The Vale of Kashmir

The vale of Kashmir is set in the lap of the famous Himalayas, towering to 18500 feet, with the sinuous Jhelum river cutting across in coils and curves forming the highway and tha main source of sustenance. This fertile land has over centuries enticed people from all over the world to behold its legandary beauty. Indeed no other place on earth has more widely been referred to as PARADISE.

Kashmir inspite of its mountainous terrain has been remarkably accessible to outsiders. Here you find evidence of interaction with ancient Greek, Roman and Persian civilizations. This spectacular land is tempered by many countless caravans of traders and rulers that have traversed the Vale of over a thousand years. From Emperor Ashok’s regime the third century BC which left its stamp of Buddhism, to the revival of Hinduism by Sankracharaya, to the preaching and introduction of Islam by the Gread Shah Hamdan, who also produced the current civilization of Persian art, to the influence of the Mughals, to the Sikhs, the British Raj and finally the 19th century Dogra rulers till 1947.

SRINAGAR: The capital city of Kashmir is Srinagar (one mile high) is the soul and pulse of state. The population of 1.2 million people revolves around the river Jhelum and the Dal lake. This was the summer capital of the British in 1793. The rulers of Kashmir led the British come but did not allow them to build , so the British took to the water and started living on HOUSEBOATS, which since then has become a legend.