Prior to 1947,
Kashmir was a
princely state under the
paramountcy of the
British Indian Empire. The central part of the princely state was administratively divided into the provinces Jammu and Kashmir. In addition there were frontier districts and semi-autonomous jagirs (principalities). They were subdivided as follows:[2]
The Gilgit district and the frontier ilaqas were administered by the British administration as the
Gilgit Agency, which were returned to the princely state prior to the
Partition of India.
After the
partition of India and subsequent independence of India and Pakistan, in October 1947, following a
rebellion coupled with a
tribal invasion from newly independent
Pakistan, the
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in return for armed assistance. India and Pakistan fought the
First Kashmir War that lasted through 1948, at the end of which large parts of the three western districts of Mirpur, Poonch and Muzaffarabad, the whole of the Gilgit Agency and the Skardu sub-district of Ladakh came under Pakistani control. The remainder of the princely state had been organised as a
state of India under the name
Jammu Kashmir.
^District Census Handbook Kulgam, Part A(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). July 2016. p. 10. Retrieved 21 November 2020. District Census Handbook Kulgam, Part B(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). 16 June 2014. pp. 12, 22. Retrieved 21 November 2020. Part B page 12 says the area of the district is 404 sq km, but page 22 says 410 sq km.
^District Census Handbook Shupiyan, Part A(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). 16 June 2014. p. 10. Retrieved 21 November 2020. District Census Handbook Shupiyan, Part B(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). 16 June 2014. pp. 12, 22. Retrieved 21 November 2020. Part B pages 12 and 22 say the district area is 312.00 sq km, but Part A page 10 says 307.42 sq km.
^District Census Handbook Badgam, Part A(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). July 2016. pp. 10, 46. Retrieved 21 November 2020. District Census Handbook Badgam, Part B(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). 16 June 2014. pp. 11, 12, 22. Retrieved 21 November 2020. Part A says the district area is 1371 sq km, Part B says 1371 sq km (page 11) and 1361 sq km (page 12s and 22).
^District Census Handbook Srinagar, Part A(PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). July 2016. pp. 11, 48. Retrieved 21 November 2020. Part A page 48 says the district area was 2228.0 sq km in 2001 and 1978.95 sq km in 2011.