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FACTS
& FIGURES
Area : 222,236 sq km
Population : 9,535,000 (1998)
Religion : Islam
Annual : Rainfall 619.66 mm
Capital : Srinagar (Summer), Jammu (Winter)
Languages : Urdu, Kashmiri, Hindi, Dogri, Pahari, Ladakhi
Literacy Rate : 26.67% (1981)
Urbanization Ratio : 23.83%
Best Time to Visit : April to June (Kashmir Valley),
October to March (Jammu Region)
INTRODUCTION
Situated in the northern part of India, Jammu &
Kashmir is the essence of everything that is Indian-its
culture, history, tradition, people, and natural splendor.
The state has a long history encompassing around 4,000
years and there are many prehistoric sites, which give
indication of human settlement in this region in those
times.
The state was integrated as a part of India in 1948,
when the then ruler of Jammu & Kashmir agreed to
join the Indian federation and the state was given a
special status under article 370 of the Indian constitution.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Location
Situated in the northernmost part of India, Jammu
and Kashmir is bordered by Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan
from West to East. From South to East, the boundary
of the state touches Punjab and Himachal. The state
extends between the latitudes 32°17¢N to 36°58’N
and longitudes 37°26¢E to 80°30¢E.
Physical Features
The state can be divided into four major
regions: the sub-mountain and semi-mountain plain known
as kandi or dry belt; the Shivalik ranges, the high
mountain zone constituting the Kashmir Valley; Pir Panchal
range and its off-shoots including Doda, Poonch and
Rajouri districts and part of Kathua and Udhampur districts;
and the middle run of the Indus River comprising Leh
and Kargil.
Climate
Although a small state, the climate
of this state varies from one region to another. The
climate of Jammu region is tropical while it is semi-arctic
in Ladakh and temperate in Srinagar region. Accordingly,
rainfall also varies from region to region and while
there is almost no rainfall in Ladakh, Jammu receives
a rainfall of above 1,100 mm and Srinagar around 650
mm.
Flora and Fauna
The state is rich in flora and fauna.
In Jammu, the flora ranges from the thorn bush type
of the arid plain to the temperate and alpine flora
of the higher altitudes. Of the broad-leaf trees, there
are maple, horse chestnuts, silver fir, etc. At the
higher altitudes, there are birch, rhododendron, and
a large number of herbal plants.
Kashmir is also resplendent with many hues of wood
and game. The most magnificent of the Kashmir trees
is the chinar found throughout the valley. Mountain
ranges in the valley have dense deodar, pine and fir.
Walnut, willow, almond and cider also add to the rich
flora of Kashmir.
In the hilly regions of Doda, Udhampur, Poonch and
Rajouri, there is a large and varied fauna including
leopard, cheetah and deer, wild sheep, bear, brown musk
shrew, and muskrat. Varieties of snakes, bats, lizards
and frogs are also found in the region. The game birds
in Jammu include chakor (Alectoris graeca), snow partridge,
pheasants, and peacock.
The dense forests of Kashmir are a delight to the sport
lovers and adventurers for whom there are ibex, snow
leopard, musk deer, wolf, red bear, black bear and leopard.
The winged game includes ducks, goose, partridge, chakor,
pheasant, wagtails, herons, water pigeons, warblers,
and doves. In the otherwise arid desert of Ladakh, some
240 species of local and migratory birds have been identified
including the black-necked crane.
The Ladakh fauna includes yak, Himalayan ibex, Tibetan
antelope, snow leopard, wild ass, red bear and gazelle.
HISTORY
The history of Jammu & Kashmir is
quite old. Kashmir is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata.
In 250 BC, Ashoka, the great Mauryan king, established
the city of Pandrethan and built many viharas and chaityas.
This says much about the strategic importance that this
region held even in that time. Some sources claim that
Buddha also visited this region, though no proof is
available to validate this theory. Kanishka, the great
Kushana king, called the Third Buddhist Council at Harwan,
near Srinagar, in the first century AD. This Council
saw the division of Buddhism in two distinct streams
called Hinayana and Mahayana.
Kalhana, the first Indian history writer, gave a vivid
account of the history of Kashmir before the 10th century
AD. Local kingdoms ruled extensively in this region
until the 12th century AD when Muslims invaded the region.
The greatest Muslim king of early medieval age in Kashmir
was Zain-ul-Abidin, who ascended the throne in AD 1420
and ruled up to 1470. His long rule contributed extensively
to the spread of art, culture, music, and every other
sphere in the life of Kashmir people. He also created
a strong army and annexed many regions nearby Kashmir.
These were the time of golden rule in Kashmir when peace
and harmony prevailed. After the death of King Zain-ul-Abidin,
a period of destruction came calling to Kashmir and
many raiders from outside looted the state and made
the people and local rulers their captive.
In 1587, Akbar annexed Kashmir into his vast empire.
Jahangir, son of Akbar and next Mughal ruler, visited
Kashmir 13 times and created two beautiful gardens on
the bank of Dal Lake, namely, the Shalimar Bagh and
Nishat Bagh. After two centuries of peace and development,
Kashmir came into the hands of the Pathans in 1752,
when the Afghan ruler Abdul Shah Abdali attacked this
region on the request of local noblemen. The Pathans
established a rule of terror here, no better than that
of Aurangzeb, the last important Mughal ruler.
In 1819, the Sikhs under Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed
this region, but their empire remained in place only
for 27 years. From 1846 to 1957, the Dogras ruled over
this region when British defeated Ranjit Singh and handed
over the administration of this region to Maharaja Gulab
Singh. The Dogra rule also for the first time put in
reality the modern state of Jammu & Kashmir. During
India’s freedom struggle, people from this state
participated extensively under the leadership of Sheikh
Abdullah and decided to go with India in 1948 after
the country became independent.
PEOPLE
Ethnicity
Majority of the people in this region
are Muslims with concentration of Hindus mainly in Jammu
region, while Buddhists are confined to Ladakh region
Arts and Crafts
Kashmiri shawls, the woven jewels of
Kashmir, have developed over 300 years. There are two
distinct types of shawls-the amli and the kani. Amli
means embroidered, where narrow strips of cloth woven
on a small loom are carefully joined together with almost
invisible stitches. In kani shawls the designs are woven
on the loom like twill tapestry. The most valued shawls
are the pashminas composed of treads of delicate wool
from the under-belly of the wild Tibetan goat that lives
4,000 feet above sea level. The finest wool is shahtoosh.
It is superfine, extraordinarily light and amazingly
warm. The most complex woven shawl is the jamawar, woven
like tapestry. Sometimes, as many as 50 colors are used
in a single weft.
The origins of hand-knotted carpets can be traced back
to more than 2,000 years. In India, the hand-knotted
carpet appeared in the 15th century. In Kashmir, it
attained a high degree of perfection especially in the
16th and 17th centuries under the Mughal emperors. Wool
is the basic material, but in Kashmir silk is also commonly
used. The appearance and number of knots on the back
of the carpet indicates the quality. The Bokhara carpets
are one of the finest with about 125-500 knots in a
square inch.
For over 2,500 years, the patterns reproduced were
those of flower arabesques and rhomboids with an occasional
animal design. The patterns have never become outmoded
even today.
Music and Dance
As is the beauty of this state, it has
a great cultural tradition. Major performing traditions
of this state are Rouf (a dance form performed on the
occasion of Eid and Ramjan), Hafiz Nagma (based on Sufiana
Qalam, a classical music tradition of Kashmir), song
of Habba Khaton (based on the folk renderings of Kashmiri
music), Jagarna (a theatrical activity performed by
the womenfolk of house when men go out in a marriage),
Surma (Dogri songs set to dance), Bakhan (Dogri songs),
and Geetru (Dogri dance and song performance).
Fairs and Festivals
The Hemis Festival is held in the month of July when
tourists in large numbers converge here from all over
the world to watch the famous masked dances. The music
is characteristically punctuated with sounds of cymbals,
drums and long, unwieldy trumpets. The masked dancers
move around slowly, very slowly, and the most vital
part of the dance is the masks and not so much the actual
movements of the dance. The dances end with Good vanquishing
Evil and the evil one is brought into the protective
fold of Buddhism.
Like the Hemis festival, monasteries like Lamayuru,
Thiksey, Spitook, Likir and many others also have their
individual festivals. Since they follow the lunar calendar,
the actual dates of the festivals vary from one year
to another. Other than these religious celebrations,
Ladakh has also been host to a 15-day festival each
year to bring forward the many nuances of this rich
and exotic culture that is peculiar to this high part
of the world. The Jammu and Kashmir tourism department
organizes the Ladakh Festival in the month of September
bringing forward the region’s folk dances, art
and craft, sporting events and rituals.
Cuisine
Think of Kashmiri cuisine and visions
of deliciously spicy meat dishes and the delicate flavor
of saffron come to mind. The Kashmiris are passionate
about their food and this is evident from the amount
of time they spend either cooking it or discussing about
it. Meat being the staple, most of the special dishes
have mutton as a major ingredient. Nahari, a special
breakfast dish, is a stew of trotters and tongue, seasoned
with cassia buds, cardamom, sandalwood powder, vetiver
roots and dried rose petals. The sheermal bread goes
well with this stew. The methi maz , on the other hand,
is a superb blend of mild-tasting entrails and strong-flavored
fenugreek leaves.
Tracing its roots to Kashmir is the ever-popular rogan
josh, which is spiced lamb cooked in yogurt and aniseed,
a spice not very commonly used in other regional cuisines.
While tabak maz is spiced ribs fried to crispiness,
for the qorma, a lightly sour creamy dish, shoulder
of lamb and tail are cooked in milk and dried apricots,
and the yakhni uses curd as the base for its sauce.
Rista, the first gravy dish to make its appearance in
a wazwan, is a meatball of pounded lamb that is silky
in texture. After a whole range of dishes comes the
gushtaba, a giant meatball made of the same, pounded
meat, cooked in a curd based gravy.
A semolina pudding sometimes follows the main courses
of the wazwan, but there are not too many sweet dishes
in the Kashmiri repertoire. However, a different preparation,
served to freshen the mouth after the wazwan, is the
gota-a mixture of aniseed, sugar candy, bits of supari
(optional), coarsely grated coconut and kernels of muskmelon
seeds.
Another specialty of Kashmir is the delicately understated
saffron. It is the world’s most expensive spice
because farmers would have to harvest 70,000 of Crocus
sativus flowers to extract 210 thousand stigmas to make
one pound, which is less than a kilogram of saffron.
ECONOMY
Infrastructure
Number Of Phones : 48,955
People Per Phone : 157.3
Phone Services : DoT
Railway Track Length : 78 km
Domestic Airports : 3 (Srinagar, Jammu, Leh)
Cities Linked : Chandigarh, Delhi
Road Length : 12,252 km
National Highway Length : 648 km
Industrial Zones & Parks : 40
Export Processing Zones : 1
State-Identified Priority Sectors : Food Processing,
Fruit-Based Industries, Handicrafts, Handlooms, Hotels
and Restaurants, Sports Goods, Tourism
Industry
Handicrafts being the traditional industry,
it has been receiving top priority in the state. The
handicraft products have demand from both inside and
outside the country. Coal, gypsum, and limestone are
the major minerals produced in the state.
Agriculture
Majority of the population of the state
depends on agriculture. Paddy, wheat and maize are the
major crops. Barley, bajra and jowar are cultivated
in some parts. Gram is grown in Ladakh.
Incentives
Capital investment incentives of 30%
up to Rs 30 lakh of fixed investment for new units
Capital incentive of up to Rs 60 lakh for projects with
fixed capital investment exceeding Rs 25 crore
Sales tax exemption for all raw material purchase, except
negative list items
5% rebate on interest of working capital for new units
up to Rs 10 lakh
Five-year central tax holiday for all new industrial
units
100% subsidy on purchase of new diesel generating sets
of 0.1 to 1.0 MW
Price preference up to 12.5% for registered SSI units
Subsidy of Rs 1 lakh for units with ISO 2000 certification
100% subsidy on purchase of quality testing equipment
Special incentives for sports goods units and projects
run by ex-servicemen
100% reimbursement of cost feasibility report after
start of production
No toll tax on raw material imported and goods exported
by 100% export-oriented units
TOURIST CENTRES
Srinagar, the state capital, is the
most famous tourist destination in the state. An ancient
city, there are many attractions that can attract even
the most unwilling of tourists to this magical land.
Dal Lake, Nishat Bagh, Shalimar Bagh, and Chashme Shahi
are some of the best-known tourist spot in Srinagar.
Jammu is the winter capital of the state and next in
importance after Srinagar. Most of the tourists who
come to the Jammu region have the Mata Vaishno Devi
shrine as their destination, which is quite close by.
However, the spirit of holiness permeates through the
entire city, so much so that Jammu is also known as
the ‘City of Temples’. If Bahu Mata is the
presiding deity of Jammu, the dargah of Peer Budhan
Ali Shah is the other shrine that is believed to protect
the local people. The other major tourist attraction
is the Raghunath Temple Complex, which is the largest
temple in North India devoted to Lord Rama. The construction
of this temple was begun by Maharaja Gulab Singh in
1851 and completed by his son Ranbir Singh six years
later.
The temple of Maha Kali (better known as Bahu or Bawey
Wali Mata), located in the Bahu Fort, is considered
second only to Mata Vaishno Devi in terms of mystical
power. The temple was built shortly after the coronation
of Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1822.
Other temples in the city include the Gauri Kund Temple,
Shudh Mahadev Temple, Shiva Temple, Peer Khoh Cave Temple,
Ranbireshwar Temple, and the Parmandal Temple Complex.
The most stunning site in Jammu is the Sheesh Mahal.
The Pink Hall of the palace now houses the Dogra Art
Museum, which has miniature paintings of the various
hill schools. The museum also has the handwritten Persian
manuscripts of the Shahnama and Sikandernama. The palace
was once the royal residence of the Dogra kings. Built
as a group of buildings around a courtyard, the palace
has a commanding view of river Tawi on one side and
the city on the other.
The Amar Mahal Palace Museum is a beautiful palace
of red sandstone, which stands amidst the most picturesque
environs of Jammu. It offers a beautiful view of the
Shivaliks in the north and the river Tawi in the south.
This was once the residential palace of Raja Amar Singh,
but now it has been converted into a museum. The museum
has a golden throne made of 120 kg of pure gold.
A treat for those interested in history is the town
of Akhnoor, 32 km southwest of Jammu. Standing on the
banks of the mighty river Chenab, the town tells the
tragic tale of the lovers Sohni and Mahiwal. Along the
riverbank are the majestic ruins of the Indus Valley
Civilization that are of great historical importance.
Patnitop, near the Vaishno Devi Temple, is fast becoming
a busy hill station and a good place to enjoy the nature
in its eternity.
Ladakh is home to the minority Buddhist community in
the state. They have preserved their unique culture
for the past hundreds of years. Leh is the headquarters
of this region. The major points of attraction are the
Leh Palace, Namgyal Tsemo Gompa, Sankar Gompa, Shanti
Stupa, and Soma Gompa.
HOW TO REACH
By Air
The state has three major civil airports at
Srinagar, Jammu, and Ladakh connected to Delhi and other
places in the country. Indian Airlines and its subsidiary
Alliance Air operate in the Delhi-Chandigarh-Ladakh
and Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar routes.
By Rail
Jammu Tawi is the main railhead of Jammu &
Kashmir. It is connected to most of the important towns
and cities of the country. Moreover, the longest rail
route that stretches from Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari
and touches almost all the main cities and towns of
the country originates from here.
By Road
One can easily reach Jammu by the National
Highway 1A that goes from Punjab and runs through this
city, connecting it to the rest of the state, including
the capital Srinagar. The state transport corporation
runs several buses to most of the big towns and cities
in north India.
Ladakh is connected to Srinagar and Manali by some
of the most difficult road networks in the world. The
Manali-Leh road is considered as the highest motorable
road in the world.
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