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Northwest India
Country	India
States and territories	Jammu and Kashmir Ladakh Himachal Pradesh Punjab Haryana Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Chandigarh National Capital Territory of Delhi
Largest city	New Delhi
Most populous cities (2011)	New Delhi Lucknow Agra Srinagar Amritsar
Area
• Total	836,566 km (323,000 sq mi)
Population
• Total	368,791,165
• Density	440/km (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Native languages	Kashmiri Punjabi Haryanvi Hindi Ladakhi Marwari

Northwest India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of northwestern states of the Republic of India. It generally includes the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and often Uttar Pradesh, along with the Union territories of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh and National Capital Territory of Delhi. The mountainous upper portion of Northwest India comprises of Western Himalayas, while the flat lower portion comprises of the upper and middle Indo-Gangetic plains including the Thar.

From the ancient period, the region was subject to foreign invasions, it was part of Indo-Greek Kingdom, followed by the Kushan Empire. The Kingdom of Kashmir existed for a large portion of history until the formation of the Indian Union. The region was invaded by the Islamic Caliphate and the Ghorid Empire. In the later Mughal era, the region was invaded by Iran and Afghanistan. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Punjab region was ruled by Sikh Misls. The Rajputs ruled the Thar region and occasionally the upper plains from the mediaeval era till the formation of the Indian Union.

History

The region was a part of the Indus Valley civilisation until it decayed and following the Indo-Aryan migrations, the Kingdom of Kashmir in Kashmir region and other small kingdoms in the upper Gangetic plain were established during the Vedic era. The surrounding region was part of the First Persian Empire until it was briefly conquered by the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great, following which it was conquered by the Magadhan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya. The western part of the Magadhan Empire eventually broke apart and became the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The kingdom collapsed into multiple small kingdoms. The region was eventually conquered by the Kushan Empire.

In the third century CE the Kushan Empire fell apart. The region was conquered by the Magadhan Empire which had been restored Chandragupta I of the House of Gupta. The region was then conquered by the Huns who soon broke apart and the region became part of the Kingdom of Sthanisvara. The kingdom soon fell apart and the region became a part of the Kingdom of Kannauj.

The eighteenth century saw the beginning of the Kannauj Wars between the Kingdom of Gujarat (under the Rajput Pratihara dynasty) and the Kingdom of Bengal (under the House of Pala), also joined by the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta. The war was won by the Gurjara Kingdom. The kingdom however collapsed and the region came under the rule of multiple Rajput clans.

In the late twelfth century, the region was conquered by the Ghorid Empire which fell apart and the Indian part went to his general Qutub-ud-din Aibak, who proclaimed himself the Sultan of Delhi in 1206. This region was the core of the Delhi Sultanate for the following centuries. The Delhi Sultanate defeated the Mongol Empire and saved India from the destruction that had met Central and Western Asia. In 1526, Babur, Emir of Kabul, defeated Ibrahim Lodhi, Sultan of Delhi and took over the sultanate. Following this, he defeated the Rajput Confederation and proclaimed himself the Shahenshah of Hindustan. The Hindustani Empire was ruled by the House of Babur (Mughal dynasty) hereon. Akbar the Great conquered the Kingdom of Kashmir and brought the Rajput kingdoms under his suzerainty.

In the eighteenth century, Punjab region broke free, and the Sikh Confederacy was established in the region. The remaining portion remained a part of the empire. During this period, the region and the empire was invaded by the Iranian Empire, followed by the Afghan Empire. The East India Company conquered Punjab in 1849, while the Doab region had been ceded to the Company in 1783. The Kingdom of Kashmir was re-established. The Doab region was the centre of the Rebellion of 1857-58 against the East India Company when Bahadur Shah Zafar who had been downgraded to King of Delhi by the East India Company after they gained immense power in India, was re-declared the Shahenshah of Hindustan by rebel troops of the East India Company's Bengal Army. The rebellion was crushed after the United Kingdom got involved and East India Company's territories (British India) came under the rule of the British monarch. The various alliances and treaties with various kingdoms and states (such as the Kingdom of Kashmir and Punjab and Rajput states) made by the East India Company were transferred to the British Crown as well. In 1876, Victoria was declared the Empress of India, and the Indian Empire was established consisting of British India and the various princely states.

In 1947, the Indian Empire was dissolved and British India was partitioned as the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The various princely states acceded to one of the two states.

Geography

The region is consisted of three main regions. The northern part is mountainous and includes the Western Himalayas and extends into the Tibetan plateau. The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand are located in the Western Himalayas. The union-governed territory of Ladakh is the western part of the Tibetan plateau.

The southern region is flat and consists of the upper and middle Indo-Gangetic plains and the Thar Desert. The states of Punjab and Haryana are located in the Upper Gangetic plain along with the territories of Chandigarh and National Capital Territory, and the state of Uttar Pradesh is located in the middle Gangetic plain or the Doab region. The state of Rajasthan extends across the Thar Desert and a small part of the Gangetic plain.

Languages

The languages spoken in this region belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family of the Indo-European languages. The languages belong to six main branches: Dardic languages, Pahari languages, North Western Indo-Aryan languages, Rajasthani languages and Central Indo-Aryan languages. Kashmiri and Dogri of Pahari languages is spoken in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjabi of North-Western Indo-Aryan languages is spoken in Punjab, Kumaoni and Garhwali of Pahari languages are spoken in Uttarakhand, Himachali languages of Pahari languages are spoken in Himachal Pradesh, Haryanvi of Central Indo-Aryan languages is spoken in Haryana, Hindi and Awadhi of Central Indo-Aryan languages are spoken in Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthani languages are spoken Rajasthan.

See also

References

1. Mitigation, Management and Control of Floods in South Asia Volume One. UN Habitat. Inland drainage in India is mainly ephemeral and almost entirely in the arid and semiarid part of northwestern India, particularly in the Great Indian Desert of Rajasthan,
2. Thrope, Edgar. The Pearson CSAT Manual. The LHs (Himachal) Located in northwestern India in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, in north-central India in the state of Sikkim, and in northeastern India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh-range from 1,500 to 5,000 m in height
3. Singh 2009, pp. 260–265. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSingh2009 (help)
4. Kulke & Rothermund 2004, pp. 53–54. sfn error: no target: CITEREFKulkeRothermund2004 (help)
5. Ludden 2002, p. 68. sfn error: no target: CITEREFLudden2002 (help)
6. Metcalf & Metcalf 2006, pp. 100–103. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMetcalfMetcalf2006 (help)
7. Brown 1994, pp. 85–86. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBrown1994 (help)