Consept of Kashmir

Kashmir(Kashmiri:کٔشِیر/ कॅशीर;Hindi:कश्मीर;Urdu:کشمیر‎;Shina:کشمیر), archaicallyspelledCashmere, is the northwestern region ofSouth Asia. Until the mid-19th century, the termKashmirgeographically denoted only thevalleybetween theGreat Himalayasand thePir Panjalmountain range. Today, itdenotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state ofJammu and Kashmir(which consists ofJammu, theKashmir Valley, andLadakh), the Pakistan-administered autonomous territories ofAzad KashmirandGilgit–Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered regions ofAksai Chinand theTrans-Karakoram Tract.Swami Vivekanandain Kashmir in 1898.In the first half of the 1st millennium, the Kashmir region became an important centre ofHinduismand later ofBuddhism; later still, in the ninth century,Kashmir Shaivismarose.[1]In 1349,Shah Mirbecame the firstMuslimruler of Kashmir, inaugurating theSalatin-i-KashmirorSwatidynasty.[2]For the next five centuries, Muslim monarchs ruled Kashmir, including theMughals, who ruled from 1526 until 1751, and the AfghanDurrani Empire, which ruled from 1747 until 1820.[2]That year, theSikhs, underRanjit Singh, annexed Kashmir.[2]In 1846, after the Sikh defeat in theFirst Anglo-Sikh War, and upon the purchase of the region from the British under theTreaty of Amritsar, the Raja of Jammu,Gulab Singh, became the new ruler of Kashmir. The rule of his descendants, under theparamountcy(or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until 1947, when theformer princely stateofBritish Indiabecame adisputed territory, now administered by three countries: India, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China.