Chitralekha Zutshi (born 1972) [1] is a historian of Kashmir and an endowed chair Professor of History at the College of William and Mary, USA. [2]
Zutshi received her doctorate in history from Tufts University. [2]
Her first monograph Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir was published by Permanent Black in 2003; subsequent reprints were published by C. Hurst & Co. and Oxford University Press. [2] The book traces the evolution of Kashmiriyat with time and drew significant praise. [3] Yoginder Sikand, reviewing for Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society commended the research and agreed with Zutshi's arguments. [4] A review in the South Asia Research found Zutshi's to be pioneering scholarship that would be a must-read for any scholar working on Kashmir. [3] [5] [6] [7]
Her second monograph was Kashmir’s Contested Pasts: Narratives, Sacred Geographies and the Historical Imagination (Oxford University Press, 2014). [2] It was reviewed over multiple journals. [8] [9] [10] [11]
In 2018, she published an edited volume on Kashmir (Cambridge University Press) to favorable reviews. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Her latest publication has been Kashmir: Oxford India Short Introductions. [2]
Literature of Kashmir has a long history, the oldest texts having been composed in the Sanskrit language. Early names include Patanjali, the author of the Mahābhāṣya commentary on Pāṇini's grammar, suggested by some to have been the same to write the Hindu treatise known as the Yogasutra, and Dridhbala, who revised the Charaka Samhita of Ayurveda.
The Kashmiri Pandits are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu Kashmiris native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during medieval times. Prompted by the growth of Islamic militancy in the valley, large numbers left in the exodus of the 1990s. Even so, small numbers remain.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir union territory and Ladakh. Founded as the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas in 1932 in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the organisation renamed itself to National Conference in 1939 in order to represent all the people of the state. It supported the accession of the princely state to India in 1947. Prior to that, in 1941, a group led by Ghulam Abbas broke off from the National Conference and revived the old Muslim Conference. The revived Muslim Conference supported the accession of the princely state to Pakistan and led the movement for Azad Kashmir.
Kashyap Bandhu was a political leader and social reformer in Kashmir.
Shingara, better known as Sultan Sikandar Shah Miri, also by his sobriquet Sikandar Butshikan was the seventh Sultan of Kashmir and a member of Shah Mir dynasty who ruled from 1389 until his death in 1413.
Yoginder Singh Sikand is an Indian writer and academic who has written several books on Islam-related issues in India.
The Shah Mir dynasty or the House of Shah Mir, was a Kashmiri dynasty that ruled the Kashmir Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. The dynasty is named after its founder, Shah Mir.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir or Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JIJK) is an Islamic political party based in the city of Srinagar in the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is distinct from the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.The organisation's stated position on the Kashmir conflict is that Kashmir is a disputed territory and the issue must be sorted as per UN or through tripartite talks between India, Pakistan and representatives of Kashmir.
Islam is the majority religion practised in Kashmir, with 97.16% of the region's population identifying as Muslims as of 2014. The religion came to the region with the arrival of Mir sayed Ali shah Hamdani, a Muslim Sufi preacher from Central Asia and Persia, beginning in the early 14th century. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni Muslims.
The Kashmiri diaspora refers to Kashmiris who have migrated out of the Kashmir into other areas and countries, and their descendants.
KashmirMartyrs' Day or Kashmir Day, was a former official state holiday observed in Kashmir in remembrance of 21 Muslim protesters killed on 13 July 1931 by Dogra forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India.
The Karkota dynasty ruled over the Kashmir valley and some northern parts of the Indian subcontinent during 7th and 8th centuries. Their rule saw a period of political expansion, economic prosperity and emergence of Kashmir as a centre of culture and scholarship.
The Utpala Dynasty was a medieval dynasty that ruled over Kashmir from the 9th to 10th centuries. Founded by Avantivarman in 855 CE, it replaced the Karkota dynasty. It came into existence in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent. The cities of Avantipur and Suyapur were founded during the reign, and many Hindu temples dedicated to both Vishnu and Shiva and Buddhist monasteries were built, notable of which is the Avantiswara and Avantiswami temples.
A widespread agitation throughout the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British Raj occurred in 1931 against the Maharaja's government. The Maharaja was forced to appoint the Glancy Commission to investigate the people's concerns. Various political reforms were adopted including the introduction of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Sabha. The movement also saw the rise of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah as the leader of Kashmiris. The movement was funded by some well-to-do Muslim Zaildars and business houses.
Under Dogra rule, people in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir launched several political movements. Despite ideological differences and varying goals they aimed to improve the status of Muslims in a state ruled by a Hindu dynasty.
The Second Gonanda dynasty, was a Kashmiri Hindu dynasty. According to Kalhana, this dynasty ruled Kashmir just before the Karkotas.
Mridu Rai is an Indian historian who serves as a professor at Presidency University, Kolkata. Rai is the author of the prizewinning book Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir (2004).
Princess Himal and Nagaray or Himal and Nagrai is a very popular Kashmiri folktale about the love between a human princess and a Naga (snake-like) prince. The story is well-known in the region and has many renditions. One version of the story was collected by British reverend James Hinton Knowles and published in his book Folk-Tales of Kashmir.
Dharmarth Trust in Jammu and Kashmir was founded by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846 as an endowment for religious charity, and to manage and support Hinduism. In 1884, and under Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the Ain-i-Dharmath or 'The Regulations for the Dharmarth Trust' were formulated and a government department for religious affairs was created. The trust helped the Dogra dynasty to consolidate and validate its control over its territory and over the functioning of Hinduism in the region.