 21 April 1948, that the accession of Kashmir to either India or
Pakistan be determined in accordance with an internationally supervised
plebiscite. In a string of subsequent resolutions, the Security Council
noted that the UN supervised plebiscite required by resolution #47 had
not been held. Notable resolutions reaffirming the requirement for the
UN supervised plebiscite include UNSC resolution #80 of 14 March 1950,
which established a ceasefire line after war between India and Pakistan,
and UNSC resolution #122 of 24 January 1957, which condemned the
establishment of a replacement legislative assembly in Kashmir.
The Government of India holds that the Maharaja
signed a document of accession to India in 1948. 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."
Current Status
Both Pakistan and India claim the entire Kashmir
region to be their integral part based on geographic and political
background. This issue has remained a point of contention between the
two countries ever since independence from British rule in 1947. Both
countries have fought three wars over the Kashmir issue apart from other
localised fighting
Kashmir belongs to none other than PAKISTAN !!
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