Jammu and Kashmir Full History
Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are actually three different regions. When India became independent, a large part of India was separated in the name of religion and was named Pakistan. At that time, Pakistan had two parts, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. East Pakistan separated in 1971 and became Bangladesh.
Partition A Sad History
At the time of partition, the Pakistani army attacked Kashmir along with the tribals and occupied a large part of Ladakh along with Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian army gave a befitting reply to this attack and was running a campaign to liberate the country, but in the middle, the Line of Control was born due to the unilateral declaration of ceasefire by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Since then, Kashmir became a disputed area. On the other hand, in 1962, China has put India in trouble by occupying a large area of Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Almost half of Jammu and Kashmir is still occupied by Pakistan. On the other hand, a large area of Ladakh is occupied by China.
This northern state of India has three regions – Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The states of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were first under Hindu rulers and then under Muslim sultans. Later, this state became a part of the Mughal Empire under the rule of Akbar. After Afghan rule from 1756, in 1819, this state came under the Sikh Empire of Punjab. In 1846, Ranjit Singh handed over the Jammu region to Maharaja Gulab Singh. After this, it remained under the rule of other Indian kings.
Kashmir, Jammu, and Ladakh. POK, Siachen, and Aksai Chin are also included in this. All three parts have been ruled by different kings in ancient and medieval times. There was a time when this entire land was ruled by a single king.
Kashmir is named after Kashyap Rishi
It is believed that the ancient names of Kashyap Sagar (Caspian Sea) and Kashmir were named after Kashyap Rishi. According to researchers, the rule of the people of Rishi Kashyap’s clan spread from the Caspian Sea to Kashmir.
Lord Shiva’s followers ruled around Mount Kailash. King Daksha’s empire was also in the same area. Jammu is also mentioned in the Mahabharata. The Harappan period remains and artifacts of Maurya, Kushan and Gupta period found recently from Akhnoor reveal the ancient history of Jammu.
It is said that Sage Kashyap was the first king of Kashmir. He made Kashmir the kingdom of his dreams. From the womb of one of his wives Kadru, snakes were born, the main 8 snakes were Anant (Shesh), Vasuki, Takshak, Karkotak, Padma, Mahapadma, Shankh and Kulik.
The Naga dynasty was established from them. Even today, places in Kashmir are named after these snakes. Anantnag of Kashmir was the capital of the Nagavanshis.
According to the story of Rajtarangini and Neelam Purana, the valley of Kashmir was once a very big lake. Sage Kashyap removed the water from here and turned it into a picturesque natural place. This is how the valley of Kashmir came into existence.
However, according to geologists, the water of the lake flowed out due to the collapse of the mountains in Khadiyanyar, Baramulla and thus, habitable places were created in Kashmir. Rajatarangini is an authentic document of the ancient dynasties and kings of Kashmir from King Gonanda of 1184 BC to King Vijay Simha (1129 AD).
Ancient History of Kashmir
In the 3rd century BC, the great emperor Ashoka spread Buddhism in Kashmir. Later, Kanishka ruled here. During the time of Kanishka, the fourth Buddhist Mahasangiti of the Sarvastivada tradition was organized in Kundal Van Vihar of Srinagar under the chairmanship of the famous Buddhist scholar Vasumitra. In the beginning of the 6th century, Kashmir was captured by the Huns. In 530 AD, the Kashmir valley was an independent state. After this, it was controlled by the kings of the Ujjain Empire. There was a time when Ujjain used to be the capital of undivided India.
After the fall of Vikramaditya dynasty, local rulers started ruling Kashmir. A mixed form of Hindu and Buddhist cultures developed there. A unique Shaiv philosophy developed in Kashmir in the sixth century. Vasugupta’s compilation of sayings ‘Spandakarika’ is considered its first authentic text. The first and most prominent name among the Shaiv kings is that of Mihirkul who belonged to the Hun dynasty.
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King Lalitaditya Muktapida was the main Chakravarti Emperor of Kashmir
After the Hun dynasty, Gonanda II and Karkota Naga dynasty ruled, whose king Lalitaditya Muktapida is included among the greatest kings of Kashmir. Among the Hindu kings of Kashmir, Lalitaditya (697 to 738) was the most famous king whose kingdom extended up to Bengal in the east, Konkan in the south, Turkistan in the north-west and Tibet in the north-east.
King Avantivarman:
The next name in this sequence is Avantivarman of the Utpal dynasty, who came to power in 855 AD, whose reign was a period of happiness and prosperity for Kashmir. During his 28-year reign, temples etc. were constructed on a large scale.
Kashmir also has a long tradition of litterateurs and Sanskrit scholars. Famous grammarians Rammat, Muktakana, Shivaswami and poets Anandvardhan and Ratnakar were members of Avantivarman’s court. There has been a long tradition of Sanskrit scholars, poets and commentators like Bhim Bhatt, Damodar Gupta in the seventh century, Ksheer Swami, Ratnakar, Vallabh Dev in the eighth century, Mammat, Kshemendra, Somdev in the ninth century, Milhan, Jayadratha of the tenth century and Kalhan of the eleventh century. After the death of Avantivarman, the period of decline of Hindu kings had begun.
Decline of Avantivarman’s Hindu kings, Invasion of Dulcha:
During the reign of the then-king Sahadev, the Mongol invader Dulcha attacked. Dulcha destroyed cities and villages and massacred thousands of Hindus.
Many Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam. Taking advantage of this opportunity, a Buddhist Rinchen from Tibet accepted Islam and took over the throne of Kashmir with the help of his friend and Sahadev’s commander Ramchandra’s daughter Kotarani. In this way, he became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir (not Jammu or Ladakh).
Shahmir’s rule:
Later, Shahmir occupied the throne of Kashmir and thus his descendants ruled Kashmir for a long time. Initially, these sultans were tolerant but the Islamization that started during the reign of Shah Hamadan from Hamadan reached its peak during the reign of Sultan Sikandar.
During this period, Hindu people had to accept Islam and in this way, gradually most of the people of Kashmir became Muslims, which also included some parts of Jammu. The period of destruction of temples and Islamization by force of sword under the leadership of Mir Hamdani, son of Shah Hamdan, continued till Ali Shah, son of Sikandar, but after that Zainul Abdin (Bud Shah) ascended the throne in 1420-70. His rule was good.
Mughals’ control over Kashmir:
On 16 October 1586, Mughal commander Qasim Khan Mir defeated Chak ruler Yakub Khan and established Mughalia Sultanate over Kashmir. After this, for the next 361 years, the valley was ruled by non-Kashmiris which included Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs, Dogras etc. Mughal ruler Aurangzeb and the rulers after him adopted a repressive policy against Hindus as well as Shia Muslims, due to which thousands of people were killed.
Reign of Ahmed Shah Abdali:
After the fall of the Mughal dynasty, in 1752-53, Afghans under the leadership of Ahmed Shah Abdali captured Kashmir (not Jammu and Ladakh). Afghan Muslims committed terrible atrocities on the people of Kashmir (Muslims, Hindus etc.). They looted their women and wealth. This loot and plunder continued under the rule of five different Pathan governors. Pathans ruled the Kashmir valley for 67 years.
Rule of King Ranjit Singh
Fed up with these atrocities, a Kashmiri Pandit Birbal Dhar sought help from Sikh King Ranjit Singh. He sent an army of thirty thousand under the leadership of his successor Kharak Singh along with his most capable chieftains including Hari Singh Nalwa. Azim Khan left Kashmir and fled to Kabul trusting his brother Jabbar Khan, thus Sikh rule was established in Kashmir on 15 June 1819. With the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Sikh empire of Lahore started disintegrating. For the British, it was an opportunity to control the dangerous border of Afghanistan and for the King of Jammu, Gulab Singh, to declare himself independent. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had annexed Jammu to Punjab. Later he handed over Jammu to Gulab Singh.
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Kings of Jammu and ruling period
*Rai Suraj Dev 850-920
*Rai Bhoj Dev 920-987
*Rai Avtar Dev 987-1030
*Rai Jasdev 1030-1061
*Rai Sangram Dev 1061-1095
*Rai Jasaskar 1095-1165
*Rai Brajdev 1165-1216
*Rai Narsinghdev 1216-1258
*Rai Arjundev 1258-1313
*Rai Jodhdev 1313-1361
*Rai Maldev 1361-1400
*Rai Hamirdev (Bhimdev) 1400-1423
*Rai Ajaib Dev Rai (till 1528)
*Rai Kupar Dev 1530-1570
*Rai Samil Dev 1570-1594
*Rai Sangram, Jammu Raja 1594-1624
*Rai Bhup Dev 1624-1650
*Rai Haridev 1650-1686
*Rai Gujai Dev 1686-1703
*Raja Dhruv Dev 1703-1725
*Raja Ranjit Dev 1725-1782
*Raja Brajaraaj Dev 1782-1787
*Raja Sanspurna Singh 1787-1797
*Raja Jeet Singh 1797-1816
*Raja Kishore Singh 1820-1822
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir-
*Maharaja Gulab Singh 1822 to 1856.
*Maharaja Ranbir Singh 1856 to 1885.
*Maharaja Hari Singh from 1925 to 1947.
* Jammu was divided into 22 hill states. Dogra ruler Raja Maldev conquered many areas and established his huge kingdom. Raja Ranjit Dev ruled Jammu from 1733 to 1782 but his successors were weak, so Maharaja Ranjit Singh merged Jammu with Punjab.
* In the far north, the power of the Maharaja of Kashmir extended up to the Karakoram mountain range. Aksai Chin and Ladakh in the north were also under this state.
* In 1947, Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by Dogra rulers. After this, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the agreement to merge with the Indian Union. That too, when the Pakistani army attacked the state in the form of tribals and captured a large part of it.
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