As Kashmir continues to be on the boil for over 60 days now, a factual trajectory of the history of the state and its conflict (from 1947 till 2006) is captured in this primer by the late B G Verghese of CPR.

The primer was written with the objective of educating people, given the lack of easily accessible literature on the subject, and presents the central story of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) conflict post 1947–in a series of snapshots.

From the history of its invasions, coups, and accession, to the account of the UN resolutions, to the resulting Indian, Pakistani and Chinese territorial control of the erstwhile princely state of J&K in 1949, the following wars, the many attempts at the peace process–including the origins of the plural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual tradition of Kashmiriyat–the primer is an important reference point for understanding and contextualising the current situation of the state.

A visual timeline of the highlights from the primer can be accessed above.