The Kashmiri Muslim Community forms an overwhelming part of the population of the state. About two thousand years or more ago, Kashmir was a great centre of Buddhism and some famous Buddhist councils were held there. From then onwards it continued to be one of the principal centres of Sanskrit learning. Arab and Persian influences first affected Kashmir nearly a thousand years ago and later, Persian became the official language. The influence and teachings of Islam had penetrated the valley long before a Muslim king ascended the throne in the fourteenth century. The advent of Islam during the 13th and the 14th centuries surely but slowly changed the social structure of the Kashmiris, though they maintained their traditions of love and tolerance.

History of the Kashmiri Muslim Community
The earliest history of the Kashmiri Muslim community can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Missionaries and adventurers professing Islam came to Kashmir when it was still governed by Hindu kings and queens. The people had been groaning under the misrule of the later Hindu rulers, when trade languished and agriculture was at a standstill. As the chains of caste had been broken by the teachings of Buddhism, the general mass of the people did not find it difficult to embrace the new egalitarian faith and Islam`s social and religious humanism which was projected by a band of Sufi dervishes. Numerous Muslim saints and dervishes propagated their religion through the preaching of the purest and truest doctrines of Islam. They lived the religion in their lives of complete self-abnegation and tolerance to the ideas and beliefs of others. This considerably influenced the religious and philosophic thought of the Kashmiris who adopted the new order in greater numbers. By the time the last Hindu king ascended the throne of Kashmir, a fair proportion of the people had already accepted Islam.

Society of the Kashmiri Muslim Community
With the coming of Islam the social set up of the Kashmiris underwent sea change. For some time after the conversion to Islam, the Hindu customs of endogamy within the caste and exogamy outside the gotra, but there is no trace of these customs now and the different tribal names or krams are names and nothing more. It is now possible for Dar to marry a girl of the Ganai kram and vice versa, provided both are agriculturists. The intermarriage among the low caste is still a taboo. There is, however, a sort of caste system prevalent, in as much as the members of one profession prefer to marry their sons and daughters among the followers of a similar profession.

The dress of the Kashmiri Muslims consists of a long loose smock worn over salwar, by both men and women. Women wear a skull-cap surrounded by a fillet of red and a shawl or white chuddar thrown over the head and shoulders. Men wear turbans as a sign of status and affluence. The ordinary peasant is content with wearing a long pointed skull-cap. The peasant has a unique way of fighting the Himalayan cold. In winter a kangri, a little earthen brazier in a casing of wickerwork, in which charcoal cinders of a special type are lit to give constant warmth, is placed against the chest and under the pheran (gown).

Krams of the Kashmiri Muslim Community
The old krams or nicknames of Pandit, Bhat, Dar, etc. are, however, still retained and new ones also added by reason of the special calling of the head of the family or any of his ancestors or because of such peculiar circumstances which may have occurred to him.

The Sheikhs, Sayyids and Pirzadas are still considered to be krams of respectability among the Muslims. Mullahs or priests, though not numerous, are a class by themselves and every village has got a family or two to minister to the religious needs of the people and to officiate at the birth, marriage or death ceremonies. Recently they have taken to agriculture as well, but otherwise they live by the free gifts of grains bestowed on them by the villagers at harvest time.

There are some settlements of Pathans and Mughals in certain parts of the Valley reminiscent of their rule. However, now they have been absorbed in the general population of the country, the title of Khan and Sirdar being only names.

Sects within the Kashmiri Muslim Community
The Muslim population of Kashmir is divided into the Sunni sect and the Shia sect, the former being in an overriding majority. In certain Tehsils and villages there is, however, a concentration of Shias. They have monopolised the papier mache trade and during the hey-day of the shawl industry they were the proprietors of shawl factories. Since there was an unbalanced economy between the shawl weavers who were generally Sunnis and the capitalists, numerous Shia-Sunni riots took place then, the interested parties lending a religious tinge to these.

The Kashmiri Muslim Community is one of the most important constituent groups of the population of Kashmir. Though they form a separate group of people with their own beliefs and customs, it must be mentioned that Kashmiris, both Hindu and Muslim, have many points of resemblance in dress, social customs and ceremonies. The sacred shrines of both the communities are situated close together and celebrations and fairs are held at these shrines simultaneously. Hindus and Muslims join and form a part of each other`s important social functions.