Kashmir conflictThe Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dispute over the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes.
JammuJammu ('dʒʌmuː) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an Indian-administered union territory. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of , is surrounded by the Himalayas in the north and the northern plains in the south. Jammu is the second-most populous city of the union territory.
Kashmiri HindusKashmiri Hindus are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Hinduism and are native to the Kashmir Valley of India. With respect to their contributions to Indian philosophy, Kashmiri Hindus developed the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism. After their exodus from the Kashmir Valley in the wake of the Kashmir insurgency in the 1990s, most Kashmiri Hindus are now settled in the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country. The largest group of Kashmiri Hindus are the Kashmiri Pandits.
Kashmiri PanditsThe Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu Kashmiris native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale of conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during the medieval times.
Sharada scriptThe Śāradā, Sarada or Sharada script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. The script was widespread between the 8th and 12th centuries in the northwestern parts of Indian Subcontinent (in Kashmir and neighbouring areas), for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri. Originally more widespread, its use became later restricted to Kashmir, and it is now rarely used except by the Kashmiri Pandit community for religious purposes.
SrinagarSrinagar (English: ˈsriːnəgər, siriːnagar) is the summer capital and largest city of the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It lies in the Kashmir Valley along the banks of the Jhelum River, and the shores of Dal and Anchar lakes, between the Hari Parbat and Shankaracharya hills. The city is known for its natural environment, various gardens, waterfronts and houseboats.
Wani (surname)Wani/Vani (or Wanie, Wyne, Wain) is a surname of a caste found throughout India and Pakistan, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Maharashtra. Both Wain (pronounced like wine with a nasal 'n') and Wani/Vani are acceptable pronunciations. Historians agree that the Wani/Wain belong to the merchant caste and were originally Kashmiri Hindus. Even among those Wani/Wain who converted from Hinduism to Islam, the profession of these people remained primarily in trade and commerce.
Dogra dynastyThe Dogra dynasty of Dogra Rajputs from the Shivalik hills created Jammu and Kashmir when all dynastic kingdoms in India were being absorbed by the East India Company. Events led the Sikh Empire to recognise Jammu as a vassal state in 1820, and later the British added Kashmir to Jammu with the Treaty of Amritsar in 1846. The founder of the dynasty, Gulab Singh, was an influential noble in the court of the Sikh emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh, while his brother Dhian Singh served as the prime minister of the Sikh Empire.
SialkotSialkot (Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and is the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir) in the north east, the districts of Narowal in the southeast, Gujranwala in the southwest and Gujrat in the northwest.
HindkoHindko (, romanized: Hindko, ˈɦɪnd̪koː) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northwestern regions of Punjab. There is a nascent language movement, and in recent decades Hindko-speaking intellectuals have started promoting the view of Hindko as a separate language.
