View source for Kashmiri Pandits

{{Short description|Hindu community native to the Kashmir Valley}}
{{Further|Kashmiri Hindus}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Kashmiri Pandits
| native_name      = <!--SEE WP:INDICSCRIPTS policy-->
| native_name_lang = <!--SEE WP:INDICSCRIPTS policy-->
| image            = [[File:KashmirPundit1895BritishLibrary.jpg|200px]]
| caption          = {{nowrap|Kashmiri Pandits in [[Srinagar]], {{circa|1895 CE}}}}
| pop              = 300,000<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Devinder |date=21 November 2014 |chapter=Reinventing Agency, Sacred Geography and Community Formation: The Case of Displaced Kashmiri Pandits in India |language=en |location=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |pages=397–414 |doi=10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_20 |isbn=9789401793759|title=The Changing World Religion Map }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1995 |journal=Refugee Survey Quarterly |volume=14 |issue=1–2 |pages=176–191 |doi=10.1093/rsq/14.1-2.176 |issn=1020-4067|title=Protection Aspects of Unhcr Activities on Behalf of Internally Displaced Persons }}:The mass exodus began on 1 March 1990, when about 250,000 of the 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits fled the State</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yong |first=Amos |date=2011 |title=Constructing China's Jerusalem: Christians, Power, and Place in Contemporary Wenzhou - By Nanlai Cao |journal=Religious Studies Review |language=en |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=236 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-0922.2011.01544_1.x |issn=0319-485X}}</ref> to 600,000<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Casimir |first1=Michael J. |last2=Lancaster |first2=William |last3=Rao |first3=Aparna |date=1 June 1997 |title=Editorial |journal=Nomadic Peoples |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |doi=10.3167/082279497782384668 |issn=0822-7942}}:From 1947 on, Kashmir's roughly 700,000 Hindus felt increasingly uneasy and discriminated
against, and youth ... from a variety of sources such as Islamist organizations, Islamic countries,
Kashmiri Muslim fund raisers in the West, and migrant labor from Azad Kashmir in the ...</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarkaria |first=Mallika Kaur |date=2009|title=Powerful Pawns of the Kashmir Conflict: Kashmiri Pandit Migrants |journal=Asian and Pacific Migration Journal |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=197–230 |doi=10.1177/011719680901800202 |s2cid=145137184 |issn=0117-1968}}:... of the Centre of Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University, and member of Panun Kashmir (a Pandit ... the Valley in 1990, believes "it could be anything between 300,000 to 600,000 people</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/30-years-on-return-to-homeland-eludes-kashmiri-pandits/article25970732.ece |title=30 years on, return to homeland eludes Kashmiri Pandits |last=PTI |access-date=19 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref> (est. living in the Kashmir Valley [[Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus|prior to 1990]])
| popplace         = [[Kashmir Valley]] • [[Jammu division|Jammu]] • [[National Capital Region (India)|National Capital Region]] • [[Ladakh]] • [[Uttar Pradesh]] • [[Himachal Pradesh]] • [[Uttarakhand]] • [[Haryana]] • [[Rajasthan]] • [[Punjab, India|Indian Punjab]]
| languages        = '''Sacred languages'''<br />[[Sanskrit]]<br />
'''Ethnic language'''<br />[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] <br />
'''Other languages'''<br />[[Hindi]], [[Dogri language|Dogri]], English
| religions        = [[File:Om.svg|15px]] [[Hinduism]]
| related          = [[Kashmiris]] ([[Kashmiri Hindus]], [[Kashmiri Muslims]]), [[Saraswat Brahmin]]s
}}

The '''Kashmiri Pandits''' (also known as '''Kashmiri Brahmins''')<ref>{{cite journal |title=Survival is now our Politics: Kashmiri Hindu community identity and the Politics of Homeland |url=https://www.academia.edu/2503303 |publisher=academia.edu |first=Haley |last=Duchinsky |journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies |date=26 September 2013|volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=41–64 }}</ref> are a group of [[Kashmiri Hindus]] and a part of the larger [[Saraswat Brahmin]] community of India. They belong to the [[Pancha-Gauda|Pancha Gauda Brahmin]] group<ref>{{Cite book |title=Disappearing Peoples?: Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in South and Central Asia|last1=Brower |first1=Barbara |last2=Johnston |first2=Barbara Rose |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqwYDQAAQBAJ |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=9781315430393 |quote=Kashmiri Hindus are all Saraswat brahmins, known by the exonym Pandit (the endonym being Batta), a term first reserved for emigrant Kashmiri brahmins in Mughal service.}}</ref> from the [[Kashmir Valley]],<ref name=PL>{{cite book |title=Conflict between India & Pakistan: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLwOck15eboC&pg=PA99 |first=Peter |last=Lyon |year=2008 |page=99 | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781576077122 }}</ref><ref name=AlJaz>{{cite web |title=Kashmiri Pandits: Why we never fled Kashmir |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/07/201176134818984961.html#disqus_thread |publisher=aljazeera.com |first=Assad |last=Essa |date=2 August 2011}}</ref> located within the Indian [[union territory]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]].
Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu [[Kashmiris]] native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during medieval times.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpjKpK7ywPIC&pg=183|title= Kashmir and Its People: Studies in the Evolution of Kashmiri Society|page= 183|isbn= 9788176485371|last1= Kaw|first1= M. K.|year= 2004|publisher= APH}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite book |title=A Long Dream of Home: The persecution, exile and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits|author= Siddhartha Gigoo, Varad Sharma|date= 18 October 2016|publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn= 9789386250254|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InAwDQAAQBAJ&dq=kashmiri+pandits+5000+years+old&pg=PT24}}</ref> Prompted by the growth of [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|Islamic militancy]] in the valley, large numbers left in the [[Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus|exodus]] of the 1990s. Even so, small numbers remain.

==History==
{{multiple images |perrow=2 |total_width=400 |align=left |image1=Ancient Temple, Naranag, Jammu and Kashmir, India.jpg |caption1=A {{circa|8th century CE}} Shaiva [[Wangath Temple complex|Hindu temple complex]] in the Himalayas of Kashmir |image2=Sun temple martand indogreek.jpg |caption2= 1869 photograph of the ruins of the [[Martand Sun Temple]], built during [[Karkota dynasty|Karkota]] rule }}
===Early history===
{{See also|History of Kashmir}}
The Hindu [[caste system]] of the Kashmir region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of [[Ashoka|Asoka]], around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the traditional lines of [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] were blurred, with the exception of that for the Brahmins.<ref>{{cite book |title=Culture and political history of Kashmir, Volume 1 |first=Prithivi Nath Kaul |last=Bamzai |author-link=Prithivi Nath Kaul Bamzai |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |year=1994 |pages=191–192 |isbn=978-81-85880-31-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eMfzTBcXcYC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Kashmir and its people: studies in the evolution of Kashmiri society |series=Volume 4 of KECSS research series: Culture and heritage of Kashmir |first=M. K. |last=Kaw |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2004 |page=90 |isbn=978-81-7648-537-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpjKpK7ywPIC}}</ref> Another notable feature of early Kashmiri society was the relative high regard in which women were held when compared to their position in other communities of the period.<ref>{{cite book |title=Kashmir and its people: studies in the evolution of Kashmiri society |page=91 |first=M. K. |last=Kaw |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-7648-537-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpjKpK7ywPIC}}</ref>

A historically contested region, Northern India was subject to attack from [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] and Arab regimes from the eighth century onwards, but they generally ignored the mountain-circled Kashmir Valley in favour of easier pickings elsewhere. It was not until the fourteenth century that Muslim rule was finally established in the Valley and when this happened it did not occur primarily as a consequence of invasion so much as because of internal problems resulting from the weak rule and corruption endemic in the Hindu [[Lohara dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Mark Aurel |last=Stein |author-link=Mark Aurel Stein |title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir, Volume 1 |pages=106–108 |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1989 |orig-year=1900 |isbn=978-81-208-0369-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dfT2D8mnukC}}</ref><ref name=Hasanpp29-32>{{cite book |first=Mohibbul |last=Hasan |title=Kashmir Under the Sultans |location=Delhi |publisher=Aakar Books |edition=Reprinted |year=2005 |orig-year=1959 |pages=29–32 |isbn=978-81-87879-49-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUlwmXjE9DQC}}</ref> [[Mohibbul Hasan]] describes this collapse as {{blockquote|The [[Damara (feudal landlord)|Dãmaras]] (feudal chiefs) grew powerful, defied royal authority, and by their constant revolts plunged the country into confusion. Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. Socially and morally too the court and the country had sunk to the depths of degradations.<ref name=Hasanpp29-32/>}}

The Brahmins had something to be particularly unhappy about during the reign of the last Lohara king, for Sūhadeva chose to include them in his system of onerous taxation, whereas previously they appear to have been exempted.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mohibbul |last=Hasan |title=Kashmir Under the Sultans |location=Delhi |publisher=Aakar Books |edition=Reprinted |year=2005 |orig-year=1959 |page=34 |isbn=978-81-87879-49-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUlwmXjE9DQC}}</ref>

===Medieval history===
Zulju, who was probably a [[Mongol]] from [[Turkestan|Turkistan]],<ref name=Hasanp35>{{cite book |first=Mohibbul |last=Hasan |title=Kashmir Under the Sultans |location=Delhi |publisher=Aakar Books |edition=Reprinted |year=2005 |orig-year=1959 |page=35 |isbn=978-81-87879-49-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUlwmXjE9DQC}}</ref> wreaked devastation in 1320, when he commanded a force that conquered many regions of the Kashmir Valley. However, Zulju was probably not a Muslim.<ref name=Hasanp35/> The actions of Sultan [[Sikandar Butshikan]] (1389–1413), the seventh Muslim ruler in Kashmir were also significant to the area. The Sultan has been referred to as an [[iconoclasm|iconoclast]] because of his destruction of many non-Muslim religious symbols and the manner in which he forced the population to convert or flee. Many followers of the traditional religions who did not convert to Islam instead migrated to other parts of India. The migrants included some Pandits, although it is possible that some of this community relocated for economic reasons as much as to escape the new rulers. Brahmins were at that time generally being offered grants of land in other areas by rulers seeking to utilise the traditionally high literacy and general education of the community, as well as the legitimacy conferred upon them by association. The outcome of this shift both in population and in religion was that the Kashmir Valley became a predominantly Muslim region.<ref name=Davidson>{{cite book |first=Ronald M. |last=Davidson |title=Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2004 |orig-year=2002 |edition=Reprinted (for SE Asia sale only) |pages=70–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_VquVQvnBwC |isbn=978-81-208-1991-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Mohibbul |last=Hasan |title=Kashmir Under the Sultans |location=Delhi |publisher=Aakar Books |edition=Reprinted |year=2005 |orig-year=1959 |pages=28–95 |isbn=978-81-87879-49-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUlwmXjE9DQC}}</ref> It was during the 14th century that the Kashmiri Pandits likely split into their three subcastes: Guru/Bāchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Kārkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). The majority of Kashmiri Brahmins are Kārkuns, and this is likely due to the conversion of the majority of Kashmiris to Islam, which led to a decrease in demand for Hindu priests, which led most Kashmiri Brahmins to seek secular employment.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Witzel|first=Michael|title=The Valley of Kashmir. The making and unmaking of a composite culture?|publisher=Manohar|year=2008|editor-last=Rao|editor-first=Aparna|pages=37|chapter=The Brahmins of Kashmir}}</ref>

Butshikan's heir, the devout Muslim [[Zayn al-Abidin (sultan of Kashmir)|Zain-ul-Abidin]] (1423–74), was tolerant of Hindus to the extent of sanctioning a return to Hinduism of those who had been forcibly converted to the Muslim faith, as well as becoming involved in the restoration of temples. He respected the learning of these Pandits, to whom he gave land as well as encouraging those who had left to return. He operated a meritocracy and both Brahmins and Buddhists were among his closest advisors.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mohibbul |last=Hasan |title=Kashmir Under the Sultans |location=Delhi |publisher=Aakar Books |edition=Reprinted |year=2005 |orig-year=1959 |pages=87, 91–93 |isbn=978-81-87879-49-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUlwmXjE9DQC}}</ref>

===Modern history===
[[File:View of Srinagar 1872.jpg|thumb|1872 painting depicting [[Srinagar]], with Pandits in the foreground]]
[[File:Kashmir-hindu-priests.jpg|thumb|right|Three Hindu priests writing religious texts – 1890s, Jammu and Kashmir]]

====Early modern====
{{empty section|date=March 2020}}

====Modern====
D.L. Sheth, the former director of the [[Centre for the Study of Developing Societies|Center for the Study of Developing Societies in India (CSDS)]], lists Indian communities that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "Urban and [[professional]]" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) immediately after Independence in 1947. This list included the Kashmiri Pandits, the [[Nagar Brahmins]] from Gujarat; the South Indian Brahmins; the [[Khatri|Punjabi Khatris]], and [[Kayastha]]s from northern India; [[Chitpawan]]s and CKPs ([[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s) from Maharashtra; the Probasi and the [[Bhadralok]] [[Bengalis]]; the [[Parsis]] and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. According to P.K. Verma, "Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Indian Middle class|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|author=Pavan K. Varma|publisher=Penguin Books|quote=...its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified '''professionals''' such as doctors,engineers and lawyers,business entrepreneurs,teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists[etc]...The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite...But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school|isbn=9780143103257|year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Searching for identity among Dalit middle class in Maharashtra |journal=Social Action |volume=50 |publisher=Indian Social Institute |year=2000 |page=72}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csds.in/d_l_sheth|title=D.L. Sheth}}</ref>

==Recent events==

===Exodus from Kashmir (1989–1995)===
{{main|Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus}}
The Kashmiri Pandits had been a favoured section of the population of the valley during Dogra rule (1846–1947). 20 per cent of them left the valley as a consequence of the 1950 land reforms,<ref name=exodus>{{Harvnb|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004|p=318}} Quote: "Since a majority of the landlords were Hindu, the (land) reforms (of 1950) led to a mass exodus of Hindus from the state. ... The unsettled nature of Kashmir's accession to India, coupled with the threat of economic and social decline in the face of the land reforms, led to increasing insecurity among the Hindus in Jammu, and among Kashmiri Pandits, 20 per cent of whom had emigrated from the Valley by 1950."</ref> and by 1981 the Pandit population amounted to 5 per cent of the total.<ref name="Rahul">{{cite book|last1=K Pandita|first1=Rahul|title=Our Moon has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits|year=2013|publisher=Vintage Books / Random House|isbn=9788184000870|page=255}}</ref>
[[File:Abandoned Kashmiri Hindu house in snow.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of a house abandoned by Kashmiri Hindus during the exodus in southern Kashmir Valley]]
They began to leave in much greater numbers in the 1990s during the eruption of militancy, following persecution and threats by radical Islamists and militants. The events of 19 January 1990 were particularly vicious. On that day, mosques issued declarations that the Kashmiri Pandits were [[Kafir]]s and that the males had to leave Kashmir, convert to Islam or be killed. Those who chose to the first of these were told to leave their women behind. The Kashmiri Muslims were instructed to identify Pandit homes so they could be systematically targeted for conversion or killing.<ref>Tej Kumar Tikoo, [http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/kashmiri-pandits-offered-three-choices-by-radical-islamists/ Kashmiri Pandits offered three choices by Radical Islamists], India Defence Review, 19 January 2015.</ref>

According to a number of authors, approximately 100,000 of the total Kashmiri Pandit population of 140,000 left the valley during the 1990s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bose|1997|p=71}}, {{Harvnb|Rai|2004|p=286}},{{Harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=274}}</ref> Other authors have suggested a higher figure for the exodus, ranging from the entire population of over 150,000,<ref>{{Harvnb|Malik|2005|p=318}}</ref> to 190,000 of a total Pandit population of 200,000,<ref>{{Harvnb|Madan|2008|p=25}}</ref> to a number as high as 800,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1269592|title=Kashmir's Pandits|last=Noorani|first=A.G.|newspaper=Dawn.com|date=9 July 2016|publisher=Dawn}}</ref> Many of the refugee Kashmiri Pandits have been living in abject conditions in refugee camps of Jammu.<ref name="autogenerated9">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1246_land/page9.shtml |title=BBC World Service &#124; World Agenda - Give me land |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |access-date=28 March 2013}}</ref> The government has reported on the terrorist threats to Pandits still living in the Kashmir region.<ref name="rediff1">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/kashmiri-pandits-remain-refugees-in-their-own-nation/20120119.htm |title=23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation - Rediff.com India News |work=Rediff.com |date=19 January 2012 |access-date=28 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=USDS>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78871.htm |title=India |publisher=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State |date=6 March 2007}}</ref>

Some Hindus across India tried to help the Pandits. [[Bal Thackeray]] from [[Maharashtra]] got seats reserved in engineering colleges for the children of these Pandits. He was one of the first persons to help them after which Punjab also followed suit.<ref name="Behera">{{cite book|author=Navnita Behera|title=State, Identity & Violence: Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh|year=2000|publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors|page=232}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ajit Chak|title=Kashmir storm|year=2000|publisher=Partridge |isbn=9781482844351|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HdKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT62}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind Gigoo|title=The Ugly Kashmiri: (Cameos in exile)|year=2000|publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=9798184240367|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sudhBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT97}}</ref>

In 2009 the [[Oregon Legislative Assembly]] passed a resolution to recognise 14 September 2007, as Martyrs Day to acknowledge ethnic cleansing and campaigns of terror inflicted on non-Muslim minorities of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] by terrorists seeking to establish an [[Islamic state]].<ref>[http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/sjr1.dir/sjr0023.intro.pdf Senate Joint Resolution 23, 75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY—2009 Regular Session] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515012207/http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/sjr1.dir/sjr0023.intro.pdf |date=15 May 2013 }}</ref>

In 2010, the [[Government of Jammu and Kashmir]] noted that 808 Pandit families, comprising 3,445 people, were still living in the Valley and that financial and other incentives put in place to encourage others to return there had been unsuccessful. According to a J&K government report, 219 members of the community had been killed in the region between 1989 and 2004 but none thereafter.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325203907/http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 March 2010 |title=Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989" |date=24 March 2010 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=28 March 2013}}</ref> The local organisation of pandits in [[Kashmir]], Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, said that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 with 75% of them being killed during the first year of the Kashmiri insurgency.<ref>{{cite web|author=Azad Essa |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/07/201176134818984961.html |title=Kashmiri Pandits: Why we never fled Kashmir – Kashmir: The forgotten conflict |publisher=Al Jazeera English |access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) |url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/mobi/news/news/399-pandits-killed-since-1990-kpss/97140.html|title=399 Pandits killed since 1990 KPSS Lastupdate:- Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT |publisher=Greaterkashmir.com |date=20 June 2011 |access-date=24 May 2012}}</ref>

The exiled community had hoped to return after the situation improved. They have not done so because the situation in the Valley remains unstable and they fear a risk to their lives.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-kashmiri-pandits-are-being-missed-in-kashmir/20110428.htm |work=Rediff.com |date=29 April 2011 |first=Archana |last=Masih |title=The tragedy of Kashmiri Pandits (Part IV)}}</ref>

As of October 2015, only 1 Kashmiri Pandit family returned to the Kashmir valley since 1990 according to the Jammu & Kashmir government despite the financial assistance being given for rehabilitation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Choudhary |first1=Amit Anand |title=Only 1 Pandit family returned to Valley in 25 years |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/only-1-pandit-family-returned-to-valley-in-25-years/articleshow/49613620.cms |access-date=11 February 2021 |work=The Times of India |date=1 November 2015 |language=en}}</ref> As of 2016, a total of 1,800 Kashmiri Pandit youths have returned to the valley since the announcing of Rs. 1,168-crore package in 2008 by the UPA government.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yasir |first1=Sameer |title=When will we finally return home, ask displaced Kashmiri Pandits |url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/when-will-we-finally-return-home-ask-displaced-kashmiri-pandits-2590640.html |access-date=11 February 2021 |work=Firstpost |date=19 January 2016}}</ref>

===PRC and the JKMIP Acts===
{{See also|Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front}}
There are zones set up with offices for relief.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/zone_dir.aspx|title=Untitled Page|access-date=20 June 2016}}</ref> Many Orders, Circulars and recommendations have been issued for relief of Kashmiri Pandits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/ord_and_circu.aspx|title=Untitled Page|access-date=20 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/pdf/recommendations_of_koul_committee.pdf |title=Recommendations of Koul Committee|access-date=21 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/pdf/recommendations_of_inter_ministerial_team.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=25 April 2011 |archive-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723210830/http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/pdf/recommendations_of_inter_ministerial_team.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Jammu And Kashmir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection And Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, provides that "Any person who is an unauthorised occupant or recipient of any usufruct of any immovable property of the migrant shall pay to the migrant such compensation for the period of unauthorised occupation and in such a manner as may be determined by the District Magistrate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/pdf/jammu_and_kashmir_migrant_immovable_property_act.pdf |title=The Jammu Jammu And Kashmir Gazette|access-date=21 May 2011}}</ref>

===Socio-political organisations===
{{See also|Panun Kashmir|Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019|Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir}}
Following the migration of the Kashmiri Pandit community, various socio-political organisations have sprung up to represent the cause of the displaced community. The most prominent among these are the [[All India Kashmiri Samaj]] or AIKS, All India Kashmiri Pandit conference, ''Panun Kashmir'' & ''Kashmiri Samiti''. These organisations are involved in rehabilitation of the community in the valley through peace negotiations, mobilisation of human rights groups and job creation for the Pandits.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kashmiri pandit team to visit valley to negotiate for peace |url=http://www.hvk.org/2000/0500/27.html |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=16 May 2000}}</ref>

Panun Kashmir has made demands for a separate homeland for the community in the southern part of Kashmir.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pandits to float Political Party |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/NM21/Pandits-to-float-political-party/Article1-197062.aspx |newspaper=The Hindustan Times |date=2 January 2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005111219/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/NM21/Pandits-to-float-political-party/Article1-197062.aspx |archive-date= 5 October 2013 }}</ref> [[Ikkjutt Jammu]], a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, advocates for two [[Union Territories]] in Kashmir, one being [[Panun Kashmir]] for Kashmiri Hindus.<ref>{{cite news|title= Forget Delimitation; Divide Kashmir; Grant Statehood to Jammu: IkkJutt Jammu |url=https://www.thenorthernherald.com/newsdetail/30363/jammu/forget-delimitation-divide-kashmir-grant-statehood-to-jammu |newspaper=The Northern Herald |date=9 June 2021|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210710140201/https://www.thenorthernherald.com/newsdetail/30363/jammu/forget-delimitation-divide-kashmir-grant-statehood-to-jammu |archive-date= 10 July 2021 }}</ref>

==Population distribution==
[[File:Kashmiri bride & groom.jpg|Kashmiri couple getting married in a traditional ceremony at Jammu|thumb|right]]
According to the 1941 census, there were 78,800 Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley.{{sfnp|Evans, A departure from history|2002|p=24}}{{sfnp|Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII, Parts I & II|1943|p=11}} They were distributed into the two districts of Valley, the [[Baramulla district|Baramulla]] district, where Hindus constituted 2.1 per cent of the population; 12,919 Hindus out of 612,428 total.{{sfnp|Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII, Part III|1943|p=271}} and the [[Anantnag district|Anantnag]] district, where they were 7.84 per cent of the population.{{sfnp|Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII, Part III|1943|p=345}}

Scholar [[Christopher Snedden]] states that the Pandits made up about 6 per cent of the Kashmir Valley's population in 1947.<ref name="Snedden">{{citation |last=Snedden |first=Christopher |title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5KMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1-84904-342-7}}</ref>  By 1950, their population declined to 5 per cent as many Pandits moved to other parts of India due to the uncompensated land redistribution policy, the unsettled nature of Kashmir's accession to India and the threat of economic and social decline.<ref name="exodus"/><ref name=Rahul/>

In the 1981 census, the Kashmir Division had 124,078 Hindus, the majority of whom were Pandits.{{sfnp|Evans, A departure from history|2002|pp=24–25}} Scholar Alexander Evans estimates by 1990, there would have been 160,000–170,000 Pandits in the Kashmir Valley.{{sfnp|Evans, A departure from history|2002|p=24}}

Following the [[insurgency in Kashmir|1989 insurgency]], a great majority of Pandits felt threatened and left the Kashmir Valley for other parts of India. A large number settled in the [[Jammu Division]] of the State and the [[National Capital Region (India)|National Capital Region]] of India. Some emigrated to other countries entirely.<ref name=PL/><ref name=Snedden/>
By 2011, only an estimated 2,700-3,400 Pandits remained in the [[Kashmir Valley]].<ref name=AlJaz />

According to Indian government, more than 60,000 families are registered as Kashmiri migrants including some Sikh and Muslim families.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=131618|title=Cabinet approves the proposal to provide State Government jobs and transit accommodations in the Kashmir Valley for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref> Most families were resettled in Jammu, NCR and other neighbouring states.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=106628|title=Rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref>

==Society and culture==
===Religious beliefs===
[[File:Divine Colours of the Divine Spring.jpg|thumb|right|Divine Colours of the Divine Spring]]
[[File:Martand Ruins.JPG|thumb|left|Ruins of Martand temple]]
[[File:Sharda Peeth.jpg|thumb|left|Sharda Peeth]]
Kashmir has also been a land of [[Sun]] worship with shrines such as [[Martand Sun Temple]] established by [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]]. Sun worship is believed to have been brought into Kashmir by [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] kings from Iran. Lalitaditya's predecessor, Ranaditya, is said to have built the first sun temple.<ref name="Bamzai1994">{{citation|last=Bamzai|first=P. N. K.|title=Culture and Political History of Kashmir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eMfzTBcXcYC&pg=PA204|year=1994|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-85880-31-0|page=204}}</ref> [[Wanvun]] singing is an integral part of Kashmiri Pandit religious ceremonies.

====Pilgrimage sites====
[[File:Mount Harmukh.JPG|thumb|right|[[Harmukh|Mount Harmukh]]]]
[[Harmukh]] is traditionally revered by Kashmiri Pandits and in 2009 there was an attempt by them to revive pilgrimages to the site.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gangbal yatra to commence after 100 yrs in Kashmir |date=31 May 2009 |publisher=Zeenews |url=http://www.zeenews.com/news535670.html}}</ref> The ''[[Kheer Bhawani|Mata Kheerbhawani]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ganderbal.nic.in/tourist-place/kheer-bhawani-temple/|title=Kheer Bhawani Temple {{!}} District Ganderbal, Government of Jammu and Kashmir|language=en-US|access-date=7 March 2019}}</ref> temple shrine in [[Srinagar]], considered one of the holiest Hindu shrines, saw the largest gathering of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/valley-divide-impacts-kashmiri-pandit-youth-switch-to-devnagari/472872/ |title=Valley divide impacts Kashmiri, pandit youth switch to devnagari |first=Srinagar |last=indianexpress.com |date=8 June 2009}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2020|reason=Event in 2012 not mentioned in source from 2009}} The shrine is located in Tullamulla village, 24&nbsp;km from Srinagar in Ganderbal district.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2012/05/hindu-muslim-unity-depicted-at-mata-khir-bhawani-temple-in-kashmir/ |title=Hindu Muslim unity depicted at Mata Khirbhawani temple in Kashmir |work=Biharprabha News |date=29 May 2012}}</ref>

====Festivals====
{{See also|Kashmiri Pandit Festivals}}
The Kashmiri Pandits festivals include [[Mahashivratri|Shivratri]] (or ''Herath'' in the Kashmiri language) which is one of the major festivals of Kashmiri Pandits. ''[[Navreh]]'' or the Kashmiri lunar new year is also an important Pandit festival.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ling|first=Huping|title=Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EJfrLhHyjM8C&pg=PA135|year=2008|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-4342-0|page=135}}</ref>

===Culture===
[[File:Kashmiri Pandit lady in 1900.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A Kashmiri pandit woman, photograph by Fred Bremner, circa ~1900]]
[[File:039-HINDOO WOMEN FROM CASHMERE.jpg|thumb|An artpiece of three Kashmiri Pandit women]]
====Dress====
[[Kshemendra]]'s detailed records from the eleventh century describe many items of which the precise nature is unknown. It is clear that tunics known as ''kanchuka'' were worn long-sleeved by men and in both long- and half-sleeved versions by women. Caps were worn, as well as a type of turban referred to as a ''shirahshata'', while footwear consisted of leather shoes and boots, worn with socks. Some items were elaborate, such as the peacock shoes&nbsp;– known as ''mayuropanah''&nbsp;– worn by followers of fashion, and steel-soled shoes adorned with floral designs, lubricated internally with [[beeswax]].<ref>Kaw, pp. 94–95.</ref> They also wear the mekhalā, which is a type of [[girdle]].<ref name="Witzel" />

There are many references to the wearing of jewellery by both sexes, but a significant omission from them is any record of the ''dejihor'' worn on the ear by women today as a symbol of their being married. Kaw has speculated that this item of jewellery may not have existed at the time. The texts also refer to both sexes using cosmetics, and to the women adopting elaborate hairstyles. Men, too, might adopt stylish arrangements and wear flowers in their hair, if they had the financial means to do so.<ref>Kaw, pp. 95–97.</ref>

====Music====
Henzae is an ancient traditional form of singing practised by Kashmiri Pandits at their festivals. It appears to have archaic features that suggest it is the oldest form of Kashmiri folk singing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koausa.org/KoshSam/Henzae.html|title=Henzae: A Folk Genre Viewed Afresh|website=www.koausa.org|access-date=8 April 2018|archive-date=15 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415124959/http://www.koausa.org/KoshSam/Henzae.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Kaw2001">{{cite book|author=M. K. Kaw|title=Kashmiri Pandits: Looking to the Future|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMM-xRVr5qgC&pg=PA31|year=2001|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-236-3|pages=113–115}}</ref>

====Diet====
The Kashmiri Pandits have a tradition of consuming meat, including mutton and fish, but they obey restrictions laid down by the ''[[shastras]]'' of not eating the meat of forbidden animals such as beef and pork.<ref name="Witzel">{{cite web|author=[[Michael Witzel]] |title=THE BRAHMINS OF KASHMIR |date=September 1991 |url=http://www.michaelwitzel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/KashmiriBrahmins1.pdf |access-date=25 January 2021 |page=44}}</ref> Frederick J. Simoons says that according to some reports, Kashmiri Pandits also consume fish as part of their diet.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLTfAAAAMAAJ|title=Eat Not this Flesh: Food Avoidances from Prehistory to the Present|author=Frederick J. Simoons|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=1994|page=284|isbn=9780299142506|quote=There are even reports of certain Brahmin (Bengali Brahmins, Oriya Brahmins, Brahmins of certain parts of Bihar, Saraswat Brahmins of northern India, and Kashmiri Pandits) eating fish.}}</ref>

==== Subcastes ====
The Kashmiri Pandits are divided into three subcastes: Guru/Bāchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Kārkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). All three subcastes interdine and interteach, but only the Jotish and Kārkun subcastes intermarry.<ref name=":0" />

===Krams===
[[Kashmiri Hindus]] are [[Saraswat Brahmins]] and are known by the exonym ''[[Kashmiri Pandit|Pandit]]''.<ref name=":74">{{harvnb|Brower|Johnston|2016|p=130}}: "Kashmiri Hindus are all Saraswat Brahmins, known by the exonym Pandit (the endonym being Batta), a term first reserved for emigrant Kashmiri Brahmins in Mughal service. Their surnames (kram) designate their original professions or their ancestors' nicknames (e.g., Hakim, Kaul, Dhar, Raina, Teng)."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaw |first=M. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMM-xRVr5qgC&pg=PA223 |title=Kashmiri Pandits: Looking to the Future |date=2001 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=978-81-7648-236-3 |pages=223 |language=en |quote=The Kashmiri Pandits are the precursors of Kashmiri Muslims who now form a majority in the valley of Kashmir...Whereas Kashmiri Pandits are of the same ethnic stock as the Kashmiri Muslims, both sharing their habitat, language, dress, food and other habits, Kashmiri Pandits form a constituent part of the Hindu society of India on the religious plane.}}</ref><ref name=":132">{{Cite journal |last1=Bhasin |first1=M.K. |last2=Nag |first2=Shampa |year=2002 |title=A Demographic Profile of the People of Jammu and Kashmir |url=http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JHE/JHE-13-0-000-000-2002-Web/JHE-13-1-2-001-02-Abst-PDF/JHE-13-1-2-001-02/JHE-13-1-2-001-055-02-Tt.pdf |journal=Journal of Human Ecology |publisher=Kamla-Raj Enterprises |pages=15 |access-date=1 January 2017 |quote=Thus the two population groups, Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims though at the time constituted ethnically homogenous population, came to differ from each other in faith and customs.}}</ref><ref name=":142">{{Cite journal |last1=Bhasin |first1=M.K. |last2=Nag |first2=Shampa |year=2002 |title=A Demographic Profile of the People of Jammu and Kashmir |url=http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JHE/JHE-13-0-000-000-2002-Web/JHE-13-1-2-001-02-Abst-PDF/JHE-13-1-2-001-02/JHE-13-1-2-001-055-02-Tt.pdf |journal=Journal of Human Ecology |pages=16 |access-date=1 January 2017 |quote=The Sheikhs are considered to be the descendants of Hindus and the pure Kashmiri Muslims, professing Sunni faith, the major part of the population of Srinagar district and the Kashmir state.}}</ref> Kashmiri Hindus society reckons descent patrilineally. Certain property and titles may be inherited through the male line, but certain inheritances may accrue through the female line.{{Sfn|Brower|Johnston|2016|p=130}}

Some prominent Kashmiri Pandit krams include:
* [[Bhat (Kashmir)|Bhat]] (or Bhatt)<ref name="Anthropological Survey of India">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPmBAAAAMAAJ&q=bhat+butt+name+kashmir |title=The Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, Volume 52 |publisher=The Survey |year=2003 |quote=The But/Butt of Punjab were originally Brahmin migrants from Kashmir during 1878 famine. |accessdate=2 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="Bansi Pandit2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsoC6GWr47QC&dq=bhat+butt+name+kashmir&pg=PA99 |title=Explore Kashmiri Pandits |publisher=Dharma Publications |isbn=9780963479860 |accessdate=2 December 2010}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{harvnb|Brower|Johnston|2016|p=130}}: "Sheikh: local converts, subdivided into numerous subgroups. Most largely retain their family names, or patronyms (kram), indicating their original profession, locality or community-such as Khar (carpenter), Pampori (a place), Butt and Pandit (Brahmin), Dar (kshatriya)-but with increasing Islamization, some have dropped these"</ref><ref name=":00">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxJDAAAAYAAJ&q=kashmiri+names+bat+dar+lone |title=Proceedings - Indian History Congress, Volume 63 |publisher=Indian History Congress |year=2003 |isbn= |location= |pages=867 |quote=...the Muslims also retained their Hindu caste-names known as Krams e.g. Tantre, Nayak, Magre, Rather, Lone, Bat, Dar, Parray, Mantu, Yatoo..... |access-date=30 December 2016 |via=}}</ref>
* [[Dhar (surname)|Dhar]]<ref name="Bansi Pandit2" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":00" /><ref name="Lawrence" />
* [[Lone (surname)|Lone]]<ref name=":00" />
* [[Kaul]]<ref name ="VictoriaS">{{cite book|first=Victoria |last=Schofield |author-link=Victoria Schofield|title=Kashmir in conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek00fuXVz1wC&pg=PA118|accessdate=25 June 2012|year=2003 |publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co |isbn= 1860648983 |page=4}}</ref>
* Raina<ref name=":74" /><ref name ="Agrawal" />
* Kher
* [[Kak clan|Kak]]<ref name="Lawrence">{{Cite book|last=Lawrence|first=Sir Walter Roper|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqAHweWRUs0C&q=Dar&pg=PA304|title=The Valley of Kashmir|quote=Among the leading Krams may be mentioned the following names:— Tikku, Razdan, Kak, Munshi, Mathu, Kachru, Pandit, Sapru, Bhan, Zitshu, Raina, Dar, Fotadar, Madan, Thusu, Wangnu, Muju, Hokhu, and Dulu.|date=2005|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1630-1|pages=304|language=en}}</ref><ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Kachru]]<ref name="Lawrence" />
* [[Kichlu]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* Mantu (or Mantoo/Mintoo)<ref name=":00" />
* [[Haksar]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Handoo]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* Ganai<ref name=":00" />
* [[Tikoo (surname)|Tikoo]]<ref name ="VictoriaS" /><ref name="Lawrence" />
* Tantray<ref name=":00" />
* Trisal
* [[Mattoo]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Pandit#Kashmiri Surname|Pandit]]<ref name=":9" /><ref name="Lawrence" />
* [[Rajguru]]
* [[Bhan]]<ref name="Lawrence" /><ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Bakshi]]<ref name ="Agrawal">{{cite book |date=20 August 2014 |last=Agrawal |first=Premendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2E36BgAAQBAJ&dq=mattu+surname&pg=PT47 |access-date=5 April 2023 |title=Accursed & Jihadi Neighbour |publisher=Commercial Services |page=86 |isbn=9788193051207 |quote=Meaning of surnames found on the Kashmiri Pandit tree: Bakaya, Sapru, Bakshi, Munshi, Wazir, Chalkbast, Bhan, Langar or Langroo, Wattal, Bazaz, Taimini, Mattu, Chak, Zalpuri, Khar, Hazari, Zutshi, Razdan, Tikhu, Kathju, sopori, Thussoo, Haksar, Raina, Waloo or Wali, Wantu/Wanchu, Gamkhwar, Kakh, Mushran, Sharga, Handoo, Gurtu, Kitchlu, and Ganjoo. |language=en-IN }}</ref>
* [[Bazaz (surname)|Bazaz]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* Rather<ref name=":00" />
* [[Razdan (surname)|Razdan]]<ref name="Lawrence" /><ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Munshi#Kashmiri surname|Munshi]]<ref name="Lawrence" /><ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Sapru]]<ref name="Lawrence" /><ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Zutshi]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* Magre (or Magray)<ref name=":00" />
* Yatoo<ref name=":00" />
* [[Wali (surname)|Wali]]<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* Wazir<ref name ="Agrawal" />
* [[Madan (surname)|Madan]]<ref name="Lawrence" />
* [[Wani (surname)|Wain]]

==Notable Kashmiri Pandits==
* [[Nehru family]], Indian political family<ref name="Nehru">{{cite book |last1=Thomas-Symonds |first1=Nicklaus |title=Attlee: A Life in Politics |date=30 July 2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85771-066-6 |page=182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qA2MDwAAQBAJ&dq=nehru+family+saraswat+brahmin&pg=PA182 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|Motilal Nehru was expelled from the caste in 1899 for travelling to England and refusing to perform the purification ceremony.<ref>{{cite book |last= Nanda|first= B.R.|author-link= |date= 1963|title= The Nehrus: Motilal and Jawaharlal|url=|location= |publisher= Oxford University Press|page= 38-40|isbn=}}</ref> The Nehrus were stigmatised by other Kashmiri Pandits as late as 1919 and there were controversies about Nehru women dining with other Kashmiri pandit women.<ref>{{cite book |last= Gopal|first= Sarvepalli|author-link= |date= 1975|title= Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography|url=|location= |publisher= Jonathan Cape|page= 17|isbn=|volume= One, 1889-1947}}</ref>}}
* [[P. N. Haksar]], bureaucrat and diplomat<ref name=independent>{{cite news |title=Obituary: P.N. Haksar |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-p-n-haksar-1188604.html |publisher=www.independent.co.uk |first=Kuldeep |last=Singh |date=2 December 1998 |access-date=16 July 2013}}</ref>
* [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]], freedom fighter, lawyer, and politician<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7u1AAAAIAAJ|author=Mohan Kumar|title=Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru: a political biography|year=1981|publisher =Vipul Prakashan|quote= Even now there are many distinguished scholars of Persian among the Kashmiri Brahmins in India. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and Raja Narendranath to mention two of them.|access-date = 25 March 2007}}</ref>
* [[Tapishwar Narain Raina]], ninth Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army<ref>{{cite news |title=Kashmiri Pandit soldiers to the fore |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/kashmiri-pandit-soldiers-to-the-fore/story-OIwpHJftEaN1m6ed11kKYI.html |access-date=9 January 2021 |work=Hindustan Times |date=12 February 2013 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Sanjiv Bhatt]], [[Indian Police Service]] officer of the Gujarat-cadre<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=sanjivbhatt |number=985204040500957185 |title=985204040500957185 |date=14 April 2018 |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref>
* [[Jeevan (Hindi actor)|Jeevan]], actor<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jha |first1=Fiza |date=10 June 2020 |title=Remembering Jeevan, Indian cinema's favourite villain who also played Narad Muni 61 times |url=https://theprint.in/feature/remembering-jeevan-indian-cinemas-favourite-villain-who-also-played-narad-muni-61-times/437769/ |work=ThePrint |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>
* [[Raaj Kumar]], actor<ref>{{cite news |last1=Taneja |first1=Nidhima |title=Raaj Kumar—Bollywood prince left the police force to live a king-sized life in his white shoes |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/raaj-kumar-bollywood-prince-left-the-police-force-to-live-a-king-sized-life-in-his-white-shoes/1158272/ |access-date=3 August 2023 |work=ThePrint |date=8 October 2022}}</ref>
* [[Anupam Kher]], actor<ref>{{cite news |date=11 April 2009 |title=Anupam Kher to work for Empowerment of Kashmiri Pandit Community |publisher=Hindustan Times |access-date=2 July 2013| url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/anupam-kher-to-work-for-empowerment-of-kashmiri-pandits/story-WuvcZNKP4vXb1QzpoZJeDP.html |quote= as a member of the [Kashmiri Pandit] community}}</ref>
* [[Kunal Khemu]], actor<ref>{{cite news |title=Kunal Khemu On Being Kashmiri Pandit: "I did Feel like an OUTSIDER Every now and Then But..." |url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/videos/celeb-interviews/kunal-khemu-on-being-kashmiri-pandit-i-did-feel-like-an-outsider-every-now-and-then-but/ |access-date=3 August 2023 |work=Bollywood Hungama |date=13 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Mohit Raina]], actor<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Shah |first1=Shreya |title=Oh My God! |url=https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/mohit-raina |access-date=3 August 2023 |magazine=Verve |date=18 August 2013}}</ref>
* [[Rajendranath Zutshi]], actor<ref>{{cite news |title=1st global Kashmiri Pandit Youth meet today |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/1st-global-kashmiri-pandit-youth-meet-today/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=7 January 2012 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Manav Kaul]], actor<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tarannum |first1=Asira |title=I have faith in my performance: Manav Kaul |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/310116/i-have-faith-in-my-performance-manav-kaul-1.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Deccan Chronicle |date=31 January 2016}}</ref>
* [[Rahul Pandita]], Indian author and journalist<ref>{{cite tweet |user=rahulpandita |number=1219495570496032768 |title=I am a Kashmiri Pandit who lost everything in 1990, while you were doing God knows what in Bombay. I am the writer of #shikara and I would not let anyone compromise on the Pandit story. I will not betray the memory of those who fell to the bullets of radical Islamists. |date=21 January 2020 |access-date=28 October 2025}}</ref>
* [[Sandeepa Dhar]], actor<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Arya |first1=Prachi |date=11 October 2023 |title=Sandeepa Dhar on visiting Srinagar house after 30 years: My family was forced... |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/sandeepa-dhar-on-visiting-srinagar-house-after-30-years-my-family-was-forced-2447587-2023-10-11 |magazine=India Today |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>
* [[Ashoke Pandit]], filmmaker, social activist<ref>{{cite news |title=Kashmiri Muslims responsible for ouster of Pandits, says Ashoke Pandit |url=https://www.aninews.in/news/national/politics/kashmiri-muslims-responsible-for-ouster-of-pandits-says-ashoke-pandit/ |work=ANI |date=19 January 2017 |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>
* [[Suresh Raina]], Indian cricketer<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mishra |first1=Itishree |title=Raina is a very caring husband, says wife Priyanka |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/off-the-field/Raina-is-a-very-caring-husband-says-wife-Priyanka/articleshow/48739875.cms |access-date=3 August 2023 |work=The Times of India |date=31 August 2015}}</ref>
* [[R. N. Kao]], founder and first secretary of [[R&AW]]<ref>{{cite news |title=R N Kao remembered |url=https://www.aninews.in/news/national/features/r-n-kao-remembered20220120185237/ |access-date=9 May 2022 |work=ANI |date=20 January 2022}}</ref>
* [[Mohan Lal (Zutshi)|Mohan Lal Zutshi]], traveller, diplomat, and author, and an important player in the [[Great Game]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Riaz |title=Mapping The Great Game: Explorers, Spies & Maps in Nineteenth-century Asia |publisher=Casemate (UK) |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-61200-814-1 |location=Oxford |pages=41, 57 |language=English}}</ref>
* [[Sampat Prakash]], trade union leader<ref>{{cite news |title=Sampat Prakash passed away : श्रीनगर में संपत प्रकाश का दिल का दौरा पड़ने से हुआ निधन , महबूबा ने tweet कर जताया दुःख |url=https://m.punjabkesari.com/article/sampat-prakash-died-of-heart-attack-in-srinagar-mehbooba-expressed-grief-by-tweeting/653695 |work=[[Punjab Kesari]] |date=2 July 2023 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702015330/https://m.punjabkesari.com/article/sampat-prakash-died-of-heart-attack-in-srinagar-mehbooba-expressed-grief-by-tweeting/653695 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Samay Raina]], Indian stand-up comedian<ref>{{cite news |last=Khan |first=Muneef |title='Standing up' for Kashmir |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2020/jan/23/standing-up-for-kashmir-2093128.html |work=The New Indian Express |access-date=2 October 2023 |quote=I come from a conservative Kashmiri Pandit family..}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Buddhism in Kashmir]]
* [[Kashmir Shaivism]] philosophy
* [[Dardic people]]
* [[Hari Parbat]]
* [[List of Jammu and Kashmir related articles]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |title=Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII – Jammu and Kashmir, Parts I & II |publisher=The Ranbir Government Press |year=1943 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62753/page/n1 |ref={{sfnref|Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII, Parts I & II|1943}}}}
* {{citation |title=Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII – Jammu and Kashmir, Part III |publisher=The Ranbir Government Press |year=1943 |url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10973/37335/GIPE-CENSUS41014.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y |ref={{sfnref|Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII, Part III|1943}}}}
* {{Citation |last=Bose |first=Sumantra |title=The Challenge in Kashmir: Democracy, self-determination, and a just peace |publisher=Sage Publications, in association with The Book Review Literary Trust |location=New Delhi |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8039-9350-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EhuAAAAMAAJ}}
*  {{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Alexander |title=A departure from history: Kashmiri Pandits, 1990-2001 |journal=Contemporary South Asia |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2002 |pages=19–37 |doi=10.1080/0958493022000000341 |s2cid=145573161 |ref={{sfnref|Evans, A departure from history|2002}}}}
* {{Citation |last=Madan |first=T. N. |author-link=Triloki Nath Madan |chapter=Kashmir, Kashmiris, Kashmiriyat: An Introductory Essay |pages=1–36 |editor-last=Rao |editor-first=Aparna |title=The Valley of Kashmir: The Making and Unmaking of a Composite Culture? |publisher=Delhi: Manohar. Pp. xviii, 758 |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-7304-751-0}}
* {{Citation |last=Malik |first=Iffat |title=Kashmir: Ethnic Conflict, International Dispute |publisher= Karachi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xxvi, 392 |isbn=0-19-579622-5 |year=2005}}
*  {{Citation |last1=Metcalf |first1=Barbara |author-link1=Barbara Metcalf |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |author-link2=Thomas R. Metcalf |year=2006 |title=A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise Histories) |publisher=Cambridge and New York: [[Cambridge University Press]]. Pp. xxxiii, 372 |isbn=0-521-68225-8}}.
* {{Citation |last=Rai |first=Mridu |title=Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir |year=2004 |publisher=Princeton University Press/Permanent Black. Pp. xii, 335. |isbn=81-7824-202-8}}
*  {{citation |last=Zutshi |first=Chitralekha |title=Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlBjzE-1ML8C&pg=PA318 |year=2004 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |isbn=978-1-85065-700-2 |ref={{sfnref|Zutshi, Languages of Belonging|2004}}}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Bose|first=Sumantra|title=Kashmir: roots of conflict, paths to peace|publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2005|isbn=978-0-674-01817-4}}
* {{Citation |last=Shade |first=Chinar |title=Sun Worship and Kashmir |date=19 November 2013 |url=http://autarmota.blogspot.com/2013/11/sun-worship-and-kashmir.html}}
* {{cite book|last=Zutshi|first=Chitraleka|chapter=Shrines, Political Authority, and Religious Identities in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-century Kashmir|pages=235–258|editor-last=Rao|editor-first=Aparna|title=The Valley of Kashmir: The Making and Unmaking of a Composite Culture?|publisher=Delhi: Manohar|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7304-751-0}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180331010717/http://kashmirhindufoundation.org/ Kashmir Hindu Foundation (KHF)]
* [http://www.panunkashmir.org/ Panun Kashmir: A Homeland for Kashmiri Pandits]
* [http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id=88916  'God of Small Things,' Travelogue in The Indian Express, 5 March 2006, by Arjun Razdan]
* [http://www.kpae.co.uk/ Kashmiri Pandit association of Europe]

{{Kashmirifamalies}}
{{Brahmin communities}}

[[Category:Kashmiri Pandits| ]]
[[Category:Kashmiri Brahmins| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:Kashmiri tribes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Kashmiri Hindus]]