Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)

Dog: जम्मू jammū

Jammu ‘Land of King Jambulochan’.

The legendary King Jambulochan ruled this area in the 9thC.  He built Bahu Fort on the bank of river Tawi.

Jammu is the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ksh: कश्मीर kāśmīr

Kashmir ‘Kashyapa’s Lake’.

From Kashyapa, the Vedic sage; and Skt: mīrḥ, ’sea’, ‘ocean’.

According to the 12thC Rajatarangini the Kashmir valley was originally a lake, drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, so that Brahmins could be settled there. This may be a mythological account of a real geographical event when an inland lake or sea drained or flooded plains downstream. Some suggest this may have included the city of Mohenjo-Daro, part of the Indus Valley Civilization which disappeared in the second millenium BC.

In Kashmiri, the land is called Kasheer and the language and people are Koshur with the ‘m’ being dropped.

Also: (1) Kashyapa is replaced in Islamic legend by twin jinns, Kashf and Mir. (2) ‘Kasha’s Garden’ where Kasha is an ascetic with a mar, ‘garden’. (3) Kashmir is also proposed as the home of the Khasa ‘tribe’.

Kashmir’s history is rich and complex, shaped by its strategic location in the Himalayas. The region has been a center of cultural, religious, and political interactions for centuries. Ancient Kashmir was a hub of Hinduism and Buddhism, with its rulers fostering art and scholarship. In the 14th century, Islam spread to the region under Sultan Shah Mir’s rule, marking a shift in religious and political dynamics.

Kashmir became part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century under Emperor Akbar, followed by the Afghan Durrani Empire in the 18th century. In 1846, it was annexed by the Sikh Empire and later became a princely state under British rule, governed by a Hindu Dogra monarch despite its Muslim-majority population.

After the partition of British India in 1947, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir faced the dilemma of joining either India or Pakistan. The Hindus, Buddhists (J&K also included Ladakh) and Sikhs of Jammu and Kashmir supported joining India, However, the sentiments of the state’s Muslim population were divided, partly because the real issues were as much about Kashmiri identity as they were about Muslim identity.

Maharaja Hari Singh initially chose independence but later acceded to India after a Pakistani tribal invasion, triggering the first Indo-Pakistani war. This resulted in India retaining 55% of the original territory and 70% of the population.

Kashmir has been a flashpoint of conflict between India and Pakistan, with both countries controlling parts of the region. Since 1989, Kashmiri protest movements have voiced their grievances with the Indian government with some Kashmiri militias demanding self-determination.

Until 2019, when Jammu & Kashmir became a Union Territory ruled directly from Delhi, it had been the only Muslim-majority state in India.

For more on Indian place names and history, see Toponymy on the Ashoka Express

For a journey through tribal India and Sri Lanka, see Headhunting with Marguerite

Kashmir Region

JAMMU & KASHMIR PLACE NAMES