Darhal Malkhan | An Unexplored Paradise!

The history of Jammu and Kashmir is the second oldest after the history of Jew's and is considered as old as 5000 years old. Many legends narrate the tail about the existence of the Kashmir and origin of its name but many unitedly believe that the land of Kashmir emerged only when the saint Kashyapa drained the water from the lake Satisar by cutting the gap in the hills of Baramulla. This land came to be known as Ksahypmir after the name of the saint Kashyap and later became Kashmir Ka means 'Water' and Shmir means 'to Desiccate' hence Kashmir stands for 'a land desiccated from water" and shows how this land got its name from the process of desiccation. This story is also recorded in the Kashmir history Rajatarangini written by the Kalhana in 12th century.

Rajouri, during ancient times known as Rajapura or Rajapuri – ‘the land of Kings’ - finds its mention in the travelogue of Chinese traveler Yuan Chawang who visited the town in 632 AD and described it as a part of Kashmiri dominion. Still earlier in the Buddhist period, it formed a part of Gandhar territory (north-west Punjab and parts of north-western frontier province of Pakistan) and later was included in the domain called Daravabhisara which comprised the hilly stretch from Poonch to Kashmir. Those days Laharkote in Poonch district and Rajouri had emerged as two powerful states of the area. Based on the Mahābhārata evidence,combined with the evidence from Chinese pilgrim Yuan Ch awang,the region of Kashmir including the districts of Hazara, Poonch and Abhisara had been under the overlordship of the Republican Kambojas with Rajapura as their metropolis during epic times since Rajapura ...