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Etymology of Kashmir (Pakistan/India)

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The Indus river in the Kashmir region, which actually is INDIA.
UN Neutral map of Kashmir.

The word Kashmir is thought to have been derived from Sanskrit and was referred to as káśmīra.[1] A popular local etymology of Kashmira is that it is land desiccated from water.[2] The Nilamata Purana describes the Valley's origin from the waters, a fact corroborated by prominent geologists, and shows how the very name of the land was derived from the process of desiccation - Ka means "Water" and Shimir means "to desiccate". Hence, Kashmir stands for "A Land desiccated from Water". There is also a theory which takes Kashmir to be a contraction of Kashyap-mira or Kashyapmir or Kashyapmeru, the "Sea or Mountain of Kashyapa", the Vedic sage who is credited with having drained the waters of the primordial Lake Satisar, that Kashmir was before it was reclaimed. Kashyapa is also believed to have settled people in this land. Accordingly, Kashmir would be derived from either kashyapa-mir (Kashyapa's Lake) or kashyapa-meru (Kashyapa's Mountain).[2] The word has been referenced to in a Hindu scripture mantra worshipping the Hindu goddess Sharada and is mentioned to have resided in the land of Kashmira, or which might have been a reference to the Sharada Peeth. The Nilamata Purana gives the name Kashmira to the (Kashmir Valley includes the Wular Lake) "Mira" which means the sea lake or the mountain of Sage Kashyapa. Mira in Sanskrit means Ocean or boundary, considering it to be an embodiment of Uma and it is the Kashmir that the world knows today. The earliest text which directly mentions the name Kashmir is in Ashtadhyayi written by the Sanskrit grammarian Pāṇini during the 5th century BC. Pāṇini called the people of Kashmir Kashmirikas.[3][4][5] Some other early references to Kashmir can also be found in Mahabharata in Sabha Parva and in puranas like Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana, Padma Purana and Vishnu Purana and Vishnudharmottara Purana.[6] The Kashmiris, however, call it Kashir in Koshur (Kashmiri language), which has been derived phonetically from Kashmir and Kashmiristan in Turko-Persian. The Ancient Greeks of Macedon called it as Kasperia. Kashyapa-pura, which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44); In classical literature Herodotus also called it Kaspatyrol.[7] Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.[8]

Cashmere is an archaic spelling of present-Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way. Kashmir is called Cachemire in French, Cachemira in Spanish, Caxemira in Portuguese, Caixmir in Catalan, Casmiria in Latin, Cașmir in Romanian, and Cashmir in Occitan. Huientsang, the Buddhist scholar and Chinese travelling monk, who visited Kashmir in 631 AD called Kashmir Kia-shi-mi-lo, while some other Chinese accounts referred to Kashmir as ki-pin (or Chipin or Jipin) and ache-pin.[4]. Tibetans called it Khachal, meaning "Snowy Mountain".[7] It is and has been a land of rivers, lakes and wildflowers. A tribe of Semitic origin, named Kash (which means a deep slash in the native dialect), is believed to have founded the cities of Kashan in Iran and Kashgar in East Turkestan, not to be confused with the Kashyapi tribe from the Caspian area of the Caucasus region.

A Kashmiri Man from the Region.

The land and the people were known as 'Kasheer' from which 'Kashmir' was also derived from therein respectively..[9]

Bangus Valley in North Kashmir.
Simplified UN map of Kashmir and its surrounding area and rivers

Azad Jammu and Kashmir[edit]

Muzaffarabad, the administrative capital city of Azad Kashmir.
Civil flag of Azad Kashmir.

Azad Kashmir or Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Literally — “Free Kashmir”) “Kāshmir” from Persian; was the title of a pamphlet issued by the Muslim Conference party at its 13th general session held in 1945 at Poonch.[10] It is believed to have been a response to the National Conference's Naya Kashmir (New Kashmir) programme.[11] Sources state that it was no more than a compilation of various resolutions passed by the party.[12] But its intent seems to have been to declare that the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir were committed to the Muslim League's struggle for a separate homeland (Pakistan),[10] and that the Muslim Conference was the sole representative organisation of the Muslims of Kashmir.[11] However, the following year, the party passed an "Azad Kashmir Resolution" demanding that the maharaja institute a constituent assembly elected on an extended franchise.[13] According to scholar Chitralekha Zutshi, the organisation's declared goal was to achieve responsible government under the aegis of the maharaja without association with either India or Pakistan.[14] The following year, the party workers assembled at the house of Sardar Ibrahim on the 19th of July in 1947, reversed the decision, demanding that the Maharaja Accede to brethren Pakistan.[15][16]

Relief map of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Vallapura (Jammu)[edit]

A map of the IIOJK Jammu Division (neon blue) of the Indian-annexed Jammu and Kashmir (shaded in tan) in the Disputed Kashmir Region.

Modern IIOJK-Jammu Region of Occupied Kashmir is named after Babbapura (modern Babor) this area is mentioned in بابر نامہ/Baburnama. Hence the Islamic name “Vallapura”. According to Tarikh-i-Azmi, Jammu came into existence around 900 CE. The state of Durgara (modern forms "Duggar" and "Dogra)") is also attested from around this time. The capital of the Durgara state at that time is believed to have been Vallapura (identified with modern Billawar). Some scholars believe it to have been a regional or ethnic name current in the Occupied Region.[17][18][19][20]

Jammu is mentioned by name in the chronicles of Timur, who invaded Delhi in 1398 and returned to Samarkand via Jammu. Raja Bhim Dev is prominently mentioned in the Delhi chronicles as a supporter of Mubarah Shah (r. 1421–1434) against Jasrat. Between 1423 and 1442, Jammu came under control of Jasrat (r. 1405–1442) who conquered it after killing his arch-enemy Bhim Dev in 1423. Later, Jasrat appointed Manik Dev (also known as Ajeo Dev) as vassal, and married his daughter.[21] In the early-16th-century Mughal chronicles of Babur, Jammu is mentioned as a powerful state in the Punjab hills. Emperor Akbar brought the hill kingdoms of the region under Mughal suzerainty, but the kings enjoyed considerable political autonomy. In addition to Jammu, other kingdoms of the region such as Kishtwar and Rajauri were also prominently mentioned. It is evident that the Mughal empire treated these hill chiefs as allies and partners in the empire.[22] According to local tradition, Jammu is named after its founder, Raja Jambu Lochan, who is believed to have ruled the area in the 9th century. The Raja had gone out one day for hunting when he happened to witness a Leopard and a goat drinking water from one and the same pond. Local tradition holds the city to be 3000 years old, linking it with the Indus Valley Civilisation, but this is not supported by historians. The Indus Region of Jammu is ethnolinguistically more closely related to Pakistani Punjab, than it is than the rest of Bharat claims to be. The Jammu and Kashmir State continues to be occupied by India since 1947. It represents an unfinished agenda of the partition of the South Asian subcontinent. Jammu and Kashmir was forcibly and brutally administered by Government of India as a state from the 17th of November in 1952 to the 31st of October in 2019, and Article 370 conferred on it the power to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy of internal administration, rather than desired external autonomy.

Tawi River, a tributary of Chenab in the Indus system.

[1] [2]

Regional controversial aspect[edit]

Another major controversy is that only those provinces that were under direct British rule, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravida (South India), Utkal (Odisha) and Bengal, were mentioned. None of the princely statesJammu and Kashmir, Rajputana, Hyderabad, Mysore or the states in Northeast India, which are now occupied parts of Modern India, were mentioned. However, opponents of this proposition claim that Tagore mentioned only the border states of British India to include a so-called complete United India. Whether the princely states would form a part of an independent Indian Republic was a matter of debate even until after Indian independence respectively.

Related[edit]

References[edit]

  1. "A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages". Dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2015. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, pp. 22–, ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 11 October 2016 Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  3. Kumāra, Braja Bihārī (2007). India and Central Asia: Classical to Contemporary Periods. Concept Publishing Company. p. 64. ISBN 9788180694578. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on
  4. 4.0 4.1 Raina, Mohini Qasba (13 November 2014). Kashur The Kashmiri Speaking People. Partridge Publishing Singapore. p. 11. ISBN 9781482899450. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on
  5. Kaw, M. K. (2004). Kashmir and Its People: Studies in the Evolution of Kashmiri Society. APH Publishing. ISBN 9788176485371. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on
  6. Toshakhānī, Śaśiśekhara; Warikoo, Kulbhushan (2009). Cultural Heritage of Kashmiri Pandits. Pentagon Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 9788182743984. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on
  7. 7.0 7.1 P. N. K. Bamzai, Culture and Political History of Kashmir, Vol. 1 (New Delhi: M.D. Publications, 1994), pp. 4–6
  8. Khan, Ruhail (6 July 2017). Who Killed Kasheer?. Notion Press. ISBN 9781947283107. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on
  9. P. iv 'Kashmir Today' by Government, 1998
  10. 10.0 10.1 Behera, Demystifying Kashmir (2007), p. 20.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Kapoor, Politics of Protests in Jammu and Kashmir (2014), Chapter 6, p. 273.
  12. Ganai, Dogra Raj and the Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir (1999), Chapter 6, p. 341.
  13. Saraf, Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 1 (2015), p. 663.
  14. Zutshi, Chitralekha (2004), Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, p. 302, ISBN 978-1-85065-700-2
  15. Saraf, Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 2 (2015), p. 9.
  16. Puri, Balraj (November 2010), "The Question of Accession", Epilogue, 4 (11): 5, archived from the original on January 17, 2023, retrieved May 8, 2020 Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  17. Hāṇḍā, Textiles, Costumes, and Ornaments of the Western Himalaya 1998, p. 178, 180.
  18. Hutchison & Vogel, History of Panjab Hill States, Volume 2 1933, pp. 517–518.
  19. Bamzai, Culture and Political History of Kashmir 1994, p. 184.
  20. Stein, Kalhana's Rajatarangini 1989, p. 432.
  21. Charak, Sukh Dev Singh (1985). A Short History of Jammu Raj: From Earliest Times to 1846 A.D. Ajaya Prakashan. pp. 76–78. Search this book on
  22. Mohammad, Jigar (November 2010), "Raja Ranjit Dev's Inclusive Policies and Politico-economic developments in Jammu", Epilogue, 4 (11), pp. 40–42


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