Rajadom of Kashmir
| [[]] map of Kashmir | ||
| Capital | Srinigar | |
| 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 | 1820 | |
| Area | 121,586 km² 46,945 mi² | |
| Population | 6,000,000 | |
| 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. Although Buddhism was widespread in Kashmir long before the time of Asoka, it enjoyed his patronage, as well as that not only of the Buddhist rulers but of Hindu and early Muslim rulers as well. From Kashmir, it spread to the neighboring Ladakh.
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 beginning the Dogra Dynasty. 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. | |
Toponymy
The Nilamata Purana describes the origin of Kashmir as coming from का ka (water) + शिमिरि shimir (to desiccate). Hence, Kashmir denotes “a land desiccated from water”. An alternative etymology proposes that Kashmir is a contraction of either Kashyap-mir(a) or Kashyapmeru, denoting the “sea of Kashyapa” or the “mountain of Kashyapa”, eponyms of the sage Rishi Kashyapa, the sage being credited with having drained the primordial Satisar Lake that occupied the Kashmir Valley before he reclaimed it from the water.
Government
Provinces
| Province (anchal) | Capital | Area | Population | Prefectures (jilla) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anantnag | Anantnag | 3,984 km² 1,538 mi² |
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| Baramulla | Baramulla | 4,588 km² 1,771 mi² |
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| Budgam | Budgam | 1,371 km² 529 mi² |
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| Kupwara | Kupwara | 2,379 km² 919 mi² |
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| Pulwama | Pulwama | 1,370 km² 529 mi² |
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| Srinagar | Srinagar | 2,228 km² 860 mi² |
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| Muzaffarab | Muzaffarab | 9,738 km² 3,760 mi² |
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| Gilgit | Gilgit | 39,300 km² 15,172 mi² |
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| Astore | Astore | 8,657 km² 3,342 mi² |
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| Diamir | Chilas | 10,936 km² 4,233 mi² |
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| Ghizar | Gakuch | 9,635 km² 3,720 mi² |
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| Ghanche | Khaplu | 9,400 km² 3,629 mi² |
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| Skardu | Skardu | 18,000 km² 6,950 mi² |
- Thus, the total area of the rajadom is 121,586 km², slightly larger than *here's* North Korea.
Geography
Borders
Kashmir is bordered by on the:
Northeast: Tibet
East: Ladakh
South: Jammu
West: Sikh RS
Northwest: Moghul National Realm
The Rajadom of Kashmir is contiguous with *here's* Kashmir portion of the Indian state of Kashmir and Jammu, and the Pakistani states of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Climate
Economy
Demographics
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: Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus)
- National tree: Himalayan birch (Betula utilis)
- National dish: rogan josh (lamb curry)
- National emblem:
- For supporters,
- For a crest,
- National aviation roundel:
- National instrument: santoor
Kashmiri holidays
| Date | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 13 January | Lohri | (2010 only) |
| 20 January | Vasant Panchami | |
| 14 February | The Queen's Birthday | Mothers' Day |
| 1 March | Holi | (2010 only) |
| 14 April | Navavarsha | Kashmiri New Year (2010 only) |
| 24 May | The King's Coronation | |
| 4 July | The King's Birthday | Fathers' Day |
| 24 August | Raksha Bandan | (2010 only) |
| 1 September | Krishna Janmashtami | (2010 only) |
| 8 October | Navratri | (2010 only) |
| 1 October | Lakshmi Puja | (2010 only) |
| 4 November | Diwali | (2010 only) |
