During the 19th century rule, Kashmir was a popular tourist destination due to its climate. Formerly only 200 passes a year were issued by the government, but now no restriction is placed on visitors. European sportsmen and travelers, in addition to residents of India, traveled there freely. The railway to Rawalpindi, and a road thence to Srinagar made access to the valley easier. When the temperature in Srinagar rises at the beginning of June, the residents would migrate to Gulmarg, which was a fashionable hill-station during British rule. This great influx of visitors resulted in a corresponding diminution of game for the sportsmen. Special game preservation rules have been introduced, and nullahs are let out for stated periods with a restriction on the number of head to be shot.

Jammu and Kashmir, was a principality lying between the two new independent nations: India and Pakistan, independent dominions within the British Commonwealth of Nations which were formed by the partition of the former British India colony in August 1947. (British King George VI was the head of state of both India and Pakistan, but was represented in each of the new dominions by a Governor-General: Lord Mountbatten in India and Muhammed Ali Jinnah in Pakistan.) A total of 565 princely states formed 40% of India's land area and held more than 100 million people. Each prince had to decide which of the two new nations to join: Hindu-majority India or Muslim-majority Pakistan (which then also included East Pakistan, now Bangladesh). The strategic value of Kashmir meant it was important for both countries to have it join their side. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, could not decide which country to join and in addition, he nursed fond hopes of remaining the princely ruler of Kashmir, as an independent nation. He was Hindu, while his subjects were predominantly Muslim. To avoid the decision, he signed a "standstill" agreement with Pakistan, which ensured continuity of trade, travel, communication, and similar services between the two. India did not sign a similar agreement.

Indian postal services began listing Kashmir as Indian territory, causing alarm in Pakistan. In October 1947, Pashtuns from Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province invaded Kashmir in support of a rebellion agaist the Maharaja which had erupted in the restive Poonch district. The invasion caused widespread looting in the state. Troubled by the increasing deterioration in law and order situation, and by earlier raids, culminating in the invasion of the tribesmen, followed later by Pakistani rangers, Maharaja Hari Singh, requested armed assistance and assylum from India. India refused to send its troops unless Kashmir officially joined the Union of India. The incumbent Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten also favoured Kashmir's accession to the Republic of India, to which the Maharaja always agreed. "The Instrument of Accession was signed by the Hari Singh on October 26, 1947 extending India's jurisdiction over external affairs, defence and communications. The Pakistani government immediately contested the accession, suggesting that it was fraudulent, that the Maharaja acted under duress, and that he had no right to sign an agreement with India when the standstill agreement with Pakistan was still in force.

The next day, Indian troops were airlifted into Srinagar. Regular Indian forces then entered Kashmir and pushed back the invading forces. Prime Minister Nehru (himself of Kashmiri lineage) of India then took the situation to the United Nations Security Council and a ceasefire was implemented. The ceasefire line gave Pakistan control of about one-third of Kashmir and India the remaining.

Post-1947

In 1949, the Indian government obliged Hari Singh to leave Jammu and Kashmir, and yield the government to Sheikh Abdullah, the leader of a popular political party, the National Conference Party. Since then, a bitter enmity has been developed between India and Pakistan and three wars have taken place between them over Kashmir. The growing dispute over Kashmir also lead to the rise of militancy in the state. The year 1989 saw the intensification of conflict in Jammu and Kashmir as Mujahadeens from Afghanistan slowly infiltrated the region following the end of the Soviet-Afghan War the same year.

The situation considered by the UN Security Council, which established a special commission was described in UNSC Resolution 39, passed on 20 January 1948. Subsequent to the recommendation of the commission, the Security Council ordered in its resolution #47, passed on 21 April 1948, that the accession of Kashmir to either India or Pakistan be determined in accordance with an internationally supervised plebiscite. In a string of subsequent resolutions, the Security Council noted that the UN supervised plebiscite required by resolution #47 had not been held. Notable resolutions reaffirming the requirement for the UN supervised plebiscite include UNSC resolution #80 of 14 March 1950, which established a ceasefire line after war between India and Pakistan, and UNSC resolution #122 of 24 January 1957, which condemned the establishment of a replacement legislative assembly in Kashmir.

The Government of India holds that the Maharaja signed a document of accession to India in 1948. Pakistan has disputed whether the Maharaja actually signed the accession treaty before Indian troops entered Kashmir. Furthermore, Pakistan claims the Indian government has never produced an original copy of this accession treaty and thus its validity and legality is disputed. However, India has produced the instrument of accession with an original copy image on its website. Alan Campbell-Johnson, the press attache to the Viceroy of India states that "The legality of the accession is beyond doubt."

Both Pakistan and India claim the entire Kashmir region to be their integral part based on geographic and political background. This issue has remained a point of contention between the two countries ever since independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries have fought three wars over the Kashmir issue apart from other localized fighting.

The Indian Constitution grants Jammu and Kashmir special autonomous status as a temporary provision; however, some Kashmiri political parties demand greater autonomy and sovereignty. Jammu and Kashmir has a multi-party democratic system of governance. Main political parties include the National Conference, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP). Presently, Indian National Congress and its ally PDP hold the maximum number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly.

After Mufti Mohammed Sayeed of the PDP completed his third year as Chief Minister, as per the power-sharing agreement between the PDP-Congress alliance reached in late 2002, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad replaced Mufti on November 2005.

On July 7 2008, Ghulam Nabi Azad Monday decided to quit his office rather than put his motion of confidence to vote in the state legislative assembly, which met for a special session called by Governor N.N. Vohra to give Azad a chance to prove his majority.

On 4th January 2009, Omar Abdullah took oath as the eighth chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. With 28 seats, the National Conference (NC)  emerged the largest party in the 87-member assembly after the seven-phase election in November-December. The Congress bagged 17 seats.

Omar Abdullah, the youngest chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir, is also the third to hold the post in his family after his grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and father Farooq Abdullah.