Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has a distinctive history shaped by its mountains, passes and position between South and Central Asia.

In ancient times, the Kashmir Valley (Kashyap-mira in legend) was a centre of Hindu and Buddhist learning, ruled by dynasties such as the Karkotas and Utpalas, with capitals around Srinagar and a strong tradition of Sanskrit scholarship and temples. The Jammu hills to the south were dotted with small Rajput principalities guarding routes from the plains.

From the 14th century, the valley saw the rise of the Sultans of Kashmir and the spread of Islam, strongly influenced by Sufi saints. Later, in the 16th–17th centuries, the Mughal emperors made Kashmir their favourite summer retreat, creating the celebrated gardens of Srinagar. After Mughal decline came Afghan rule, and then in the early 19th century, Sikh control under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

In 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War, Gulab Singh, a Dogra ruler from Jammu, founded the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, combining Jammu, Kashmir Valley, Ladakh and adjoining areas under one crown. This state joined independent India in 1947, but its accession and borders became disputed, leading to conflict and division across the Line of Control.

In modern India, Jammu & Kashmir long functioned as a special-status state; in 2019 it was reorganised as the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, yet it still remains culturally defined by its temples, shrines, Sufi sites, forts, lakes and complex layered history.