The valley of Kashmir was once great lake Satisar.According to Hindu texts ,Hindu sage Kashyapa drained a lake lying north of the Pir Panjal range cutting the mountain near Varamulla.The locals named the valley Kashyap-Mar and Kashyap-Pura in honour of the sage. The Kashmir valley was incorporated into Maurya Empire and then into Kushan Empire.In the 8th century ,Kashmir became the center of Hindu warrior Lalitaditya Muktapida`s empire spanning much of northern India and Central Asia.

Islam arrived in the region through traders and missionaries.Sufi saint helped in spreading Islam across kashmir.In 1327 A.D ,the ruler of Kashmir , Rinchen Shah converted to Islam which led to series of Muslim dynasties that ruled Kashmirfor centuries together.In 1586 A.DMughal Army defeated Yusuf Khan of Kashmir with aide of RamchandraI that was led by Hindu King Bhagawant Das.After the battle ,Akbar appointed RamchandraI as the governer of Himalayan kingdom. RamchandraI founded the city of Jammu(named after Jamwa Mata) south of Pir Panjal range.After the death of Ranjit Deo in 1780,the Raja of Jammu, the kingdom of Jammu was captured by Sikhs under Ranjit Singh of Lahore.

Ranjit Singh`s grand nephew Gulab Singh was later made the raja of Jammu in 1820 .Gulab Singh with the help of his able officer Zorawar Singh soon captured Ladakh and Baltisan.Two treaties concluded the First anglo-Sikh War in 1845.The first one stated `The state of Lahore to be handed over to the British,as equivalent for Rs 1 crore of indemnity,the hill countries between Beas and Indus` and by the second the British made over to Gulab Singh for Rs.75 lakhs all the hilly or mountaneous country situated to the east of Indus and West of ravi i.e is now well known as Valley of Kashmir.

In 1925 Ranbir Singh`s grandson ascended the throne was the reigning monarch in 1947 at the conclusion of British rule in the subcontinenet. As a part of the partition process, both countries had agreed that the rulers of princely states would be given the right to opt for either Pakistan or India or-in special cases-to remain independent. In 1947, Kashmir`s population "was 77 per cent Muslim and it shared a boundary with Pakistan. Hence, it was anticipated that the Maharaja would accede to Pakistan, whenever the British paramountcy ended . But he hesitated to do thisto which Pakistan launched a guerilla onslaught meant to frighten its ruler into submission. Instead the Maharaja appealed to Mountbatten for assistance, and the Governer General agreed on the condition that the ruler accede to India.

Once the papers of accession to India were signed, "Indian soldiers entered Kashmir and drove the Pakistani-sponsored irregulars from all but a small section of the state. The United Nation was then invited to mediate the quarrel. The UN mission insisted that the opinion of Kashmiris must be ascertained, while India insisted that no referandum could occur until all of the state had been cleared of irregulars."

In the last days of 1948, a ceasefire was agreed under UN auspices; however, since the plebiscite demanded by the UN was never conducted, relations between India and Pakistan soured, and eventually led to two more wars over Kashmir in 1965 and 1999. Since the year 1990 the state has been hit by confrontation between militant separatists and Indian Armed Forces, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. The Indian army maintains a significant deployment of troops in Jammu and Kashmir to maintain law and order.