ORIGIN OF THE NAME ‘KASHMIR’

The basis of nomenclature for the valley, as “Kashmir” stretches back into dim vistas of time, albeit with some phonetic variations. Though, there is no consensual opinion with regard to this attribute, but some people endowed with extra-ordinary qualities of quest trace it back to more than twenty three centuries, on the basis of there incessant research, having due regard to authentic documents and other related material. This is also substantiated by the refrences enshrined in both indigeneous and foreign literature which give considerable impetus to this view point .Among the indigenous sources of considerable antiquity ,referring to the name of the valley, mention may be made of Nilmata Purana,Rajatarangani,Desopadsa and Lokaprakasa. Similarly, among the earliest Indian Sanskrit works which mention the valley, the most conspicuous are, Astandhyayi, Mahabharta, Puranas and Brahat-Samhita. In the foreign sources are included the Greek and the Arabic works of immense historical and geographical importance in the texture of which the golden thread of valley is also conspicuous.     

 Why and how the valley came to be called by this name, has given Philip to untiring exercises from time to time, resulting in the advancement of various traditional and mythological theories.Most of the historians of ancient,medieval and modern times abse their theories on the hypothesis contained in the Nilmata Purana and believe that the valley was named “Kashyampur” after a sage named Kashyap who, with his divinity, established a truce between Nagas and Pishachas and settled them in the valley in hormony with each other.There are also other theories put-forth by historians like Babur, Mullah Abdun-Nabi,etc., regarding the origin of the word Kashmir, but most of these theories lack authenticity and credibility and are not supported by sound and strong arguments      Initially the valley of Kashmir was a vast lake which, in course of time, was drained by the deepening of the Baramulla gorge, and this deepening may have been either a result of long but slow process of erosion or tectonic activity or a major earthquake.This geographical transformation , which is testified by both geological evidence and mythological tradition, subsequently rendered the valley suitable for human habitation , making it an abode of permanent agrarian community , which give rise to a socio-economic system characterized by a well organized government.