Northwest India
Group of Indian states / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northwest India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of northwestern states of the Republic of India. It generally includes the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan[1] and often Uttar Pradesh,[2][3][4][5] along with the union territories of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir,[6][lower-alpha 1] Chandigarh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.[lower-alpha 2] Gujarat is occasionally included as well.[7][8][9] The mountainous upper portion of Northwest India consists of the Western Himalayas, while the flat lower portion consists of the middle portion of the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Thar Desert
Northwest India | |
---|---|
Country | India |
States and territories | |
Largest city | New Delhi |
Most populous cities (2011) | |
Area | |
• Total | 836,566 km2 (323,000 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 368,791,165 |
• Density | 440/km2 (1,100/sq mi) |
Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Native languages |
Northwest India borders Pakistan to the west, and the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang of China to the northeast.[lower-alpha 3] Before the partition of India, the term "Northwest India" included the entirety of Punjab, Sindh[9] and North West Frontier Province, in addition to the territory of modern-day India west of the 77th meridian east and north of the 24th parallel north.[10]
Since the ancient period, the region has been subject to foreign invasions. In the ancient era, it was part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, followed by the Kushan Empire. The region was invaded and conquered by the Ghorid Empire in the twelfth century. In the eighteenth century, the region was invaded and ransacked by Iran and Afghanistan. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Punjab region was ruled by Sikh Misls. The Rajputs ruled the Thar region and occasionally the upper plains from the mediaeval era till the formation of the Indian Union (1947). The Kingdom of Kashmir existed from the ancient era until it's conquest in 1586 by Akbar the Great, Shahenshah of Hindustan. It was re-instated in 1849 and existed till it's accession to the Indian Union in 1947.
The Kashmir region is disputed between India, Pakistan and China. India claims the entirety of Kashmir apart from the Trans-Karakoram Tract, but the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK is controlled by Pakistan while Trans-Karakoram Tract and Aksai Chin is controlled by China.