When the British decided to leave, the future of these states came into question. Both India and Pakistan wanted to absorb these vestigial states into their territories. The populations of most princely states were in favor of joining either India or Pakistan.
The rulers themselves had three options. They could either join India, Pakistan or declare independence. The princes were known for their opulence , decadence and misrule. Besides, many saw them as traitors who had been rewarded for betraying their countrymen to the British. So, in the post-independence environment, there was little chance of these princely states retaining independence. Without the teat of the British Empire to suckle from, they were simply not in a position to survive.
Most people forget that these princely states were a big deal in First, there were an ungodly of them. Integrating them into two newly independent countries was a matter of paramount importance to the political leadership of India and Pakistan.
Jammu and Kashmir was one of these princely states. They even tried to conquer Tibet but were beaten back. This enabled him and his successors to rule the second largest princely state in the Indian subcontinent.
However, he was effete, ineffectual and debauched. As a Hindu king ruling over a majority Muslim population, his power base was slipping. As in much of India, communal tension broke out in Jammu and Kashmir. This excited emotions in Pakistan. Ideologically, many in Pakistan saw Kashmir as an integral part of a new Muslim nation. On the night of October , the Pakistanis sent tribal militia and soldiers in civilian clothing to annex the state. Sheikh Abdullah, the most important Kashmiri leader and a friend of Jawaharlal Nehru, opposed the Pakistani incursion.
So did the ruler Singh. Indian troops arrived by air and pushed Pakistani forces out until Nehru took the matter to the United Nations. In , the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan. Pakistan controls part of Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan. India holds much of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh.
India lost territory to China after a disastrous war in and Pakistan ceded territory to the Middle Kingdom in Since , Kashmir has suffered from insurgency after the elections were reportedly rigged by New Delhi. Security Council that India and Pakistan agree to demilitarize in Kashmir and hold a referendum to decide the status of the territory. India rejected that plan, and both India and Pakistan disagreed on how many troops would remain along their border in Kashmir if they did demilitarize.
Another war broke out in In , India and Pakistan battled along the Line of Control in the Kargil district of Kashmir , leading the United States to intervene diplomatically, siding with India. Since then, official U. The latest U. The effort went nowhere. In , the Indian government abolished the law that gave Kashmir autonomous status and militarily occupied the territory.
At least , Indian troops are in Kashmir today. But India has held firm that Kashmir is part of India, under central government control, worsening already bad relations between India and Pakistan. That never happened, because the Pakistani military overthrew Ali Bogra in Two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir - the Indian state which encompasses the disputed territory - were placed under house arrest.
One of them, Mehbooba Mufti, said the move would "make India an occupational force in Jammu and Kashmir," and that "today marks the darkest day in Indian democracy". Pakistan fiercely condemned the development, branding it "illegal" and vowing to "exercise all possible options" against it. It downgraded diplomatic ties with India and suspended all trade.
India responded by saying they "regretted" Pakistan's statement and reiterating that Article was an internal matter as it did not interfere with the boundaries of the territory. Within Kashmir, opinions about the territory's rightful allegiance are diverse and strongly held. Many do not want it to be governed by India, preferring either independence or union with Pakistan instead. Critics of the BJP fear this move is designed to change the state's demographic make-up of - by giving people from the rest of the country to right to acquire property and settle there permanently.
Ms Mufti told the BBC: "They just want to occupy our land and want to make this Muslim-majority state like any other state and reduce us to a minority and disempower us totally. Feelings of disenfranchisement have been aggravated in Indian-administered Kashmir by high unemployment, and complaints of human rights abuses by security forces battling street protesters and fighting insurgents.
Anti-India sentiment in the state has ebbed and flowed since , but the region witnessed a fresh wave of violence after the death of year-old militant leader Burhan Wani in July He died in a battle with security forces, sparking massive protests across the valley. Wani - whose social media videos were popular among young people - is largely credited with reviving and legitimising the image of militancy in the region. Thousands attended Wani's funeral, which was held in his hometown of Tral, about 40km 25 miles south of the city of Srinagar.
Following the funeral, people clashed with troops and it set off a deadly cycle of violence that lasted for days. More than 30 civilians died, and others were injured in the clashes.
Since then, violence has been on the rise in the state. More than people were killed in - including civilians, security forces and militants - the highest toll in a decade. India and Pakistan did indeed agree a ceasefire in after years of bloodshed along the de facto border also known as the Line of Control.
Pakistan later promised to stop funding insurgents in the territory, while India offered them an amnesty if they renounced militancy. In , India's current Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power promising a tough line on Pakistan, but also showed interest in holding peace talks.
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