Kashmir (Kashmiri: ?????? / ?????; Hindi: ??????; Urdu: ??????; Uyghur: ???????; Shina: ?????) is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century; the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Today; it denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (which consists of Jammu; the Kashmir Valley; and Ladakh); the Pakistan-administered autonomous territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and the Chinese-administered disputed regions of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

In the first half of the 1st millennium; the Kashmir region became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism; later still; in the ninth century; Kashmir Shaivism arose. In 1349; Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir; inaugurating the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Swati dynasty. For the next five centuries; Muslim monarchs ruled Kashmir; including the Mughals; who ruled from 1526 until 1751; and the Afghan Durrani Empire; which ruled from 1747 until 1820. That year; the Sikhs; under Ranjit Singh; annexed Kashmir.

In 1846; after the Sikh defeat in the First Anglo-Sikh War; and upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar; the Raja of Jammu; Gulab Singh; became the new ruler of Kashmir. The rule of his descendants; under the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown; lasted until 1947; when the former princely state became a disputed territory; now administered by three countries: India; Pakistan; and the People's Republic of China. Pictures From History