Kashmir

:"This article is about the geographical region of greater Kashmir. For other meanings, see Kashmir (disambiguation), or Cashmere."Kashmir (Balti: کشمیر; Poonchi/Chibhali: کشمیر; Dogri: कश्मीर; Kashmiri: कॅशीर, کٔشِیر; Shina: کشمیر; Uyghur: كھسىمڭر) is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" referred only to the valley lying between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal range; since then, it has been used for a larger area that today includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir consisting of the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh; the Pakistani-administered provinces of the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir, and the Chinese-administered region of Aksai Chin.

In the first half of the first millennium, Kashmir became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism; later still, in the ninth century, Kashmir Shaivism arose in the region. [Basham, A. L. (2005) "The wonder that was India", Picador. Pp. 572. ISBN 033043909X, p. 110.] In 1349, Shah Mirza became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir and inaugurated the line "Salatin-i-Kashmir". "Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15". 1908. Oxford University Press, Oxford and London. pages 93-95.] For the next five centuries Kashmir had Muslim monarchs, including the Mughals, who ruled until 1751, and thereafter, the Afghan Durranis, who ruled until 1820. That year, the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. In 1846, upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Dogras—under Gulab Singh—became the new rulers. Dogra Rule, under the "paramountcy" (or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until 1947, when the former princely state became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: India, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China.

Etymology

The "Nilamata Purana" describes the Valley's origin from the waters, "Ka" means "water" and "Shimir" means "to desiccate". Hence, Kashmir stands for "a land desiccated from water". There is also a theory which takes Kashmir to be a contraction of "Kashyap-mira" or "Kashyapmir" or "Kashyapmeru", the "sea or mountain of Kashyapa", the sage who is credited with having drained the waters of the primordial lake "Satisar", that Kashmir was before it was reclaimed. The "Nilamata Purana" gives the name "Kashmira" to the Valley considering it to be an embodiment of Uma and it is the Kashmir that the world knows today. The Kashmiris, however, call it "Kashir", which has been derived phonetically from "Kashmir", as pointed out by Aurel Stein in his introduction to the "Rajatarangini".

In the "Rajatarangini," a history of Kashmir written by "Kalhana" in the 12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake. This was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla ("Varaha-mula"). Cashmere is a variant spelling of Kashmir."Kashmir." "The Oxford English Dictionary". 2nd ed. 1989.]

Early history

The Mauryan emperor Ashoka is often credited with having founded the city of Srinagar. Kashmir was once a Buddhist seat of learning, perhaps with the Sarvāstivādan school dominating. East and Central Asian Buddhist monks are recorded as having visited the kingdom. In the late 4th century AD, the famous Kuchanese monk Kumārajīva, born to an Indian noble family, studied Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He later became a prolific translator who helped take Buddhism to China. His mother Jīva is thought to have retired to Kashmir. Vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumārajīva in the "Vinayapiṭaka".

Geography

Muslim rule

Following the advent of Muslim rule in 1349, Islam became the dominant religion in Kashmir. The Muslims and Hindus of Kashmir lived in relative harmony, since the Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the Rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits. This led to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines Fact|date=September 2007. Famous sufi saint Bulbul Shah was able to convert Rinchan Shah who was then prince of Kashgar Ladakh to an Islamic lifestyle, thus founding the Sufiana composite culture. Under this rule, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Kashmiris generally co-existed peacefully. Over time, however, the Sufiana governance gave way to outright Muslim monarchs.

Some Kashmiri rulers, such as Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, were tolerant of all religions in a manner comparable to Akbar. However, several Muslim rulers of Kashmir were intolerant of other religions Fact|date=June 2008. Sultãn Sikandar Butshikan of Kashmir (AD 1389-1413) is often considered the worst of these. Historians have recorded many of his atrocities. The Tarikh-i-Firishta records that Sikandar persecuted the Hindus and issued orders proscribing the residence of any other than Muslims in Kashmir. He also ordered the breaking of all "golden and silver images". The Tarikh-i-Firishta further states: "Many of the Brahmins, rather than abandon their religion or their country, poisoned themselves; some emigrated from their native homes, while a few escaped. After the emigration of the Brahmins, Sikandar ordered all the temples in Kashmeer to be thrown down. Having broken all the images in Kashmir, (Sikandar) acquired the title of ‘Destroyer of Idols’." ["Muhammad Qãsim Hindû Shãh Firishta : Tãrîkh-i-Firishta," translated by John Briggs under the title "History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India." First published in 1829, New Delhi Reprint 1981.]

The Histories

The metrical chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, called "Rajatarangini," has been pronounced by Professor H.H.Wilson to be the only Sanskrit composition yet discovered to which the appellation "history" can with any propriety be applied. It first became known to the Muslims when, on Akbar's invasion of Kashmir in 1588, a copy was presented to the emperor. A translation into Persian was made at his order. A summary of its contents, taken from this Persian translation, is given by Abul Fazl in the "Ain-i-Akbari". The "Rajatarangini" was written by Kalhana about the middle of the 12th century. His work, in six books, makes use of earlier writings that are now lost.

The "Rajatarangini" is the first of a series of four histories that record the annals of Kashmir. Commencing with a rendition of traditional history of very early times, the "Rajatarangini" comes down to the reign of Sangrama Deva, ("c."1006 AD). The second work, by Jonaraja, continues the history from where Kalhana left off, and, entering the Muslim period, gives an account of the reigns down to that of Zain-ul-ab-ad-din, 1412. P. Srivara carried on the record to the accession of Fah Shah in 1486. The fourth work, called "Rajavalipataka", by Prajnia Bhatta, completes the history to the time of the incorporation of Kashmir in the dominions of the Mogul emperor Akbar, 1588.

Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu

By the early 19th century, the Kashmir valley had passed from the control of the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan, and four centuries of Muslim rule under the Mughals and the Afghans, to the conquering Sikh armies. Earlier, 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 afterwards, until 1846, became a tributary to the Sikh power. "Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15". 1908. "Kashmir: History." page 94-95.] Ranjit Deo's grand-nephew, Gulab Singh, subsequently sought service at the court of Ranjit Singh, distinguished himself in later campaigns, especially the annexation of the Kashmir valley by the Sikhs army in 1819, and, for his services, was appointed governor of Jammu in 1820. With the help of his officer, Zorawar Singh, Gulab Singh soon captured Ladakh and Baltistan, regions to the east and north-east of Jammu.

In 1845, the First Anglo-Sikh War broke out, and Gulab Singh "contrived to hold himself aloof till the battle of Sobraon (1846), when he appeared as a useful mediator and the trusted advisor of Sir Henry Lawrence. Two treaties were concluded. By the first the State of Lahore ("i.e." West Punjab) handed over to the British, as equivalent for (rupees) one crore of indemnity, the hill countries between Beas and Indus; by the second [ [http://www.kashmir-information.com/LegalDocs/TreatyofAmritsar.html Treaty of Amritsar, March 16, 1846] .] the British made over to Gulab Singh for (Rupees) 75 lakhs all the hilly or mountainous country situated to the east of Indus and west of Ravi" ("i.e." the Vale of Kashmir). Soon after Gulab Singh's death in 1857, his son, Ranbir Singh, added the emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar to the kingdom.

The "Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu" (as it was then called) was constituted between 1820 and 1858 and was "somewhat artificial in composition and it did not develop a fullycoherent identity, partly as a result of its disparate origins and partly as a result of theautocratic rule which it experienced on the fringes of Empire." Bowers, Paul. 2004. [http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2004/rp04-028.pdf "Kashmir." Research Paper 4/28] , International Affairs and Defence, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom.] It combined disparate regions, religions, and ethnicities: to the east, Ladakh was ethnically and culturally Tibetan and its inhabitants practised Buddhism; to the south, Jammu had a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs; in the heavily populated central Kashmir valley, the population was overwhelmingly "Sunni" Muslim, however, there was also a small but influential Hindu minority, the Kashmiri brahmins or pandits; to the northeast, sparsely populated Baltistan had a population ethnically related to Ladakh, but which practised "Shi'a" Islam; to the north, also sparsely populated, Gilgit Agency, was an area of diverse, mostly "Shi'a" groups; and, to the west, Punch was Muslim, but of different ethnicity than the Kashmir valley. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which Kashmir sided with the British, and the subsequent assumption of direct rule by Great Britain, the princely state of Kashmir came under the paramountcy of the British Crown.

1947

Ranbir Singh's grandson Hari Singh, who had ascended the throne of Kashmir in 1925, was the reigning monarch in 1947 at the conclusion of British rule of the subcontinent and the subsequent partition of the British Indian Empire into the newly independent Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. As parties to the partition process, both countries had agreed that the rulers of princely states would be given the right to opt for either Pakistan or India or—in special cases—to remain independent. In 1947, Kashmir's population "was 77 per cent Muslim and it shared a boundary with Pakistan. Hence, it was anticipated that the Maharaja would accede to Pakistan, when the British paramountcy ended on 14-15 August. When he hesitated to do this, Pakistan launched a guerilla onslaught meant to frighten its ruler into submission. Instead the Maharaja appealed to Mountbatten [Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India, stayed on in independent India from 1947 to 1948, serving as the first Governor-General of the Union of India.] for assistance, and the Governor-General agreed on the condition that the ruler accede to India." Stein, Burton. 1998. "A History of India". Oxford University Press. 432 pages. ISBN 0195654463. Page 368.] Once the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession, which included a clause added by Mountbatten asking that the wishes of the Kashmiri people be taken into account, "Indian soldiers entered Kashmir and drove the Pakistani-sponsored irregulars from all but a small section of the state. The United Nations was then invited to mediate the quarrel. The UN mission insisted that the opinion of Kashmiris must be ascertained, while India insisted that no referendum could occur until all of the state had been cleared of irregulars."

In the last days of 1948, a ceasefire was agreed under UN auspices; however, since the plebiscite demanded by the UN was never conducted, relations between India and Pakistan soured, and eventually led to two more wars over Kashmir in 1965 and 1999. India has control of about half the area of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir; Pakistan controls a third of the region, the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Although there was a clear Muslim majority in Kashmir before the 1947 partition and its economic, cultural, and geographic contiguity with the Muslim-majority area of the Punjab (in Pakistan) could be convincingly demonstrated, the political developments during and after the partition resulted in a division of the region. Pakistan was left with territory that, although basically Muslim in character, was thinly populated, relatively inaccessible, and economically underdeveloped. The largest Muslim group, situated in the Vale of Kashmir and estimated to number more than half the population of the entire region, lay in Indian-administered territory, with its former outlets via the Jhelum valley route blocked."

Post-1947 developments, including ratification of accession by India

The UN Security Council on 20 January 1948 passed Resolution 39, establishing a special commission to investigate the conflict. Subsequent to the commission's recommendation, the Security Council ordered in its Resolution 47, passed on 21 April 1948, that the invading Pakistani army retreat from Jammu & Kashmir and that the accession of Kashmir to either India or Pakistan be determined in accordance with a plebiscite to be supervised by the UN.

The Government of India holds that the Maharaja signed a document of accession to India October 26, 1947. Pakistan has disputed whether the Maharaja actually signed the accession treaty before Indian troops entered Kashmir. Furthermore, Pakistan claims the Indian government has never produced an original copy of this accession treaty and thus its validity and legality is disputed. However, India has produced the instrument of accession with an original copy image on its website. Alan Campbell-Johnson, the press attaché to the Viceroy of India states that "The legality of the accession is beyond doubt." [ [http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/jun/01jk.htm Rediff: Legality of Accession Unquestionable] ]

The eastern region of the erstwhile princely state of Kashmir has also been beset with a boundary dispute. In the late 19th- and early 20th centuries, although some boundary agreements were signed between Great Britain, Afghanistan and Russia over the northern borders of Kashmir, China never accepted these agreements, and the official Chinese position did not change with the communist takeover in 1949. By the mid-1950s the Chinese army had entered the north-east portion of Ladakh.Kashmir. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 27, 2007, from [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214222 Encyclopædia Britannica Online] .] : "By 1956–57 they had completed a military road through the Aksai Chin area to provide better communication between Xinjiang and western Tibet. India's belated discovery of this road led to border clashes between the two countries that culminated in the Sino-Indian war of October 1962." China has occupied Aksai Chin since the early 1950s and, in addition, an adjoining region almost 8% of the territory, the Trans-Karakoram Tract was ceded by Pakistan to China in 1965.

Meanwhile, elections were held in Indian Jammu & Kashmir, which brought up the popular Muslim leader Sheikh Abdullah, who with his party National Conference, by and large supported India. The elected Constituent Assembly met for the first time in Srinagar on October 31, 1951.cite web|url = http://jammukashmir.nic.in/profile/majev.htm#1| title = Major Events|publisher = Jammu and Kashmir Government, India |accessdate = 2007-01-09] Then The State Constituent Assembly ratified the accession of the State to the Union of India on February 6, 1954 and the President of India subsequently issued the Constitution (Application to J&K) Order under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution extending the Union Constitution to the State with some exceptions and modifications. The State’s own Constitution came into force on January 26, 1957 under which the elections to the State Legislative Assembly were held for the first time on the basis of adult franchise the same year. This Constitution further reiterated the ratification of the State’s accession to Union of India.cite web|url = http://jammukashmir.nic.in/profile/jkhist.htm#The%20Story%20Behind| title = The Story Behind|publisher = Jammu and Kashmir Government, India |accessdate = 2007-01-09] However, these tidings were not recognized by Pakistan, which has continued to press for a plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the people. Pakistan set up its own Kashmir, called Azad Kashmir in a tiny Western chunk that it controls. The much larger region of Pakistani Kashmir in the North-West, which was a province named "Northern Areas" in the erstwhile state, by and large bore no mention in Pakistani laws and Constitution as being of any status, until in 1982 the Pakistani President General Zia ul Haq proclaimed that the people of the Northern Areas were Pakistanis and had nothing to do with the State of Jammu and Kashmir.cite web|url = http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Kashmir/Kashmir_MEA/Northern_Areas.html| title = A Comprehensive Note on Jammu & Kashmir: The Northern Areas|publisher = Embassy of India, Washington D.C.|accessdate = 2007-01-09]

Current status and political divisions

The region is divided among three countries in a territorial dispute: Pakistan controls the northwest portion (Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir), India controls the central and southern portion (Jammu and Kashmir) and Ladakh, and China controls the northeastern portion (Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract). India controls the majority of the Siachen Glacier area including the Saltoro Ridge passes), whereas Pakistan controls the lower territory just southwest of the Saltoro Ridge. India controls convert|101387|km2|sqmi|abbr=on of the disputed territory, Pakistan convert|85846|km2|sqmi|abbr=on and China, the remaining convert|37555|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on.

Though these regions are in practice administered by their respective claimants, neither India nor Pakistan has formally recognised the accession of the areas claimed by each other. India claims those areas, including the area "ceded" to China by Pakistan in the Trans-Karakoram Tract in 1963, are a part of its territory, while Pakistan claims the entire region, excluding Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract.

The two countries have fought several declared wars over the territory. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 established the rough boundaries of today, with Pakistan holding roughly one-third of Kashmir, and India one-half, with a dividing line of control established by the United Nations. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 resulted in a stalemate and a UN-negotiated ceasefire.

Many human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) have condemned human rights abuses in Kashmir such as "extra-judicial executions", "disappearances", and torture; [ [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kashmir/abuses.htm Behind the Kashmir Conflict - Abuses in the Kashmir Valley] ] the "Armed Forces Special Powers Act", which "provides impunity for human rights abuses and fuels cycles of violence. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) grants the military wide powers of arrest, the right to shoot to kill, and to occupy or destroy property in counterinsurgency operations. Indian officials claim that troops need such powers because the army is only deployed when national security is at serious risk from armed combatants. Such circumstances, they say, call for extraordinary measures." Human rights organizations have also asked Indian government to repeal [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/11/20/india17381.htm India: Repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act] ] the Public Safety Act, since "a detainee may be held in administrative detention for a maximum of two years without a court order." [ [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kashmir/judiciary.htm Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Undermining the Judiciary (Human Rights Watch Report: July 1999)] ]

India alleges that Pakistan has been engaged in a proxy war by supporting mujahadeen who have crossed the LOC to fight the Indian security forces. Pakistan denies the charge and maintains it morally supports Kashmiris. Recently the President of Pakistan Mr Asif Ali Zardari has accepted that Kashmiri militants are terrorist and not freedom fighter as claimed by successive Pakistani Govt

Demographics

In the 1901 Census of the British Indian Empire, Muslims constituted 74.16% of the total population of the princely state of "Kashmir and Jammu", Hindus, 23.72%, and Buddhists, 1.21%. The Hindus were found mainly in Jammu, where they constituted a little less than 80% of the population. In the Kashmir Valley, Muslims constituted 93.6% of the population and Hindus 5.24%. These percentages have remained fairly stable for the last 100 years. Forty years later, in the 1941 Census of British India, Muslims accounted for 93.6% of the population of the Kashmir Valley and the Hindus for 4%. Rai, Mridu. 2004. "Hindu Ruler, Muslim Subjects: Islam and the History of Kashmir". Princeton University Press. 320 pages.ISBN 0691116881. page 37.] In 2003, the percentage of Muslims in the Kashmir Valley was 95%BBC. 2003. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/south_asia/03/kashmir_future/html/default.stm "The Future of Kashmir? In Depth."] ] and those of Hindus 4%; the same year, in Jammu, the percentage of Hindus was 66% and those of Muslims 30%. In the 1901 Census of the British Indian Empire, the population of the princely state of "Kashmir and Jammu" was 2,905,578. Of these 2,154,695 were Muslims (74.16%), 689,073 Hindus (23.72%), 25,828 Sikhs, and 35,047 Buddhists. Among the Muslims of the princely state, four divisions were recorded: "Shaikhs, Saiyids, Mughals, and Pathans. The Shaikhs, who are by far the most numerous, are the descendants of Hindus, but have retained none of the caste rules of their forefathers. They have clan names known as "krams" ..." It was recorded that these "kram" names included "Tantre," "Shaikh,", "Bhat", "Mantu," "Ganai," "Dar," "Damar," "Lon" etc. The Saiyids, it was recorded "could be divided into those who follow the profession of religion and those who have taken to agriculture and other pursuits. Their "kram" name is "Mir." While a Saiyid retains his saintly profession Mir is a prefix; if he has taken to agriculture, Mir is an affix to his name." The "Mughals" who were not numerous were recorded to have "kram" names like "Mir" (a corruption of "Mirza"), "Beg," "Bandi," "Bach," and "Ashaye." Finally, it was recorded that the Pathans "who are more numerous than the Mughals, ... are found chiefly in the south-west of the valley, where Pathan colonies have from time to time been founded. The most interesting of these colonies is that of Kuki-Khel Afridis at Dranghaihama, who retain all the old customs and speak Pashtu."

The Hindus were found mainly in Jammu, where they constituted a little less than 80% of the population. "Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15". 1908. Oxford University Press, Oxford and London. pages 99-102.] In the "Kashmir Valley", the Hindus represented "524 in every 10,000 of the population ("i.e." 5.24%), and in the frontier "wazarats" of Ladhakh and Gilgit only 94 out of every 10,000 persons (0.94%)." In the same Census of 1901, in the Kashmir Valley, the total population was recorded to be 1,157,394, of which the Muslim population was 1,083,766, or 93.6% and the Hindu population 60,641. Among the Hindus of "Jammu" province, who numbered 626,177 (or 90.87% of the Hindu population of the princely state), the most important castes recorded in the census were "Brahmans (186,000), the Rajputs (167,000), the Khattris (48,000) and the Thakkars (93,000)."
In the 1911 Census of the British Indian Empire, the total population of "Kashmir and Jammu" had increased to 3,158,126. Of these, 2,398,320 (75.94%) were Muslims, 696,830 (22.06%) Hindus, 31,658 (1%) Sikhs, and 36,512 (1.16%) Buddhists. In the last census of British India in 1941, the total population of Kashmir and Jammu (which as a result of the second world war, was estimated from the 1931 census) was 3,945,000. Of these, the total Muslim population was 2,997,000 (75.97%), the Hindu population was 808,000 (20.48%), and the Sikh 55,000 (1.39%). Brush, J. E. 1949. "The Distribution of Religious Communities in India"Annals of the Association of American Geographers", 39(2):81-98.]

According to 2001 Census of India Census of India. 2001. ] [ [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/ Indian Census] ] , the total population of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir was 10,143,700. Of these, 6,793,240 (66.97%) were Muslims; 3,005,349 (29.63%) were Hindus; 207,154 (2.04%) were Sikhs; and 113,787 (1.12%) were Buddhists.

According to political scientist Alexander Evans, approximately 95% of the total population of 160,000-170,000 of Kashmir Brahmins, also called Kashmiri Pandits, ("i.e." approximately 150,000 to 160,000) left the Kashmir Valley in 1990 as militant violent engulfed the state. [Evans, Alexander. 2002. [http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/content/0nvv0dtreww897ax/ "A departure from history: Kashmiri Pandits, 1990-2001"] "Contemporary South Asia", 11(1):19-37.] According to an estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency, about 100,000 Kashmiri Pandits from the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir have been internally displaced due to the ongoing violence. [ [https://cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html CIA - The World Factbook ] ]

* 95 % of this moved internally to various parts of india.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html (see section on refugees)

Culture and cuisine

Kashmiri lifestyle is essentially slow paced and reflects religious diversity. Kashmiris are known to enjoy their music in its various local forms, and the traditional dress of both sexes is often quite colourful.

The Dumhal is a famous dance in Kashmir, performed by men of the Wattal region. The women perform the Rouff, another folk dance. Kashmir has been noted for its fine arts for centuries, including poetry and handicrafts.

The practice of Islam in Kashmir has heavy Sufi influences, which makes it unique from orthodox Sunni and Shiite Islam in the rest of South Asia. Historically, Kashmir was renowned for its culture of tolerance, embodied in the concept of "Kashmiriyat", as evidenced by the 1969 NATO nuclear disarmament peace treaty.Clarifyme|date=March 2008

Kashmiri cuisine is famous for its vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes. There are also variants between Hindu and Muslim cooking. Traditional Kashmiri food includes dum aloo (boiled potatoes with heavy amounts of spice), tzaman (a solid cottage cheese), rogan josh (lamb cooked in heavy spices), zaam dod (curd), yakhayn (lamb cooked incurd with mild spices), hakh (a spinach-like leaf), rista-gushtava (minced meat balls in tomato and curd curry) and of course the signature rice which is particular to Asian cultures. The traditional wazwan feast involves cooking meat or vegetables, usually mutton, in several different ways.

Alcohol is not widely drunk in Kashmir. There are two famous teas from the region: nun chai, or salt tea, which is pink in colour and popular with locals; and kahwah, a celebration tea made with saffron and spices.

Economy

Kashmir's economy is centred around agriculture. Traditionally the staple crop of the valley was rice, which formed the chief food of the people. In addition, Indian corn, wheat, barley and oats were also grown. Given its temperate climate, it is suited for crops like asparagus, artichoke, seakale, broad beans, scarletrunners, beetroot, cauliflower and cabbage. Fruit trees are common in the valley, and the cultivated orchards yield pears, apples, peaches, and cherries. The chief trees are deodar, firs and pines, chenar or plane, maple, birch and walnut, apple, cherry.

Historically, Kashmir became known world-wide when Cashmere wool was exported to other regions and nations (exports have ceased due to decreased abundance of the cashmere goat and increased competition from China). Kashmiris are well adept at knitting and making shawls, silk carpets, rugs, kurtas, and pottery. Saffron too is grown in Kashmir. Efforts are on to export the naturally grown fruits and vegetables as organic foods mainly to the Middle East. Srinagar is known for its silver-work, papier mache, wood-carving, and the weaving of silk.

The economy was badly damaged by the 2005 Kashmir earthquake which, as of October 8 2005, resulted in over 70,000 deaths in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir and around 1,500 deaths in Indian controlled Kashmir.

History of Tourism in Kashmir

During the 19th century rule, Kashmir was a popular tourist destination due to its climate. Only 200 passes a year were issued by the government. European sportsmen and travellers, in addition to residents of India, traveled there freely. The railway to Rawalpindi, and a road thence to Srinagar made access to the valley easier. When the temperature in Srinagar rose at the beginning of June, the residents migrated to Gulmarg, which was a fashionable hill station during British rule. This great influx of visitors resulted in a corresponding diminution of game for the sportsmen. Special game preservation rules were introduced, and "nullahs" were let out for stated periods with a restriction on the number of head to be shot. Rawalakot was another popular destination.

See also

* Kashmir (song) by Led Zeppelin
* Line of Control
* Kargil War
* History of the Kashmir conflict
* Timeline of the Kashmir conflict
* 2005 Kashmir earthquake
* List of topics on the land and the people of Jammu and Kashmir

Notes

Further reading

*Blank, Jonah. "Kashmir–Fundamentalism Takes Root," Foreign Affairs, 78,6 (November/December 1999): 36-42.
* Drew, Federic. 1877. “The Northern Barrier of India: a popular account of the Jammoo and Kashmir Territories with Illustrations; 1st edition: Edward Stanford, London. Reprint: Light & Life Publishers, Jammu. 1971.
*Evans, Alexander. Why Peace Won’t Come to Kashmir, Current History (Vol 100, No 645) April 2001 p170-175
*Hussain, Ijaz. 1998. "Kashmir Dispute: An International Law Perspective", National Institute of Pakistan Studies
*Irfani, Suroosh, ed "Fifty Years of the Kashmir Dispute": Based on the proceedings of the International Seminar held at Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir August 24-25, 1997: University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, AJK, 1997.
*Joshi, Manoj Lost Rebellion: Kashmir in the Nineties (Penguin, New Delhi, 1999)
* Khan, L. Ali [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=987561 The Kashmir Dispute: A Plan for Regional Cooperation] 31 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 31, p.495 (1994)
*Knight, E. F. 1893. "Where Three Empires Meet: A Narrative of Recent Travel in: Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the adjoining countries". Longmans, Green, and Co., London. Reprint: Ch'eng Wen Publishing Company, Taipei. 1971.
*Köchler, Hans. [http://i-p-o.org/Koechler-Kashmir_Discourse-European_Parliament-April2008.htm "The Kashmir Problem between Law and Realpolitik. Reflections on a Negotiated Settlement"] . Keynote speech delivered at the "Global Discourse on Kashmir 2008." European Parliament, Brussels, 1 April 2008.
*Lamb, Hertingfordbury, UK: Roxford Books,1994, "Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy
*Moorcroft, William and Trebeck, George. 1841. "Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara... from 1819 to 1825", Vol. II. Reprint: New Delhi, Sagar Publications, 1971.
*Neve, Arthur. (Date unknown). "The Tourist's Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo &c". 18th Edition. Civil and Military Gazette, Ltd., Lahore. (The date of this edition is unknown - but the 16th edition was published in 1938)
*Schofield, Victoria. 1996. "Kashmir in the Crossfire". London: I B Tauris.
*Stein, M. Aurel. 1900. "Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī – A Chronicle of the Kings of Kaśmīr", 2 vols. London, A. Constable & Co. Ltd. 1900. Reprint, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1979.
*Younghusband, Francis and Molyneux, Edward 1917. "Kashmir". A. & C. Black, London.
*Norelli-Bachelet, Patrizia. "Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, Space and Destiny", 2004; ISBN 0-945747-00-4. First published as a four-part series, March 2002 - April 2003, in 'Prakash', a review of the Jagat Guru Bhagavaan Gopinath Ji Charitable Foundation. [http://www.patrizianorellibachelet.com/Kashmir.html]
*Muhammad Ayub. "An Army; Ita Role & Rule (A History of the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil 1947-1999)" Rosedog Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA 2005. ISBN 0-8059-9594-3

External links

* [http://blankonthemap.free.fr/default.htm Blankonthemap] The Northern Kashmir Website
* [http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=142389 Kashmir Technology, Tourism(including a LOT of Kashmir pictures) and Current Info Mini-Blog]
* [http://www.greaterkashmir.com Greater Kashmir. A Newspaper For Unbiased Information About Kashmir's Current Affairs.]
* [http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmogip/ United Nations Military Observers Group in Kashmir]
* [http://www.kashmirobserver.com/ Kashmir Observer Independent Newspaper from Srinagar]
* [http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/ Kashmir Affairs Independent News and Analysis]
* [http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/kashmir/indexb.html Frontline-World: Kashmir, The Road to Peace]
* [http://jammukashmir.nic.in/ Official website of the Jammu and Kashmir Government] (Indian-administered Kashmir)
* [http://www.heritageofkashmir.org Heritage of Kashmir]
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/kashmir.html University of California Berkeley: Conflict in Kashmir - Selected Internet Resources]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/south_asia/2002/kashmir_flashpoint Kashmir Issue as covered by BBC]
* [http://www.ajk.gov.pk/site/index.php Official website of the Pakistani-administered Kashmir Government]