Kashmir
Kashmir names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Kashmir or CASHMERE, an extensive principality in the N
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or CASHMERE, an extensive principality in the N. W. of Hindustan, subject to a ruler (the Maharajah) belonging to the Sikh race. The principality embraces not only Kashmir proper, but also Jammu or Jummoo , Baltistan or Little Tibet , Ladakh, Gilghit, etc.; area, estimated 80,900 square miles; pop. about 3,000,000. Kashmir is largely a region of mountains. The country is watered by the Upper Indus and its tributaries, and by the Jhelum and Chenab. Kashmir proper, which forms a small portion of the whole, is a valley surrounded by gigantic mountains, the Himalaya and Hindu Kush , and traversed by the river Jhelum (formerly Hydaspes). There are 10 chief passes through the mountains into this valley varying in height from about 9,000 to 12,000 feet. Forests on the slopes , fields of corn, rice crops along the sides of the rivers, rich orchards, and an abundant growth of flowers distinguish the district, but the fruits of warm climates do not ripen here. Among its minerals are iron and plumbago. Sulphur springs are common. Earthquakes frequently occur, and in 1885 one caused the loss of thousands of lives. Bears , leopards, wolves, the ibex, and chamois are among the animals. The flora has a strong affinity to that of Europe; the deodar cedar forms extensive and valuable forests. The common European fruits are grown, and attention is now being paid to the culture of the vine. The chief crops are wheat, barley, rice, and Indian corn, and two harvests are reaped in the year The chief manufacture is that of the celebrated Kashmir shawls. The genuine Kashmir shawls owe their superiority to the material of which they are made, which is, properly speaking, not wool . but a fine kind of down with which the animals of this region are clad during the winter season. This down is obtained in great quantities from the Kashmir goat, the yak of Tibet, and the wild sheep. The average time taken to manufacture a good Kashmir shawl is from 16 to 20 weeks. The inhabitants of Kashmir are a fine race physically, tall , strong, and well-built, with regular features. There are 13 separate dialects in use. The Maharajah is independent, but his relations with other states are subject to the authority of the Government of India. The capital of the whole principality is Jammu. Srinagar (or Kashmir) is the Maharajah's summer residence and largest town. Pop. about 125,000.
Kashmir or CASHMERE GOAT
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or CASHMERE GOAT, a variety of the common goat remarkable for its fine downy fleece, said to be found in perfection only in Tibet in the neighborhood of Lhassa, but also found in other parts of this region, including Ladakh, now a province of Kashmir. A full-grown goat yields not more than eight ounces, the fine curled wool being close to the skin. river of
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 Kashmir was a single princely state of some 80,900 square miles under a maharajah whose ruling house it wrongly called Sikh (the Dogras were Hindu Rajputs). That unity ended in 1947: Maharajah Hari Singh's accession to India after an invasion from Pakistan touched off the first of several wars, and the territory has since been divided between India, Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, including the Baltistan and Gilghit of this article) and China, which holds Aksai Chin. India revoked the state's special constitutional status in August 2019 and split it into two federally run union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh; the population Collier's put at 3,000,000 is now well over 13 million, and Srinagar, then a town of 125,000, exceeds a million. The shawl trade survives as pashmina, but most of the world's cashmere now comes from China and Mongolia rather than from the goats of Ladakh and Tibet.
Written for this edition, 2026.