This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Islescape (talk | contribs) at 11:30, 1 July 2008 (interwiki). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 11:30, 1 July 2008 by Islescape (talk | contribs) (interwiki)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Kashmir and Jammu | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princely State | |||||||||
| 1947 | |||||||||
 Map of Kashmir | |||||||||
| Historical era | New Imperialism | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Kashmir and Jammu was an autonomous princely state adjacent to the territories of British India ruled by a Maharaja. The boundaries of the state were set by the Treaty of Amritsar of 1846 "situated to the eastward of the river Indus and westward of the river Ravi." The state covered an area of 80,900 square miles, extending from 32° 17′ to 36° 58′ N. and from 73° 26′ to 80° 30′ E. After the departure of the British in 1947 the state was split between Pakistan and India as war erupted between the neighbours.
Geography
Jammu was the southern most part of the state and was adjacent to the Punjab districts of Jhelum, Gujrat, Sialkot, and Gurdaspur. There is just a fringe of level land along the Punjab frontier, bordered by a plinth of low hilly country sparsely wooded, broken, and irregular. This is known as the Kandi, the home of the Chibs and the Dogras. To travel north a range of mountains, 8,000 feet high, must be climbed. This is a temperate country with forests of oak, rhododendron, and chestnut, and higher up of deodar and pine, a country of beautiful uplands, such as Bbadarwah and Kishtwar, drained by the deep gorge of the Chenab river. The steps of the Himalayan range known as the Pir Panjal lead to the second storey; on which rests the exquisite valley of Kashmir, drained by the Jhelum river.
Up steeper flights of the Himalayas led to Astore and Baltistan on the north and to Ladakh on the east, a tract drained by the river Indus. In the back premises, faraway to the north-west, lies Gilgit, west and north of the Indus, the whole area shadowed by a wall of giant mountains which run east from the Kilik or Mintaka passes of the Hindu Kush, leading to the Pamirs and the Chinese dominions past Rakaposhi (25,561 feet), along the Muztagh range past K2 (Godwin Austen, 28,265 feet), Gasherbrum and Masherbrum (28,100 and 28,561 feet respectively) to the Karakoram range which merges in the Kunlun Mountains. Westward of the northern angle above Hunza-Nagar the mighty maze of mountains and glaciers trends a little south of east along the Hindu Kush range bordering Chitral, and so on into the limits of Kafiristan and Afghan territory.
Transport
There used to be a route from Kohala to Leh, it was possible to travel from Rawalpindi via Kohala and over the Kohala Bridge into Kashmir. There was also a cart-road from Kohala to Srinagar - a distance of 132 miles.
See also
References
- ^ Kashmīr and Jammu - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 72.
- Kashmīr and Jammu - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 79.
