The history of Kashmir is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent in South Asia with influences from the surrounding regions of Central, and East Asia. Historically, Kashmir referred to only the Kashmir Valley of the western Himalayas. Today, it denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
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 of conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during the 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 Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948, also known as the first Kashmir war, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars between the two newly independent nations. Pakistan precipitated the war a few weeks after its independence by launching tribal lashkar (militias) from Waziristan, in an effort to capture Kashmir and to preempt the possibility of its ruler joining India.
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau, better known as Amīr Khusrau, sometimes spelled as, Amir Khusrow or Amir Khusro, was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar, who lived during the period of the Delhi Sultanate.
Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin, usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi, was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usually known by his honorific title Yamin al-Dawla. At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.
Muzaffarabad is a city in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the largest city and the capital of Azad Kashmir, which is a Pakistani-administered administrative territory.
Mirpur, officially known as New Mirpur City, is the capital of Mirpur district located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan which has been subject of the larger Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India since 1947. It is the second largest city of Azad Kashmir and the 74th largest city in Pakistan.
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.
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.
Rajouri is a district in the Jammu division of Indian Jammu and Kashmir in the Kashmir region. The Line of Control, between the Indian- and Pakistan's occupied Jammu and Kashmir, lies to its west, Poonch to its north, the Reasi district to the east and the Jammu district to its south. Rajouri is famous for its "Kalari". Representing an ancient principality, Rajouri was a joint district, along with Reasi, at the time of the princely state's accession to India in 1947. The two tehsils were separated and Rajouri was merged with the Poonch district. Rajouri again became a separate district along with Reasi in 1968 till 2006 when both were separated again. The Rajouri district comprises 13 tehsils (boroughs). The land is mostly fertile and mountainous. Maize, wheat and rice are the main crops of the area and the main source of the irrigation is the river Tawi that originates from the mountains of Pir Panjal.
Ghiyath al-Din Shah Rukh Shahi Khan, commonly known as Zayn al-Abidin the Great, was the ninth sultan of the Kashmir Sultanate, ruling first from 1418 to 1419 and then from 1420 to 1470. He was famously called Budshah by his subjects.
Kashmiriyat is the centuries-old indigenous tradition of communal harmony and religious syncretism in the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. Emerging around the 16th century, it is characterised by religious and cultural harmony, patriotism and pride for their mountainous homeland of Kashmir.
Shamsu'd-Din Shah Mir or simply as Shah Mir or Shah Mirza was the second Sultan of Kashmir and founder of the Shah Mir dynasty. Shah Mir is believed to have come to Kashmir during the rule of Suhadeva, where he rose to prominence. After the death of Suhadeva and his brother, Udayanadeva, Shah Mir proposed marriage to the reigning queen, Kota Rani. She refused and continued her rule for five months till 1339, appointing Bhutta Bhikshana as prime minister. After the death of Kota Rani, Shah Mir established his own kingship, founding the Shah Mir dynasty in 1339, which lasted till 1561.
Daulat Beg Oldi is a traditional campsite and current military base located in the midst of the Karakoram Range in northern Ladakh, India. It is on the historic trade route between Ladakh and the Tarim Basin, and is the last campsite before the Karakoram Pass. It is said to be named after Sultan Said Khan of the Yarkent Khanate, who died here on his return journey from an invasion of Ladakh and Kashmir. Chip Chap River, the main headwater of the Shyok River, flows just to the south. The Line of Actual Control with Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin is five miles to the east.
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. They refer to themselves as "Koshur" in their mother language. Non-Kashmiri Muslims in Kashmir include semi-nomadic cowherds and shepherds, belonging to the Gurjar and Bakarwal communities.
Mir Syed Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Arāqi, was an Iranian Sufi saint. Araqi was part of the order of Twelver Shia Sufis in Jammu and Kashmir who greatly influenced the social fabric of the Kashmir Valley and its surrounding regions.
Yousuf, born Yoūsuf (Yūsuf) Shāh Chak, was the fourth Chak Sultan of Kashmir, who ruled the Chak dynasty from 1578 to 1586. Yousuf succeeded his father, Ali Shah Chak, who crowned Yousuf before he died. Yousuf defeated all other contenders for the throne, including his uncle Abdal Chak, and ascended the throne in 1578.
Jasrat was a 15th-century Punjabi Muslim ruler of Sialkot from 1410 until his death in 1442.
The Chak or Chaq dynasty was a Kashmiri dynasty that ruled over the Kashmir sultanate in medieval Kashmir after the Shah Mir dynasty. The dynasty rose to power in 1561 in Srinagar after the death of the Turco-Mongol military general, Mirza Haidar Dughlat when Ghazi Shah assumed the throne by dethroning Habib Shah, the last Shah Mir Sultan. The dynasty ended in 1589 when Yakub Shah surrendered to Mughal Emperor Akbar.
The Shah Mir–Lohara War, which took place in 1338–1339, was a military conflict between the Royal forces of the Hindu Lohara dynasty and the rebellious Muslim Shah Mir dynasty led by former courtier Shah Mir. It resulted in the overthrowing of the Loharas and the revival of the Kashmir Sultanate.
Sindh Sultanate 
Jammu Kingdom 
Delhi Sultanate 