| Conventional Long Name: | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Common Name: | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Status: | Princely state |
| Religion: | Hinduism (state), Islam (majority), Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism |
| Empire: | British Empire (till 1947) India (after 1947) |
| Common Languages: | Kashmiri, Dogri, Ladakhi, Balti, Shina, Pahari-Pothwari, Urdu |
| Title Leader: | Maharaja |
| Leader2: | Hari Singh (last) |
| Year Leader2: | 23 September 1925 – 17 November 1952 |
| Leader1: | Gulab Singh (first) |
| Year Leader1: | 16 March 1846 – 30 June 1857 |
| Title Deputy: | Dewan |
| Deputy1: | Mehr Chand Mahajan (first) |
| Year Deputy1: | 15 October 1947 – 5 March 1948 |
| Deputy2: | Sheikh Abdullah (last) |
| Year Deputy2: | 5 March 1948 – 17 November 1952 |
| Year Start: | 1846 |
| Event Start: | End of the First Anglo-Sikh War and formation of the state |
| Event1: | End of British Crown Suzerainty |
| Date Event1: | 15 Aug 1947 |
| Event2: | Beginning of the First Kashmir War |
| Date Event2: | 22 Oct 1947 |
| Event3: | Accession to the Indian Union |
| Date Event3: | 26–27 Oct 1947 |
| Event4: | End of First Kashmir War (cession of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) |
| Date Event4: | 1 January 1949 |
| Event5: | Constitutional state of India |
| Date Event5: | 17 November 1952 |
| Year End: | 1952 |
| Border P1: | no |
| Image Map Caption: | Map of Kashmir showing the borders of the princely state in dark red. |
| Today: | Disputed; see Kashmir conflict |
Jammu and Kashmir, also known as Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with the British East India Company from 1846 to 1858 and under the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown, from 1858 until the Partition of India in 1947, when it became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: China, India, and Pakistan.[1] [2] [3] The princely state was created after the First Anglo-Sikh War, when the East India Company, which had annexed the Kashmir Valley, from the Sikhs as war indemnity, then sold it to the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, for rupees 75 lakhs.
At the time of the partition of India and the political integration of India, Hari Singh, the ruler of the state, delayed making a decision about the future of his state. However, an uprising in the western districts of the state followed by an attack by raiders from the neighbouring Northwest Frontier Province, supported by Pakistan, forced his hand. On 26 October 1947, Hari Singh acceded[4] to India in return for the Indian military being airlifted to Kashmir, to engage the Pakistan-supported forces.[5] The western and northern districts now known as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan passed to the control of Pakistan after it occupied it,[6] while the remaining territory stayed under Indian control, later becoming the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.[7] India and Pakistan defined a cease-fire line—the line of control—dividing the administration of the territory with the intercession of the United Nations which was supposed to be temporary but still persists.[8] [9]
According to the census reports of 1911, 1921 and 1931, the administration was organised as follows:
In the 1941 census, further details of the frontier districts were given:
| Name | Took office | Left office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raja Sir Daljit Singh | 1917 | 1921 | |
| 2 | Raja Hari Singh | 1925 | 1927 | |
| 3 | Sir Albion Banerjee | January 1927 | March 1929 | |
| 4 | G. E. C. Wakefield | 1929 | 1931 | |
| 5 | Hari Krishan Kaul | 1931 | 1932 | |
| 6 | Elliot James Dowell Colvin | 1932 | 1936 | |
| 7 | Sir Barjor J. Dalal | 1936 | 1936 | |
| 8 | Sir N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar | 1937 | July 1943 | |
| 9 | Kailash Narain Haksar | July 1943 | February 1944 | |
| 10 | Sir B. N. Rau | February 1944 | 28 June 1945 | |
| 11 | Ram Chandra Kak | 28 June 1945 | 11 August 1947 | |
| 12 | Janak Singh | 11 August 1947 | 15 October 1947 | |
| 13 | Mehr Chand Mahajan | 15 October 1947 | 5 March 1948 | |
| 14 | Sheikh Abdullah | 5 March 1948 | 9 August 1953 |