Rajadom of Kashmir

The Rajadom of Kashmir
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[[]] [[]] state flag coat of arms
[[]] map of Kashmir
Capital	Srinigar
Provinces with Capitals
???	???
???	???
???	???
Government	constitutional monarchy
Head of State	His Royal Highness ???
Head of Government	???
Demonym	Kashmiri
Religions
Official	Hinduism
Other	Buddhism Islam
Languages
Official	Kashmiri
Other	Nepali
Founding	596
Independence	???
Area	??? km² ??? mi²
Population (2001)	???
Ethnicities	??? ?% ??? ?% ??? ?% ??? ?%
Currency	1 Himalayan Rupee (Rs) = 20 sukaa (?) = 240 paisa (?)
Time zone	CET UTC+6:00
Telephone Code	?
Registration
Aviation	KSH
Amateur radio	KSH
Radio prefix	KSH
Organizations	Himalayan Confederacy
Sports
Official	???
Other	???

History

Text in bold print indicates PoD.

Pre-Islam

Kashmir was one of the major centers of Sanskrit scholarship. According to the Mahabharata, the Kambojas ruled Kashmir during the epic period with a republican system of government from the capital city of Rajapura. Later, the Panchalas established their sway and their king Pravarasena II founded the city of Parvasenpur. Asoka, the great ruler of the Mauryan Empire introduced Buddhism to the region. The new religion co-existed peacefully with the dominant Hindu culture.

Kashmir became an important seat of Buddhist learning, dominated by the Sarvastivadan school. Monks from eastern and central Asia visited the kingdom. In the late fourth century A.D., the famous Kuchanese monk Kumarajiva, born to an Indian noble family, studied in Kashmir under the great scholar Bandhudatta. He later became a prolific translator who helped introduce Buddhism to China. Vimalaksa, a Sarvastivadan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumarajiva in the Vinayapitaka.

Muslim rule

The Abbasid Caliphate, during their stay in Persia, expanded into Afghanopakistan and northern India, but the new religion had little impact on the mass of the people and remained the religion of the ruling elite only.

In 1339, in the vacuum left by the fall of the Abassid Caliphate, Shams-ud-Din Shah Mir became the ruler of Kashmir and the founder of the Shah Miri dynasty. He came from Swat, a tribal territory on the eastern border of Afghanistan. Until his death in 1342, he played a notable role in the political history of the valley.

Shah Mir was succeeded by his eldest son Jamshid, but he was deposed by his brother Ali Sher five months later. Ali Sher ascended the throne assuming the royal name Alauddin.

The Muslim rulers lived in relative harmony with their Hindu and Buddhist subjects, due partly to the similarity of the Sufi way of life of the rulers to the Rishi tradition of the Kashmiri Hindus. This led to a syncretic culture in some areas where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.

Most of the Kashmiri rulers, such as Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, were tolerant of the religions of their subjects. However, several were intolerant, of whom Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389-1413) and his (former Brahmin) minister Saif ud-Din were the worst. Historians have recorded many of the atrocities carried out in his persecution of the Hindus and Buddhists. He even went so far as to proscribe the residence of anyone other than a Muslim in Kashmir.

Sikh/Hindu rule

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 became tributary to the Sikh R.S. until 1846.

Ranjit Deo's grandnephew, Gulab Singh, subsequently sought service at the court of Ranjit Singh, distinguished himself in later campaigns, especially in the conquest of the Kashmir Valley in 1819, which ended a thousand years of Muslim rule. For his services, he was created the first Mahararaja of Jammu in 1820. With the help of his officer, Zorawar Singh, Gulab Singh soon captured Kashmir, and the Buddhist kingdoms of Ladakh and Baltistan.

To emphasize his break from the Sikh R.S. in 1846, Gulab Singh embraced the Hindu faith.

After Gulab Singh's death in 1857, his son, Ranbir Singh, added the emirates of Astore, Hunza-Nagar, and Gilgit to the rajadom.

Partab Singh (1830-1885) succeeded his father in 1848.

Hari Singh (1895-1961), the son of Partab Singh's brother Amar, succeeded to the throne in 1925. He abdicated in 1949.

Karan Singh (1931-) succeeded upon the abdication of his father in 1949. He was married to Yasho Rajya Lakshmi (1939-2009), the granddaughter of Mohan Rana, the last Rana prime minister of Nepal.

Karan Singh's eldest son, Vikramaditya, is the yuvraj, crown prince. Kashmir's rules of succession are based on male primogeniture so his older sister will not succeed. Dates in italics print are points of departure.

Dynasties

Karkota Dynasty, 596-857

Order	Name	Date(s)	Relationship	Notes
1)	Durlabhavardhana	596		Hindu religion restored; great Chinese pilgrim, Hien-Tsang visits.
2)	Durlabhaka	632
3)	Chandrapida	682
4)	Tarapida	682
5)	Muktapida Lalitaditya	695		Conquers the Punjab, Kanuj, Tibet, Ladhak, Badakshan, Iran, Bihar, Gauda (Bengal) Kalinga (Orissa), South India, Gujarat, Malwa, Marwar and Sindh.
6)	Kuvalayapida	732	Son of 5)
7)	Vajraditya Bappiyaka	733	Son of 5)
8)	Prithivyapida I	740	Son of 7)
9)	Sangramapida	744	Son of 7)
10)	Jayapida	751	Son of 7)
11)	Jajja	782
12)	Lalitapida	785	Son of 10)
13)	Prithivyapida II	797	Son of 10)
14)	Chippatajayapida	804
15)	Ajitapida	816	Grandson of 7) through a son
16)	Anangapida	831	Son of 13)
17)	Utpalapida	848-857	Son of 15)	All conquered lands regain independence.

Utpala Dynasty, 857-939

Order	Name	Date(s)	Relationship	Notes
18)	Avantivarman	857
19)	Shankaravarman	884	Son of 18)	Conquers Kingdom of Kabul
20)	Gopalavarman	903	Son of 19)
21)	Samkatavarman	905	Son of 19)	Beginning of decline of dynasty
22)	Sugandha	905	Wife of 19)
23)	Nirjitavarman (1)	907	Grandson of brother 18) through a son
24)	Partha (1)	907	Son of 23)
	Nirjitavarman (2)	923
25)	Chakravarman (1)	924	Son of 23)
26)	Suravarman I	935	Son of 23)
	Partha II	936
	Chakravarman (2)	936
27)	Sambhuvardhana	936
28)	Unmattavanti	938
29)	Suravarman II	939.

Hindu Kings, 939-1338

Order	Name	Date(s)	Relationship	Notes
30)	Yahakaradeva	939
31)	Samgramadeva I	948	Son of 30)
32)	Parvagupta	949
33)	Kshemagupta	950	Son of 32)	Marries Didda, daughter of King Bhimdeva of Kabul.
34)	Abhimanyu	958	Son of 33)
35)	Nandigupta	972	Son of 34)
36)	Tribhuvana	973	Son of 34)
37)	Bhimagupta	975	Son of 34)
38)	Didda	980	Wife of 33)	she transmitted the crown to Sangramraj, son of her brother Udairaj, the King of Lohara.
39)	Samgramaraja	1003	Son of 38)'s brother
40)	Hariraja	1028	Son of 39)
41)	Ananta	1028	Son of 39)
42)	Kalasa	1063	Son of 41)
43)	Utkarsha	1089	Son of 42)
44)	Harsha	1089	Son of 42)	He and his son Bhoja murdered.
45)	Uchchala	1101-1112
46)	Salhana	1111-1112	Brother of 45)
47)	Sussala (1)	1112	Brother of 45)
48)	Bhikshachara	1120	Grandson of 44) through a son
	Sussala (2)	1121-1128
49)	Jayasimha (1)	1123-1131	Son of 47)
50)	Lothana	1131	Brother of 45)
51)	Mallarjuna	1131	Son of 47)
	Jayasimha (2)	1132
52)	Paramanuka	1155	Son of 49)	From 1155 on, the Kashmir rulers remained busy only in intrigues, debauchery, and mutual quarrels which greatly weakened Hindu domination of Kashmir. The valley soon fell a prey to Mongol and Turkish raiders. Quite naturally, the boundaries of the Kingdom shrank and sovereignty was reduced to the Valley only. Jammu and Ladhak threw off their allegiance to Kashmir.
53)	Vantideva	1165	Son of 52)
54)	Vuppadeva	1172
55)	Jassaka	1181	Brother of 54)
56)	Jagadeva	1199	Son of 55)
57)	Rajadeva	1213	Son of 56)
58)	Samgramadeva II		Son of 57)
59)	Ramadeva	1252	S58
60)	Lakshmanadeva	1273	Son of 59)
61)	Simhadeva	1286
62)	Suhadeva	1301	Brother of 61)
63)	Rinchan	1320	Husband of 65)	Tibetan.
64)	Udyanadeva	1323	Husband of 65)
65)	Kotadevi	1338.	Daughter of 62)	The Valley is again invaded by the Mongol invader Achalla, but the Queen defeated him and drove away all the foreign troops. In the confusion Rinchin, the Ladhaki prince, whom the Hindu religious leaders of the time refused to admit into their fold, organised an internal rising and seized the throne. Finally, another rising defeated the queen at Jayapur (modern Sumbal). The defeat upset her and she stabbed herself to death.

• 1810 – Jammu regained.
• 1846 – Hindu Dogra dynasty

Government

Provinces (anchal)

Province	Capital	Area	Population	Prefectures	Notes
Mustang	Jomsom	3,573 km²	29,545 (2001)	15	slightly larger than *here's* Luxemburg
Dolpa	Dunai	7,889 km²	(2001)	19	about the size of *here's* Slovenia
Manang	Chame	2,246 km²	9,587 (2001)	14	slightly smaller than *here's* Isle of Majorca

• Thus, the total area of the rajadom is 13,708 km², about the size of *here's* Montenegro.
• The 15 Mustang prefectures are Chhonkup, Lomanthan, Chhoser, Chanang, Sukkang, Dhami, Chhusang, Kagbeni, Jhong, Muktinath, Marpha, Tukuche, Kowang, Junjo, and Lete.
• The 14 Manang prefectures are Fu, Nar, Thoche, Tanki Manang, Khangsar, Bhraka, Nyawal, Gyasu, Manang, Pisang, Chame, Tachi Bogarcchap, Thoche, Dharapani.
• The 19 Dolpa prefectures are Bhijar, Saddang, Tinje, Phoksundo, Dho,Chhenka, Mukot, Sakartana, Dunai, Lawan, Raha, Tripunakot, Likhu, Pahada, Lohai, Kalika, Narku, Rimi, Sarmi.

Geography

Borders

Kashmir is bordered by on the:

Northeast: Tibet
East: Ladakh
South: Jammu
West: Sikh RS
Northwest: Moghul National Realm

Culture

National symbols

• National mammal 1: Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu)
• National mammal 2: Leopard (Panthera pardus)
• National bird: Lanceolated jay (Garrulus lanceolatus]
• National flower: common rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum)
• National dish: rogan josh (lamb curry)
• National tree: Himalayan birch (Betula utilis)
• National emblem:
  • For supporters,
  • For a crest,
• National aviation roundel:
• National instrument: Wikipedia:

Kashmiri holidays

(Dates in italics are postponed)

Date	Name	Notes
20 January	Saraswati Puja	(2010 only)
	The King's Coronation
1 March	Holi	(2010 only)
19 March	The King's Birthday	Fathers' Day
14 April	Navavarsha	Nepali New Year (2010 only)
	The King's Coronation
25 August	Gaijatra	(2010 only)
1 September	Krishna Janmashtami	(2010 only)
11 September	Dar Khani Din	(2010 only)
1 October	Lakshmi Puja	(2010 only)
4 November	Tihar	(2010 only)
	The Queen's Birthday	Mothers' Day