Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since come to encompass a larger area that includes the India-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
Punjab, also known as the Land of the Five Rivers, is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern-Pakistan and northwestern-India. Punjab's major cities are Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sialkot, Chandigarh, Shimla, Jalandhar, Patiala, Gurugram, and Bahawalpur.
The middle kingdoms of India were the political entities in the Indian subcontinent from 230 BCE to 1206 CE. The period begins after the decline of the Maurya Empire and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, starting with Simuka, from 230 BCE. The "middle" period lasted for almost 1436 years and ended in 1206 CE, with the rise of the Delhi Sultanate, founded in 1206, and the end of the Later Cholas.
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 806 districts and smaller administrative divisions.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses northern and eastern India, eastern Pakistan, southern Nepal, and almost all of Bangladesh. It is named after the two major river systems that drain the region–Indus and Ganges.
The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Kannauj. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa until its victory in the Tripartite Struggle in 816 which secured its right to the throne of Kannauj. Cadet branches of the dynasty ruled other minor states in the subcontinent.
North India, also called Northern India, is a geographical and broad cultural region comprising the northern part of India wherein Indo-Aryans form the prominent majority population. It extends from the Himalayan mountain range in the north to the Indo-Gangetic plains, the Thar Desert, the Central Highlands and the northwestern part of the Deccan plateau. It occupies nearly three-quarters of the area and population of India and includes all of the three mega cities of India: Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In a more specific and administrative sense, North India can also be used to denote the Indo-Gangetic Plain within this broader expanse, stretching from the Ganga-Yamuna Doab to the Thar Desert.
The Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group living primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and speak their native Dogri language. They live predominantly in the Duggar region of the Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of the states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Some also live in northeastern Pakistan.
The Pir Panjal Range is a range of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region located in the Western Himalayas of northern Indian subcontinent. It runs southeast to northwest between the Beas and Neelam/Kishanganga rivers, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with its northwestern end extending into territory administered by Pakistan. The Himalayas show a gradual elevation towards the Dhauladhar and Pir Panjal ranges. Pir Panjal is the largest and westernmost range of the Lesser Himalayas. Near the bank of the Sutlej River, it dissociates itself from the main Himalayan range and forms a divide between the Beas and Ravi rivers on one side and the Chenab on the other. Further west, the Pir Panjal range forms the southwestern boundary of the Kashmir Valley, separating it from the hills of Jammu region, forming a divide between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers.
The Hill States of India were princely states lying in the northern border regions of the British Indian Empire.
The Gurjar are an agricultural ethnic community, residing mainly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, pastoral and nomadic activities and formed a large heterogeneous group. The historical role of Gurjars has been quite diverse in society: at one end they have been founders of several kingdoms and dynasties and, at the other end, some are still nomads with no land of their own.
The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, India:
Jammu and Kashmir, also known as Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with the British East India Company from 1846 to 1858 and under the paramountcy of the British Crown, from 1858 until the Partition of India in 1947, when it became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: China, India, and Pakistan. The princely state was created after the First Anglo-Sikh War, when the East India Company, which had annexed the Kashmir Valley, from the Sikhs as war indemnity, then sold it to the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, for rupees 75 lakhs.
The Indian Himalayan Region is the section of the Himalayas within the Republic of India, spanning thirteen Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. The region is responsible for providing water to a large part of the Indian subcontinent and contains various flora and fauna.
The Western Air Command (WAC) is the regional command of Indian Air Force headquartered in New Delhi. It is the largest and most important Air Command of the IAF, comprising sixteen Air Force Bases (AFBs), and is responsible for aerial defence of North India.
Pahari, or Pahadi is an ambiguous term that has been used for a variety of languages, dialects and language groups, most of which are found in the lower Himalayas.
The Tripartite Struggle (785–816) were a series of wars in northern India fought over the control of the throne of Kannauj, which during that time was equivalent to having imperial status over all of Aryavarta. It involved the three powerful dynasties of the era – the Pratiharas of Gurjaradesa, the Palas of Gauda (Bengal) and the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta. The war ultimately resulted in Nagabhata II, King of the Gurjaras, winning the crown of Kannauj in 816, and proclaiming himself King of Kannauj.
The history of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India, stretches back several millennia. The region shows the presence of human habitation dating back to between 85,000 and 73,000 years ago. Additionally, the region seems to have been domesticated as early as 6,000 BC.
The Kingdom of Kannauj was a medieval kingdom in northern India from 510, when it was established as a vassal state of the Magadhan Empire, and as an independent sovereign state after 550, until 1036, when it collapsed after Ghaznavid invasions. During the reign of Harsha, and later under the Pratiharas, the Kingdom of Kannauj stood as the most powerful state in India, flourishing in the seventh century, and again in the ninth and tenth centuries.
