Kashmir, over the years

Before the Partition of India in 1947, the state of Jammu and Kashmir covered 222,236 square miles and included the regions of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Hunza, Nagar, Punial, Yasin and Chitral.

Today, after the 78,114 sq km and 42,735 sq km occupied by Pakistan and China respectively, the state is 101,387 sq km, extending from 32 degree 15' to 37-05' latitude north and 72-35' to 80-20 longitude east.

It now comprises the provinces of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and has a population of 10,069,917.

Mythology has it that the Kashmir valley originally was a huge lake called Satisar [the land of goddess Sati, consort of Lord Shiva], wherein lived a demon, Jalod Bowa. The great saint Kashyap cut the mountain, drained the lake and killed the demon. And the locals, in gratitude, named the valley 'Kashyap-Mar' and 'Kashyap-Pura.'

The ancient Greeks referred to it as 'Kasperia' while Chinese pilgrim Hien-Tsang, who visited the valley in 631 AD, called it 'Ka-Shi-Mi-Lo'. Later, the people of Kashmir shortened it to 'Kasheer'.

The name Kashmir implies land desiccated from water -- 'ka' [the water] and shimeera [to desiccate].

Mauryan Emperor Ashoka is recorded to have ruled Kashmir. From 1089 to 1101 AD, King Harsha ruled Kashmir, but his rule was wrought with famine and plague. This led to a general rising of the people under two princes, Uccalia and Succalla.

Harsha and his son Bhoja were murdered, and the Kashmir throne passed into the hands of the two princes. Both, however, met Harsha's fate, and King Jaisimha came to power.

The period from 1155 to 1339 AD marked Kashmir's darkest hours. Incessant feuds and civil wars weakened the Hindu domination. The last Hindu ruler was Udyan Dev and his queen Kota Rani.

After Kota Rani's death, Shah Mir ascended the throne as Sultan Shamas-ud-din. His dynasty ruled for 222 years. It was during this time that Islam firmly established itself in the valley.

Then came the Chak dynasty, which ruled till 1587, when Akbar, the great Mughal emperor, conquered Kashmir. The Mughals remained in power from 1587 to 1752.

Akbar visited the valley only thrice; his son Jahangir 13 times. It was Jahangir who built the beautiful Shalimar gardens on the banks of the Dal Lake. His successor Shah Jahan visited the valley often.

Next in line was Aurangzeb. He visited Kashmir only once, in 1665. His corrupt governors had their way, plundering the local populace at will. The fed-up Kashmiris asked Ahmad Shah Abdali of Kabul to bring Kashmir under his control, when he was at Lahore in 1752.

The powerful Afghan army came to occupy the valley and Kashmir remained a dependency of Kabul till 1819. The Afghans ruled ruthlessly. Their reign of terror broke the patience of Kashmiris, and a delegation led by Pandit Birbal Dhar and his son Pandit Rajakak Dhar requested Maharaja Ranjit Singh to save them.

Thus was it that in 1819, 30,000 of Ranjit Singh's soldiers defeated the Afghan army.

The Sikh rule lasted only 27 years. The British, with passive help from Gulab Singh Dogra, an ex-trooper in the Sikh army whom Ranjit Singh made the king of Jammu, took over Kashmir.

For his role, Gulab Singh was on March 16, 1846 allowed to buy the valley from the British for Rs 7.5 million. Before the land was handed over by way of the Treaty of Amritsar, the British extracted from him the promise that he would accept their supremacy.

After Gulab Singh, three more Dogra kings ruled. The last of them was Maharaja Hari Singh, who ascended to the throne in 1925. It was while he was in power that India won Independence from the British and was partitioned.

Hari Singh also saw the Pathan raid, wherein Pakistan sent an army of irregulars to occupy Jammu and Kashmir. The monarch in a way authored Kashmir's misfortune by flirting with the idea of independence. When Partition was being finalised, the British had asked Hari Singh to choose between India and Pakistan, but he did not.

When the invaders were within 50 miles of Srinagar, Hari Singh fled to Jammu with whatever he could carry. There, he decided that independence was after all not such a good idea. On October 27, five days after the raiders crossed over, he hurriedly signed the Instrument of Accession with India.

The Indian army landed in Srinagar and managed to push back the intruders. But before it could recapture all the lost territory, the war was called off.

India took the issue to the United Nations Security Council and conditionally offered to hold a plebiscite under UN supervision. And on August 13, a UN commission proposed that the people decide the state's future. Pakistan accepted the resolution on December 20.

The plebiscite, however, has not been held to date. And despite elected governments, the state slid into anarchy in the winter of 1989.