Jammu & Kashmir
SRINAGAR
Srinagar is the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and is the
pride of the beautiful valley of Kashmir. Srinagar is famous for its lakes and
the charming rows of houseboats floating on them. It is also known for traditional
Kashmiri handicrafts and dry fruits. Srinagar is located in the western part
of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in the northern region of India. It is located
in the Kashmir valley. River Jhelum passes through Srinagar city. Srinagar is
876 km north of Delhi.
It is rightly called the Pride of the Kashmir Valley The history of the Kashmir
valley has been turbulent. In the 3rd century BC, it was a part of the great
Mauryan Empire. Later on, this region flourished under the rule of the Kushans
in the 1st century AD. It was an important Buddhist center around this time.
In the 6th century, it was a part of the kingdom of Vikramaditya, the ruler
of Ujjain. Local Hindu rulers ruled it until the 14th century, after which Muslims
invaded and ruled it.
Srinagar was a part of the Mughal Empire in the medieval period. However, with
the decline of the Mughal Empire and the rule of the Pathans, the fortunes of
the area gradually dwindled. In 1814, it became a part of the Sikh empire, when
Ranjit Singh defeated the Pathans. However, the British defeated Ranjit Singh
and according to the treaty of Lahore in 1846, they installed Gulab Singh as
the independent ruler of Kashmir.
The descendents of Gulab Singh ruled Kashmir under the vigilance of the British
till 1947. Hari Singh, the great grandson of Gulab Singh, merged this princely
state into India in 1948, when Pathan marauders from Pakistan tried to overrun
this state Shalimar Bagh ,Nishat Bagh and Cheshma Shahi were developed in the
17th century during the region of Shah Jehan and Pari mahal ,once a Buddhist
monastery.
LEH (LADHAKH) - the little Tibet
In the ancient times the present Leh district was a part of Greater Ladakh
spread over from Kailash Mansarover to Swaat (Dardistan). The Greater ladakh
was neither under the Domain of Tibet or its influence. Not much information
is available about the ancient History of Ladakh. However, reference about
the place and its neighbourhood in Arab, Chinese and Mongolian histories gives
an idea that in the 7th Century A.D fierce wars were fought by Tibet and China
in Baltistan area of the Greater Ladakh in which deserts and barren mountains
od Ladakh was turned into battle fields for the warring armies.
In the 8th century A.D Arabs also jumped into these wars and changed their
sides between China and Tibet. Around this period, the ruler of Kashmir, Laltadita
conquered Ladakh. In the 8th Century A.D itself, The Arabs conquered Kashghar
and established their control over Central asia which embraced Islam in the
9th century A.d and thus a buffer state came into being between Tibet and
China, terminating the hostilities between the two warring countries. The
greater Ladakh also fell into I.
The ancient inhabitants of Ladakh were Dards, and Indo-Aryan race from down
the Indus. But immigration from Tibetmore than a thousand years ago largly
overwhelmed the culture of Dards and moped up their racial characters. IN
eastern and central Ladakh, todays population seems to be mostly of Tibet
origin. Budhism reached Tibet from India via Ladakh. The area was the stronghold
of Budhism before Islam reached Ladakh.
A thousand years ago before the control of Tibet ruler Nemagon, ruled over
Ladakh which was known as Muryul (Red Country), as most of the mountains and
the soil in Ladakh wears a red tinge. In the 10th Century A.D Skitday Nemagon,
along with a couple of hundred men, invaded Ladakh where there was no central
authority. The Land was divided in small principalities, which were at war
with each other. Nemagon defeated all of them and established a strong central
authority. Those days Shey, was the capital of Ladakh became to be known as
Nariskorsoom, a country of three provinces. The present Ladakh was divided
into two provinces while the third comprised western Tibet. The area of western
Tibet slipped away from the kingdom but was reunited in 16th Century A.D.
by the famous Ladakhi ruler Sengge Namgyal. Ladakh was an independent country
since the middle of 10th century.
In the post-partition scenario Pakistan and China illegally occupied 78,114
sq. km and 37,555 sq.km of the state, respectively while the remaining part
of the state acceded to India. Pakistan also illegally gifted 5180 sq.kms
of this area to China. Ladakh, comprising the areas of present Leh and Kargil
districts, became one of the seven districts of the State. In 1979 when the
enter ization of the districts was carries out, the Ladakh district was divided
into two full fledged of Leh and Kargil.
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