Jammu region

The Jammu division (; ) is a revenue and administrative division within Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory of India. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal Range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the eastern districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Its principal river is the Chenab.

Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is also known as "City of Temples" as it has many temples and shrines, with glittering '' shikhars'' soaring into the sky, which dot the city's skyline, creating the ambiance of a holy and peaceful city.

Home to some of the most revered Hindu shrines, such as Vaishno Devi, Jammu is a major pilgrimage centre for Hindus. A majority of Jammu's population practices Hinduism, while Islam and Sikhism enjoy a strong cultural heritage in the region.

History

The hilly regions to the south and southwest of the Kashmir Valley formed the Jammu Province of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. During the declining years of the Mughal Empire, the region comprised 22 hill states that emerged from the Mughal suzerainty. Hutchison and Vogel, who first studied these states, called them the ''Dugar group'' of states. (''Dugar'' is a medieval term with ancient form ''Durgara'' and modern form Dogra.) The state of Jammu is believed to have been the most prominent among the Dugar group, which they identified with the kingdom of ''Durgara''.

The term ''Durgara'' is witnessed in a copper plate inscription from Chamba in the 11th century. The inscription refers to an attack on Chamba by the "Lord of Durgara" allied with ''Saumatikas'' and the ''Kiras'' of Chamba. However, no kingdom by that name is mentioned in the Rajatarangini. ''Durgara'' could have been a reference to ''Vallapura'' (modern Billawar) or ''Babbapura'' (modern Babor). Some scholars believe it to have been a regional or ethnic name current in the region.

Jammu is mentioned by name in the chronicles of Timur, who invaded Delhi in 1398 and returned to Samarkand via Jammu. In the Mughal chronicles of Babur in the early 16th century, Jammu is mentioned as a powerful state in the Punjab hills. Emperor Akbar brought the hill kingdoms of the region under Mughal suzerainty, but the kings enjoyed considerable political autonomy. In addition to Jammu, other kingdoms of the region such as Kishtwar and Rajauri were also prominently mentioned. It is evident that the Mughal empire treated these hill chiefs as allies and partners in the empire.*

After the decline of the Mughal power in the 18th century, the Jammu state under Raja Dhruv Dev, of the ''Jamuwal'' (''Jamwal'') family, asserted its supremacy among the Dugar states. Its ascent reached its peak under his successor Raja Ranjit Dev (r. 1728–1780), who was widely respected among the hill states.
Towards the end of Ranjit Dev's rule, the Sikh clans of Punjab (''misls'') gained ascendancy, and Jammu began to be contested by the Bhangi, Kanhaiya and Sukerchakia ''misls''. Around 1770, the Bhangi ''misl'' attacked Jammu and forced Ranjit Dev to become a tributary. Brij Lal Dev, his successor, was defeated by the Sukerchakia chief Mahan Singh, who sacked Jammu and plundered it. Thus Jammu lost its supremacy over the surrounding country.

In 1808, Jammu itself was annexed to the Sikh Empire by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the son of Mahan Singh.

Gulab Singh and the Dogra dynasty

After the Sikh conquest of Jammu, Gulab Singh, a descendant of Dhruv Dev via his third son, went on to enrol in the Sikh troops. He soon distinguished himself in battles and was awarded a ''jagir'' near Jammu with an allowance to keep an independent force. After the conquest of Kishtwar (1821) and the subjugation of Rajouri, he was made a hereditary Raja of Jammu in 1822, personally anointed by Ranjit Singh. His brother Dhyan Singh received Poonch and Chibhal, and Suchet Singh Ramnagar.

By 1827, Gulab Singh brought under his control all the principalities lying between Kashmir and Jammu. Thus the entire Jammu province came under the control of the three Jamwal brothers under the umbrella of the Sikh Empire.

After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Sikh court fell into anarchy and palace intrigues took over. Gulab Singh's brothers Dhyan Singh and Suchet Singh, as well as his nephew Hira Singh, were murdered in the struggles. The relations between the Sikh court and Gulab Singh deteriorated. During the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846), Gulab Singh kept aloof. He was nevertheless invited to Lahore and installed as the Prime Minister of the Sikh Empire. His actions as the Prime Minister were duplicitous and contributed to a Sikh defeat.

The British decided to weaken the power of the Sikhs and set up Gulab Singh as a counterweight. Accordingly, they demanded a war indemnity from the Sikhs which included all the hilly territory between the Ravi and Indus rivers, and then transferred it to Gulab Singh, recognising him as an independent Maharaja. Gulab Singh paid 7.5 million Nanakshahee Rupees to the British for the transaction. Thus the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir came into being, ruled by Gulab Singh and his descendants, known as the Dogra dynasty.

During the Dogra rule, Jammu in the Jammu province and Srinagar in the Kashmir province were both used as capitals, six months to a year each. Poonch and Chibhal were granted as ''jagirs'' to Dhyan Singh's surviving sons, Jawahir Singh and Moti Singh. However, Jawahir Singh got involved in conspiracies and was exiled to Punjab. Chibhal (Bhimber) thus reverted to Gulab Singh, while Poonch remained under the control of Moti Singh and his descendants under the suzerainty of Jammu and Kashmir.

Partition and accession

During the partition of India, the ruler was Maharaja Hari Singh. He, along with all the other princes, was given the choice of acceding to either India or Pakistan, taking into consideration the geographical contiguity and the wishes of the population. The Maharaja chose not to accede to either dominion before the appointed date, citing the mixed religious composition of his state. This technical independence was short-lived as the Maharaja faced a rebellion in the western districts and a Pakistan-inspired Pashtun tribal invasion. Unable to withstand the assaults, the Maharaja acceded to India on 26–27 October 1947. India airlifted troops to Kashmir to repel the raiders. However, major portions of the western districts of Muzaffarabad, Poonch, and Mirpur remained under the control of Pakistan. The remainder of the state was incorporated into India via the Constitution of India, which also provided autonomy to the state under Article 370.

Geography and climate

Jammu borders Kashmir Valley to the north, Ladakh to the east, and Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the south. In the west, the Line of Control separates Jammu from Pakistani-administered Kashmir (known as Azad Kashmir in Pakistan). In between Kashmir Valley to the north and the Daman Koh Plains to the south, the Shivalik Range comprises most of the region of Jammu. The Pir Panjal Range, the Trikuta Hills and the low-lying Tawi River basin add diversity to the terrain of Jammu. The Pir Panjal range separates Jammu from the Kashmir Valley. Jammu region has geographically 8 sub regions Ravi-Tawi Kandi plains, Shiwaliks, Pir Panjal belt, Chenab Valley, Bhaderwah Valley, Gandoh Valley, Paddar Valley and Warwan-Marwah Valley.

The climate of the region varies with altitude. In and around Jammu city, the climate is similar to the nearby Punjab region with hot summers, rainy monsoon, and mildly cold and foggy winters. While Jammu city itself does not experience any snowfall, the higher hills and mountains are snow-capped during the winter. People from all over India come to the Patnitop mountain resort to enjoy the winter snows. The shrine of Vaishno Devi is covered with snow in the winter. The Banihal Pass, which links the Jammu region to the Kashmir region, often experiences closure in the winter months due to extremely heavy snowfall.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the total population of Jammu Division is 5,350,811.Census of India: Provisional Population Totals Paper 1 of 2011: Jammu & Kashmir
/ref> Scheduled castes (Dalits) constitute 19.44% of the population and Scheduled tribes comprise 15-20% of the population in Jammu Division. Five out of 10 districts, mainly in the hilly areas of the east and north, have Muslim majorities, while the densely populated plains of the southwest are predominantly Hindu. Gurjar-Bakarwals and Gaddi-Sippis, who practice transhumance, are also found here. The largest ethnic group in the Jammu Division are the Dogras, who comprise approximately 47% of the population. Jammu's people are closely related to Punjabis.

The Jammu District overall has a population – 84% practice Hinduism, 7% practice Islam and most of the remainder are Sikhs. The Hindus form a majority in the Jammu, Kathua, Samba and Udhampur districts, and roughly half the population in the Reasi district. Most of Jammu's Hindus are native Dogras, Kashmiri Pandits, Punjabi Hindu migrants and refugees from the Kotli and Mirpur areas which are currently administered by Pakistan. Many Sikhs are migrants from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, mainly from Muzaffarabad and Poonch sector areas annexed by Pakistan in 1947.

In Jammu Division, "Dogri is spoken by a majority in the five districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba and Reasi". Other common languages include Gojri, Pahari, Kashmiri, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu

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