When did Kashmir and Jammu exist?

Kashmir and Jammu existed 1846 – 1952. On this map it is drawn 1846–1884, 1947.

How large was Kashmir and Jammu?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Kashmir and Jammu covered about 182,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

South Asia · Company and Raj

Kashmir and Jammu

Princely state of British India · 1846 – 1952

The state was created by the Treaty of Amritsar, 16 March 1846: after defeating the Sikh Empire in the First Anglo-Sikh War, the British took Kashmir as war indemnity under the Treaty of Lahore (9 March 1846) and sold it to Gulab Singh Dogra, Raja of Jammu, for 75 lakh rupees, recognising also his earlier conquests in Ladakh and Baltistan.

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Type: Princely state of British India (21-gun salute state, under East India Company subsidiary alliance 1846–58, then Crown paramountcy)
Existed: 1846 – 1952
Shown on the map: 1846–1884, 1947 (2 periods)
Heartland: northern South Asia, spanning the Kashmir Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit
Peak area: ~182k km² (222,236 km² including frontier regions)
Region: South Asia

Origins and founding

Capitals and territory

Srinagar (summer) and Jammu (winter) were the twin capitals. Administratively the state comprised Jammu province, Kashmir province (Anantnag, Baramulla, Muzaffarabad), the frontier wazarats of Ladakh (Leh, Skardu, Kargil) and Gilgit (Gilgit, Astore) with the frontier illaqas (Hunza, Nagar, Chilas, etc.), and the internal jagirs of Poonch, Bhaderwah and Chenani.

Major rulers and key events

Gulab Singh (1846–1857) founded the Dogra state; his successors Ranbir Singh, Pratap Singh and Hari Singh (1925–1947) followed. Dogra rule over a ~77% Muslim population (1941 population 4.02 million) bred chronic grievance; Kashmiri political mobilisation grew in the 1930s. In 1947 Maharaja Hari Singh hesitated over accession; an uprising in the western districts and the invasion of 22 October 1947 by tribal militias from Pakistan's North-West Frontier forced his hand, and he signed the Instrument of Accession to India on 26–27 October 1947, triggering the First Kashmir War.

Government, economy and culture

A monarchy advised from 1917 by prime ministers (dewans), including figures such as Sir N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Sir B. N. Rau and Mehr Chand Mahajan. Languages included Kashmiri, Dogri, Ladakhi, Balti and others; religions were Islam (majority), Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The state continued the unpopular begar (forced labour) system inherited from Sikh times.

Decline and end

The 1947 war and a UN-mediated ceasefire (1 January 1949) partitioned the state: the west and north became Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, while the remainder acceded to India as the state of Jammu and Kashmir; hereditary Dogra rule was formally abolished in 1952. China later took control of Aksai Chin in eastern Ladakh.

Legacy and significance

The 1846 sale created South Asia's most durable territorial dispute — the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, with wars in 1947–48, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and an unresolved UN dimension to this day.

Common questions

What was Kashmir and Jammu?: The state was created by the Treaty of Amritsar, 16 March 1846: after defeating the Sikh Empire in the First Anglo-Sikh War, the British took Kashmir as war indemnity under the Treaty of Lahore (9 March 1846) and sold it to Gulab Singh Dogra, Raja of Jammu, for 75 lakh rupees, recognising also his earlier conquests in Ladakh and Baltistan.
When did Kashmir and Jammu exist?: Kashmir and Jammu existed 1846 – 1952. On this map it is drawn 1846–1884, 1947.
How large was Kashmir and Jammu?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Kashmir and Jammu covered about 182,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Where was Kashmir and Jammu?: Srinagar (summer) and Jammu (winter) were the twin capitals. Administratively the state comprised Jammu province, Kashmir province (Anantnag, Baramulla, Muzaffarabad), the frontier wazarats of Ladakh (Leh, Skardu, Kargil) and Gilgit (Gilgit, Astore) with the frontier illaqas (Hunza, Nagar, Chilas, etc.), and the internal jagirs of Poonch, Bhaderwah and Chenani.
Who ruled Kashmir and Jammu?: Gulab Singh (1846–1857) founded the Dogra state; his successors Ranbir Singh, Pratap Singh and Hari Singh (1925–1947) followed. Dogra rule over a ~77% Muslim population (1941 population 4.02 million) bred chronic grievance; Kashmiri political mobilisation grew in the 1930s.
How did Kashmir and Jammu end?: The 1947 war and a UN-mediated ceasefire (1 January 1949) partitioned the state: the west and north became Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, while the remainder acceded to India as the state of Jammu and Kashmir; hereditary Dogra rule was formally abolished in 1952. China later took control of Aksai Chin in eastern Ladakh.
How was Kashmir and Jammu governed?: A monarchy advised from 1917 by prime ministers (dewans), including figures such as Sir N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Sir B. N. Rau and Mehr Chand Mahajan.
Why does Kashmir and Jammu still matter?: The 1846 sale created South Asia's most durable territorial dispute — the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, with wars in 1947–48, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and an unresolved UN dimension to this day.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Jammu and Kashmir (princely state) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_and_Kashmir_(princely_state)

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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