Tradition has it that Kashmir was originally a lake that was drained by Kashyap and then inhabited by the Brahmins. Buddhism was introduced by the missionaries of Ashoka and flourished under the rule of Kushan in 2nd Century AD. However, Hinduism continued to be the dominant religion. In the 7th Century AD, the Karkota dynasty was founded by Durlabhavarrdhana. In 855 AD the Utpalas replaced the Karkotas. Later, the Tantrins, Yaskaras and Parva Gupta ruled in succession. Didda, a Gupta widowed queen, ruled Kashmir until 1003 AD when the Lohara dynasty took over. In 1346 AD the last Hindu king, Udiana Deva, was replaced by Shams-ud-Din. His family ruled until 1586 when the Moghul emperor Akbar conquered and annexed Kashmir to his vast empire.

Ghulab Singh and his successors ruled Kashmir in a tyrannical and repressive way. The people of Kashmir, nearly 80% of whom were Muslims, rose against Mahraja Hari Singh's rule. He ruthlessly crushed a mass uprising in 1931. In 1932 Sheik Abdullah formed Kashmir's first political party - All Jammu & Kashmir Muslim Conference (renamed to National Conference in 1939). In 1934 the Maharajah gave way and allowed limited democracy in the form of a Legislative Assembly. However, unease with the Maharaja's rule continued.

According to the instruments of partition of India in 1947, the rulers of princely states were given the choice to freely accede to either India or Pakistan, or to remain independent. They were, however, advised to accede to the contiguous dominion, taking into consideration the geographical and ethnic issues.

In Kashmir, however, the Maharajah hesitated. The principally Muslim population having seen the early and covert arrival of Indian troops, rebelled and things got out of the Maharajah's hands. The people of Kashmir were undoubtedly demanding to join Pakistan. The Maharajah, fearing tribal warfare, eventually gave way to the Indian pressure and agreed to join India by 'signing' the Instrument of Accession on 26th October 1947. Kashmir was provisionally accepted into the Indian Union pending a free and impartial plebiscite. This was spelled out in a letter from the Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten, to the Maharajah on 27th October 1947. In the letter, accepting the Accession, Mountbatten made it clear that the state would only be incorporated into the Indian Union after a reference had been made to the people of Kashmir. Having accepted the principle of a plebiscite, India has since obstructed all attempts at arranging one.

In August 1947, the British left the Indian Subcontinent after partitioning the Indian subcontinent into two independent nation states, India and Pakistan on religious communal lines. There were 562 "princely states" in British Indian Empire. Maharajas, Rajas and Nawabs ruled over these territories under the sovereignty of the British Crown. On the lapse of British Paramountacy, these rulers were "legally" free to decide whether to join either of the two new states or remain independent. However, this legal choice of independence was essentially a hypothetical one as the religious composition of the subjects and the geographical location of these princely states dictated the merger with the newly emerged successors nation states of India and Pakistan. No princely state could become independent.

Maharaja Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, however was anxious for independence. The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir with a territory of about 128,000 square kilometers was uniquely placed as a buffer territory between India and Pakistan and had common borders within Afghanistan and China. Neither Pakistan nor India was ready to accept an independent Jammu and Kashmir. They kept on pressing the Maharaja to accede to either of the new states.

Pakistan claimed this territory, as 72 percent of Maharaja's subjects were Muslim. India wanted the Muslim majority territory of Kashmir as an emblem of her secularism. The Maharaja offered a "stand still" agreement to India and Pakistan, as he wanted some more time to make up his mind. Pakistan signed agreement but India refused.

As the Maharaja continued to dither, violence broke in the Jammu and Poonch region where sections of local Muslims wanted to merge with Pakistan. There was a similar revolt in the northern hill territory of Gilgit. In violation of the "stand still" agreement Pakistan stopped the passage of food and other essential commodities to Jammu and Kashmir through her territory. In September 1947, tribal raiders backed by Pakistan army invaded the valley.

Heavy fighting took place in 1947-48 between the Indian and Pakistani forces over Kashmir. On 1st January 1949 a cease-fire was declared which created the first Line-of-Control.

In 1957 the state was, in effect, incorporated into the Indian Union under a new Constitution. This was done in direct contravention of the standing UN resolutions and the conditions of the Instrument of Accession. The article was rushed through by the then puppet state government of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed; people of Kashmir were not consulted.

Heavy fighting broke out again in 1965 between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. A cease-fire was established in September 1965. Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bhadur Shastri, and Pakistani President, M Ayub Khan, signed the Tashkent agreement on 1st January 1966. They resolved to try to end the dispute by peaceful means.

The Maharaja requested India to send in its armed forces. India made it contingent upon his signing the instrument of accession in favour of India. The ruler signed the instrument of accession and India accepted with the provision that after the restoration of normalcy, the final political status of the territory would be decided through a referendum. Indian soldiers were airlifted to Srinagar on October 27, 1947. India and Pakistan began their first war in less than three months of coming into being as independent states. In January 1948, India appealed to the Security Council of the United Nations to restore peace in Kashmir. On January 20, 1948, the UN Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) was constituted (UNSC Resolution S/654). In April 1948, the UN adopted the first plebiscite resolution. The resolution called upon Pakistan "to withdraw all its armed personnel including the tribesmen from the territory of Jammu and Kashmir". It asked India " to reduce its armed forces to the minimum level needed to maintain law and order" and to hold a plebiscite as soon as possible on the question of accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan. The plebiscite administration was to be nominated by the UN Secretary General. (UNSC Resolution S/726, April 21, 1948). A UN crafted ceasefire was implemented on January 1, 1949. The plebiscite resolution was reaffirmed. Between 1949 and 1958 UNCIP made several attempts to implement the plebiscite resolution. Even partition of the territory along the ceasefire line with limited plebiscite in the valley was proposed at one stage. The intransigence of India and Pakistan defeated every effort of the UN. India and Pakistan established their political control over the territories of J&K under their respective control. Thus two separate political entities were created on the disputed territory -” “Government of Jammu and Kashmir State" on the Indian side and “Government of Azad Kashmir" on the Pakistani side. Needless to add that these "governments" were essentially "client" governments. The emergency of these political entities altered the ground situation as these new "stake holders" started manipulating the people of the divided territory on the command of their masters in Delhi and Islamabad. The Kashmiris, who disagreed with New Delhi or Islamabad, were termed traitors and spies and put behind the bars.

By 1958, within ten-years of having taken the Kashmir dispute to the United Nations, and having asked for international intervention in the resolution of the dispute, India changed its position on outside mediation in Kashmir. As a result, during 1960 and 1964 India turned down the offers of mediation by President Nasser of Egypt, President Kennedy of the United States of America and the Prime Minister of United Kingdom.

The second Indo-Pak war on Kashmir took place in 1965. In 1971 civil war broke out in East Pakistan and Indian forces again fought the Pakistani forces in Kashmir. This resulted in a new cease-fire and the signing of the Shimla Agreement by Indira Ghandi and Z A Bhutto. The Shimla Agreement basically reiterated the promises made in Tashkent. The third Indo-Pak war of 1971, which began on the soil of former East Pakistan and present Bangladesh, spilled over onto the territory of Kashmir. For the last 52 years, India and Pakistan have been virtually at war with each other. At times this war was fought with guns, but most of the time it has been verbal devil. The so-called "Kashmir dispute" lies at the very core of this enmity. Both India and Pakistan feel incomplete without Kashmir. Because of this enmity the people of the former princely state of J&K have being living under virtual war conditions. This cease-fire line of 1949, which became the Line of Control (L.O.C) after the third Indo-Pak war of 1971, continues to be violated by both sides. This intermitted-armed conflict has taken a heavy tool on the lives of Kashmiris over the last five decades. In 1989, sections  of Kashmiris began a militant movement for national self- determination. Massive army was deployed to neutrals the armed struggle. While India calls the movement in Kashmir, "Pakistan's proxy war", Pakistan says that it is providing political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris in their struggle for just cause.

The saga of unfortunate migrations did not stop here. In early 1990 when the ongoing armed struggle gained the momentum, it is estimated that more than 2 lakh (0.2 million) Kashmiri Pandits migrated from the valley. They sought refuge in camps at Jammu and other Indian states. Most of them are living a miserable life in these camps. The migrant Kashmiri Pandits are still awaiting return to the valley.

In 1996 when the National Conference government headed by the Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was installed and counter insurgency started, thousands of political activists owing allegiance to various pro-freedom parties had to migrate from there native places. These internally displaced people live in miserable conditions.

The close of 1989 saw the beginning of the renewed struggle for freedom of Kashmir. The Kashmiris started to arm themselves to resist the Indian occupation. The then state government, headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah, was dissolved and the state placed in direct control of the governor. Since then the struggle for freedom and democracy has intensified. 

Since the 1971 war, the situation may have been described as stalemate with India in control of much the larger part of Kashmir, and doing everything to emphasis her claim de jur. However, the dream of freedom from India never died; it was only suppressed from time to time by the Indians by using puppet state governments.

Guardian on 14th July 1970 reports that it is "ironic that India's position in Kashmir should be increasingly challenged from within at a time when Kashmir's status as a major unsettled international dispute is declining".

Hindustan Times of August 1970 reports, "In the Kashmir People's Convention held in Srinagar in the summer of 1970, but for a few feeble voices in our [India's] favour, most of the delegates favoured either accession to Pakistan or creation of an independent Kashmir".

The Kashmir dispute needs to be perceived from a human angle. Eversince 1947 when the subcontinent was partitioned and the Maharaja Hari Singh chose to accede to the Indian Union, the erstwhile state of Kashmir has witnessed massive migration.