Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris

In 1846, the British created the state of Jammu and Kashmir (JK) — popularly called ‘Kashmir’ — and then quickly sold this prized region to the wily and powerful Raja, Gulab Singh. Intriguingly, had they retained it, the India-Pakistan dispute over possession of the state may never have arisen, but Britain’s concerns lay elsewhere –– expansionist Russia, beguiling Tibet and unstable China ‘circling’ JK –– and their agents played the ‘Great Game’ in Afghanistan and ‘Turkistan’.

Snedden contextualises the geo-strategic and historical circumstances surrounding the British decision to relinquish prestigious ‘Kashmir’, and explains how they and four Dogra maharajas consolidated and controlled JK subsequently. He details what comprised this diverse princely state with distant borders and disunified peoples and explains the Maharaja of JK’s controversial accession to India on 26 October 1947 — and its unintended consequences.

Snedden weaves a compelling narrative that frames the Kashmir dispute, explains why it continues, and assesses what it means politically and administratively for the divided peoples of JK and their undecided futures.