Kashmir
| [[]] map of Kashmir | |
| Capitals | Parvasenpur |
| Head of State | His Royal Highness ??? |
| Head of Government | ??? |
| Demonym | Kashmiri |
| Religions | |
| Official | Hinduism |
| Other | Buddhism Islam |
| Languages | |
| Official | Kashmiri |
| Other | Nepali |
| Founding | |
| Independence | |
| Area | 15,948 km² mi² |
| Population | 3,134,000 |
| Ethnicities | % % % % |
| Currency | 1 Himalayan Rupee (Rs) = 20 sukaa (s) = 240 paisa (p) |
| Time zone | UTC +6:00 |
| Telephone Code | KSH |
| 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.
Toponymy
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:
Northwest: the Moghul National Realm
Northeast: Tibet
East: Ladakh
South: Jammu
West: Sikh R.S.
The Rajahdom of Kashmir is contiguous with *here's* Indian state of Kashmir (minus Jammu and Ladakh) and the Pakistani areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
Climate
Economy
Demographics
Culture
National symbols
- National mammal 1: Kashmiri stag (Cervus elaphus hodgsoni)
- National mammal 2: Wikipedia: ()
- National bird: Lanceolated jay (Garrulus lanceolatus]
- National flower: Common rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum)
- National tree: birch (Betulus utilis)
- National emblem:
- Per pale white and maroon, a pale wavy vert, on the dexter an auspicious parasol azure, on the sinister the Wheel of Dharma or; on a chief vert a wind horse courant to the dexter.
- For supporters, on the dexter a sand fox and on the sinister a musk deer, all proper.
- For a crest, a vajra or rising out of a lotus white.
- National aviation roundel: a circle divided in half, white and red, a green stripe down the center.
- National instrument: Wikipedia:
Kashmiri holidays
(Dates in italics are postponed)
| Date | Name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 February | Losar | New Year | |
| 21 February | The King's Birthday | ||
| 28 February | Chotrul Duchen | Butter Lamp Festival (2010 only) | |
| 21 March | The King's Birthday | Father's Day | |
| 27 May | Suga Dawa Duchen | The Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment, and Parinirvana (2010 only) | |
| 21 June | Guru Rinpoche's Birthday | ||
| 15 July | Chokhor Duchen | The Buddha's First Sermon (2010 only) | |
| 24 August | Ulambana | Ancestor Day (2010 only) | |
| 23 September | Thri-bab | Blessed Rainy Day (2010 only) | |
| 17 October | Dashain | Victory of the Goddess Durga (2010 only) | |
| 29 October | Lhabab Duchen | The Buddha's Descent to Earth (2010 only)) | |
| 6 November | The King's Coronation |
