Written by Nikita Tiwari, a 19-year old student

“If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this”, said Amir Khusrow (1253–1325 CE) – a Sufi musician, poet and scholar – about Kashmir. He said this in Persian and it went something like this:

“Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.”

Often referred to as ‘heaven on earth’, Kashmir has a dramatic history, to say the least. It has been the birthplace of many historical legends, wars, disputes and treaties that can be classified into different timelines.

Mythologically speaking

Legend has it that a long time ago, Kashmir was just a huge water body- lake Satisar. There was a demon called Jalodhbhava who resided in the lake and was harming the inhabitants around. Then came a sage called Kashyapa, who was one of the Saptarishis who drained and cut off the huge, beautiful lake Satisar for making a home for people there. It is after him that the region was called Kashyapa-mir now known as Kashmir.

Historical facts

In the 1st century, Kashmir was a major center of Hinduism and Buddhism, but in the 9th century, the followers of Shiva rose to power and that that lasted till the 14th century.

In 3120-16 BC, Gonanda-1, tKing of Magadha ruled Kashmir. In 3103 BC, the Damodar dynasty ruled over Kashmir. In between these periods, many legendary kings came to rule the lush valley. In 300 BC, the ancient Indian king, Porus, ruled Kashmir but in 326 BC Alexander the Great defeated Porus and a few years later Ashoka captured Kashmir and brought Buddhism to the region. In 252 BC, Karkota Dynasty was established in Kashmir and many dynasties came and ruled there.

In 1339, the first Sultan dynasty was established by Shah Mir in Kashmir. Then in 1586, the Mughals ruled till 1751. So in this way, the Muslim monarch ruled Kashmir for a long time. After that Afghans took over the region and established the Durrani Empire and ruled till 1819 C.E.

In 1819, after the Sikhs were defeated in the first Anglo-Sikh war, the Treaty of Lahore was signed and Maharaja Ranjit Singh and ruled Kashmir till 1846 CE. This was the end of Islamic rule in Kashmir after a period of 500 years. Maharaja Ranjir Singh made his trusted soldier Gulab Singh the ruler of Kashmir in his place. In 1925, Maharaja Hari Singh ascended the throne but he became monarch in 1947.

The partition of India
In 1947 when India and Pakistan were divided into two countries, Maharaja Hari Singh was ruling over Kashmor. He wanted to make Kashmir an independent nation but due to the underlying tensions, there was a great insurgency began between India and Pakistan Both countries were fighting to include Kashmir in their region. A lot of damage, protests and riots happened and for the sake of peace the Maharaja decided to have a standstill agreement. But, it so happened that Pakistan violated the agreement that is when the Maharaja decided to take help from Indians. He agreed to include Kashmir in Indian territory.

In 1951, Article 370 was imposed by Maharaja in Kashmir. Now, Article 370 gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir wherein it was given the power to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy over the internal administration of the state.  In 1952, Sheikh Abdulla became the Prime Minister of Kashmir and established a democracy there.

Then Mohammed mufti and their descendants ruled. A lot of war happened in Kashmir it’s proven a long way 5500 years.

To conclude, Kashmir is one of the most beautiful states of India and it has suffered a lot. A lot of freedom fighters have sacrificed their lives for establishing peace in Kashmir. We should salute their efforts and hope for better times to come for our paradise on earth.

Want to write for I Kid You Not? We publish children’s writing.
Reach out at: administrator@ikidyounot.in