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KASHMIR
*** Shopping-Tip: KASHMIR
{{OtherUses|the region Kashmir}}
Image:Kashmir map.jpg Jammu and Kashmir.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The dark-brown region represents Indian-controlled [[Jammu and Kashmir while the
Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation.html" title="Meaning of right|Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The dark-brown region represents Indian-controlled [[Jammu and Kashmir">thumb|right|Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The dark-brown region represents Indian-controlled [[Jammu and Kashmir while the
Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation">right|Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The dark-brown region represents Indian-controlled [[Jammu and Kashmir">thumb|right|Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The dark-brown region represents Indian-controlled [[Jammu and Kashmir while the
Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation
'''Kashmir''' is a region where the northern part of
South Asia and the southern part of
Central Asia meet. The term Kashmir historically described the
valley just to the south of the westernmost end of the
Himalayan mountain range. Currently, Kashmir refers to a much larger area which includes the regions of Kashmir,
Jammu and
Ladakh. The main "Valley of Kashmir" is a low-lying fertile region surrounded by magnificent mountains and fed by many rivers. It is renowned for its natural beauty and quaint lifestyle.
Srinagar, the ancient capital, lies alongside
Dal Lake and is famous for its canals and houseboats. Srinagar (alt. 1,600 m. or 5,200 ft.) acted as a favoured summer capital for many foreign conquerors who found the heat of the Northern Indian plains in the summer season to be oppressive. Just outside the city are the beautiful Shalimar, Nishat, and Chashmashahi gardens created by Mughal emperors.
The region is currently divided between three countries:
Pakistan controls the northwest portion (
Northern Areas and
Azad Kashmir),
India controls the central and southern portion (
Jammu and Kashmir), and the
People's Republic of China controls the northeastern portion (
Aksai Chin and the
Trans-Karakoram Tract). India and Pakistan both control the
Siachen Glacier. Though these regions are in practice administered by their respective claimants, India has never formally recognized the accession of the areas claimed by Pakistan and China. India claims that these areas, including the area ceded to China by Pakistan in the
Trans-Karakoram Tract in 1963, are a part of its territory, while Pakistan claims the region, excluding Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. Both countries view the entire Kashmir region as
disputed territory, and do not consider each other's claim to be valid. An option favoured by many Kashmiris is independence, but both India and Pakistan oppose this for various reasons. Kashmir is considered one of the world's most dangerous territorial disputes due to the nuclear weapons capabilities of India and Pakistan. The two countries have fought two wars over the territory: the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 first Kashmir war in 1947 and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 second Kashmir war in 1965. More recently, in 1999, there was a
Kargil War limited border conflict (also referred to by some as the third Kashmir war) in the
Kargil area of India-controlled Kashmir.
The rest of this article will, for the sake of clarity, refer to the parts of Kashmir administered by India, Pakistan and China as "Indian Kashmir", "Pakistani Kashmir", and "Chinese Kashmir" respectively. By this nomenclature, the word "Kashmir" in "Indian Kashmir" is used in a general sense to refer to what India calls "Jammu and Kashmir".
History
{{see|History of the Kashmir conflict}}
For history of Kashmir prior to the 19th century, see
History of Kashmir.
Modern history
Image:Kashmir Valley to Ladakh bus route.jpg thumb|right|250px|Because of rigid mountainous terrain, Kashmir has poor transportation system making vast regions of Kashmir completely inaccessible. Shown here is the only highway connecting the Kashmir valley and Ladakh.
Kashmir passed from the control of the
Durrani Empire (see
Ahmad Shah Durrani) of
Afghanistan and centuries of
Muslim rule under the
Mughals,
Persians, and
Afghans to the conquering
Sikh armies by the mid-19th century. During the latter part of the 19th century, Kashmir was ruled by the Dogras, who are a predominantly
Hindu people in the area around
Jammu and who were installed as rulers by the Sikhs (see
Ranjit Singh). Their kings paid tribute to the
Sikhism Sikhs, and were part of the
Sikh Empire that arose following the collapse of the
Durrani Empire. Under the Sikhs, as feudatories, the Dogras sought and obtained permission to push further into the North, including regions of
Ladakh.
Zorawar Singh Dogra led an expedition into
Tibet in a failed effort to bring it to submission to the Sikh Empire, as a sub-feudatory of the Dogras. With the sudden collapse of the Sikh Empire before the English forces, the Dogras purchased from the British their independence, and thus also assured themselves of their feudal hold over the subsidiary kingdoms of Kashmir, Ladakh and the territories of the north. The Dogra kings who originally ruled only from Jammu, also began to operate in summer from Srinagar, the metropolis of Kashmir. As a result, the Dogra Kingdom developed into a sort of "Dual Monarchy", the Dogra Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmir is a valley whose beauty has been proclaimed by many and stretches out at about 7,200 square kilometers (2,800 square miles) at an elevation of 1,675 meters (5,500 feet). A Mughal ruler
Jehangir, who built the famed
Shalimar Gardens (Kashmir) 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 centers of Hindu philosophical, literary and religious culture, a tradition still maintained by the native population.
Kashmiri literature, sculpture, music, dance, painting, and architecture have had a profound influence in Asia.
On
8 October 2005, Kashmir was struck by an
2005 Kashmir earthquake earthquake with a magnitude between 7.6 and 7.8 on the
Moment magnitude scale.
The First
Prime Ministers of India Prime Minister of India,
Jawaharlal Nehru, was of Kashmiri lineage.
Area and Subdivisions
Image:Map_Kashmir_Standoff_2003.png thumb|330px|right|Political division of Kashmir
Indian-administered Kashmir
India controls approximately 45.5% (101,387
square kilometre km²) of the disputed territory. Indian-administered Kashmir, also known as the state of
Jammu and Kashmir, includes 4 main regions:
*Kashmir Valley
*
Jammu
*
Ladakh
*
Siachen Glacier
Jammu and Kashmir Indian-controlled Kashmir is divided into 14 administrative districts: Anantnag, Baramulla, Budgam, Doda, Jammu, Kargil, Kathua, Kupwara, Leh, Poonch, Pulwama, Rajauri, Srinagar and Udhampur. Major cities include
Srinagar (city) Srinagar,
Jammu and
Leh.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir
The Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, is divided up into the following 2 main regions:
*
Azad Kashmir: 250 miles in length with width varying from 10 to 40 miles, 13,350 km² (5134 miles²).
*
Northern Areas, Pakistan Northern Areas, a much larger area, 72,496
square kilometre km² (27,991
square mile mi²), incorporated into Pakistan and administered as a de facto dependency.
Chinese-administered Kashmir
Areas under Chinese-control include:
*
Aksai Chin: approximately 37,555
square kilometre km² in size.
*A small part, the
Trans-Karakoram Tract, of the Northern Areas that was ceded to
China by
Pakistan in
1963.
Demographics
Image:Lehbuddha.jpg Buddha.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|200px|Kashmir is region of mixed faith with Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations. Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Ladakh region. Shown here is a statue of [[Buddha in
Leh, Ladakh.html" title="Meaning of thumb|200px|Kashmir is region of mixed faith with Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations. Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Ladakh region. Shown here is a statue of [[Buddha">right|thumb|200px|Kashmir is region of mixed faith with Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations. Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Ladakh region. Shown here is a statue of [[Buddha in
Leh, Ladakh">thumb|200px|Kashmir is region of mixed faith with Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations. Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Ladakh region. Shown here is a statue of [[Buddha">right|thumb|200px|Kashmir is region of mixed faith with Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations. Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Ladakh region. Shown here is a statue of [[Buddha in
Leh, Ladakh
{{expandsect}}
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir (containing
Northern Areas and
Azad Kashmir) 99% of the population is
Muslim. Settlers encouraged by the
Government of Pakistan include the
Pathan and
Punjabi communities.
China-administered Kashmir (
Aksai Chin) contains an extremely small population of
Tibetan origins.
Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (containing
Jammu, the Kashmir Valley and
Ladakh) contain an approximately 70% Muslim majority (according to Indian sources in 2001). The rest of the population are
Buddhist,
Hindu and others. The people of
Ladakh are of
Indo-Tibetan origin, while the southern area of
Jammu includes many communities tracing their ancestry to the nearby Indian states of
Haryana and
Punjab, India Punjab, as well as the city of
Delhi.
In 1941 the Hindus represented 15% of the population. But in 1990, the bulk of Kashmiri Hindus in the Kashmir Valley were forced out (or left, depending on the analysis), and only some 5-15,000 remain today out of some 160,000 (some scholars and community activists claim the Hindu population in the Valley was higher, with up to 450,000 - for the full historical debate see Alexander Evans's ‘A departure from history: Kashmiri Pandits, 1990-2001’ Contemporary South Asia, Vol 11, 1 2002 p19-37.).
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 10px 0 10px 25px; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #AAA solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; float: center;"
|- style="background: #E9E9E9"
! Claimed by !! Area !! Population !! % Muslim !! % Hindu !! % Buddhist !! % Other
|-
| rowspan="1" | Pakistan
|Northern Areas
| ~3 million
|99%
