Kashmir—the Mughal Emperor Jehangir, who reigned over most of India from 1605 to 1627, loved it there. He considered this northern region of wooded mountains, fragrant val- leys, streams, and lakes, with its views of the high Karakoram Mountains to the north, the nearest place possible to an earthly paradise.
The British, who followed the Mughals as India’s rulers and constructed a new set of arbitrary geographical, cultural, and economic boundaries in the extremely diverse land, also loved Kashmir. They transformed it into a top spot for holidays.
British India had many princely states (555) at the time of partition, and they were supposed to join either the dominion of India or that of Pakistan. Except few all princely states fell into the baskets of India.(either by force or by mutual understanding).
map shows princely states in British India
The princely states of Jammu and Kashmir, Junagad and Nawab of Hyderabad were still independent, they wished to remain independent. Junagad was a small princely state in western India (present day Gujarat), it was a Hindu majority state ruled by Muslim ruler, despite no boundary share with Pakistan, and he wished to accede his state to Pakistan against the wishes of his people. Finally the state was annexed by force and Nawab was able to flee to Pakistan with his wives and pets.
How Kashmir fell into India’s basket
Kashmir was a Muslim majority state ruled by Hindu ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, earlier Kashmir was ruled by Sikh rulers, when British defeated Sikhs in Anglo-Sikh war, they acquired Kashmir and later they sold it to Hari Singh’s forbears for 6millions.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah the founder of Pakistan, assumed Kashmir will accede to Pakistan as it was a Muslim majority state and geographically also it favored since Land routes between the two were open year-round, whereas the only land connection between Kashmir and India would often be closed in winter because of the snows.
Hari Singh wishes to be on throne, he was not interested in joining either of dominions, his old close friend Louis Mountbatten advised him to join either of dominion India or Pakistan as its difficult for Kashmir to remain independent as it was land locked among Pakistan in West, India in south and China on east. But Hari Singh was not ready to listen any words from Mountbatten, instead he started avoiding him.
Problem started when Jinnah after hectic week schedule and his deteriorating health thought of holidaying in Kashmir for 2 weeks, he sent this proposal to Hari Singh's secretary, which Hari Singh straight away rejected Jinnah's presence in Kashmir even as tourist. Jinnah was shocked on this and his govt infiltrated secret agent to Kashmir to under Hari Singh's motive. Agent after back replied Singh is ready to secede his state to India.
Pak infitrated Pathan tribemen into Srinagar to loot its precious Bazaar, and force the king to accede his state to Pakistan. India came to know about this invasion from Pak side but not from Hari Singh.
Mountbatten rejected idea of sending British troops to defend Kashmir and to protect British citizens, by doing this he thought may lead war in Indian Subcontinent. He was ready to send Indian army only after instrument of accessation was signed by Hari Singh.
Hari Singh was in a panic, fearful now that he might not only lose his throne but his life. On October 26, he agreed to cede Kashmir not to Pakistan, but to India, and he formally asked India for military help to oust the Pathans. Mountbatten agreed,but only on the condition that in the near future a vote be held;
he wanted Kashmir’s people to decide themselves whether they were to be Indian or Pakistani.
The Indian government agreed to the condition and dispatched the First Sikh Batallion to Srinigar by air to defend the city. By that time, there were tens of thousands of Indian troops in Kashmir, and 25,000 more Pathan tribesmen had joined those of the earlier invasion. end of the year. The Pathans occupied a part of western Kashmir, where they first established a free state called Azad Kashmir, or “Free Kashmir,” which they then ceded to Pakistan. Indian government cited Hari Singh’s accession agreement as the fact that gave India legal right to Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Nehru demanded that before any vote take place, the Pathans withdraw from “Free Kashmir.” His Pakistani counterpart, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, demanded that both the Pathans and Indian forces elsewhere leave Kashmir at the same time. Neither backed down. The conflict was finally settled by a ceasefire negotiated by the United Nations that took effect on January 1,1949. Even though the guns had stopped firing, temporarily, the underlying issues lay unresolved, and Mountbatten’s vote
never took place. Kashmir, the earthly paradise of the Mughals, is still partitioned
