A journey through the history of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh
KASHMIR
THROUGH AGES
Acerca de
The Vedic Era
Vedic civilization and culture flourished between 1500 BC and 600 BC. As described in the Nilmatpurana the sixth century manuscript, the entire valley was a great lake spread across thousands of kilometers. Before, the battle between Jalodabhava and Lord Vishnu, the water was drained out (Please refer to Mythological Origin in Prehistory Section). The land after being rid of the demon began to be inhabited by people other than the original inhabitants. This resulted in the intermingling of the Nagas, Peshachs and Saraswat Brahmins.
It is believed that on the onset of first Manvantra (a cyclic period of time in Hindu cosmology, identifying duration, reign, or age of a Manu - the progenitor of mankind. In each manvantara, seven Rishis, certain deities, Indra, a Manu, and kings (sons of Manu) are created and perish), the nine ancient Vedic rishis namely Kashyap, Maricha, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Vishvamitra, Bhardwaja, Gautama and Jamdagni were the first to inhabit the new drained out land which came to be known as Kashyap Mar or modern day Kashmir.
Region of Jammu & Kashmir was an integral part of geographical horizon of Vedic Aryans, which is articulated in the Nadi Stuti hymm of the Rigveda, the oldest Sanskrit text. Nadi Stuti mentions several rivers of the country including the rivers of Jammu & Kashmir, which indicate the awareness about this region by the early Aryans. Sindhu river is mentioned in the hymn, which is present day Indus river and the Western boundary of the then Sapta Sindhavah.
As per geography conceived by sages during the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata, region of Jammu & Kashmir was part of Bharatvarsh.
Bharat Varsha Map - Mahabharata period
It is said that Jammu and Kashmir was a part of 16 Mahajanpadas (The kingdoms that existed in Ancient India during vedic period). Nilmat Purana states that when Yashovati was made to sit on the throne by Krishna, the latter declared that “Kashmir is Parvati and a portion of Shiva is its king.” This points to the high esteem in which Lord Krishna himself held Kashmir as an abode of Shiva and his consort, Parvati. It is believed that Pandavas also ruled Kashmir after defeating Kauravas in the Mahabharata war.
Education during Vedic Era
Gandhara was also an ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. According to the mythologies the Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted in the Kurukshetra War. Puskalavati, Takshasila (Taxila – housing the world famous university) and Purushapura (Peshawar) were cities in this Gandhara Kingdom. Takshasila was founded by Raghava Rama's brother Bharata. Bharata's descendants ruled this kingdom afterwards. During the epic’s period, the kingdom was ruled by Shakuni's father Suvala, Shakuni and Shakuni's son.
Remains of Panday Lari
( House of Pandavas in Avantipur)
During the Mahabharata era, Kambojas ruled Kashmir with a Republican system of government from the capital city of Karna-Rajapuram-gatva-Kambojah-nirjitastava, shortened to Rajapura, which is modern Rajauri. Peer Panjal, which is a part of todays Jammu and Kashmir, is a witness to this fact. Panjal is likely the Sanskritic tribal term Panchala. Over the period of time, the Muslim rulers prefixed the word peer to it in memory of Siddha Faqir and the name thereafter is said to have changed into Peer Panjal. It is mentioned in Vanaparva of Mahabharata, that Pandavas spent some time in Kashmir during their long exile and even went to Varshaparva Ashram in China from there. It is believed that during Vedic era, bulk of Kashmir was still under water but retained its importance because "Mujavant Mountain was located in the valley where Soma grew".
References:
Kashmir its Aborigines and their Exodus by Col Tej K Tikoo Early History Pg 25.