Kashmiris

The earliest known Neolithic sites in Kashmir valley are from c. 3000 BCE. The most important sites are at Burzahom.[7][8] During the later Vedic period, the Uttara–Kurus settled in Kashmir.[9][10] In 326 BCE, Abisares, the king of Kashmir,[lower-alpha 1] aided Porus against Alexander the Great in the Battle of Hydaspes. After the battle, Abhisares submitted to Alexander by sending him treasures and elephants.[12][13]

During the reign of Ashoka (304–232 BCE), Kashmir became part of the Maurya Empire and the city of Srinagari (Srinagar) was built.[14] Kanishka (127–151 CE), an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, conquered Kashmir.[15] In the eighth century, during the Karkota Empire, Kashmir grew as an imperial power.[16] Lalitaditya Muktapida defeated Yashovarman of Kanyakubja and conquered the eastern kingdoms of Magadha, Kamarupa, Gauda, and Kalinga. He defeated the Arabs at Sindh.[17][18][16] The Utpala dynasty, founded by Avantivarman, followed the Karkotas.[19] Queen Didda, who descended from the Hindu Shahis of Udabhandapura on her mother's side, took over as ruler in the second half of the 10th century.[16] After her death in 1003 CE the Lohara dynasty ruled the region.[20]

In 1339 Shah Mir became the ruler of Kashmir, establishing the Shah Mir dynasty. During the rule of the Shah Mir dynasty Islam spread in Kashmir. From 1586 to 1751 the Mughal Empire ruled Kashmir. The Afghan Durrani Empire ruled from 1747 until 1819. The Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir in 1819. In 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Treaty of Lahore was signed and upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, became ruler of Kashmir. The rule of the Dogra dynasty under the British Crown lasted until 1947, when the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir became part of India. It is now a disputed territory, administered by three countries: India, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China.

There are about 6.8 million speakers of Kashmiri and related dialects in Jammu and Kashmir and amongst the Kashmiri diaspora in other states of India.[21] Most Kashmiris are located in the Kashmir Valley and other areas of Jammu and Kashmir.[22] In the Kashmir valley, they form a majority.

Kashmiri is spoken by roughly five percent of Azad Kashmir's population.[23] According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, there were 132,450 Kashmiri speakers in Azad Kashmir.[24] Native speakers of the language were dispersed in "pockets" throughout Azad Kashmir,[25][26] particularly in the districts of Muzaffarabad (15%), Neelam (20%) and Hattian (15%), with very small minorities in Haveli (5%) and Bagh (2%).[24] The Kashmiri spoken in Muzaffarabad is distinct from, although still intelligible with, the Kashmiri of the Neelam Valley to the north.[26] In Neelam Valley, Kashmiri is the second most widely spoken language and the majority language in at least a dozen or so villages, where in about half of these, it is the sole mother tongue.[26] The Kashmiri dialect of Neelum is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir Valley, particularly Kupwara.[26] At the 2017 Census of Pakistan, as many as 350,000 people declared their first language to be Kashmiri.[27][28]

A process of language shift is observable among Kashmiri-speakers in Azad Kashmir according to linguist Tariq Rahman, as they gradually adopt local dialects such as Pahari-Pothwari, Hindko or move towards the lingua franca Urdu.[29][25][30][26] This has resulted in these languages gaining ground at the expense of Kashmiri.[31][32] There have been calls for the promotion of Kashmiri at an official level; in 1983, a Kashmiri Language Committee was set up by the government to patronise Kashmiri and impart it in school-level education. However, the limited attempts at introducing the language have not been successful, and it is Urdu, rather than Kashmiri, that Kashmiri Muslims have seen as their identity symbol.[33] Rahman notes that efforts to organise a Kashmiri language movement have been challenged by the scattered nature of the Kashmiri-speaking community in Azad Kashmir.[33]

The Kashmiri language is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.[34] It was a part of the eighth Schedule in the former constitution of the Jammu and Kashmir. Along with other regional languages mentioned in the Sixth Schedule, as well as Hindi and Urdu, the Kashmiri language was to be developed in the state.[35]

(left)An example of early Sharada script, in the Bakhshali manuscript; (right) Stone Slab in Verinag in Perso-Arabic script

Persian began to be used as the court language in Kashmir during the 14th centuries, under the influence of Islam. It was replaced by Urdu in 1889 during the Dogra rule.[36][37] In 2020, Kashmiri became an official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time.[38][39][40]

Kashmiri is closely related to Poguli and Kishtwari, which are spoken in the mountains to the south of the Kashmir Valley and have sometimes been counted as dialects of Kashmiri.

Kashmiri Hindu priests in the 1890s

Kashmiri Hindus claim to be Saraswat Brahmins and are known by the exonym Pandit.[41] The Muslims living in Kashmir are of the same stock as the Kashmiri Pandit community and are designated as Kashmiri Muslims.[42] Kashmiri Muslims are descended from Kashmiri Hindus and are also known as 'Sheikhs'.[43][44][45] Both the Kashmiri Hindus and Muslim society reckons descent patrilineally. Certain property and titles may be inherited through the male line, but certain inheritances may accrue through the female line. After Kashmiri Hindus had converted to Islam they largely retained their family names (kram) which indicated their original profession, locality or community.[46] These include:

• Bhat, Bhatt, Butt[47][48][49][50]
• Dhar, Dar[48][49][50]
• Lone[50]
• Mantu/Mantoo/Mintoo[50]
• Ganai[50]
• Tantray[50]
• Mattoo
• Pandit[49]
• Rajguru
• Rather[50]
• Razdan
• Sapru
• Magre/Magray[50]
• Yatoo[50]
• Wani

Media related to Kashmiri people at Wikimedia Commons