General Information

Geography:

• Area: 151, 360 square km

• Predominantly mountainous. The Vale of Kashmir rests at about 5,300 feet or 1,600 meters. There are also the Punch lowlands. The mountain K2 is part of the Kashmiri part of the Himalayas known as the Karakoram range.

• The Climate ranges from subtropicals in the lowlands of the southwestern part to alpine in the Himalayan and other mountainous regions. Sometimes Kashmir does feel the effects of monsoonal winds.

Population

• Approximately 13 million people, about 9 million live on the Indian side and about 3 million on the Pakistani side of Kashmir

Languages

• Hindi, Punjabi and Dogri (in the Jammu area by both Muslims and Hindus)

• Urdu and Kashmiri in the Vale of Kashmir and Pakistani areas

History

If you listen to legend then you would believe that the province of Kashmir came into existence when Kashyapa reclaimed Kashmir from the bottom of a vast lake.

• 3rd-12th Century, under Hindu rule, originally conquered by Mauryan ruler Ashoka. Kashmir quickly becomes a center of Buddhist culture

• 1346-1819: Under Muslim rule

• 1819: Annexed to the Sikh's of the Punjab kingdom

• 1846- Annexed to the Dogra kingdom of Jammu

• 1846, March 16: Treaty of Armistar between the British Commonwealth and the Gulab Singh

• 1845-1846, 1848-1849 -Wars fought between the British and the Sikhs in which the Punjab province was annexed to the British. The first war was caused by turbulence within the Sikh army.

• Raja Gulab Singh created maharaja (ruling prince) of the region that included Kashmir that protected the state from advances by the Indus

• the Kashmir region lacks definite political boundaries

• 1931, July 13- 22 martyred in a demonstration for an Independent Kosovo.

• 1947- British withdrawal from Indian subcontinent, the subcontinent is partitioned between India and Pakistan. Ruling official of provinces are given the right to decide which country they would like to go to

• Hari Singh, maharaja of Kashmir avoids declaring sides, hoping for an independent Kashmir

• October 1947: signs Instrument of Accession to the Indian Union after a revolution by Muslim parties and intervention by Pashtun tribesmen

• 1948-9: War until 1949 when the UN intervened.

• July 1949: India and Pakistan agree on cease fire to divide Kashmir between the two countries.

• 1962- Chinese incursion of Ladakh in which they advance 150 miles before retreating, the border remains an area of contention between India and China.

• 1965- War between India and Pakistan, ended in January of 1966 with the signing of a treaty promoting peace in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

• 1971- Indo-Paskistani war. Resulted in the creation of Bangladesh

• 1972: Line of Control is established as a result of the Simla Agreement

• May 1999-Conflict over the Kargil area of Kashmir. Pakistan increased its shelling over the Kargil area of the territory of Kashmir. Fighting lasted for over two months. This conflict ended with the signing of the Lahore declaration in which the two countries agreed to try and bring peace to the country, refrain from intervening in each other's affairs