- published: 23 May 2010
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Jammu /ˈdʒɑːmuː/ (Dogri: जम्मू, Urdu: جموں pronunciation (help·info), Punjabi: ਜੰਮੂ), also known informally as Duggardesh, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India. The region is not a state per se but a part of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. It consists of the districts of Doda, Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi, Samba, Kishtwar & Poonch. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the eastern districts of Doda and Kishtwar. The principal river is the Chenab.
Jammu city, officially called Jammu-Tawi, is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu City is also known as "City of Temples" as it has many temples and shrines, with glittering shikhars soaring into the sky, which dot the city’s skyline, creating the ambiance of a holy and peaceful Hindu city.
Home to some of the most popular Hindu shrines, such as Vaishno Devi, Jammu is a pilgrimage tourism destination in India. The majority of Jammu's 5.9 million population practices Hinduism, while Islam and Sikhism enjoy a strong cultural heritage in the region. Due to relatively better infrastructure, Jammu has emerged as the main economic center of the state.
Kashmir (Balti, Gojri, Poonchi/Chibhali, Dogri: कश्मीर; Kashmiri: कॅशीर, کٔشِیر; Ladakhi: ཀཤམིར; Uyghur: كەشمىر; Shina: کشمیر) is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Today Kashmir denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh), the Pakistani-administered Gilgit–Baltistan and the Azad Kashmir provinces, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract.
In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir region became an important center of Hinduism and later of Buddhism; later still, in the ninth century, Kashmir Shaivism arose. In 1349, Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir and inaugurated the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Swati dynasty. For the next five centuries, Muslim monarchs ruled Kashmir, including the Mughals, who ruled from 1526 until 1751, then the Afghan Durrani Empire that ruled from 1747 until 1820. That year, the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. In 1846, upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Dogras—under Gulab Singh—became the new rulers. Dogra Rule, under the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until 1947, when the former princely state became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: India, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China.