1. History
    Hindu and Buddhist rule   Arrival of Islam and Shah Mir Dynasty (1320–1580s)    Chak Rule    Mughal rule (1580s–1750s)    Afghan Rule (1750s–1819)    Sikh Empire (1820–1846)    1833 Famine    Dogra Regime (1846–1947)    1878 Famine  

2. Culture
     Cuisine    Language    Religious traditions    Arts and crafts  

3. Krams (Surnames)

4. Population
     Kashmiri Muslims    Kashmiri Hindus  

5. Diaspora
     Muslim    Hindu  

6. See also

7. Notes

8. References

9. Bibliography

10. External links

The Kashmiris ({{lang-ks|کٲشُر لُکھ / कॉशुर लुख}}) are an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, who speak Kashmiri, an Indo-Aryan Dardic language.^[5] The bulk of Kashmiri people predominantly live in the Kashmir Valley–which is the 'actual' Kashmir and does not include the other territories of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (i.e. Jammu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Ladakh).{{Efn-ua|{{harvtxt|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|pp=20–21}} "...the 'real' Kashmir—that is, the Kashmir Valley...Historically, Kashmir equates to the Kashmir Valley."}} Other ethnic groups living in the Jammu and Kashmir state include Gujjars,^[4] Dogras,^[5] Paharis, Baltis and Ladakhis.^[6]

While Kashmiris are native to the Kashmir Valley, smaller populations of Kashmiris also live in the remaining districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Ethnic Kashmiris can be found in the Chenab region's Doda, Ramban, Reasi and Kishtwar districts and in the Neelam Valley and Leepa Valley of northern Azad Kashmir. Since 1947, many ethnic Kashmiris are also found in Pakistan.{{Sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=23}} Many ethnic Kashmiris from the Kashmir Valley migrated to the Punjab region during the Dogra, Sikh and Afghan rule of Kashmir.{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|p=211}}{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=40}}{{Sfn|Rizvi, Trans-Himalayan Caravans|2001|p=60}}^[7] Most Kashmiris today are Sunni Muslim{{Sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=7}} but a sizeable Hindu community also exists. Most ethnic Kashmiri Muslims are descended from Kashmiri Pandits and Buddhists,^[8] some also use the prefix 'Sheikh'.^[11][9][10] Common surnames among these people include Bhat/Butt, Dar, Lone, Malik etc.{{Sfn|Brower|Johnston|2016|p=130}}^[11][15]

Although all residents of Azad Kashmir call themselves 'Kashmiri', most residents of Azad Kashmir are not ethnic Kashmiris.{{Sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=10}}

History

Hindu and Buddhist rule

The Hindu caste system of the Kashmir region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the traditional lines of varna were blurred, with the exception of that for the Brahmins, who remained aloof from the changes.{{sfn|Bamzai, Ancient Kashmir|1994|pp=191–192}}{{sfn|Kaw, Kashmir and its People|2004|p=90}} Another notable feature of early Kashmiri society was the relative high regard in which women were held when compared to their position in other communities of the period.{{sfn|Kaw, Kashmir and its People|2004|p=91}}

A historically contested region, Northern India was subject to attack from Turkic and Arab regimes from the eighth century onwards, but they generally ignored the mountain-circled Kashmir Valley in favour of easier pickings elsewhere. It was not until the fourteenth century that Muslim rule was finally established in the Valley and when this happened it did not occur primarily as a consequence of invasion so much as because of internal problems resulting from the weak rule and corruption endemic in the Hindu Lohara dynasty.^[12][13] Mohibbul Hasan describes this collapse as {{quote|The Dãmaras (feudal chiefs) grew powerful, defied royal authority, and by their constant revolts plunged the country into confusion. Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. Socially and morally too the court and the country had sunk to the depths of degradation.^[13]}}

The Brahmins had something to be particularly unhappy about during the reign of the last Lohara king, for Sūhadeva chose to include them in his system of onerous taxation, whereas previously they appear to have been exempted.^[14]

Arrival of Islam and Shah Mir Dynasty (1320–1580s)

Islam arrived in Kashmir starting with the conversion in 1320 of Kashmir's Buddhist ruler, Rinchan, at the hands of the saint, Sayyid Bilal Shah (also known as Bulbul Shah). After conversion to Islam he called himself Malik Sadur-ud-Din and became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir. In 1339, Shah Mir established the Shah Mir dynasty in Kashmir. Islam grew in the 14th century under the Shah Mir dynasty and numerous Muslim ulama from Central Asia came to preach in Kashmir. Some of the famous ulama who propagated Islam in Kashmir included Sayyid Jalaluddin, Sayyid Tajuddin, Sayyid Ḥusayn Simani, Sayyid Ali Ḥamadani, Mir Muḥammad Hamadani, and Shaykh Nuruddin.{{Sfn|Amin & Schofield, Kashmir|2009}} Sayyid Ali Hamadani (also known as Shah-yi Hamadan), alongside hundreds of his followers, converted thousands of Kashmiris to Islam and also imparted Persian influences on the local Kashmiri culture.{{Sfn|Rafiabadi, Saints and Saviours|2005|p=259}} His son, Sayyid Muḥammad Hamadani, encouraged Kashmir's Muslim ruler Sikandar Butshikan (who reigned from 1389–1413) to enforce Islamic law and establish the office of Shaykh al-Islam i.e. the chief religious authority. By the late 1400s the majority of the population had embraced Islam.{{Sfn|Amin & Schofield, Kashmir|2009}} During the rule of Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389–1413), who has been referred as an iconoclast, there were mass migrations of Kashmiri Pandits to other parts of India.^[15]{{sfn|Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects|2004|p=286}}

Chak Rule

In 1540, the Mughal governor of Kashgar and a cousin of Emperor Babur by the name of Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat conquered Kashmir. He ruled until 1551, when he was killed in an outbreak of revolt by Chaks, who became the main force by this time.^[16] The Chaks are believed to have been naturalised Kashmiris of Dardic ancestry from Chilas. Today their tribe is based in trehgram and other parts northern Kashmir valley.^[17] In 1557 they overthrew the Shah Miri dynasty and came to power.^[18][19] The Chak rulers, being Shias, persecuted their Sunni subjects, causing Sunni scholars to flee to safer environs. Some disenchanted Sunnis, such as notable Sunni scholar, Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi, went to the court of Akbar and invited the Mughals to conquer Kashmir and overthrow Chak rule on certain conditions. These conditions included a guarantee of Kashmiri rights such as freedom of religion for all of Kashmir's population.^[20] Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi also forbade Sunnis from carrying out any reprisal against Shias and he devoted his life to restoring peace and communal harmony between the Sunnis and Shias of Kashmir. Initially after being defeated by kashmiri forces twice,^[21] In 1586 the Mughal imperial army finally entered the valley of Kashmir taking advantage of the disunity among Kashmiris (Shia-Sunni sectarian violence).^[22]

Mughal rule (1580s–1750s)

Kashmiri historians see Mughal rule as the beginning of the end of Kashmiri independence.{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=35}} The Mughal Emperor Akbar succeeded in invading the Kashmir Valley, despite tough Kashmiri resistance,{{Sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=32}} due to internal Sunni–Shia divisions amongst Kashmiris.{{sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=29}}

The anti-Shia policies of Mirza Haidar Dughlat and the anti-Sunni policies of the Chaks had broken Kashmiri unity, thus paving the way for the Mughal occupation of Kashmir.{{Sfn|Chen & Shih, Borderland Politics in Northern India|2016|p=43}} Akbar's victory brought an end to indigenous Kashmiri Muslim rule.{{Sfn-ua|{{citation |last=Puri |first=Balraj |authorlink=Balraj Puri |title=5000 Years of Kashmir |newspaper=Epilogue |volume=3 |number=6 |date=June 2009 |pp=43–45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5EWo7eszcbgC&pg=PA45&dq|access-date=31 December 2016}} Christopher Snedden states that the Mughals began a process of psychological warfare against Kashmiris to strip them of their martial capabilities. After this, neighbouring ethnic groups started stereotyping Kashmiris as a 'cowardly' and 'non-martial' race.{{sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=33}}

Conversely, Akbar also reduced the land revenue demand from two-thirds, as it was earlier, to one-half of the produce.^[23] Kashmiri Hindus also felt a respite from the severe persecution they faced under the earlier Kashmiri Muslim rule.{{Sfn|Kaw, Kashmir and its People|2004|p=115}}

The Mughals maintained a large military presence in the valley and were not interested in developing the productive sectors although they patronised art and constructed some pleasure gardens and a few mosques. While many histories of Kashmir consider the Kashmir Valley's incorporation into Mughal India as a decline of Kashmiri independence and cultural identity, Chitralekha Zutshi argues that Kashmiri poets began to consciously articulate their sense of regional belonging during the Mughal rule. According to M.J. Akbar, the clash of cultures between Delhi and Kashmir resulted in Kashmiris wishing for nothing more than to be left alone.{{Sfn|Chen & Shih, Borderland Politics in Northern India|2016|p=43}}

Afghan Rule (1750s–1819)

In 1751, the Afghans, ruled by Ahmad Shah Durrani, absorbed Kashmir into the Durrani Empire. The Afghans were cruel, especially to Kashmir's Hindus. However, Kashmiri historians state that the Afghans were brutally repressive to all Kashmiris, regardless of religion.{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=35}} The Afghans extorted money from the locals and both Kashmiri men and women lived in fear of their lives. The Afghans sent many Kashmiris as slaves to Afghanistan. During Afghan dominance, the shawl industry declined, probably due to heavy taxes. According to scholars Chitralekha Zutshi and Janet Rizvi, the Afghan brutality caused many Kashmiri shawl-weavers to flee to Punjab.{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=84}}{{Sfn|Rizvi, Trans-Himalayan Caravans|2001|p=60}} However, due to the administrative experience of Kashmiri Pandits, the Afghans utilised their services. Kashmiri Pandits were not prevented from entering into government service. George Foster, who visited Kashmir during the Afghan rule, documented the oppression of Kashmiris by Afghans. He writes:{{Sfn|Chen|Shih|2015|p=43}}

The Afghans would never issue an order without a blow of the side of hatchet (battle axe). Karim Dad Khan in a mood of enjoyment would tie up the inhabitants by back in pairs and drop them in the river.

Sikh Empire (1820–1846)

In 1819 Kashmir came under Maharajah Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire and Sikh rule over Kashmir lasted for 27 years till 1846. These 27 years of Sikh rule saw 10 Governors in Kashmir. Of these 10 Governors five were Hindus, three were Sikhs and two were Muslims.{{Sfn|Fahim, Centuries' Subjugation Kicks off a Bitter Struggle|2011|p=259}} Due to the fact that Kashmiris had suffered under the Afghan rulers, they initially welcomed the Sikh rule.{{Sfn|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2000|pp=4–5}} However, the Sikhs oppressed the population.{{Sfn|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2010|p=18}} Scholar Christopher Snedden states that the Sikhs exploited Kashmiris regardless of religion.{{sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=65}}

During the Sikh rule the mostly illiterate Muslim population suffered under heavy taxation, rural indebtedness and discrimination.{{Sfn|Amin & Schofield, Kashmir|2009}} The Sikhs had enacted a number of anti-Muslim policies, thus subjecting the Muslim majority population of the Valley to a number of hardships in the practice of their religion. The central mosque, Jama Masjid, was closed for 20 years and Muslims were prohibited from issuing the azan (call to prayer). If a Sikh murdered a Hindu the compensation amount allowed was four rupees. However, if a Sikh murdered a Muslim the compensation amount allowed was only two rupees. According to Prem Nath Bazaz the effect of the Sikh rule was that the people of the valley came to be known as 'zulum parast' (those who worship tyranny), lost their military culture and were meekened and made docile.{{Sfn|Fahim, Centuries' Subjugation Kicks off a Bitter Struggle|2011|p=259}}

During the Sikh rule, Europeans who visited the Valley documented the deprivation and starvation and also wrote of the abject poverty of the peasantry and the exorbitant taxes under the Sikhs. According to European traveller Moorcraft, no more than one-sixteenth of the cultivable land surface was under cultivation and due to starvation many people had fled to other parts of India.{{Sfn||Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2010|p=118}} Kashmiri histories also emphasise the wretchedness of life for common Kashmiris during the Sikh rule. They state that the peasants were embroiled in destitution and large numbers of Kashmiri villagers increasingly emigrated to the Punjab plains. Contemporary accounts by European travellers substantiate these statements.{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=40}} Moorcroft was accompanied by 500 emigrants in 1823 when he departed the Kashmir Valley.{{Sfn|Parashar|2004|p=4}} The Sikhs lost their independence with the Battle of Subraon. In 1846 Kashmir came under the rule of Gulab Singh, a Hindu Dogra Maharajah under the British suzerainty.{{sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=65}}

1833 Famine

The 1833 famine caused many people to leave the Kashmir Valley and migrate to the Punjab, with the majority of weavers leaving Kashmir. Generations of weavers entered urban Punjab, including Jammu and Nurpur{{dn|date=March 2019}}.{{Sfn|Baron|Hugel|1984|p=20}} Due to the famine, the Punjabi city of Amritsar witnessed a significant Kashmiri immigration.^[24] Thousands of people died during the famine of 1833 and both the famine and emigration caused a diminution of the population to a quarter. Muslims were more impacted than Hindus and emigrated in larger numbers.{{Sfn|Parashar|2004|pp=4–5}}

Dogra Regime (1846–1947)

Scholars have noted that during the Hindu monarchy, a Hindu elite heavily exploited the Kashmiri Muslims.^[25]{{Sfn|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002|p=352}}{{Sfn|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015|p=29}} Sumantra Bose describes the 100 year Dogra regime as a disaster for the Muslim peasantry of Kashmir Valley.{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|pp=233–234}} Walter Lawrence described the conditions of the Valley's peasantry as being 'desperate' and noted that the Valley's peasantry attributed their miseries to the Maharajah's deputies rather than the rulers themselves. The state officials apparently kept the rulers from knowing the conditions of the Muslim peasantry in the Valley.{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|p=233-234}}

Lawrence especially criticised the state officials who were Kashmiri Pandits{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|p=233-234}} Lawrence provided evidence that while many of the Kashmiri Pandit officials may have been "individually gentle and intelligent, as a body they were cruel and oppressive." Kashmiri Pandits had entered the state administrative machinery during the Afghan period and by the Dogra period they had become entrenched in the lower levels of the state bureaucracy. However, the Pandits were, like all Kashmiris, excluded from the upper sections of the bureaucracy, although they continued to exercise control in the countryside.{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=52}}

Wingate and Lawrence both spent time in the rural areas of Kashmir and documented the tensions between the Kashmiri Muslim cultivators and the Kashmiri Pandits. However, while both acknowledged the oppression of Kashmiri Muslims and the responsibility of the Kashmiri Pandits in aggravating the former's conditions, they both proposed different solutions with Wingate calling for the removal of privileges held by the Pandit community and Lawrence not demanding the elimination of the privileges in his solution for relieving the Muslim cultivators.{{Sfn|Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects|2004|pp=148–149}}

Gawasha Nath Kaul described the poor conditions of the Valley's Muslim population in his book Kashmir Then And Now and in it he wrote that 90 percent of Muslim households in Srinagar were mortgaged to Hindu moneylenders. He recorded that Muslims were not present in the State's civil administration and were not permitted to hold officer positions in the military.{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|p=211}}

Prem Nath Bazaz, one of the few Kashmiri Pandits who joined the movement for change, described the poor conditions of the Valley's Muslim population as such:{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|p=211}}

The poverty of the Muslim masses is appalling. Dressed in rags and barefoot, a Muslim peasant presents the appearance of a starved beggar...Most are landless laborers, working as serfs for absentee landlords.

1878 Famine

There was a famine in Kashmir between 1877-9 and the death toll from this famine was overwhelming by any standards. Some estimated that Srinagar lost half its population. Others estimated that the Valley lost up to 60 percent of its population.{{Sfn|Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects|2004|p=148-149}} No Pandit died during the famine, as stated by the reports which Lawrence obtained. Wazir Punnu, the Kashmiri Pandit Prime Minister during the famine apparently claimed there "was no real distress and that he wished that no Musulman might be left alive from Srinagar to Rambhan (in Jammu)."{{Sfn|Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects|2004|p=151}}

Despite the ban on leaving the state, everyone wanted to leave the Valley either temporarily or permanently. Lawrence described the situation when the government of the day lifted the ban on free movement after the deadly famine.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

The lifting of the ban witnessed a stampede, it appeared as if a bund had suddenly collapsed, for a sea of humanity, drawn from every town and village, was moving towards the snow clad passes, on their way to the land of hope – the British India...the migration was so extensive that according to the 1891 census Report of Punjab, 1,11,775 Muslims born in Kashmir were counted as having settled in the Punjab.^[26]

The shawl industry was damaged as a result of the famine and the Dogra state's attempts to resuscitate it also did not succeed because the famine had caused many weavers to leave the Valley for good and settle in the Punjabi towns of Amritsar, Lahore, Ludhiana, Nurpur, Gujrat, Gurdaspur, Sialkot, Chamba, Kangra and Simla. The weavers introduced their art to the towns they settled in.^{[27][28][29][30]}

Thus, in the late nineteenth{{Sfn|Bose, Transforming India|2013|p=211}} and early twentieth centuries,{{Sfn|Sevea, The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal|2012|p=16}} there had been a significant migration of Kashmiri Muslims from the Kashmir Valley to the Punjab, due to such conditions of famine in the princely state and also because of extreme poverty{{Sfn|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002|p=352}} and harsh treatment by the Dogra Hindu regime (according to Prem Nath Bazaz the Kashmiri Muslims faced this harsh treatment because of their religion).{{Sfn|Chowdhary|2015|p=8}} By 1911, over 200,000 Kashmiris were resident in Punjab and NWFP.{{Sfn|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002|p=352}}

Culture

Cuisine

Kashmiri cuisine holds a unique place among different world cuisines. Since ancient times the staple in Kashmiri diet has been rice.{{sfn|Bamzai, Ancient Kashmir|1994|p=243}} Meat, along with rice, is the most popular food item in Kashmir.{{Sfn-ua|{{harvtxt|Kaw, Kashmiri Pandits|2001|p=98}} Kashmiris eat meat in great quantities.{{Sfn-ua |{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XebnnGIjiogC&pg=PA64&dq= |title=Epilogue, Vol 3, issue 9 |last=Press |first=Epilogue |publisher=Epilogue -Jammu Kashmir}} Despite being Brahmin, Kashmiri Pandits also consume meat heavily.^[31] Salted tea or Noon Chai is the traditional drink and is cooked in a samavar, a Kashmiri tea-pot. Kehwa, traditional green tea with spices and almond, is served on special occasions and festivals. Kashmiri weddings incorporate a traditional feast known as Wazwan,^[32] which typically includes spicy food cooked by the traditional cooks (waz). The concept of Wazwan is 500 years old and originates in Central Asia. Rice and meat are central to the feast.^[33]

Language

Kashmiri is believed to be the only one among the Dardic languages that has a written literature.^[34] Kashmiri literature dates back to over 750 years, comparable to that of most modern languages.^[39] Kashmiri poets and writers like Mehjoor, Abdul Ahad Azad, etc. enriched the literature with their poetry.^[40]

Religious traditions

The Kashmir Valley has a 700-year-old tradition of Sufism. The Kashmir Valley is known as the ‘Pir Waer’, meaning the ‘Alcove of Sufis and Saints’.^[41] Sufism was introduced to Kashmir almost simultaneously with the foundation of Muslim rule.^[42] Kashmiris take pride in inhabiting a cultural space between Sufi Islam and Vedic Hinduism. Both the Pandits and Muslims of Kashmir respect the Shaivite mystic Lala Ded, who symbolises Kashmir's syncretic culture^[43] and both Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Hindus also hold the shrine of Dastgeer Sahib in high esteem. People in Kashmir pay regular visits to the shrines of Sufi saints for peace of mind. It has also been a centuries-old tradition in Kashmir for Sufi disciples to recite special 'Wazaif'.^[41]

In contrast, the introduction of Salafism to Kashmir only goes back to a hundred years. Salafis remained on the fringes of Kashmir's religious and cultural life since belief in the local traditions of Sufi Islam was very strong in the Valley. But this has begun to change since the insurgency in Kashmir since the late 1980s. Pakistani-trained jihadi groups hijacked the local sentiment for freedom and transformed the Kashmiri struggle into a continuation of their holy war for an Islamic caliphate, by playing on the fears of the people that Kashmir's Muslim identity was under threat of erasure.^[44] However, there has also been a proliferation in the number of Barelvi groups, claiming to be custodians of the Valley's Sufi moorings, which have sprung up to challenge the growing power of the Wahhabi faith.^[45]

Arts and crafts

The missionary saint Shah Hamadan brought Pashm wool to Kashmir from Ladakh and started various pashmina works. Since then pashmina has been used in several textiles in Kashmir and the Valley became a stronghold of pashmina. According to Moti Lal Saqi the shawl industry in Kashmir was made prominent by Mir Syed Ali Hamadani who was accompanied by both religious scholars and expert craftsmen and artists from Central Asia. Hamadani encouraged the practice of shawl weaving and cultural relations were thus established between Kashmir and Central Asia. There is a consensus among researchers that Shah Hamadan's arrival heralded the great advancement in the arts and crafts of Kashmir since 713 people of various professions had entered the Valley, accompanying Shah Hamadan. At the time it is said there were about twelve thousand idol-makers in the valley who had been rendered jobless since Islam does not approve idol-carving. Syed Ali Hamadani assisted them to find earnings by encouraging them to take to stone-carving and other arts and crafts practised by his associates who had accompanied him to Kashmir.{{Sfn|Rafiabadi, Saints and Saviours|2005|p=259-260}}

Krams (Surnames)

After Kashmiri Hindus had converted to Islam they largely retained their family names (kram) which indicated their original profession, locality or community.{{Sfn|Brower|Johnston|2016|p=130}} These included surnames such as Butt/ Bhat,{{Sfn|Brower|Johnston|2016|p=130}} Pandit (Brahmin), Dar (Kashmiri Pandit)^[49], Tantre (Tantray), Magre (Magray), Mantu, Wain, Nayak, Parry, Rather and Yatoo etc.^[50]

Population

Kashmiri Muslims

The 1921 Census report stated that Kashmiri Muslims formed 31% of the Muslim population of the entire princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.^[51] The 1921 Census report also stated that Kashmiri Muslims are sub-divided into numerous sub-castes such as Butt, Dar, Wain etc.^[52][53]

The 1931 Census report also reiterated that the 'Kashmiri Muslim' population occupied the foremost position in the State (other communities in the princely State being Arains, Jats, Sudhans, Gujjars and Rajputs etc.).^[54] It recorded the Kashmiri Muslim population as 1,352,822.^[55] The 1931 Census report explains that the 'phenomenal' increase in the number of Kashmiri Muslims by 556,018 was due to several other castes such as Hajjam, Hanji, Sayed being merged into the community.^[56][57]

The 1931 Census report stated that the Butt, Dar, Ganai, Khan, Lone, Malik, Mir, Pare, Rather, Shah, Sheikh and Wain were the most important sub-castes among Kashmiri Muslims.^[58] Below are the population figures for the various sub-castes among the Kashmiri Muslim population according to the 1931 Census.^[59]

A few largest of the numerous Kashmiri sub-divisions in the Punjab are as follows, as per the 1881 Punjab Census Report: Butt (24,463), Lone (4,848), Dar (16, 215), Wain (7,419), Mir (19,855) and Sheikh (15,902). The 1881 Census notes that the distribution of these Kashmiri sub-divisions do not appear to follow any rule.^[60]

Kashmiri Hindus

The following data is from the 1931 Census.^[61]

Diaspora

Muslim

In the early twentieth century, famine and the policies of the Dogra rulers drove many Kashmiri Muslims to flee their native land to Punjab.^[62]{{Sfn|Sevea, The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal|2012|p=16}} Earlier, Afghan brutality and the oppression and poverty during the Sikh rule had also caused Kashmiri migrations to the Punjab.{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=40}}{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=84}} Kashmiri Muslims came to constitute an important segment of several Punjabi cities such as Sialkot, Lahore, Amritsar and Ludhiana.{{Sfn|Sevea, The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal|2012|p=16}} Kashmiri Muslim immigrants from the Valley were a fifth of Amritsar's Muslim population in 1921.^[63]

Historian Zutshi writes ″With the integration of the Valley and British India, increasing numbers of Muslims had begun travelling to the Punjab. It is noted in the Census of 1921 that, the Kashmiri not only contributes to the growth of population in the state, but he adds considerably to the population of all important towns in the Punjab, which are situated along the State border or the main railway line.″{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=157}} Notable Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah said of Kashmiris in Punjab;^[64]

My stay at Lahore, for other reasons, awakened me from the slumber and made me familiar with new spirits. I saw Kashmiri Muslims in big bands leaving their beautiful land for the hard plains of Punjab in search of livelihood. These labourers had to cross on foot the snowy mountains of Mari and Banihall and had to face thousands of odds in their way. Sometimes, while crossing the mountains, these people were perishing as a result of difficult passes, snowstorms, etc. these unfortunate people were dying unwept and unsung. It was not easy once reaching the plains; there they had to face numerous odds and worries. During the day they wandered through the streets in search of work. Some worked as wood cutters, some as helpers to the shopkeepers, some carried heavy loads on their backs while some of them did grinding. After doing hard work during the day, they earned very little money of which maximum was spent on their meals. They passed their nights either in any inn or mosque, where they were harassed like dumb driven cattle.

Scholar Ayesha Jalal states that Kashmiris faced discrimination in the Punjab as well.{{Sfn|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002|p=352}} Kashmiris settled for generations in the Punjab were disqualified from taking advantage of the Punjab Land Alienation Act,{{Sfn|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002|p=352}} and most Kashmiri families in Punjab did not own land.{{Sfn|Sevea, The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal|2012|p=16}} Zutshi states that Kashmiri Muslims settled in the Punjab maintained emotional and familial links to Kashmir and sensed an obligation to struggle for the freedom of their people in the Valley{{Sfn|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|pp=191–192}}

Almost the entire of East Punjab's Muslim population migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India.^[65] Kashmiris who migrated from Amritsar in 1947 have had an extensive influence on Lahore's contemporary cuisine and culture.^[74][66] An exclusive research conducted by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” has shown that the Kashmiri community has been involved in spearheading the power politics of Lahore district since 1947.^[67] Pockets of Amritsari Kashmiri power can also be found in every major city of central Punjab in Pakistan.^[68]

Notable members of the Kashmiri Muslim diaspora in Punjab include Pakistan's current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (paternal and maternal ancestries from Anantnag and Pulwama respectively), Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and politicians Sheikh Rasheed & Khawaja Asif.^[69] Other famous members of the Kashmiri Muslim diaspora in Punjab included Muhammad Iqbal (who was attached to his Brahmin ancestry{{Sfn|Sevea, The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal|2012|p=16}} and whose poetry displayed a keen sense of belonging to the Kashmir Valley){{Sfn|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002|p=352}} and famous writer Saadat Hasan Manto.^[70][71] {{quote |source= |The But/Butt of Punjab were originally Brahmin migrants from Kashmir during 1878 famine.^[72] | |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPmBAAAAMAAJ&q=bhat+butt+name+kashmir&dq=bhat+butt+name+kashmir&hl=en&ei=ddEbTbSNOsKTnwf9v7mjDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBjgK |title=The Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, Volume 52 |Publisher=The Survey |URL access date=2010-12-02}}

Since the 1990s approximately 35,000 Kashmiri Muslims from Indian administered Kashmir have fled to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.^[73]

Hindu

160,000-170,000^[74] Kashmiri Pandits have also fled to India and to other parts of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. A number of Kashmiri organisations have been existence for over half a century in Delhi, including Kashmiri Pandit Sabha, Panun Kashmir, Vyeth Television, and N. S. Kashmir Research Institute.{{citation needed |date=March 2017}} Notable members of the Kashmiri Pandit diaspora in India include former Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

See also

• Kashmir Valley
• Kashmiri language
• Kashmiri diaspora
• Kashmiri Shaikh
• Kashmiris of Punjab
• List of Kashmiris
• Theory of Kashmiri descent from lost tribes of Israel
• Kashmiri Muslim tribes from Hindu lineage
• Kashmiriyat
• Kashmir conflict
• 1931 Kashmir agitation
• 1941 Census of Jammu and Kashmir
• All Parties Hurriyat Conference
• Elections in Jammu and Kashmir
• Tibetan Muslims

Notes

References

Bibliography

Encyclopedia

• {{citation |last1=Amin |first1=Tahir |last2=Schofield |first2=Victoria |chapter=Kashmir |editor=John L. Esposito |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic World |year=2009 |isbn=9780195305135 |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0433?_hi=3&_pos=48# |ref={{sfnref|Amin & Schofield, Kashmir|2009}}}}
• Khan, Nyla Ali. Kashmir. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women.
• {{Vitation | last =West | first =Barbara | year =2010| title =Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA372 }}

Scholarly books

• Ames, Frank (1986). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wT7rAAAAMAAJ The Kashmir shawl and its Indo-French influence]. Antique Collectors' Club. {{ISBN|9780907462620}}.
• {{Citation | last =Bhat | first =M. Ashraf | year =2017 | title =The Changing Language Roles and Linguistic Identities of the Kashmiri Speech Community | publisher =Cambridge Scholars Publishing | isbn =978-1-4438-6260-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eVwpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55}}
• {{citation |last=Bose |first=Sumantra |authorlink=Sumantra Bose |title=Transforming India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=reiwAAAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72819-6 |ref={{sfnref|Bose, Transforming India|2013}}}}
• Brower, Barbara; Johnston, Barbara Rose (2016). [https://books.google.com/books?id=hqwYDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&dq Disappearing Peoples?: Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in South and Central Asia]. Routledge. {{ISBN|9781315430393}}.
• C. Baron V. Hugel, Annotated By D.C. Sharma (1984). [https://books.google.com/books/about/Kashmir_Under_Maharaja_Ranjit_Singh.html?id=O2WSRW2t3XYC&redir_esc=y Kashmir Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.] Atlantic Publishers & Distributors Pvt Ltd. {{ISBN|9788171560943}}.
• {{citation |first=Rekha |last=Chowdhary |title=Jammu and Kashmir: Politics of Identity and Separatism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-2oCgAAQBAJ |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-41405-6}}
• {{citation |last1=Chen |first1=Yu-Wen |last2=Shih |first2=Chih-Yu |title=Borderland Politics in Northern India |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=9781317605171 |ref={{sfnref|Chen & Shih, Borderland Politics in Northern India|2016}}}}
• Drace-Francis, Alex, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1kwdBQAAQBAJ&dq=&redir_esc=yed. European Identity: a historical reader.] Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
• {{citation |last=Fahim |first=Farukh |chapter=Centuries' Subjugation Kicks off a Bitter Struggle |editor=Harsh Dobhal |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcbLvuT1jbkC&pg=PA259&dq=&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Writings on Human Rights, Law, and Society in India: A Combat Law Anthology : Selections from Combat Law, 2002-2010 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=CcbLvuT1jbkC |publisher=Human Rights Law Network/Socio Legal Information Centre |location=New Delhi |year=2011 |pp=258–264 |isbn=9788189479787 |ref={{sfnref|Fahim, Centuries' Subjugation Kicks off a Bitter Struggle|2011}}}}
• {{citation |last= Hangloo |first=Rattan Lal |title=The State in Medieval Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzduAAAAMAAJ |date=2000 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-81-7304-251-5 |ref={{sfnref|Hangloo, The State in Medieval Kashmir|2000}}}}
• {{citation |last=Jalal |first=Ayesha |authorlink=Ayesha Jalal |title=Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1850 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sa6CAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA482 |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-59937-0 |ref={{sfnref|Jalal, Self and Sovereignty|2002}}}}
• {{citation |title=Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir |first=Mridu |last=Rai | publisher=C. Hurst & Co |year=2004 |isbn=1850656614 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qTHTI-Eus8kC |ref={{sfnref|Rai, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects|2004}}}}
• {{citation |last=Schofield |first=Victoria |authorlink=Victoria Schofield |title=Kashmir in Conflict |publisher=I. B. Taurus & Co |location=London and New York |year=2000 |isbn=9781860648984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkTetMfI6QkC |ref={{sfnref|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2000}}}}
  • {{citation |last=Schofield |first=Victoria |title=Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaT3AgAAQBAJ |year=2010 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-0-85773-078-7 |ref={{sfnref|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2010}}}}
• {{citation |last=Sevea |first=Iqbal Singh |title=The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal: Islam and Nationalism in Late Colonial India |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=9781139536394 |location= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fk8hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16&dq |ref={{sfnref|Sevea, The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal|2012}}}}
• {{citation |last=Snedden |first=Christopher |title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5KMCwAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1-84904-342-7 |ref={{sfnref|Snedden, Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|2015}}}}
• Watt, George (2014). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0idOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA648&dq A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Part 2]. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781108068796}}.
• {{citation |last=Zutshi |first=Chitralekha |title=Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dlBjzE-1ML8C |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-85065-700-2 |ref={{sfnref|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004}}}}

Books

• {{citation |last=Bamzai |first=P. N. K. |authorlink=Prithivi Nath Kaul Bamzai |title=Culture and Political History of Kashmir: Ancient Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eMfzTBcXcYC |date=1994 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-85880-31-0 |ref={{sfnref|Bamzai, Ancient Kashmir|1994}}}}
• {{citation|last=Bamzai|first=Prithivi Nath Kaul|title=Culture and Political History of Kashmir: Medieval Kashmir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4ZuAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=M.D. Publications|isbn=978-81-85880-33-4 |ref={{sfnref|Bamzai, Medieval Kashmir|1994}}}}
• {{citation |last=Bakshi |first=S. R. |title=Kashmir Through Ages, Volume 2: Kashmir - Valley and its Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONDsQCO9yTQC&pg=PA247 |date=1997 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-85431-71-0 |ref={{sfnref|Bakshi, Kashmir Through Ages, Volume 2|1997}}}}
• {{citation |last=Bhandari |first=Mohan C. |title=Solving Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChbvL5i0O7YC|year=2006 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-81-7062-125-6}}
• Dar, P Krishna (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=PJNtAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT8&dq Kashmiri Cooking]. Penguin UK. {{ISBN|9789351181699}}.
• {{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMM-xRVr5qgC&pg=PA34&dq= |title=Kashmiri Pandits: Looking to the Future |last=Kaw |first=M.K. |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=9788176482363 |location= |ref={{sfnref|Kaw, Kashmiri Pandits|2001}}}}
• {{citation |title=Kashmir and its People: Studies in the evolution of Kashmiri society |series=Volume 4 of KECSS research series: Culture and heritage of Kashmir |first=M. K. |last=Kaw |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2004 |page=90 |isbn=978-81-7648-537-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpjKpK7ywPIC |ref={{sfnref|Kaw, Kashmir and its People|2004}}}}
• Madison Books; Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC; Corby Kummer (1 November 2007). 1001 Foods To Die For. Andrews McMeel Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7407-7043-2}}.
• {{citation |last=Hāṇḍā |first=Omacanda |title=Textiles, Costumes, and Ornaments of the Western Himalaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFPnh9B5zncC|year=1998 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=978-81-7387-076-7}}
• {{citation |first=Parmanand |last=Parashar |title=Kashmir The Paradise Of Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gylNFls7xxoC |date=2004 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-518-9}}
• {{citation |last=Rafiabadi |first=Hamid Naseem |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeK9w9P0sBQC |title=World Religions and Islam: A Critical Study, Part 2 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=9788176254144}}
• {{citation |last=Rafiabadi |first=Hamid Naseem |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysB4DTRgh5sC |title=Saints and Saviours of Islam |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-555-4 |ref={{sfnref|Rafiabadi, Saints and Saviours|2005}}}}
• {{citation |author=Janet Rizvi |title=Trans-Himalayan Caravans: Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsRIAAAAYAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565817-0 |ref={{sfnref|Rizvi, Trans-Himalayan Caravans|2001}}}}
• Solomon H. Katz; William Woys Weaver (2003). Encyclopedia of Food and Culture: Food production to Nuts. Scribner. {{ISBN|978-0-684-80566-5}}.
• The Panjab Past and Present. Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University. 1993. p. 22.

Journal articles

• Bhasin, M.K.; Nag, Shampa (2002). "A Demographic Profile of the People of Jammu and Kashmir"(PDF). Journal of Human Ecology
• {{Citation | last1 =Downie | first1 =J.M. | last2 =Tashi | first2 =T. | last3 =Lorenzo | first3 =F.R. | last4 =Feusier | first4 =J.E. | last5 =Mir | first5 =H. | last6 =Prchal | first6 =J.T. | title =A Genome-Wide Search for Greek and Jewish Admixture in the Kashmiri Population | journal =PLoS One |year=2016 |volume=11 |issue=8 |page=e0160614 | url =http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0160614| doi =10.1371/journal.pone.0160614 }}
• Journal of History. Department of History, Jadavpur University. 1981. p. 76.
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=gPmBAAAAMAAJ&q=bhat+butt+name+kashmir&dq=bhat+butt+name+kashmir&hl=en&ei=ddEbTbSNOsKTnwf9v7mjDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBjgK The Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, Volume 52]. The Survey.
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=SANuAAAAMAAJ&q=bhat+butt+surname+punjabi&dq=bhat+butt+surname+punjabi&hl=en&ei=ptMbTdAPzMucB5q0vNkN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg The quarterly journal of the Mythic society (Bangalore)., Volume 96]. The Society.

Primary sources

• {{citation|last=Lawrence|first=Sir Walter Roper|title=The Valley of Kashmir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqAHweWRUs0C|year=1895|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1630-1}}
• Mohamed, C K. Census of India, 1921. Vol. XXII: Kashmir. Part I: Report.
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=oxJDAAAAYAAJ&q=kashmiri+names+bat+dar+lone&dq=kashmiri+names+bat+dar+lone&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJp8_Hv5rRAhXKHZQKHbcDBDAQ6AEIHzAB Proceedings - Indian History Congress, Volume 63]. Indian History Congress. 2003.
• Punjab Census Report 17 Feb 1881. 1883.
• Ram, Anant; Raina, Hira Nand (1933). Census of India, 1931. Vol. XXIV: Jammu and Kashmir State. Part II: Imperial and State Tables.
• Sir George Watt (1903). Indian Art at Delhi 1903: Being the Official Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition 1902-1903. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. {{ISBN|978-81-208-0278-0}}.

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