History of Jammu and Kashmir
The history of Jammu and Kashmir is a legendary tale with loads of ups and down, twists and turns. Perhaps the most controversial state in the region, the history of this scenically captivating land, is as thrilling as its other facets.
Having its mention in the epic Mahabharata, the great king Ashoka established the city of Pandrethan that was ruled later by the legendary king Kanishka. After having been ruled for many years by Scthian and then Tartar princes, Kashmir was captured by Shams ud Din in 1341. He is held responsible for the spreading of Islam across the Vale, which subsequently became popular with the Mughals. In 1588 the Mughal Emperor Akbar conquered Kashmir and his son Jahangir drunk on the beauty of the region went on to planting Chennar trees and constructing pleasure gardens.
After the completion of the first Sikh War in 1846, Jammu, the vale of Kashmir, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit were assigned to the Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu, who founded a dynasty of Dogra Rajputs, who ruled the region for around a century. During India’s freedom struggle, people from the state of Jammu and Kashmir participated extensively under the leadership of Sheikh Abdullah and decided to go with India in 1948 after the nation became independent.
More about History
Jammu and Kashmir came into being as a single political and geographical entity following the Treaty of Amristar between the British Government and Gulab singh signed on March 16, 1846. The Treaty handed over the control of the Kashmir State to the Dogra ruler of Jammu who had earlier annexed Ladakh. Thus a new State comprising three distinct religions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh was formed with Maharaja Gulab Singh as its founder ruler. The feudal dispensation in the State, however, was too harsh for the people to live under and towards the end of a hundred years of this rule when their Indian brethren were fighting for independence from the British under the inspiring leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Kashmiris led by a towering personality, the Sher-I-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, rose against the autocracy. The autocratic rule came down heavily on the people’s freedom movement. However, the people laid their lives in the cause of freedom and to uphold the ideals of secularism, equality, democracy and brotherhood.
The high point of the movement was July 13, 1931 when 22 protesters were martyred. The event strengthened the movement and contrary to the expectations of the then rulers, the peopled emerged more determined in their resolution to seek an end to autocratic rule. By the time the rulers could realise the futility of breaking the will of the people with the might of the State, the National Conference, headed by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, had become a mass movement and a force to reckon with. It broke the barriers of region and religion and became a popular and secular voice of the people of the State whose collective yearning was freedom from autocracy and the establishment of a popular rule. The people’s movement spearheaded by the National Conference saw several ups and downs with its leaders particularly the Sher-I-Kashmir suffering vissitudes and long internment.
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