Kashmiri Muslim political identity in Dogra Jammu and Kashmir

The formation of Kashmiri Muslim political identity in the context of Hindu Muslim relations in Dogra Jammu and Kashmir

Arka Chakraborty

Abstract

During British colonial rule in India, Jammu and Kashmir was controlled by Dogra Rajputs who supported a Hindu administrative elite even as Jammu and Kashmir had a Muslim-majority population. Against the backdrop of the aforementioned reality, this paper attempts to trace the rise of Muslim political identity in Jammu and Kashmir in the first half of the twentieth century. It examines their internal disagreements and interactions with political groups in British India and tries to answer the question as to whether the opposition towards the monopolization of political power by Hindu elite translated to opposition and exclusion of Hindus in general.