According to local folk etymology, Kashmir means ‘land desiccated from water’ (from ‘Ka’ meaning ‘water’ and ‘shimeera’ meaning ‘to desiccate’), and is believed to have been originally a lake drained by the sage Kashyap. By 250 bce, it became part of Ashoka’s empire, who established Srinagar and introduced Buddhism to the area.
It was later governed by Hindu dynasties until 1003 CE, when Islamic conversion began to take place. In 1819, Ranjit Singh incorporated it into the Sikh empire, with Gulab Singh and his general, Zorawar Singh, annexing Ladakh and Baltistan in the 1830s. Zorawar’s death in 1841 during an expedition into Tibet marked a significant ‘What if ’ in history because a victory in Tibet might have integrated it into India.
After Ranjit Singh’s death, the British secured cession of Kashmir from the Punjab kingdom to Dogra General Gulab Singh in 1846 through the Treaty of Amritsar for Rs 75 lakh. This treaty also acknowledged British supremacy, with Gulab Singh agreeing to pay an annual tribute that included a horse, twelve shawl goats, and three pairs of Kashmiri shawls. The British were rewarding Gulab Singh for facilitating their passage to Afghanistan, ensuring the Dogra army’s neutrality during the Anglo–Sikh War and promising loyalty amidst the Central Asian ‘Great Game’ with Russia.
In J&K and Punjab, there’s still debate over whether Gulab Singh’s actions constituted treason. His biographer K.M. Pannikar, in The Founding of The Kashmir State: A Biography of Maharajah Gulab Singh 1792–1858, suggests, ‘Where his interests required, he did not hesitate to resort to tricks and stratagems which would in ordinary life be considered dishonourable.’ Gulab Singh’s successors – Ranbir Singh (1857–85), Pratap Singh (1885–1925) and Hari Singh (1925–50) – transformed Kashmir into what Nobel laureate Douglass North described as a ‘limited access’ society, where power was divided among the elite.
Unlike most princely states, Maharaja Hari Singh did not sign the instrument of accession by 15 August 1947. Karan Singh, his son and a former union minister and J&K governor, writes, ‘Indecisive by nature, he [Hari Singh] played for time. A typical feudal reaction to a difficult situation is to avoid facing it. My father was particularly prone to this.’
This indecisiveness has cost India, Kashmir and Pakistan heavily. People say Hari Singh had three wishes before he died: the downfall of both Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah, and for Karan Singh to have children. He lived to see only two of these come true.
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Kashmir
Dominated by the Sunni-majority Ahle-ait-quad sect, religious life in Kashmir revolves around pirzadas – ranging from Sufi mystics to religious mendicants, petty ulema and local clergy – anchored in both rural and urban areas.
Islam spread in the Valley in the fourteenth century and owes significantly to Persian Sufi mystic Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani (Shah Hamdan), remembered and honoured by the construction of the Khanqah-e-Moula Mosque in Srinagar. However, the locally born Sufi saint, Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani (Alamdar-e-Kashmir or Nund Rishi), commands a deeper reverence for his spiritual contributions, encapsulated in his Noor Nama. His mausoleum in Charar-e-Sharief was tragically destroyed in 1995 by the terrorist Mast Gul, a shameful memory for me as this occurred when I was J&K police chief.
Lalleshwari, a woman Shaivite Hindu mystic, profoundly influenced Noorani. Known as Lal Ded, her sayings (Vakyas) live on, celebrated through the naming of Srinagar’s leading women’s hospital in her honour.
The ancient text Nilamata Purana marks Kashmir as a hub of Shaivism. This tradition was notably carried forward in the fifteenth century by Badshah Zain-ul-Abidin – who is commemorated in Badshah Chowk – through his sponsorship of the Persian translation of Rajatarangini (The River of Kings), a detailed chronicle by the poet Kalhana. Marc Aurel Stein’s English translation of Rajatarangini in 1900 highlights Kashmir’s virtues as ‘learning, lofty houses, saffron and ice water’.
This legacy of syncretism is evident at Aishmuqam Dargah, which still receives a portion of the offerings from the Hindu Amarnath Shrine. However, the 1990s saw some of this tolerance eroded by the targeted violence against Kashmiri Pandits.
Sunni Muslims are the majority, but intense rivalry and scarce intermarriage existed in the community, especially between the sher (lion) supporters of Sheikh Abdullah and bakra (goat) supporters of his rival Mirwaiz. I have received dozens of stitches on my face and hands over the course of my career in incidents of stone throwing between these two groups. Their rivalry peaked in the 1977 elections, and there was a reconciliation in the double Farooq Accord of 1982.
Shias make up only 10–15 per cent of the Muslim population, but they balance out sociopolitical dynamics. Historically subjected to oppression and violence since Mughal times, Shia politics have oscillated between calls for independence, alignment with militants and partnering with Delhi to counter the Sunni majority’s dynamics.
Militancy led to a ban on the traditional Muharram procession but in 2023, a procession from Gurubazar to Dalgate in Srinagar was finally allowed to take place after thirtyfour years. I hope it continues forever.
Kashmiri society has many quirks. The saying ‘Asav na, ta lasav kith paeth?’ (If we don’t laugh, how can we live?) is reflected in their nicknames for their leaders: Kakar Khan for Jagmohan, Gul Curfew for G.M. Shah, Mufti Whiskey for Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Farooq Disco for Farooq Abdullah. This extends to militants like Bitta Karate, Latrum and Javed Nalka. In this closeknit society, rumours spread fast from Qazikund to Kupwara.
This rapid dissemination of news was often referred to as the Lal Chowk Gazette and it became the hub for disinformation. They are a highly politically conscious society and voracious consumers of news. (The BBC was a favourite source in the 1990s with its clear anti-India bias.) Their food is delicious but often unhealthy – I think the generous usage of red meat and refined flour must ensure that the Valley is among India’s largest per-capita markets for allopathic medicine.
This excerpt from Mahendra Sabharwal and Manish Sabharwal’s ‘Kashmir Under 370: A Personal History by J&K’s Former Director General of Police’ has been published with permission from Juggernaut Books.