PRINCELY STATE: STATE: UNION TERRITORY(The Jammu and Kashmir Story) ABHISHEK TRIPATHI LANDMARK JUDGMENT Fri, May 28, 2021, at ,09:49 AM Area: 222,236 km2Shares international boundaries with Pakistan and ChinaPopulation: 12,541,302 (2011)Religion: Muslim (68.31%), Hindu (28.43%), Sikh (1.87%), Buddhist and others (0.89%).GDP: ₹1.16 trillion (2018-19)Kashmir, if literally translated, means land desiccated from water: "ka" (the water) and shimeera (to desiccate). Tradition says that Kashmir was originally a lake that was drained by the great saint of ancient India Kashyap. It was included in the empire of Ashoka Maurya who is credited with the foundation of the city of Srinagar around the year 250 BC. According to local tradition, Jammu is named after its founder, Raja Jambulochan, who is believed to have ruled the area in the 9th century.EARLY KASHMIRRajatarangini wrote, in Sanskrit by Kalahana, in 12th-century account history of Jammu and Kashmir commencing from as early as 3102 BCE. The work generally records the rich heritage of Kashmir. In the Rajatarangini 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). When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans to settle there. This is still the local tradition, and in the existing physical condition of the country, we may see some ground for the story which has taken this form. The Rajatarangini lists Gonanda I as the first king of Kashmir, a relative of Jarasasamdha of Magadh. The chronology of Rajataringini is highly accurate but the modern historical accounts are more accurate and logical.It is accounted that Maurayas, Kushanas, Gonandiya, Huna, Kutumbi, Divira and Lohara all have marked their reigns in ancient Kashmir. Buddhism was introduced by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, and from the 9th to the 12th century CE, the region appears to have achieved considerable prominence as a center of Hindu culture. Sultanate arrived in Kashmir in 14th century. Shams-ud-Din was the first Muslim king to rule over Kashmir. He defeated the last Hindu king Udiana Deva in the year 1346. Later the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered the land in the year 1586. Around 1757, Mughal king Ahmed Shah Durrani conquered Kashmir and made it a part of Pakistan. Later in 1819 Raja Ranjit Singh managed to conquer Kashmir again and made it part of his Sikh empire.With the arrival of British, Kashmir was snatched away from the Sikhs and sold to Ghulab Singh of Jammu under the treaty of Amritsar in exchange of 75 lakh rupees. This entitled Ghulab Singh to have his complete sway over the dominion. He extended his territory by annexing Ladakh. Ghulab Singh died in 1857 and was succeeded by Ranbir Singh (1857-1885). Two other Marajahs, Partab Singh (1885-1925) and Hari Singh ruled in succession. Maharaja Sir Hari Singh ascended the throne in 1925. He continued to govern the region till 1950.After the decline of the Mughal power in the 18th century, the Jammu state under Raja Dhruv Dev of the Jamuwal (Jamwal) family asserted its supremacy among all the Dogra states. Its ascent reached its peak under his successor Raja Ranjit Dev (r. 1728–1780), who was widely respected among the hill states. Towards the end of Ranjit Dev's rule, the Sikh clans of Punjab gained ascendency, and Jammu began to be contested by the Bhangi, Kanhaiya, and Sukerchakia. Around 1770, the Bhangi attacked Jammu and forced Ranjit Dev to become a tributary. In 1808, Jammu itself was annexed to the Sikh Empire by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.PRINCELY STATE OF JAMMU & KASHMIRRaja Gulab Singh was appointed the ruler of Jammu Principality hence started the Jamwal Dynasty, aka Dogra dynasty, which came to rule the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under British suzerainty. Jammu has historically been the capital of Jammu Province and the winter capital of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (1846–1952).In the 1930s it was the time when Kashmiri Muslims are unhappy with the then Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule and feel his policies are prejudiced against them. This is also the time J&K’s first major political party, the National Conference (NC), is born along with its founder, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah’s, political debut. The Quit Kashmir movement against the maharaja is launched. The light protests and revolts carried till the talk of partition emerged. The real conflict started when the talks of partition emerged. Kashmir region was a Muslim majority region ruled by a loose hold Hindu King. India gained independence from the British Empire on 15 August 1947, Pakistan is created as a Muslim-majority country. India’s princely states, those not officially with India or Pakistan, are given three choices—stay independent or join either India or Pakistan. Three states were undecided—Junagadh, Hyderabad, and J&K. Indian home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel works to convince the undecided princely states to join India; Maharaja Hari Singh signs a standstill agreement with Pakistan, effectively opting for status quo. Maharaja Hari Singh initially believed that by delaying his decision he could maintain the independence of Kashmir, but, caught up in a train of events that included a revolution among his Muslim subjects along the western borders of the state and the intervention of Pashtun tribesmen. Maharaja Hari Singh then decided to be a part of Independent India.STATE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR“Now, therefore, I Shriman Inder Mahander Rajrajeswar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hari Singhji, Jammu and Kashmir Naresh Tatha Tibbetadi Deshadhipathi, Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, in the exercise of my sovereignty in and over my said State do hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession [... .]"By signing on this legal document, known as the Instrument of Accession, on October 26, 1947, Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, agreed that the State would become a part of India. Once the Instrument of Accession was signed, Indian soldiers entered Kashmir with orders to evict the raiders. The resulting Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 lasted till the end of 1948. In 1948, India tried for a peaceful resolution and took the matter to the United Nations Security Council. The Security Council passed a resolution asking Pakistan to withdraw its forces as well as the Pakistani nationals from the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and India to withdraw the majority of its forces leaving only a sufficient number to maintain law and order, following which a plebiscite would be held. A ceasefire was agreed on 1 January 1949, supervised by UN observersIndia and Pakistan fought two further wars in 1965 and 1971. Following the 1975 war, the countries reached the Simla Agreement, agreeing on a Line of Control between their respective regions and committing to a peaceful resolution of the dispute through bilateral negotiations. Meanwhile, by the mid-1950s the Chinese army had entered the northeast portion of Ladakh and in year 1956–57 China 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 1962. To elevate ties, an adjoining region, the Trans-Karakoram Tract was ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963.In 1989 violent armed insurgency raised in valley and lasts till date. The popular belief suggests the separatist moments are funded by Pakistan. With extraordinary efforts from the Indian Army the separatists have been neutralized time to time and situation is quite in control.UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU & KASHMIRArticle 370 of Indian Constitution which gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir was repealed on 05 August 2019. The parliament also passed a resolution to divide the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories first being Jammu and Kashmir, Centrally Governed Union Territory, with its own legislature and second Ladakh Union Territory without Legislature.Article 370 was always a temporary provision which gave special rights to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Now scraping the special status will actually make Jammu and Kashmir part of India. However, the areas of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin are still disputed and India is still to claim those territories.