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Sunday 29 September 2013

HISTORY OF KASHMIR

This article covers the history of kashmir  from earliest recorded times to the present day.                              


A Muslim shawl making family in                         Kashmir.         1867.Cashmere shawl manufactory, chromolith., William Simpson.
  

Etymology

   General view of Temple and  Enclosure of Marttand or the Sun, near Bhawan. Probable date of temple AD 490-555. Probable date of colonnade AD 693-729.Photograph of the Surya Temple atMartand in Jammu & Kashmir taken by John Burke in 1868.
According to folk etymology, the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit: Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). In the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir written by Kalhana in the mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake. According to Hindu mythology, the lake was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula). When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans to settle there. Rishi Kashyapa, reclaimed the land of the Kashmir valley from a vast lake, known as "Satisar", named after goddess Sati, the consort of Lord Shiva.[1] This is still the local tradition, and in the existing physical condition of the country, we may see some ground for the story which has taken this form. The name of Kashyapa is by history and tradition connected with the draining of the lake, and the chief town or collection of dwellings in the valley was called Kashyapa-pura or by other sources Kashyapa-mar, which has been identified with Kaspapyros ofHecataeus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44).[2] Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.[3] Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way.
According to the Mahabharata,[4] the Kambojas ruled Kashmir during the epic period with a Republican system of government[5] from the capital city of Karna-Rajapuram-gatva-Kambojah-nirjitastava.,[6][7]shortened to Rajapura,] which has been identified with modern Rajauri. Later, the Panchalas are stated to have established their sway. The name Peer Panjal, which is a part of modern Kashmir, is a witness to this fact. Panjal is simply a distorted form of the Sanskritic tribal term Panchala. The Muslims prefixed the word peer to it in memory of Siddha Faqir and the name thereafter is said to have changed into Peer Panjal.[13]
According to legend, Jammu was founded by Raja Jamboolochan in the 14th century BC. During one of his hunting campaigns he reached the Tawi River where he saw a goat and a lion drinking water at the same place. The king was impressed and decided to set up a town after his name, Jamboo. With the passage of time, the name was corrupted and became "Jammu".

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