Jammu

Jammu (jŭ'mOO) [key], city (1991 pop. 206,135), Jammu and Kashmir state, N India, on the Tawi River and in the Himalayan foothills. The winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, it is strategically important as the southern terminus of a highway linking the Vale of Kashmir with the North Indian plain. Once the seat of a Rajput dynasty, Jammu became the nucleus of the dominions of Gulab Singh, founder of the last ruling house of Kashmir. On one bank of the river is Jammu's old Fort of Bahu; on the other bank is the maharaja's palace. Jammu and Kashmir has for years been the site of border disputes with Pakistan in the north and with China in the northeast. It is the only Indian state with a Muslim majority.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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