Anantnag (Kashmiri pronunciation:[/ə'nʌntna:g/or/-nɑːg/]listenⓘ), also called Islamabad,[5] is the administrative headquarters of Anantnag district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.[1] It is located at a distance of 53 kilometres (33 miles) from the union territory's capital Srinagar. It is the third largest city in Jammu and Kashmir after Srinagar and Jammu with an urban agglomerate population of 159,838 and a municipal limit population of 109,433.[2][6]
Name
The town has been called by both the names Islamabad and Anantnag. The latter is characterised by Marc Aurel Stein as its "Hindu name".[7]
"Anantnag" derives from the name of the spring at the southern end of the town, whose Sanskrit name Anantanāga was mentioned in the Nilamata Purana and other texts.[7] According to the Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak, it is named after Ananta, the great serpent of Vishnu and the emblem of eternity.[8]
The name Islamabad is believed to have derived from the name of a Mughal governor Islam Khan who built a garden in the area.[9][10]
Both names are used for the town, Anantnag being preferred by the Hindus and Sikhs while Islamabad is preferred by the Muslims. The locals continue to use the name Islamabad, even though the Indian security forces deployed in the area from 1998 onwards frown on its use.[5][9][11]
During the Dogra rule, Anantnag/Islamabad was the headquarters of one of Kashmir Valley's three districts, which was referred to as the "Anantnag wazarat".[12][13]
Anantnag Municipal Council: population in 2011: 109,433, area: 15.72 km2 (6.07 sq mi).[2]
Anantnag city including outgrowths: population in 2011: 150,592, area: 37.94 km2 (14.65 sq mi).[2][4]
Anantnag Urban Agglomeration: population in 2011: 159,838, area: 40.44 km2 (15.61 sq mi).[2]
Including outgrowths, in 2011 the city's population had 77,508 males (52%) and 72,690 females (48%).[4] There were 25,102 (16.7%) age 0–6: 13,528 males (54%) and 11,574 females (46%).[4] The literacy rate for the people over six was 73.8% (males 81.0%, females 66.2%).[4]
Government and politics
The local body for Anantnag is called Municipal Council Anantnag.[16] Anantnag has 25 wards.[17] The local body elections in Anantnag took place in 2018 in which the party Indian National Congress won 20 wards and BJP won 3 wards.[18] The President and Vice President are the elected heads of the Municipal Council. The elections are indirect elections. Hilal Ahmed Shah is the President of Municipal Council Anantnag.[19]
Sites
Martand Sun Temple
Masjid Baba Dawood Khaki is among the oldest mosques in the city, being built around 1400 CE.[20]
The Martand Sun Temple is one of the important archaeological sites of Kashmir, built around 500 CE. It temple is situated at Kehribal, 9 km east-north-east of Anantnag and south of Mattan. This famous Sun Temple was destroyed by Ruler namely Sikander Buthshikan of Shahmiri Dynasty.[20]
Economy
Mustard fields near Anantnag
In 2010 Anantnag was declared as major City of Export excellence with a total GDP of $3.7 billion.[21] The high GDP of Anantnag is due to the centralised position and presence of high concentration of troops and migrant labours in it. Anantnag has a strategic position lying on the main North-South Corridor Road and with the highest number of tourist destinations it an economic hub of Kashmir Valley. The city suffered heavily during conflict times of the 1990s; many roads, bridges, and government buildings were reduced to ash. But in the 2000s, it made a quick recovery. It has been listed among 100 fastest economically developing cities.[21]
Transport
Road
Srinagar is 53 km from Anantnag on NH 44 (former name NH 1A before renumbering of all national highways). The distances of some other towns from Anantnag are: Achabal 10 km, Kokarnag 23 km, Doru Shahabad 20 km and Pahalgam 39 km.[22] The city is served by National Highway 44. The city is gateway to the Kashmir valley as one side of Jawahar Tunnel opens here.
Rail
Track near the Anantnag railway station
Anantnag (ANT) is a station on the 119 km (74 mi) long Banihal-Baramulla line that started in October 2009 and connects Baramulla (BRML) and Srinagar to Banihal (BAHL), Qazigund. The railway track also connects to Banihal across the Pir Panjal mountains through a newly constructed 11 km long Banihal tunnel, and subsequently to the Indian railway network after a few years. It takes approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds for a train to cross the tunnel. It is the longest rail tunnel in India. This railway system, proposed in 2001, is not expected to connect the Indian railway network until 2017 at the earliest, with a cost overrun of 55 billion INR. The train also runs during heavy snow across the Kashmir Valley.
Education
There are numerous primary, middle secondary and higher secondary schools in the city. Of the higher education, the following establishments are notable:
^ ab The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (d), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (f) through (h) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (i) below).
(a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories."; (b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state."; (c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN978-0-7172-0139-6 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947"; (d) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute betw een India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China." (e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN978-0-300-19694-8 Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir."; (f) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "... China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region) since 1962."; (g) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN978-0-674-02855-5 Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million. AJK has six districts: Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Bagh, Kodi, Rawalakot, and Poonch. Its capital is the town of Muzaffarabad. AJK has its own institutions, but its political life is heavily controlled by Pakistani authorities, especially the military), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control." (h) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN978-1-107-11162-2 Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir."; (i) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
